Updates
and
The 2008 Gregory Family Reunion
Here is an update to yesterdays Good News Bad News..........This is The Hubs under the sink at 9 pm Monday night trying to find where the water was coming from as it was leaking (more like running) all over the kitchen floor. I called and left a nastygram voice mail to the install company last night. We will see if they call me back this morning.
As far as the mailbox.............The Hubs got a new half ass one put up last night. He was so happy with his handy work he's all about tearing something else apart now and "fixing" it. I probably need to hide some of his tools! I'm going to the post office this morning and waging war on our crappy delivery guy. I have been complaining about his half ass, stinky cigarette smelling, mail delivery skills for 2 years. This is the last straw!
On a happy note..............My mother left me a loaf of banana walnut bread this weekend. I found it in the trailer last night. My mother makes THE BEST banana bread. It's a comfort food for me. This morning while I was loading pictures on my blog, I made myself a cup of nummy tea and sliced up some bread and LATHERED it with Brummel and Brown. It almost makes the leaky dishwasher and shitty mailman tolerable.
This was Charlie's position all day yesterday. I put him on his long red leash and opened the doors to the sun room so he could go in and out all day on his own. He never moved from the sun room love seat yesterday. Well, he moved once when Franklin brought me a little rodent prize in the house and I started saying "No Franklin" "No Franklin" Charlie jumped up and chased Franklin and his little prize out of the house. Preventing yet (this happens about 3 or 4 times a week) another rodent rodeo in the house. Thank you Charlie!
Now on to highlights of The Gregory 2008 Family Reunion. I know ya' all have been dying to see pictures and hear all about it. I'll try to keep it short.
The mobile estate set up and ready to receive visitors. This was it's debut at the family reunion. The Hubs and I first time campers at the reunion. We usually stay at a hotel.
How cute is this??? Oil cloth table cloth with denim padded seats. My elderly uncles and Grandmother love to sit and play cards all day. They always complain about how they could sit longer if their butts didn't hurt. So I whipped this up for them. My Uncle Finas (pronounced Fine -Ass) said it didn't help him win any money but it did feel better. I might be on to something here!
Squirt guns are a family tradition. Everyone carries an arsenal of squirt guns because one never know when your going to be engaged in a huge water fight. This year Princess Spoiled Brat and Zack had the squirt guns out as soon as their little feet got out of the car and hit the park. They were instructed NOT to squirt anyone. That was no fun, but they soon found fun in squirting Charlie who loves the water squirting on him. The kids were laughing so hard it was making the rest of us laugh.
The Gregory Family does love cocktail hour! At 4 pm sharp daily the wine, appetizers, and cocktails are busted out.
The Hubs and Charlie trying out their new chair. WSU Laura had one of these chairs while we were camping in Lake Wenatchee. The Hubs had to have one!
An evening of campfire and cocktails with Art and Patty (cousins) their dog Cody who was the best dog. He sat at their feet almost all weekend and just smiled. It was the funniest thing. My uncle Ron and those are my dads knees and beer. I really am a fabulous photographer!
Princess Spoiled Brat and Zack making faces. I was trying to get a good picture but they just wouldn't cooperate. Below.........another successful kid day. You can tell how good it was by how dirty the shirt is.
Finally it's Saturday...............The day we all wait for..........The potluck picnic!The burgers start cooking, everyone starts bring their favorite dishes out and we start lining up picnic tables and lawn chairs in the eating circle. This year it was very exciting we had a lot of new faces that don't normally attend and the chairs were 3 rows deep . I choose the 3rd row for sitting. This isn't my first picnic and I know there is always TONS of wonderful food. You can't sample everything on just one plate. You have to make multiple trips. Best place to sit for that............the third row!
I wish I would have had my camera handy when a little boy (about 3) got on the picnic benches of the tables and started licking the tops of the desserts. He was just working his way down the bench, taking a lick of each dessert. Wish I would have thought of that! Normally I would have been horrified of that kind of kid behavior but it made me laugh so hard that I thought to myself "ahhhh, what's a little kid spit on my pie?"
