It is Sunday evening, and Fred has asked me to go with him over to Fort Worth where he will be celebrating his birthday with his entire family (except for his Mom). There will be his half-brother, Troy, and Troy's wife, Melinda, their two sons, Nathan and Garett, Fred's step-mother Nina and her friend, Jerry. All of them will be celebrating Fred's 49th birthday at a restaurant just south of Fort Worth on I-35W.

Fred doesn't include me in much that he does with his own family, but considering our relationship and the way he and his family are, I don't fault him for that. It's not that Troy and Melinda don't know what's going on; I am sure that they do, in fact, know that I am more than just Fred's friend he goes hiking with. And I am pretty sure that Nina knows what the situation is also. It's just that Fred is a very private person, and doesn't want to engender a lot of discussion about something that is personal for him. But on this occasion, I understood that Nina asked Fred to bring me along, and I was happy to come.

We had a really nice meal (at Red Lobster, I think), and I took a number of pictures during dinner. I am still getting used to my little camera, and I need to use the flash more; some of these pictures are a bit fuzzy. But here are some thumbnails and captions for the best ones that I took. Click on the thumbnails to view the full-size images:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

I also took a few movies during dinner, and you can watch them using the players below:

Everyone at the Birthday Party Nina and Nathan

Melinda and Garett Fred in Conversation with Troy

Melinda and Garett

When we were all done eating, and Fred had received some gifts and cards, we called it an evening. Out in the parking lot, in a little better light, I got some pictures of everyone who'd attended (except me, of course). I've put thumbnails for these three pictures below; click on them to view the full-size images:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

	August 11-16, 2003: A Trip to Temecula, California
	August 2, 2003: The Mathis-Nabors Birthday Bash
	Return to Index for 2003