Trip to St Louis....

Last Friday, I drove mom and dad to St Louis for a surprise birthday party for dad's sister Jean. We  had a great drive up there, stopping for the night in Arkansas, and having fun at a rest stop along the way. Yes, the Bobbsey Twins are back!

The party was at my cousin Cheryl's house.

She has a great backyard that was setup with picnic tables and games. Aunt Jean arrived, thinking it was just going to be 4th of July BBQ with some friends. She had no idea that all of her siblings would be there! The only one missing was Uncle Richard - we missed having him there.

Aunt Jean was very surprised when she stepped into the backyard!

Here is dad with the birthday girl.

Below are my four aunts:

Louise, Carolyn, Doris, and Jean

And here are all of the 8 kids in the Bess family. Left to right:

Ball (Uncle Richard), Carolyn, CW, Louise, Lyndell, Jean, Darrell, Doris

And then the obligatory funny picture!

This is Aunt Jean with my two cousins, Valerie and Cheryl. Because of the modern wonders of Facebook, I've had the chance to get to know my cousins better. It was great to see them!

One final picture of all the siblings.... This is from 1963. Dad said it was taken just before he left for a mission assignment in Hong Kong. Grandma and Grandpa are in the center at the back with the corsages. Grandpa died before I was born, so I never got to know him. But Grandma was the best, especially with chicken & dumplings, homemade bread & frozen ding-dongs.

Front row, Left to Right: Doris, Louise, Jean, Carolyn

Back Row: Dad (CW), Lyndell, Grandma, Grandpa, Darrell, Richard

The drive back was uneventful, with the exception of one fatal flaw. I ran over a huge snake on this little County Road. And what made it so bad was that I had JUST rolled my window down and put my arm outside. Then the snake happened, and I was really wigged out that I had snake-guts on my arm and my car. Turns out, I didn't, but the heebie-jeebies stayed with me for a while.

Rick asked me if I would have rather run over a bunny rabbit. After thinking that over, I decided that I would! At least that way I would just be sad, but probably wouldn't have the residual aftershocks of the creepy-crawly's.  

I'm quite aware that this blog is quite boring for anyone except my family, so I'll sign off now. But for my family that is reading it, especially the Besses in Missouri, know that I love you and am glad we traveled to St. Louis!  Maybe next time, you can come to Athens. We have lots of room available between mom and dad's house, my house, and a fishing cabin down the road. So consider a visit down our way!