A good time was had by all

For those of you asking for a report on how the Jimmy buffet went, it was fabulous! It met every single one of my expectations. The food was good and plentiful. The alcohol flowed, but nobody got stupid. The conversation was excellent.

Regrets? Of course. You can't have a gathering without regrets. I didn't get pictures of everyone like I wanted. We had about 74 people here. Please don't be offended if you're reading this and you don't see your picture. I still love you. I was just too lame to get your picture!! Damn it, there's only one of me! I wanted to be everywhere at once.

My friends Marty & Eldy, that we winter with in Florida, drove all the way here from Indiana for the party. I wanted to be with them the whole entire time. I feel so bad I couldn't. Oh it's purely selfish. They're awesome people. Just a joy to be with and I was blessed when they entered my life. I wanted to spend the whole entire day with them instead of the few minutes I actually got to spend. They were wearing the most awesome parrot hats when they arrived. Second regret, I didn't get a picture of it. Here they are anyway. Eldy on the left, Marty on the right. Marty brought a HUGE gift basket that she wasn't supposed to. God I love people that break the rules! It was full of really groovy stuff that I'll use and always think of them now. Awesome!

This is my long time friend Sherry from town along with her man Ken. I didn't get to talk to her much either, but she lives here. I can see her anytime! My son Joshua was fixing her double strength margarita's. I don't even think she knew I was there!

This is Cheryl, another friend from town. You can see she was right into the theme of the party with her tropical shirt. Behind her are a few of Den's relatives. The white haired lady is Aunt Eileen. Her husband, Uncle Jerry, just passed away about a month ago. I was happy she made the trip. Uncle Jerry and Aunt Eileen have been to every function we've had. Every graduation, every Eagle Scout ceremony, every wedding. If we had it, they were here. It was good to have her here for this.

I didn't have nearly enough time to spend with this couple. This is Elaine & her sweetie Steve. Elaine and I have been friends since 3rd grade. I don't mean casual friends. I mean the most wonderful kind of friend you could ever have in the whole world. The kind of friend that brings 3, count them 3 desserts to your party! The kind of friend that if you don't see each other for a year, you pick up exactly where you left off. The kind of friend you call when you're sad. The kind of friend you call when you're happy. The kind of friend you just call. Of course she drove the 2.5 hours to be with me for this party. That's the kind of friends we are. Oh yes, they did dishes not once, but twice. Now that is a FRIEND!!! This was my first meeting of Steve. I give him a thumbs up. If he hurts my friend, however, I will run his ass over with my one ton, turbo diesel, dooly without blinking an eye. THAT is the kind of friends we are.

These are two of my nieces. Christina (she'll always be Chrissy to me) on the left, and Kerry Lou on the right. Chrissy reminds me a lot of myself. That is kinda scary!

These are our next door neighbors and Chrissy's husband Adam. Elaine, in the blue pants, made the most delicious fruit salad for the party. It's good to have good neighbors! Stefan & Maryann from across the street were here too. I did not get pictures of them. Sighhhhhh.



This is Den's brother Terry on the left, and my oldest son Brian on the right. No doubt setting the world to rights. I've always thought Terry looks a bit like Kenny Rogers. He's good people for sure. He and his wife Tammi have also been to every single one of our family functions. Den has 8 brothers. This one you can always count on. Somehow I missed getting Tammi in the pictures!

This is Virginia and her daughter Stacey. I work with V at Buccilli's. She made this summer so much fun for me. She made me want to go to work and that's no small feat. She also brought a very extravagant gift which she wasn't supposed to! Ohhhhh but I loved it!

Here's a shot of part of the garage. Not a very good one, but a shot.

This is part of my family tree. From left to right we have: Delphia May, my cousin. Liz who married Delphia's brother Paul and now by default is my cousin too. What a great addition to the family she was! Patty, Delphia's daughter and my second cousin. Patty is a lot of fun and we never have enough time to talk! The interesting thing about this picture, and I still can't figure it out, is I'm sure that is my camera sitting on the table!!! So, um, where did this picture come from?

This is my cousin Aaron and his wife Rose. Again, Rose is so great to talk to and I just never have enough time. Rose was a rebel also and brought a gift. What is it with these people? I know the candle she brought smells really good though!!! Aaron's sister Connie and her husband Fred and their children were here too. Connie brought me a gorgeous mum to plant. I didn't get pictures of the family or the plant!

This is Will. He's going to med school in the fall. He's got a twin brother Mark. Most of the day was spent with my trying to figure out if it was Will or Mark at the party! Will is one of the offspring of Aaron and Rose.

We thought we'd get some 4 generation pictures while they were all in the same room! This is my second son Jason, his son Cole, Den and his mom Lucy.

This is my oldest son Brian, his son Mason Richard, Den and Lucy again. Dennis, for those of you that don't know, is really Richard Dennis. Mason was named for his grandpa. How cool is that?

The day after the party my family got together and went out to lunch. Where else but Buccilli's of course! We did have enough food left over, but Buccilli's has the best pizza around and my family from out of town wanted to go there. The young stud that looks a bit like Little Nemo, is my son Joshua. He flew in from Miami for this party. He was hoping we'd get to go there while he was home. We're actually sitting in the same place we had Brian and Tara's rehearsal dinner for their wedding. You see, Buccilli's is more than good pizza. It's a memory for us. We have celebrated many an occasion there. Yep, it's a great place.

These two men are my brothers. Don on the left and Dan on the right. I wanted to get a picture of all three of us but, I guess that brings us to regret 3, or 10, who knows? I've lost count! I have a chance to rectify that though as they're coming next week for another visit. Dan flew in from Reno, NV for this party. Again, how cool is that? He wanted to get together again before he left, so I'll get our picture then.

A shot from the other end of the table at Buccilli's.

What a talent our family has!!!
The party was great, the bonding awesome. It just plain wore some of us out!