The Fun Cousins

I love my cousins. They are a fun bunch of people. On Monday, they drove from southeast Texas to Wichita Falls to bury their grandmother. They drove in convoy style – I have to say "convoy" rather than "caravan" because Uncle Bob is retired military. It took them 12 hours - stopping in "every town!" I’m sure it wasn’t EVERY town, but it would have made me crazy. Instead, they were all smiles, laughing and teasing each other. They all have such great attitudes and genuinely like each other! Several years ago in DC at Uncle Bob’s veteran’s reunion, Jesse and I had to ditch The Barker Clan in order to see the sites. Jes and I wanted to see everything we could in the short amount of time, but nothing gets that herd moving unless they want to move – not even a border collie like me.

Although yesterday was a sad affair for them (losing their grandmother) they were still fun. At the funeral, several spoke out when given a chance to say a few words – causing laughter and tears. And even though we don’t see them very often, we come together as if we had never been apart. The teasing and picking is sometimes a bit mean, but hey, it is what it is. The stories that are told on each other are hilarious. I had a great time with them and will miss being with them.

Jesse took some photos, since I forgot my camera. I chose to show you herd pictures, because of the smiles and fun. Various cousins left to right: Morgan will graduate from A&M in May - smart and beautiful, Johnny, his dad John (one of those Aggie alum's you call "boss" 'caus he is so dang impressive), Mario, Gina, and Elana - the Italian cousins. Me and Pam (she lives in Hawaii – notice the great tan). Uncle Bobby and his favorite great niece. Handsome Mario who just graduated from LSU with some sort of IT degree, his sister Elana who plays college softball - how cool is that! and cousin Johnny who just got his driver's license. There were quite a few other cousin pics I could have posted, but this will probably do for now.