The chairs
Lining up for food. The Gregory's love good food. Even Fred the Basset Hound was waiting patiently for something to drop.
The Hubs has been moved up the man chain. He got to cook burgers this year. Of course he was thrilled to bring his grill and cook for the family. He loves cooking on that grill for anyone who will let him. One of the reason I love him!
All of our cooks that day....The Hubs, my dad, my uncle Ron, my cousin Steve. I do belive my Grandmother might have been in the background there telling them what to do.
Little after dinner wine and chatting. This is what we do for 3 days straight............eat, drink and visit.
This is little Penelope. She is my second cousin and she is so damn cute! She was helping unpack the truck.
Bryston and Ruben also second cousins. They are getting so big. Turning in to little men.
This was so funny! All the women were sitting around a table of desserts later in the afternoon, sampling, and swapping recipes. The guys.........standing around and leaning on the garbage cans. It started out just being two guys and pretty soon they were all over there. What do guys talk about over garbage cans? I probably don't even want to know. More like I probably don't care!
These are more cousins. Candace, and her parents Wallace and Rosemary. They are 3 very interesting people. If you get a chance (they are usually very popular)to sit and visit with them I guarantee you will leave that visit informed about something. Candace has a super interesting job that I would love to tell you about but I didn't get her permission to blog about it so I won't. Let's just say she does a job that she was the first woman to do it, she opened doors for other women to do it, now tells lots of people (men) what to do and probably has lunch with Governor Arnold on occasion. She also does a lot of the genealogy for the family and is now doing some DNA projects. Super interesting and I wish I could tell you more about it but.........I didn't really understand it. I wasn't kidding in a previous post when I said alot of stuff is over my head! Rosemary always brings something fabulous. Usually a plate of home grown tomatoes in all kinds of varieties (I love it and look forward to it) and some other wonderful home made garden something. This year in addition to the tomatoes.........pickled asparagus, home canned green olives, and a plate of other home canned delights I missed out on. She is one to slide up next to if you want to know about canning. She is amazing. Wallace........a war veteran and has great stories. The Hubs and him could chat for hours.
This is my Grandmother one of the last kids alive from the Gregory Family. She is seated with my cousin Sheri. My cousin Sheri and my mother were young mothers together. We use to do alot with her family when I was a kid. My mom and Sheri use to hang out a lot together with all us kids in tow. One of my favorite memories and stories they tell............Them with all their kids and all the kids they babysat loading up everyday and going to the mall. Between the 2 of them they probably had about 10 kids that they hauled to the Valley River Mall everyday so they could shop. Yet another genetic explanation ..................The need to shop!
Charlie ready to go home! Another fun family reunion. The Gregory Family has been doing this for years and years. My Grandmother couldn't remember how long it's been going on but she remembers being a young girl and going to family picnics. She was 87 this year. I too remember going as a kid and it always being fun. My parents made it mandatory fun as I got older and I'm glad they did. I wish some of the other family members would make it mandatory fun for their kids. There were many years that it was super awkward for me to go but as I have gotten older I have appreciated getting to know my family and seeing them once a year.
One of my favorite Great Uncles, Greg passed away this last year so it was odd not having him there. He usually was the life of the party. We missed him terribly.
It was great to visit with my other cousins. I always enjoy seeing everyone and catching up with Carrie and Clark, Angie and Jim, and this year I got to connect with some of the younger relatives. Katlin is starting her second year at Cornish here in Seattle this fall, I'm hoping to get to spend some time with her this fall and winter. Carrie and I invited ourselves on the annual crabbing trip in November to the Oregon Coast that some of the other relatives make. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again then instead of once a year. Angie has decided that we need to start writing down some of these great potluck recipes, canning recipes, and cocktail recipes that show up each year. The Gregory women are really fabulous cooks. So this year she is going to work on a cookbook. I'm very excited about that!
Well I tried to keep it short but it was such a good time it's hard. Thanks for letting me ramble on and share my family reunion with you.
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