Israel Family Reunion

Wow! The event I've been looking forward to (and dreading) is done. I'm a descendent of Michael Israel (b. ca 1736) and his wife Sarah Graves. Each year some of his descendents get togehter for an annual reunion. The reunion travels around the country (the last four have been in Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and now Oregon). Next year, we're tentatively planning for New York.

So, the reunion is great. These people are wonderful, and we have fun. I was really looking forward to seeing everyone. The dread part was had a lot to do with being this year's host. It seemed like so many things went wrong. there was a mix up with hotel. My first caterer cancelled at the last minute. And I really didn't know what to do with everyone. But the biggest fear was "what if nobody shows up."

In retropecct, the reunion when well.

July 30 - most of the attendees arrived. I had a meeting room available and we spent time greeting each other and catching up. It was a fairly early night. All those east coasters were ready for bed by 9:00 pm. We owe a huge "Thank You" to the Corvallis Applebees for not freaking out when 17 of us showed up for dinner.

July 31 - I planned a trip to Champoeg State Park. They have a great visitor's center, and since most of the family came in from out of state (California, Indiana, Louisiana, Nebraska, Alabama) it was a good choice. Mr. & Mrs. Hinds, who provided costumed interpretation were awesome! We ate lunch at the historic Butteville store. Dianne and her crew did a great job of providing lunch for all 23 of us. And Judy at the Newell House Museum welcomed us graciously without prior notice (I didn't think we'd have time to visit).





August 1 - About 15 of us made a quick trip out to North Palestine Cemetery this morning. I told about the family branch that came west. This afternoon was some scheduled downtime/visiting/sharing. I had to get things ready for dinner. I owe Kendra and her crew at Bo-Mack's Barbeque for saving the family dinner. When my other caterer flaked, they very graciously stepped in and fulfilled our needs. The food was excellent! And I really appreciate all the work put in by the team at the Corvallis Holiday Inn Express getting the banquet room all set up on such short notice.




As I said, it was a great reunion. Definitely a success, which I'm greatful for.

Marionberries!

The marionberries have been exploding over the last couple weeks. Mom's made jam and pies while freezing more for future pies, and giving berriees to friends and family. The berries at Mom & Dad's house descend from the berries my grandparents had more than 30 years ago.

Marionberries are my absolute favorite. They're both tart and sweet. There's a bit of a surprise in every bite, which I love. I don't love picking them. They have these really nasty little stickers. It's the legacy of the marionberry's ancestor, the himalayan blackberry. Sometimes you don't know you've got a sticker embedded in a finger until it festers a few days later.

Unfortunately, marionberries mean that summer is almost over. In a couple weeks I'll be headed back to school and a new crop of students.

New Passport

It's here! My new passport arrived in the mail yesterday. I'm happy to have it, even though no trips are planned right now. I guess I need to start saving my pennies and plan to go somewhere and have some fun.

Sisters Quilt Show

I'd never been to the Sisters Quilt Show. I'm not a quilter, so this event (which is a really big deal to quilters) was not on my "must see" list. Don't take me wrong, there's nothing wrong with quilting, and if I didn't have creative outlets elsewhere, and I was somewhat talented with a sewing machine, I might try it. But I digress....

I had no plans for the weekend, so the parents said "Pack a bag and come along. We'll hang out in Sisters, and do whatever we want." So that's what I did, and we were off to Sisters on Friday morning. The weather was beautiful. We saw some truly gorgeous quilts. Man, are people talented or what? I had a chance to see some of my cousins. It was a good weekend. But most of all, it made me appreciate all hard work that must have gone into those old quilts my grandmother and great-grandmother made. Man. I would never have the patience.

Aunt Bess

I got a call from my dad this morning that Aunt Bess pass away last night. It was not totally unexpected. Her life had been long (96 years) and full. She has children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren surviving her, as well as nieces and nephews.

Aunt Bess would be the first to say that living a long life is hard. I remember one conversation where she now understood how her mother must have felt outliving most of her peers. Granny, my great-grandmother died at 93, after being a widow for more than 30 years.

Bess was sharp. She had trained as a teacher, and the conversations were never dull. Her sense of humor was always in play. But she was the last link to the past. My grandmother, Bess' sister has been gone almost a decade. Losing Bess is not just the loss of her, but the loss of memories of the generations she remembered all the way back to our Oregon Trail pioneers who Bess and Grams knew well.

Raspberry Picking

The fresh berry season continues. Today the parents, sister and I headed out to Childer's Raspberry Farm east of Albany and picked 29 pounds worth of beautiful, giant, red berries! Mom took most of them home, made jam and froze the rest. I kept a few for eating. In fact, I'm chowing down as I write this post.

A week at the lake

The parents and I spent the week at the lake. It's nice to just sit...and do nothing. Well, not exactly nothing...we took walks, fished, took boat rides, swam, ate, napped, read, laid in the sun (Mom worships the sun. Love that Vitamin D!) You get the picture. After all, what else are you going to do camping in places without electricity, wifi and cell service?

The 4th of July is always interesting at the lake. We're surrounded by forest, so fireworks are pretty much a no-no. One year fireworks set a forest fire. Another year, some idiot used gasoline to light the bridge on fire. Luckily the bridge is concrete. This year we saw some really beautiful fireworks, then we saw sheriff's deputies hunt down the offenders (These were not legal Oregon fireworks) and issued citations.