SPECIAL UPDATE! Organizing the Ottomas Family

Some of the families in Pleasantview that have been in the blog since the beginning are now so large that I feel a recap of the relationships would be helpful to the reader. As I do updates on the other families in the next couple months I will finish each family section with a refresher chapter on that particular family. This does not mean their story is done, just that the latest update section is closed. However; in this case--the Brian Ottomas family--because I have twice as many chapters as usual on the family, I'm putting their family tree update in the middle of the family section or "round".  I will make the same page as a "static" page as well that can be viewed using a tab at the top of the home page any time.

When Pete and Samantha Ottomas moved to Pleasantview from Crystal Creek they had three children; Dylan, a teenager then, Sharla, in elementary school, and Tommy who was two years old. Living with them was Pete's mother, Doralee Ottomas.

Not long afterward Samantha gave birth to twins Brian and Bridget. The twins were conceived during a love affair before the family moved. The father was Frank Newbie [now deceased], a first cousin of Bobbi Jo (nee Newbie) Broke. Bobbi Jo was the widow of Skip Broke and is now married to Julian Cooke. Pete knew the twins were not his but generously forgave Samantha, adopted them and raised them as his own. Eventually Pete and Samantha also adopted Damon as an infant from the Pleasantview Children's Home.Pete and Samantha when they first moved to P'view;

"Nana" Doralee Ottomas before and after her extreme makeover:

After extensive plastic surgery, hormone injections and intense dieting and exercising, Doralee went on to finish her military career and then moved into a modern house with her granddaughter, Sharla. Alas, the years finally caught up with Doralee and she has passed on to other realms.

Pete and Samantha's children together are just below, Dylan, Sharla, Tommy and Damon. I'm sorry I don't have decent photos of Sharla and Damon. I have not played Sharla in ages and she is in the Sim Bin. Damon has headed to University and I'll be able to get a photo of him there, but I have not had time to play University. So he languishes in the University Sim Bin along with Debbie Boyle Ferguson, Jessamyn and Janice Blackford, Scotti Lynn Ferguson, Lisa Trottier Goth, brothers Shane and Vic Severino, and another set of brothers: Brand and Brooks Generica. Hopefully I can get to them before summer!

                       Dylan                                         Sharla

                        Tommy                                       Damon

                     
Just before Pete and Samantha moved to Pleasantview she had been in a rather torrid and prolonged affair with Frank Newbie. When she became pregnant she told Pete and asked for his forgiveness. He agreed as long as she would never see Frank again and he also agreed to be a father to the child she was carrying. They moved to Pleasantview and eventually she gave birth to twins, Bridget and Brian.

Samantha and the twins' biological father, Frank Newbie:

I was going to use old pictures of Brian and Bridget; they are more easily compared to their parents, whose photos I cannot update. However; I'd like readers to have the most updated photos as they (hopefully) continue to read the blog so I'm including both old and new photos of Brian and his sister. Brian is the younger twin by two minutes. As you can see Brian's resemblance to his late father is quite marked.Old photos of twins Bridget and Brian:

New photos of Brian and Bridget (with the new default eyes and skin):

Updates on the Ottomas family follow. Pete and Samantha are elders now:

 

Oldest son, Dylan, married Elaine Stewart and then bought Club Dante, eventually selling out to Brian, whom he had already made manager. Elaine is the chef at Le Magnifique! the restaurant owned and operated by Lonnie Hammond. Even though Dylan and Elaine may look rather goth and sort of melancholy at first glance, they are both outgoing, happy people always ready to lend a hand to family or even strangers; they are into rock music of all kinds, the nightlife and they enjoy looking offbeat and a trifle exotic. They have never been able to have children, which saddens them since they love kids. (But considering their unfortunate noses, this is probably best...). Meanwhile they continue to enjoy their nieces and nephews thanks to Brian and Meadow.

After living for a few years in a house with her Nana and traveling around the world Sharla moved to France and married a diplomat there. She lives full time in Paris. I have no recent pictures of her either. Will she ever return to Pleasantview and her roots? Not likely, but then again; you never know. When a person has been raised in Pleasantview it calls them back like a siren's song.

Immediately after graduation Tommy moved to California and never looked back. He has a wife and family in San Diego that the family has never even met. Again, whether he will ever return to Pleasantview is problematic.

Damon, as was mentioned, is at University and there are no photos of him there yet. This is one from when he was in high school. Three of the girls at U had crushes on Damon in high school; Debbie Ferguson, Scotti Lynn Ferguson and, if memory serves, one of the Blackford twins.

Brian's twin, Bridget, has never married (so far). She considered herself, until recently, an excellent businesswoman and bought a home of her own. When Brian finally surfaced from his ten year self-imposed exile and came home to P'view, she asked him to move in with her and share expenses. Brian's stay resulted in the somewhat infamous "Brian-and-Lori Romance" where the teenaged Lori Lassiter developed an enormous crush on older man Brian and pursued him for weeks. Finally, not trusting his self-control to last forever, in desperation Brian again banished himself. This time, though, he did not stay incommunicado with his family and visited his parents from time to time when the band was on a break or playing nearby. 

