during the night, but we awoke to a beautiful autumn morning!
My Uncle Duane cooked us breakfast and then gave John and the kids a
tour. He gave them a ride on his "popo" around a small part of their
60 acres and the cemetery next door.
My cousin Darren and his family had arrived late the night before, so
it was fun to visit with them and compare Lavender to her second
cousin Decker who is just a week older. He has six teeth while she is
still gummin it! She does scoot around more than him though.
Late that morning we left for Southern Virginia University, a small
LDS liberal arts school. The rolling hills and brilliant fall colors
made for a lovely drive. We were warmly welcomed at SVU and talked
with a number of staff members and one of the VPs. We also took a tour
of the beautiful, historic campus and took a peek at the girls' dorms.
(The rooms are huge and have private bathrooms by the way.)
We ate lunch on campus and then met up with our good friends John and
Nick. We drove to nearby Lexington for ice cream and they told us
about SVU from a student's perspective. We have known these two since
they were just little guys and it was fun to see them all grown up and
independent.
As we headed back to Duane and Sharon's we stopped at a scenic view
spot. Strangely, there was man playing the bagpipes and a woman
wearing a tiger costume/pajamas.
We got back just in time to help Sharon get dinner on the table. My
cousin Melinda and her kids live nearby so we got to see them too!
Lavender and Decker played together until it was time for bed. All
went well except for Deckers enthusiastic hug and kiss which ended
with a scratch on Lavender's head.
It was a nostalgic evening for me. When I was eleven years old my
family moved to southern California and we lived about 30 minutes away
from Sharon and Duane's family. (BTW, Sharon was my mom's college
roommate and she introduced her to Duane!) Our families spent many
holidays and weekends together and I loved being with my cousins. Most
of them live on the east coast now, so I don't get to see them very
often. I was grateful for the chance to spend time with some of the
family. We have some interesting similarities. Darren has a 12 year
gap between his kids (I beat him by 2 years). Melinda and I
comiserated about the difficulties of pregnancy over 40. I still beat
her by a few years too!
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