Sounding Cliché

Sounding Cliché

I am going to sound cliché here but I just cannot believe how time flies. My “little” cousin Barbara got married to Elias Reyes in Los Banos at an outdoor barn venue on October 5th 2013. Barbara Jean was the first baby I really got to play with, I was nine years old when she was born. When I was small my Aunt Rhonda and Uncle John lived near us in Oregon, the rest of our family lived in California. My Aunt let me decorate Easter eggs and pull out all of her Tupperware. My Uncle John taught me how to Yo-Yo, standing on the fireplace hearth. Later when we all moved back to California they taught me how to swim in the ocean, or rather they taught me the importance of closing my mouth while in the ocean, and they took me to Sea World. During all these fun activities they did not have children of their own and while I completely loved the attention that I received from them it was a wonderful day when we learned Aunt Rhonda was pregnant. She pulled my sister and I into the bedroom to tell us some big news, she said, “Guess what? I’m going to have a baby.” I was very excited and I think Julie was too, and then we were allowed to break the news to my parents in the other room. Those nine months were such a long wait but the day finally arrived and we were at the hospital to see our new cousin. Everyone in the family had decided she was going to have a boy but my sister was convinced that the baby would be a girl. The doctor came out to announce the news and asked, “Who said it was a girl?” Everyone cheered and pointed to Julie who was beaming. A baby girl cousin was born and  immediately Julie and I were the “Big” girls now. I got to change diapers (sorry Barbie!), feed her bottles, rock her in the rocking chair and carry her on my hip. So this month she put on a beautiful white dress, walked down the aisle and became a wife. I can hardly believe it but “my baby” cousin grew up. Congratulations Barbara and Elias.

My Grandparents are packing up their house because they are moving from Porterville to San Pablo. My parents, Terry, Allison and I went up on 10/19/13 weekend to help pack up all of the family treasures that need to make the trip north. Aunt Rhonda, Uncle John and Sally came to help and in no time the living room and half of the kitchen were bubble wrapped and stored in boxes. Then Barbara and her new family arrived to assist the rest of us and watch her wedding pictures. So many stories were told about our family as we packed pocket watches, wedding dishes and books.  We made new memories as Allison grabbed Aunt Rhonda and fell asleep in the rocking chair on Saturday and then grabbed Grandma and fell asleep in the rocking chair on Sunday. Aunt Rhonda and Grandma you both still have the Magic Touch!

Have a great week everyone!