Family Reunion

For the past couple of weeks we have been consumed with our tri-annual family reunion.  We drove our Subaru to Bernalillo (just past Albuquerque) on the first day and that was fairly uneventful in a good way.  Second day we headed up the mountain to Cuba NM and entered the snow band.  It gradually got worse as we went along.  By Dove Creek it was getting bad.  The problem was that we had full control in our excellent Subaru, but others didn't.  We saw lots of cars in the borrow pit.  We were held back by folks going too slow.  And then we came to a halt at "Hole in the Rock", where a truck spun out on a grade and blocked the road.  We were stuck there for about 1.5 hours.  Fortunately there is a rest area right there. 
     We got to Wallsburg shortly after it got dark and all was well.  People started arriving shortly  after.  As the house filled up, the small kids became a moving force.  At least three times they were all downstairs when the word came for them to come up for a meal or whatever.  Suddenly they were boiling up the stairs like fireants coming out of their mound after you kick it.  They just kept coming, and coming, and coming.
   Our kids did a fabulous job organizing fun activities.  Example:  we had a karaoke night.  Liz was excited by that one and she ordered costumes for us.  She got dressed up as Cher, with a long, black wig and a black sequin dress.  I got a hippy outfit, also with wig, flowered bellbottom pants and matching jacket.  It had fake mustache, but I forgot to put it on.  After we sang "I got You Babe", little Chase came towards us slowly, leaning forward while staring and finally said, "Grandpa????"  He was really confused, but he felt a lot better when I took the wig off.
    We had two nights of TED talks.  First for the adults.  My topic was "So you want to write a memoir?"  Liz presented good info on Religious Freedom.  Mark discussed metrics - how to measure things.  Angela gave a great talk on how to analyze plots of movies and books.  And so on.  The next night the teenagers and little ones took their turn.  That was fun too.
  There was lots of snow, so we had sledding outings.  And, of course, we had to shovel the stuff.  Friday was the big day where we roasted a lamb on a spit over a charcoal fire.  The food was amazing.  The lamb is a cultural heritage thing for us.  Liz's father was born in Croatia, in the former Yugoslavia, where roasting lamb is a traditional celebration feast.  We had it with Pogacha, Aurignacha, and salad.  We left out the sarma, and polenta this time, but there was plenty for everyone.  That night we had over 50 people eating with us.
What a wondrous thing to have everyone together for almost a week, and all were happy.