Happy Birthday, Uncle Don

My mom's older brother is turning 80 this fall.
We gathered together this afternoon to celebrate him:

Sibs; my mom is 4 years younger...

(And yes, I know. I look just like her.)


My Uncle Don and Aunt Wendy have owned a terribly cute cabin at the other end of Cultus since 1970; we met there this afternoon.

This is my mom and Uncle Don's favorite aunt: Aunt Agatha...

She broke her leg this summer and just had two pins put in, so she's in a wheelchair for a few more weeks. (For those who are kinda following along and trying to fit all the pieces together; Agatha is my granny's youngest sister. She is only 6 years older than Don and 10 years older than my mom. She was the 'cool' young aunt.
And she's Val's mom.)


This is my aunt Wendy. She's been married to my Uncle Don for 54 years.
She's 76 and went on a 40 day trip to Africa last year.
This year? Her and friend will be going to China and India. For 46 days. With a backpack. To do some hiking and exploring.

I may be a little bit in awe...

This is Cory/ Courtney. My cousin. She looks the same today as she did 30 years ago. Seriously this woman DOES NOT AGE:

This is Mike, and his daughter, Kimberly. Mike's my cousin. (Don and Wendy had two kids; Mike and Cory.)

This is Renee'. She's my cousin Mike's wife. She too looks like an 18 year old.

Kim is holding her cousin, Kai. (Cory's son.) (Cory is married to Mike. Not her brother, Mike, OBVS; a different Mike who couldn't make it out today.)

Oh. And this is Uncle Johnny. He's married to Aunt Agatha. (Val's dad if you're trying to keep this sorted in your mind.) Seconds after I took this pic, he pulled out his wallet and showed me a photo he carries around of Aunt Agatha. "This?" he said with pride, "Is the beautiful woman I married..."

I hail from a family that stays married forever. In richness and not. In health and not.

And that's Julie N with her eyes closed. I have 17 pics of her. ALL WITH HER EYES CLOSED. She's Don's younger brother (Dean)'s wife. So that makes her my aunt. But she's a couple years younger than me, so I don't call her Aunt Julie.

And Jule and Daryl were there too:

Kai, serving me a piece of cake...

I was there too. Took a selfie in their bathroom mirror to prove it.
Haha

We walked to their beach:
(Wendy, her daughter, her grandson)

See that bench?
It was placed there by my uncles, dedicated to their mom (my granny). Apparently my grandpa would 'woo' my granny here. They lived in Yarrow, so this was the romantic spot du jour.

So we all sat on it.
Erhm. The wind was blowing.

Three things I'm thankful for:

1. Family
2. Birthdays
3. This lake which holds alot of memories for my extended family.

Shalom,
xo