While it was a crazy busy week at work, this weekend has been the best! Brandon came home Thursday night, and promptly went to a concert at Hartman Arena. We visited a bit when he got home late that night, and then he came down and met me for lunch at The Beacon on Friday. Kaleb came home Friday afternoon, so we all had a good visit on Friday night. Yesterday, we had a giant cookout at our house with lots of family members. My cousin, Diana and her husband, Tim, were in town from Durango, CO to visit Tim's dad for Easter. She and her family came over, as well as all my family and my best friend, Melody, and we had a wonderful cookout and family time.
I realized after the day was over that I didn't take very many pictures, and even though that makes me sad, it also makes me realize that the family time and visiting was much more important.
We grew up without many extended family members living in Wichita. My mom was an only child, so we looked forward to visits from our cousins in St. Louis and Green River, Wyoming. Uncle Gerald, Aunt Norma and cousins Debbie and Steve from Green River didn't visit much, but we enjoyed it whenever they visited. Uncle Louie, Aunt Coney, and my cousins Marsha, Diana, June, Chris and Robert visited every year from St. Louis, so we were all quite close. My sister Rhonda and I have wonderful memories of singing Monkee's songs with Diana and June. There were several times that Rhonda and I went back to St. Louis for a week or two after our relatives annual summer visit. We have a LOT of fond memories. In the early 90's, we started having a family reunion in Kansas City - about a halfway point for the families. Our last reunion was in 2006, due to the health of my Uncle Louie and my mom. So I didn't see my cousins again until we went to Louie's funeral last August. Lots of tears were shed, but we also talked about the wonderful memories we had. One in particular that we talked about was the time we were visiting St. Louis, and our parents went out for the evening. We were all in the basement of my aunt and uncle's house, and my oldest brother Terry was telling us ghost stories. I don't remember much about the ghost stories, other than a head rolling down some stairs. When we heard strange sounds right after that particular story, we all grabbed assorted protective equipment, bats, shoes, etc. Lo and behold, my oldest cousin Marsha was coming home from work. Let me tell you, she's lucky to be alive today!
It was wonderful to visit with Diana and her family yesterday, her husband Tim, her father-in-law, Alex, her children Kelly, David, Katie and her fiance Tim, and her youngest daughter Danielle. We're now planning a family reunion for 2012 in Wichita, where I hope my other cousins: Marsha, Ernie and their family, June & Thom, Chris & Debbie & their family and Robert can all attend. We always have so much fun when we're together. I won't tell you about the time several of the group (who will remain nameless) got arrested while at our reunion in KC. It was for something petty, and should never have occurred. But none of us will forget it.
Here are some pics from yesterday:
Diana, Mon and Rhonda
All the young'uns playing basketball
Diana's kids: Danielle, Katie, David, Katie's fiance, Tim and the legs of her hubby Tim (HA!)
And the Shocker shirt-wearing group of Kaitlin, Brandon and Corby
It's been a great weekend!
I realized after the day was over that I didn't take very many pictures, and even though that makes me sad, it also makes me realize that the family time and visiting was much more important.
We grew up without many extended family members living in Wichita. My mom was an only child, so we looked forward to visits from our cousins in St. Louis and Green River, Wyoming. Uncle Gerald, Aunt Norma and cousins Debbie and Steve from Green River didn't visit much, but we enjoyed it whenever they visited. Uncle Louie, Aunt Coney, and my cousins Marsha, Diana, June, Chris and Robert visited every year from St. Louis, so we were all quite close. My sister Rhonda and I have wonderful memories of singing Monkee's songs with Diana and June. There were several times that Rhonda and I went back to St. Louis for a week or two after our relatives annual summer visit. We have a LOT of fond memories. In the early 90's, we started having a family reunion in Kansas City - about a halfway point for the families. Our last reunion was in 2006, due to the health of my Uncle Louie and my mom. So I didn't see my cousins again until we went to Louie's funeral last August. Lots of tears were shed, but we also talked about the wonderful memories we had. One in particular that we talked about was the time we were visiting St. Louis, and our parents went out for the evening. We were all in the basement of my aunt and uncle's house, and my oldest brother Terry was telling us ghost stories. I don't remember much about the ghost stories, other than a head rolling down some stairs. When we heard strange sounds right after that particular story, we all grabbed assorted protective equipment, bats, shoes, etc. Lo and behold, my oldest cousin Marsha was coming home from work. Let me tell you, she's lucky to be alive today!
It was wonderful to visit with Diana and her family yesterday, her husband Tim, her father-in-law, Alex, her children Kelly, David, Katie and her fiance Tim, and her youngest daughter Danielle. We're now planning a family reunion for 2012 in Wichita, where I hope my other cousins: Marsha, Ernie and their family, June & Thom, Chris & Debbie & their family and Robert can all attend. We always have so much fun when we're together. I won't tell you about the time several of the group (who will remain nameless) got arrested while at our reunion in KC. It was for something petty, and should never have occurred. But none of us will forget it.
Here are some pics from yesterday:
Diana, Mon and Rhonda
All the young'uns playing basketball
Diana's kids: Danielle, Katie, David, Katie's fiance, Tim and the legs of her hubby Tim (HA!)
And the Shocker shirt-wearing group of Kaitlin, Brandon and Corby
It's been a great weekend!
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Rhonda