We Are Family...

...brothers and sisters are we. Eric's brother and sister both live in the same town in Oregon. It's hard to have siblings that live far away....but it sure is nice when they come to visit! Chris and Shelly were in town a couple of weeks ago. They brought their youngest daughter Hannah and Hannah's friend Maura.

Shelly is a beautiful woman, inside and out....with a singing voice to match. She sang two songs during the church service when they were here. Chris accompanied her on the guitar....what a treat!

After church everyone sort of gravitated down to the river at the cabin. Shelly thought that she had found a nice quiet place to read...Hah!...not with all of these relatives around!

Dan and his daughter Becca had driven up for the day. They were dog sitting so they had a couple of little friends with. Chris was there, Eric was there.

Jones from the Dog Reunion fame wanted to check out the water. He thought it was fine!

The kids did too. There is a piece of an old dock there that had found it's way to the bank one spring. Chris added some foam to the bottom so it floats just enough to have fun.

Billy, Hannah and Maura spent a lot of time on their raft.

Half of the fun was to see who could get flipped off the raft. Cousins playing in the water...what a happy sight.

The little dogs thought it looked fun too.

They decided to run up to Jones and tell him how fun it looked. Why do little dogs always think that they are actually big dogs?

Jones didn't know what to do...he thought that Shelly looked like a safe haven, so he took his wet self and sat down really close for protection.

Dawn and Jeremy told Jones that Shelly didn't really need him sitting with her on her beach towel.

"What did I do? It was those little dogs causing all the ruckus!"

As with most family get togethers, the stories started being told. Lots of reminiscing and laughter.

Some of the tales were tall. Dawn, Jeremy and Logan seem to be taking it all in.

Well, maybe not Logan, he's looking a little sleepy....or most likely bored.

More stories, more laughs....remember when?...

....is there anything more boring to a kid than listening to grown-ups go on and on and on and on....

Oh brother, how can they talk so much?

I think I'll take a little nap on my daddy's head....na-night. And he was out.

We ended the day in the cabin, with more catching up on each others lives. Chris gave Brian some guitar pointers...

...and all too soon it was time to say good-bye. A year is a long time to be away from family! We cherish the time we have.