The way that Pamela and Eric remember it, as High Schoolers they first met at the Summer festival in Riverview. They hit it off right away and before long became BF and GF.
As their high school years went on, they often shared their dreams for the future.
After graduating, Eric asked Mr. LeBlanc if he could have his daughter's hand in marriage and they were both so excited when he gave his approval! It made both of them very happy to know they had their parents' support. So he popped the question and before long, he and Pamela moved in to a tiny one bedroom home in Riverview, a small town about 2 hours away from New Orleans.
It wasn't long before they planned a wedding. They sold their car in order to afford it, but they had no regrets - it was beautiful, filled with memories to last a lifetime, and everyone had a great time.
Then came years of struggle in their tiny home, especially after Nicholas came along, but it was decorated with Eric's photos and Pamela's paintings and most of all with love...
They held a family party for Nicholas' first birthday. Oh dear, someone left their deep fried burrito on the ground. :(
Family members who attended are shown below - from left to right they are: Lance and Laura LeBlanc, Pamela's parents; Julia Townsend, Eric's sister (who at the time of this photo is engaged to Duane Kapello, third son of Kurt and Jennifer Kapello); Bettina Townsend, Eric's mother; Larissa (LeBlanc) Ivanov and with his back to the camera is her husband Dimitri (son of Nadine and Yuri Ivanov); there's Eric near the table, who is apparently jumping up and down at the thought of cake; Eric's father David Townsend who is in the Law Enforcement career; and there's Pamela by the bar, who seems to really need a drink.
Not long after Nicolas' birthday, Pamela and Eric discovered they were expecting again. They were happy, but worried. Eric kept working very hard to support the family with his photography business but the jobs that paid the best required travel away from home time to time. What a shock it was to find out that one baby was actually two! Eric was very glad that he was home when Pamela gave birth to the twins, Sean and Kaitlyn.
As the children grew, so did Pamela and Eric's reputations and success in their careers, Pamela as a talented painter and Eric as an expert photographer. Even with busy successful careers, they always did their best to spend quality time with the children.
They also made sure to invite family members over regularly so that they would all remain close. Here are some photographs that Eric took of the relatives. (wink)
Eric's Dad David Townsend and his sister Julia:
And his in-laws, Lance and Laura LeBlanc.
And here is a shot of Nicholas, Pamela, and Pamela's sister Larissa.
Shortly before Nicholas' teen birthday, they had been able to afford a new house with enough bedrooms for all 3 of the children.
Nicolas' teen birthday party was a smashing success. Everyone had a good time. Here is Nicholas chatting with Uncle Duane Kapello (husband of Julia, Eric's sister).
Some people may have had TOO good a time. Pamela's sister Larissa was seen dancing on the kitchen counters after having a bit too much juice at the juice bar. It's a good thing their prim and proper mother didn't see this!
Finally the guests all went home. Nicolas got a guitar for his birthday and it wasn't long before he was pretty good at playing. Perhaps a career in music was in his future!
Here is another pic of family taken at the party: Eric's sister Julia with her husband Duane Kapello.
And here is a photograph of Eric, Nicholas (who refused to turn around and face the camera), and Kaitlyn that was taken by Pamela (wink, wink).
The next weekend Nicholas threw a teen party when his parents left for a business trip in New Orleans. Unfortunately, his friends thought his party was lame. (Kind of like this story, heh heh.) Oddly enough, it was his sister Kaitlyn that got in trouble for leaving the house in a mess, and she's the neatest sim in the family! Nurturing Pamela forgave her since she got busy doing the family laundry.
Time seemed to fly. Eric and Pamela found themselves getting more and more work in the big city of New Orleans. Days were busy with work and family. Here's Pamela with Nicolas and Kaitlyn, and Eric watching television with Sean.
Eric and Pamela threw another family birthday party when Nicholas aged up to young adult.
After the twins graduated high school, they began talking about moving to New Orleans but decided to keep their home here since the children planned to stay and all their other family members were here.
So instead, they decided to purchase a second home there. After many years of hard work and sacrifice, both of them were highly sucessful, with grown children who were happy and healthy, so they felt this was a good choice for them and the family. They are both still very much in love and looking to take their careers to the next level in order to meet Eric's lifetime wish to have his own gallery. So New Orleans, here we come!
