Brother and sister reunion

Yesterday started when our propane alarm went off at 4.a.m.  In early afternoon we discovered that we’d towed our Honda 200 miles with the emergency brake on. But life did a 180 degree turnaround that evening when Jim had a reunion with his sister, Cathy.

Cathy and Jim share the same birth day (January 20) but Jim is 3 years older.  They spent most of their growing up years in Yakima, Washington, and Cathy briefly lived in Corvallis, OR, while Jim was going to Oregon State.  Then they lived in different cities in the Pacific Northwest before Jim came to Salt Lake City.  And while Jim and Cathy have been in touch, they had not seen each other for 18 years. 

Cathy moved to south-central Washington’s Kennewick several years ago, and that’s where we visited her.  We went to her beautiful home (love those hostas), Cathy served a great dinner, and she and Jim talked non stop.  

Then today we had a picnic with most of Cathy's family.  It's been a fun two days.

Jim and Cathy in her kitchen.  Cathy is a "handy woman" and recently tiled her kitchen back splash with some great small, glass tile.

From left to right in the back:  Audrey (Cathy's daughter-in-law);  Cathy's daughter Megan; Megan's husband, James; Cathy; Jim and Bev.  Front row:  Megan and James' kids:  8-year-old Gracie, 9-year-old James, and almost 5-year-old Chloe (holding puppy Gus).  It appears that Megan is much better at running and posing while the camera timer is ticking than Bev is. 

Everyone waiting while Bev and Megan set up their cameras.  Cathy also has a son, David (Audrey's husband) but he had to work and couldn't make the picnic.

Jim and Cathy at Hood River Park -- about 13 miles from Cathy's home in  Kennewick -- where we had today's picnic.  It's also the park where Jim and I are camping.