Last but definitely not least . . .

DEREK STEPHEN

is our second child and first son. Now 27, he was born Januray 6, 1981. He and Nora are 13 months and 5 days apart in age and he is our red-head - beard and hair (when he lets it grow). His middle name is the same as Rod's.

As a youth his passion was dinosaurs. He knows everything about them as well as other animals. At one time he had a collection of 100+ dinosaurs that he played with. At about age four, he started to draw them. WOW ! ! What a talent ! From proportion to detail to view angle, he can create them out of his head - no picture as a reference. He mainly draws mythical creatures now with his speciality being dragons. And he is good on the computer, too. His dream is to someday create and design animal habitats for zoos and work with exotic animals. As pets, in addition to two cats, he has 3 ball pythons and various lizards. At one time, he had a 12 foot Albino Burmese Python. It's a good thing his wife likes them, too. One of the snakes is hers! Caitlyn holds them, too. So do I.

One of Derek's smaller, unfinished creations

Derek also has good athletic ability. He was very good at baseball - played Little League as did all our boys - and played football in high school. He has had a variety of jobs including construction, mini-mart cashier, baker for University of Wyoming food services, and currently works for Teletek which handles UPS shipping and billing accounts. He works the graveyard shift so he can be home to take care of his daughters while Christy works.

The three loves of his life are his wife, Christy, and daughters Caitlyn (4) and Danica (16 months). For the first 4 years of their life together, they lived in Laramie WY. When their brains thawed, they realized they missed the year-round warmth of Arizona so in April 2007 we drove the 1200+ miles to WY and helped them move back to Tucson. Instead of seeing them only 2-3 times a year, we now get to be with them whenever we want. For sports, Derek is now heavy into paintballing and has brought Michael and Riley along. They even bought their Dad his own equipment for last year's birthday/Father's Day so they could play with him. Our extended yard (hills, canal, sandwash, lots of trees) is the ideal terrain for their battles.

Now you have met our six children. Of course there is tons more I could write, but I never embarrass my offspring. Yea, right! If you would like to get to know any one of them better, let me know by e-mail and I will direct you to them or answer your inquiries as best I can.