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JUST RETURNED FROM A brief vacation back in the Beautiful Valley, where I and my "I do" man spent time with many family members. Okay, yes, he's my husband; and yes, the family members were all extended relatives of his (and mine, due to "I do") --descended via his maternal grandparents; and certainly yes, as you've no doubt deduced, it was a family reunion.





I'll tell you why I like this family and why my weekend was quite well-spent: One-- The members of this clan enjoy being together, which means that they all get along, they like each other. They have these reunions every two years and most of those who can make it attend each time. Two--They generally find good places to meet, always where we are served our meals and don't have to be scrounging around and spending time in a kitchen. Three: They like to laugh. Maybe it got passed along in the DNA--these people love to have fun! Jokes and story-telling abound, as well as stunts to produce more laughter, so that, you know, there'll never be a shortage of stories to tell and more amusing stuff about which to reminisce.


Four: Do whatever you please, as far as how you spend your time at the reunion. If you want to squirrel away and do your own thing, no one seems to be offended. Possibly that's because

there are always plenty of people to join in the excursions (are you kidding? always excursions --this past weekend it was antique shops, Amish stores, road-side stands, gift shops, a winery--the beautiful valley had them all, and the van-load of women [yes, well, the men aren't as big on this kind of jaunting] investigated as many as possible). If one prefers to stay put, one can always join the league of jigsaw puzzle-piecers. Or sit on the porch and chat (where much of the laughter occurred), or study the table of family history albums and geneologies. Whenever hunger strikes, one can cruise the snack table; alas, I neglected to capture a picture of that. Too bad--it was impressive!




Equally impressive, I thought, was the hummingbird that came to the feeder at the porch, and just look at the shot I got of her.










When it came time to say goodbye to the grand view and the people who had enjoyed it for the past two days, it seemed a little too soon.







So we drove very slowly out the quite awesome tree-lined driveway, making it a shorter time until the next get-together with these dear folks.












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