Indiana

Next, the girls stayed with Grandpa and Grandma while Gerald and I went to a conference in KC which was both intense and wonderful. I was able to do a talk on raising kids overseas which was really fulfilling. By the end of the time, we were exhausted but renewed. Then we stayed a few days with our dear friends Robert and Verla Dick in Topeka where we debriefed and they listened - what gracious friends! During that time we went through our storage. Happily for you, we did not take pictures of all our boxes!

Next, we drove up to Indiana with Gerald's parents to enjoy a lovely Clemmer family reunion for a few days (Gerald's Mom's side). On the far right is Galen, Gerald's cousin. Next to him is his wife Eileen and then their brood - Michelle, Julie, Sherri & Jeff with their families. This is the family that hosted us. They did an amazing amount of cooking, planning, hospitality, etc. etc. We are soooo grateful to them!
Gerald's cousin Martin & Tracey with kids Eric & Erin - all the way from Pennsylvania. We tried to talk Martin out of his white socks, but to no avail :)
Then there's Rodney and Bonnie with their kids - Krista and "little" Rod (who has obviously outgrown his title) and their families. The little girl was practically glued to her grandma the whole time!

Who could this coordinated red-and-blue family be?
Here are Gerald's uncle's four boys. This is definitely the side of the family Gerald resembles! The younger three brothers all came from PA. (Vernon and Karen didn't have their daughter and family along so I don't have a picture of them by themselves.)
Here's what is on the other side of all these pictures! We played, ate, splashed in streams, ate, swam, ate, played kickball (girls against boys -of course we let the guys win to help their self-esteem), ate, threw water balloons at each other . . . well you get the idea!