OK … this is a couple of days old so ignore any references to yesterday and tomorrow. They are relevant. Actually, I wrote this on Monday.

The title explains everything about yesterday. A throng of people showed up throughout the day, culminating in a joyous reunion between an Aunt and a Niece. At one point in time the following people were milling about our home talking, running, playing, and sitting quietly when possible:

Jean, Jack, Wynette, Me, Gary, Kathie, Jeff, Heather, Kristie, Daniel, Jennifer, Scott, Whitney, Cole, Cedric, Lydia, Jeran, Emilie, Gilligan, Kaia, Baylee, Jerrie, & Brooklyn. That’s about 23 folks ranging in age from 87 to 3. I think they are in chronological order as listed, oldest to youngest, but there’s a distinct possibility I’m wrong because I don’t know the ages of Gary, Kathie, Kristie, Scott, or Whitney. I just guessed where they may fit on the list.

At this point I must confess that I had a lengthy dissertation about this topic completed and it was fine until I decided to add some photos. That’s when WordPress failed me completely. The photo upload failed and all those pretty words simply disappeared. There was no draft to recover, either. Consequently, I have to recreate this from scratch and it’s not as much fun as it was the first time. You may find it boring, full of useless information like most of my other posts.

The day began with church, like normal, then things got complicated as we prepared for our guests. The occasion was to welcome Kathie and Gary who were spending the night with us on their way back to the Sacramento area from Tacoma. Gary is from Tacoma so knows his way around in those woods through which, we were told, he forced Kathie to hike so she could enjoy the beauty of the area. Sadly, it was about 20 degrees so Kathie was more concerned about freezing than enjoying the stellar views. We were happy that our temperature was all the way up to 29 when they arrived at 5 pm.

Before the honored guests arrived, the house filled with everyone but them beginning with Daniel, Jennifer, Cedric, Lydia, & Jeran. They were followed shortly by Kristie, Cole, & Emilie. Using iPhone’s auto correct Emilie was initially called Emilio and it was quickly correct. Not before I was rendered confused, however. Kristie quickly corrected that so I was able to call her by name upon their arrival.

Then Jack & Wynette arrived, followed by Jeff, Heather, Gilligan, Baylee, & Jerrie. Jerrie, the little one, was escorted from the premises within the first 15 minutes due to the fact that she had fooled her parents into believing she was potty trained so they didn’t bring diapers. She revealed her deception while standing in the middle of the kitchen. She’s not bashful.

Last to arrive were Scott, Whitney, Kaia, & Brooklyn who had the least distance to cover since they live right next door. Since they were late, they were relegated to the basement with all the kids. They were OK with that.

Slowly, our guests drifted away using excuses like, “we have an hour drive ahead of us,” or “I have homework to finish,” and “my hip hurts.” They were all valid excuses, I must admit.

At one point I brought up the carved shark cribbage board that was given to me by Kathie’s Dad, Gene, while we lived on Guam. At the time, Kathie was attending high school on the neighboring island of Saipan, 120 miles away. She didn’t know about the shark which was given to me so I could give it to my Dad, Jim Sr. and was returned to me when he passed away in 1992, or 2001 when my Mom, Ruth, passed away. I’m a little hazy on that. Jim Sr., and Ruth are Jack’s Mom and Dad, too. Not everyone knows that.

The shark was used by Jack and Gary to determine the West Coast Champion. Jack has been the Oregon champion for many years having whipped the Washington champion without breaking a sweat in 1967. I’m just guessing at the year so it may be wrong. Jack won the game and was declared the West Coast Champ because though Gary is originally from Washington he currently resides in California near Sacramento and Kathie.

The evening ended with all the higher level cousins visiting when Jack declared his hip was beckoning him home but it was gold so Wynette insisted he warm up the car first since the temp had dropped to the low 20’s. He did so, and even moved the car into the driveway from across the street. We visited for another hour or so before Jack remembered the car was running out front so he and Wynette rushed out to ensure it was indeed warm. It was.

This morning we had to completely disrupt our daily routine by getting up at 0600 in order to make it to Scappoose by 0700 so we could eat breakfast and Gary and Kathie could be on their way south by 0800. We went to Ichabods because we know the cook, jeri, and she makes a mean meal. Right after ordering our meals Kathie discovered that she’d left her phone in one of our chargers at the house and insisted that Diane retrieve it for her so her meal wouldn’t get cold. Diane, being the consulate host, complied and scurried back to St. Helens for the phone. She was only gone about 30 minutes and was able to complete her meal with we other three. Then we bid adieu to our guests and headed home.

Diane made me work the remainder of the day so now I’m tired. Before I go, however, I’m going to try adding photos again. Then I’ll quit.