Them Bones--

ELEVEN years ago this month, my husband met up with his aunt & uncle in Temecula, California at a place called "Pebly Ranch". He took a two-man tent and intended on sleeping outside. I kindly declined the invitation to go along. My kids at the time were 2, 4, and 6. I thought it was pretty courageous of him but knew that Aunt Tutu and Uncle Clark had an RV so things would be just fine. Dan called me the first day and said that they had met a family that had three kids too and everyone got along really well. He begged me to drive down to meet them. Their kids were right about the same age. Six month to a year older. So imagine, six kids, ages 2-7. Sounded like more fun than I could keep away from, so off I went. Here is a very old photo of the entire kid-let crew. Brandon, Taylor, Sam, Maggie, Katie & Allison.

Now, when I met them, I have to say that it was quite amazing how we felt like we had been friends for a long time. Our family's clicked in such an amazing way. So--the interesting thing was that the dad, Todd, had nicknames for his kids. B-Bone, T-Bone and A-Bone. We always refer to them as the Bone Family. And for YEARS my kids didn't know that Bone wasn't their last name!! They lived in Palm Springs, but came out to visit us for the fourth of July a few weeks later. We had a great time with them. Through the next ten years, it was our tradition to get together for the fourth of July. Every year they would make their way here and every year, it was that much more fun than the last. Here is a photo of last year. Now, there are a few extras, A-Bone brought a boyfriend and we had two little ones in the photo that came for the H.B. parade. Amazing to see the changes in ten years.

Can you tell who's who?

We're so excited to see them again tomorrow as we all celebrate the Fourth.

Have a safe and sane holiday!

Bone Up for Regatta #Eleven!