Wednesday, June 07, 2006

One of the most delightful parts of this past weekend was getting reacquainted with some far-flung relatives, especially nieces and nephews. Sandi and Cindy came from Olympia, WA, and Portland, OR. Debby and her grandchildren, Joshua, Martesia, and Junior came from St. John, KS, as did Debby's sister Sandy and her daughter Cassandra, also from St. John. Part of that same family, Jana, John, and Ellie, now live in Ballwin, MO. And from Louisville, KY, my son Scott, his girlfriend Sherry and his two sons, Jalen and Brayden were here. This was the first time all "Marie's Children" were together since Brother Bob's funeral in August, 2000. The photo that Catrina posted below is one with the seven surviving siblings.

Brother Joe and his daughter Lisa came from Springfield. Bernie and Maudie came from Spokane, WA, and Pete and Janet from Idaho Falls, ID. Donald and Vita came in from Birmingham, AL, for Saturday. They had been in Chicago with three of their grandsons seeing "Sue" the dinosaur and other windy city attractions.

Our cousin Harriet Natale (nee' LaFoe) put Rose in touch with her half-brother Harry LaFoe who lives in Cape Girardeau, MO. Harry and his wife Marian and their son Edward (who lives in Ballwin, MO) came on Saturday to Chris and Shelly's. Harry brought a LaFoe geneology record that was very informative. As best we could tell, all the LaFoe men who aren't named Harry are/were named Edward. Harry and Marian lived for a long time in Monroe, LA, and only moved to Missouri when they retired. They have a second son who lives in Cape Girardeau with his family.

Sandy and Cindy checked in with us today. They were both in Olympia, WA. Pete and Janet called to say they were home in Idaho Falls at 2:00 pm and happy to be there after a long, long drive. Bernie and Maudie are staying on for some days at Cuivre River State Park. Margaret and Norman have joined them, and the four of them are 'roughing' it in their very modern RV's.

One of the plans that evolved over the weekend was to have a get-together next year around the time of Bernie's birthday, June 28, at the Lake of the Ozarks. We'll post more as plans evolve, but please keep the date in mind. We would also like your thoughts and ideas on another gathering.

I am in St. Luke's, having tests and getting some meds adjusted. As Rose wrote earlier, my flu-like symptoms are gone, and I simply want to get out of here. My plan was to go to the Lake on Friday, but as often happens my plans have upended.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is Stef with a small note to say that without all the help we received from Nathan and Jacob and their friends Joe Trout, Christian Anderson, Kym Harke, and our neighbor Drew Blevins the outside preparations for our BBQ would never have been completed. The inside stuff--the food--would never have been completed had it not been for Sally (uncle Bob's widow) and Catrina. A big THANKS, THANKS, THANKS, to all these wonderful friends and family. You are the reason I am not absolutely and completely down and out. I can never truly express how grateful I am. And Chris thanks for stopping for the chips on the way out, even though you had Oliver with you and no top on he car to keep him confined. Guess he has learned his obedience lessons pretty well. Thanks guys.
Love you all.

Anonymous said...

One correction. All the siblings were present at Sabrina's home on the Sunday celebration of Sue's birthday two years ago.