Grandma Ruth

Chris' grandmother, Ruth Hemingway turned 90 on April 11th. They don't have a lot of family around Boise, just Chris and I, the kids and his parents. Ruth grew up back east, they have lived in Vermont, as well as Indiana and Michigan. So, Polly, my mother-in-law decided to have a big blow-out and have a family barbeque on April 11th and then an open house on the 12th. She invited all the family that we've met over the years, and a lot that we've never met. Ruth only has one sisters left (Aunt Ida), who is a real character. If she doesn't like your point of view she pretends she can't hear you. It's interesting. Well, normally Chris is hear to entertain her, they argue like crazy. Guess what, not for this party (it was held while he was in Europe). So, there's nothing like helping to entertain many out of town family members, that you've either never met, or only met a couple of times. I just thought I would share some pictures.

This is Chris' cousin Valeria from Dallas, Texas with Ruth's sister Ida from Florida. Valeria is Polly's (my mother-in-law) only sister, Shirley's daughter.

This pictures of Carter and his cousin Valeria (it's a name that is common in the family, in fact there were 4 women with that name in town for the party). She is Ida's daughter Valeria's daughter. We all call her Ya-Ya.

This is my sister-in-law Kathy (she is married to Chris' brother Greg) and his cousin Andreas. He is Shirley's son. He and his sister were born in Greece and have a very long last name, which I can never remember.

From the left, Ida's daughter Valeria, Ruth, the birthday girl, a family friend from Indiana (I want to say Amy, but I'm not sure) and Ruth's great-niece Melanie.

I have to say that it was an interesting experience. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins and meeting new people. Carter only had one meltdown during the party. He came into the house, while I was refilling all the food and screamed at the top of his lungs that he hated all these people and wanted them to go home RIGHT NOW!! I found out later that he is not a fan of one of the women that was there (she was trying to tell him what to do at his Grandpa Pete's house, and he wasn't going to put up with that).