Meet the family

What a weekend! We went to Houston to visit my sister and see our Aunt Bill. Aunt Bill is my grandmother's sister. The only one I ever met. She is a hoot! She and her daughter Elaine were wonderful hostesses. We had a delicious lunch of chicken spaghetti and barbeque and dessert of Apple cake (my grandmother's recipe) and the best sugar cookies I've ever put in my mouth. But by far the best part was seeing Aunt Bill and visiting and hearing stories and seeing pictures of when they were younger.

When we had my grandmother's funeral, Aunt Bill rang the doorbell and I answered the door and I nearly fainted, that's how much she looks like my Nonnie (that's what we called my grandmother). This weekend really made us all think about Nonnie and what she would look like had she lived. I don't know about everyone else but it made me really miss her and remember her - think of things I hadn't thought about her in a long time.

To the pictures: The first one is my mom, Aunt Bill and Aunt Brownie (my Mom's sister). The next one is of the only male present at the 4 generation reunion. That's my Uncle Howard (he belongs to Aunt Brownie) and the patriarch of the family. Then comes my sister Pamela - don't call her Pam or Pammy - it's Pamela, thank you very much. She's the greatest sister ever. The next picture is of all of us women. It's not a great picture, but then, Uncle Howard took it. You can't leave a man in charge of something like that. Aunt Bill's daughter Elaine is the one holding the baby. And the last picture shows Madeline adding another instrument to her repertoire, the organ. She played and sang for us (at the top of her lungs).

It was a wonderful weekend except the travel. Driving with young'uns is anything but fun. Here's a helpful travel hint. When you can't stand being on the road with your children anymore, stop at Dairy Queen and get yourself a Blizzard (my personal favorite is Oreo). You'll probably have to get the kids something sweet, too, but you won't care, you'll be in Blizzard heaven.