A glimpse into the past and future plans

A mini Hilman reunion

Harlan's brothers, Clint, Dennis and Howard and his sister, Anita all got together a couple of Sunday's ago. Clint's wife, Judy, and Dennis' fiancee, Marilyn, and I were there too. Marilyn had us all over to her place for a shared meal and lots of shared memories of the place where the older 4 of this group of  siblings lived for a bit of their childhood.

Clint brought an incredible amount of dahlias to share. He made up four big bouquets and still had flowers to poke in here and there around the room. Next year I want to get over to Clint and Judy's to see these glorious flowers growing there.

 Marilyn and Dennis are going to be married on Jan 1, 2014 in Florida.

The brother's chatted

 These three guys live in the local area and really should be getting together on a semi-regular basis. It was wonderful having Dennis' visit as a catalyst to get them reconnected.

They used to meet for breakfast back in the day.

On this day we were going to sit down for a "light supper" which turned into quite a feast with fresh corn on the cob, chicken, rice, veggies and salads.

Reminisce 

So many of the things around there made me think of the magazines up in Goldendale that their dad used to subscribe to.... Reminisce. What an incredible history of this place they shared memories of. Everything from the hooks that are still hanging on the wall in what is now a woodshed but was the dressing room of their sauna, to the chicken barn where thousands of eggs were gathered and sold to support their family of 10.

Marilyn's late husband Leslie had several old vehicles on the property. This old Ford was in the barn where the Ray Hilman's housed their cow.

"See the tree how big it's grown"

 Anita had a lot of memories of visits from Aunts and Uncles and posing near or beneath some of these trees.

This is a cherry tree that was photographed in full blossom with young Hilmans standing near it in the late 1940s. 

Back in the house for more visiting and dessert

Howard brought a photo book made by his daughter, Tiffany, of his recent trip to the beach with all of his kids an grandchildren.  

 Marilyn's daughter made an amazing scrapbook with pictures of her family ancestors. Some of which are shared with Harlan's family since Marilyn's dad was Harlan's first cousin, Wes.

I'm confused too so don't ask!

In everything give Thanks

I do want to thank Marilyn and Dennis for initiating this get together. 

What a cozy time of sharing: good food and family.

Thank you! Thank you!