Early chapters concerning Lori and Brian's meeting and ill-fated romance:

The Lassiters Chapter 6 "The Twins Are Growing Up" Part 2 
The Lassiters Chapter 6 "The Twins Are Growing Up" Part 3
The Lassiters Chapter 6 "The Twins Are Growing Up" Part 4
The Lassiters Chapter 6 "The Twins Are Growing Up" Part 5

Brian Ottomas Chapter 1 "His Story" Part 1 
Brian Ottomas Chapter 1 "His Story" Part 2


The Lassiters Chapter 7 "Glenn's Report on Brian"


Brian Ottomas Chapter 1 "His Story" Part 3

The Lassiters Chapter 8 "Wait For Me" Part 1
The Lassiters Chapter 8 "Wait For Me" Part 2


The Lassiters Chapter 9 "Senior Summer"


When Bridget and Brian had a falling out shortly after he left P'view it wasn't that long before Bridget decided to sell her house and move out of state. The Ottomas family does seem to have a tendency to always head for new horizons far from Pleasantview. Especially when things go wrong. Only recently has Bridget come home after financial reverses, both national and personal, brought her down. She has moved back in with her parents and works at a furniture store in Bluewater Village, but she hopes this is temporary. Brian does not speak to her to this day which is extremely unlike him. He has not even discussed it with Meadow and she does not know why he refuses to see Bridget.  And after something that occurs in Chapter 18 (several days from now) he may never tell Meadow what happened. He has not been over to his parents' house since Bridget moved there; he only sees them when they come to his house. Actually way down deep he has come to feel he would like to mend fences with Bridget but after all this time he is not sure how to do it. It's very sad because they once were very close.

Brian and Bridget years ago when they had a house together:

Before Meadow Thayer became Brian's wife she had an infant son, Heath, by Lonnie Hammond. Lonnie didn't know anything about it, but Meadow has just recently told the truth to both Heath and Lonnie.

                                Meadow                       Lonnie Hammond

Their son (and Brian's adopted son) Heath Ottomas:

After Brian adopted Heath as baby, he and Meadow went on to have five more children; Brook, Willow, Rocky, and the new baby twins, North and Raine. Heath and Brook have become teenagers, and Rocky has joined Willow in grade-school, but since that part of the story is not yet published I've used the old photos. I'll be making this into a static page with will always be available and when I do I'll post the newest photos, including the ones with the new default skin and eyes.

Brian and Meadow:

                                 Brook                              Willow

                                                      Rocky

And that is the current news on the Brian Ottomas family. Of course, upcoming chapters could change everything again... 

Next blog update: Brian Ottomas Ch. 17 "Meadow's Surprise"

 

SPECIAL UPDATE! The Lomax-Hammond Family Tree

The Lomax-Hammond family tree is more like a Harry Lauder Walking Stick and it branches out so wide it will be tricky to get it all one one page! 

A couple of these photos (the ones of Meadow and Heath) are "old"; that is, they were taken before I changed the default skin and eyes on my Sims. This has made such a difference with Meadow and Heath that I didn't use the new ones of them with this page. It seems to happen mostly to any Sim with a darker complexion. The new skin creates shadows that add to the 3D illusion, but on the "tan" Sims it makes the area around their eyes very dark, almost bruised-looking. It is weird on toddlers, too, which I'm not happy about at all. Still, I like the look of the new skin, I think it's an improvement overall. But the photos of the Ottomas family are a bit premature and that's another reason I used old pictures of Meadow and Heath. All the other photos are using the new skin and eyes. After the story catches up to the new look I'll swap the two old photos. 

The afore-mentioned Harry Lauder's Walking Stick (Corylus avellana Contorta):

When Larry Max and Jenny moved to Pleasantview their son, Mike, was about 14, Chelsea and Corky were in elementary school and Andy was a toddler.
Larry Max and Jenny.

Mike and Chelsea as adults:

Corky and Andy as adults:

By the time Chelsea was 13 or 14 Jenny was running around on Larry Max while he worked and went to culinary school. Mike went on to University and then Larry Max and Jenny divorced; it was a very nasty breakup. But first, the Lomax children's part of the tree:

Mike married his college sweetheart, Lucy Burb; so far they have no children (but that's going to change soon!)

Chelsea married Trey Lassiter. Chelsea owns and operates Flowers by Chelsea and Trey resigned as mayor and just bought the Galaxy Arcade. At the moment they have no children.

Corky married Elle Broke, adopted daughter of Bobbi Jo (Brandi) Broke. Elle owns and operates the Art Gallery in Bluewater Village, Corky is Dr. Courtney Lomax, a medical researcher. They are childless as of this writing.

Youngest son Andy married Holly Ferguson (Harvey Ferguson's twin sister). They have three children; Arliss and Alexa are toddlers and Bradley is just a baby so no pic of him yet.  They claim they want six children, but I'm sure my nerves can't take it. They have a live-in nanny, Mrs. Georgia Buckley.

Arliss and Alexa:

 Mrs. Buckley:

Jenny married former playboy Lonnie Hammond. Lonnie owns and operates Le Magnifique! a fine dining restaurant in Bluewater Village.

They have two daughters together; Loni Faye and Liara Kaye. As for the tree, Loni Faye and Liara have four half-siblings on the Lomax side and one half-sibling on the Hammond side; none of whom do they know about.

Now the other branch is a little trickier. Unbeknownst to him, Lonnie has a son. Before he was married he dated Meadow Thayer (who was also single then) and she conceived a son, Heath. When Heath was an infant Meadow married Brian Ottomas and Brian adopted Heath and is raising Heath as his son. Lonnie doesn't know about Heath, Heath doesn't know about Lonnie. So far.

Their son, Heath Ottomas. (As you can see, Lonnie has some strong genes while Meadow only seems to pass on her dark complexion, even to her other children with Brian Ottomas).

So...Heath Ottomas has two half-siblings on the Lomax-Hammond side and five half-siblings on the Ottomas side. Again, he doesn't know about his two half-siblings on the one side and he does not know that the siblings he lives with are actually half-siblings. 

Next Update in three days.