Visit from a Cousin

This was first thing this morning.  Can you tell who the morning people are in the photo?  HaHa!

On the far right is my cousin.  Let me see if I can explain this relationship better....

My great grandmother was this cousin's grandmother.  My grandfather was her mother's half-brother.  Don't you just hate it when people talk like this and start trying to explain relationships?

I had never met this cousin before; although, there were photos of her as a young child and Christmas cards from her family amongst my mother's things.

When this happened (please read the link, so you'll truly understand), I found that because my mother was an only child, we, my grandmother's descendants (my siblings and I) would be the only ones who would really care.  It also hit me that I don't know my mom's side of the family at all.  I felt that I needed to get to know them.  I decided that my family would go to Spokane during spring break and would invite all that we could find of the Stegner family to meet us there.

Well, to make a long story short, Carol came from Boise for the last three days to help organize the family reunion that will now take place in June, not March.

I watch my  kids every year when we arrive at our family reunion and how they pick up where they left off with their cousins.  It's magical.  I feel like I had an experience akin to this with Carol.  I enjoyed my time with her immensely.  I'm so glad she came and was sad to see her go.