I'm Back Blogging!

OK, in the last post I said we're back home. That was about 10 days ago and we've been very busy since then with work and family events.

Last weekend was the Collins' family reunion (my mother's family). This has been an annual event since 1946 when the family gathered to welcome the men and women of the family back from WWII. As a child this was a very exciting event as I got to see aunts, uncles and cousins that I rarely got to see as well as those who were regular parts of my life. This is still a fun event even though the aunts and uncles have thinned out quite a bit and most of my cousins seem to have gotten old. (they'll probably deny that). I can't believe I forgot to take any photos. My Aunt Vivian reminded me that only one aunt was under 80.

This weekend was a marathon of traveling, visiting and eating. We started on Saturday with a visit and lunch with Andrew and Brandi in Winston, near Roseburg.


We had a great visit and as you can see from the photos they are both doing well. The baby is healthy and they recently found out that she is a little girl. Andrew and Brandi and busy researching names.

After leaving their house we drove to Coos Bay in time for Dinner at Cheryl's Aunt Myrle and Uncle Ted's. The guest of honor was Hans (center), who was a high school exchange student with them in the early 1970's. He's from Denmark and travels often in the U.S. (and many other parts of the world) as part of his business and visits Ted and Myrle every few years. It was very interesting hearing his take on the American economy and how Europe is viewing the upcoming presidential elections. We had a great time and as usual Myrle fixed a wonderful dinner. We also got to see Erica who had just returned from a 5 week Spanish immersion course in Mexico.

We spent the night with Cheryl's folks (Jack & Marilyn) visiting until late. Jack forced me to sample his Gentleman Jack's whiskey which he swears is named after him. On Sunday we met Anita (my daughter), Jerry, Sarah and Amanda for lunch to finalize the plan for the girls to accompany us to Canada next week. Cheryl and I spent the next 5 1/2 hours driving back to Portland. The traffic was incredibly heavy. If it's true that less people are driving due to the high cost of gas, this weekend proved that wrong. I could go on and on but I think you get the picture.