It's Party Time Coming up in Portland

This evening, Sherry and Barclay will be picking me up to go to Detroit to start our trip to Portland in the morning for a family celebration of Barc's 60th birthday. We will pick up Hannah in Ann Arbor, and Bill, Ann, Norah and Chad will fly out from KC tomorrow. Molly and Doug, here we come! On Saturday night, a big card party is planned with Doug's family which promises to be lots of fun. It makes me so happy that we can all get together even with the distance between us. My camera is going along so I probably will have a few pictures to post when I get home.

Speaking of pictures, here is another old one. This time it's my grandparents with five of their six grandchildren. Jo, Bud and I are on the bench with them, and my older cousins from California, Bob and Ken, stand behind. The only one missing is the little fellow in the baby buggy in a preceding picture. Probably a Sunday afternoon - folks really used to dress up. Notice the rocks in the righthand corner of the picture. My grandfather had two rock fish ponds along that walk - and also a big v-shaped raised rock garden on the other side of the back yard. I remember their yard vividly - it was like a second home to me at their house. I probably mentioned in a post earlier that I grew up with an outhouse (makes you tough) and no telephone. How I loved taking a bath in Grandma's old clawfoot tub when I visited there - but she used Kirk's Hardwater Castile Soap and it made me itch!! Memories! And an added note, today my sister would have been 78 years old. See you next week!

(Click to enlarge)