Family Reunion

A family reunion on my wifes side. At the beautiful
log cabin of her cousin Billy in Leroy, Michigan. It is about 160 miles from our
house.
 
The house is a stunner. It is set on 40 acres in
the woods, and has a gravel pit out back that they hope to make into a pond. A
couple of horses in the barn, a 3 car garage that matches the house, and 2-3
four-wheelers to tear around the grounds. One of the few places I've been to
that gives me house envy. He still has some finish work to do on the place,
but it is really pretty.
 
And then you go inside.....I counted everything so
I wouldn't miss anything. In alphabetical order...1 full badger, 1 full bear, 2
half-bears, 3 bear-skin rugs (all the rugs were on the walls), 1 full
bobcat, 1 bobcat rug, 11 deer heads (all bucks with great racks), 2 elk (again
with the horns), 1 full fox, 1 full otter, 1 giant tom turkey, and 1 wolf
rug. That was just on the main floor. I didn't even go downstairs. A massive
stone fireplace, and double log staircases going upstairs. WHEW! That made me
tired. It always makes me feel like I'm in a National Park Lodge out
west.
 
It was good to see all of my wifes cousins. They
come from as far away as Washington state, and from as close as a mile
away. We've got farmers, cowboys, engineers, teachers, tree-farmers, retirees, and plenty
of nurses.
 
The rain of the day put a little damper on things.
A lot of people usually get out, and do some biking and 4-wheeling. A few years
back, I even built a sand castle in the gravel pit. Plus...I always go to the
pit, and steal a few medium sized rocks. Not this year. Maybe next.
 
A nice day. Always nice to be around good family.
Stopped in Clare, Mi., on the way home at a bakery called Cops and Doughnuts. Us
boys ( brother-in-law Steve) had the bacon squealer. A long doughnut with maple
icing, and 2 strips of bacon. Different, but good.
 
That's me in the green shirt. I used the
self-timer, and had to get in on the end. My wife Lisa is in the
black-and-white, sitting next to the patriarch Uncle Walt-a real
character.