Colorado Trip - day 2

So after our exciting airplane ride, we slept for a few hours and rose the next morning to head to northern Colorado where Clankeeper's family lives. The family scheduled a family reunion/picnic but since the weather was not ideal, they moved it inside a community center. Good idea, since they got about 2 inches of rain the day before and it did rain while we were reunioning!

The family provided a wonderful potluck and we were able to sit and chat with Clankeeper's mom, brother, sister and brother in law, nieces, a nephew, an aunt, cousins and 2nd cousins. We weren't the only "strangers" since some of the relatives introduced themselves to each other. They all live within an hour of each other but it was Clankeeper's grandma who used to have everyone over to her house for holidays and after she died I guess they don't gather all together very often.

After lunch and chatting, we went to Fort Collins and checked into our hotel and settled the children, who were thrilled to watch cable TV, which we don't have at home. Clankeeper and I went back to met with his siblings and cousins at their grandmother's house, which contained misc. items that we were invited to go through and remove items to remember her by. It is so sad to see the treasures of someone who has died...things that were special to them but now you have no idea why. What was the story behind that figurine? Why did they keep the butter churn? So many stories and no one to tell them. The whole experience was uncomfortable and sad to me.

There were some wonderful photos that brought tears to my eyes, even though I did not know Clankeeper's family well. We are hoping those will be scanned and shared with us. I was drawn to the old books. They are planning on selling the valuable ones, which saddened me. I realized that I did not see those books as dollar bills but as stories my children could read and enjoy. We love to go to book sales, yard sales and thrift stores in search of those wonderful old stories that have old fashioned values, a rich vocabulary and wholesome storylines. Our eyes light up at finding those treasures...not for their resale value (since we never sell our books anyway) but because of their value in instilling imagination and wonder in our children.

I found an old Princess of Oz by Baum that had black line drawings inside. If you have seen them you know they look perfect for coloring, which is what some young child had done. I didn't know who until later when Clankeeper's mom confessed it was her. That is a memory I would like to give my children...a book their grandma colored when she was a little girl. I am hoping that one doesn't make the cut and they will send it to us after the appraisers look at it.

After the walk through of the house, we went back to the hotel and had pizza with our children and watched TV together. We had two rooms - A king bed and fold out couch in our room, which we shared with the little girls, and 2 queen beds and a fold out couch in the other room that the 4 boys shared with Merry getting the couch. We all headed to bed early, since we were bushed.