Nice Family Visit

The first real test for all our site improvements was, for the most part, very successful. It was a chance for us to have our family over for dinner to help make up for all the times we were invited to their homes and really didn't have the (real) ability to reciprocate - until now. Even though we spent the entire time outside in our new, renovated site, the weather cooperated and it was a perfect visit.

George and Cheryl arrived shortly after 3 PM and we sat around our new gazebo visiting and catching up on what everybody was doing:

 

Brian and his family didn't arrive until after 5 PM because they had to wait for the kids to come home from school. They all have such busy schedules that we were fortunate to catch them on a night that they were all free. It made for a nice visit and we sat and chatted for a while before I got dinner started on the grill. Here are  a couple shots of everybody sitting around in the gazebo:

We had placed lights around the inside of the gazebo and a light over the table and chairs.  The only thing that was lacking in all the enhancements was a light over the grill. As a result of that oversight, and my talking while cooking, the burgers took on a well done result. This was a first test of entertaining at night in our "new" yard , so I have a good excuse. The light over the table was a unique idea that we tried. It was a battery operated, portable light that attaches to the pole of the umbrella. It did provide sufficient light to eat, but was lacking a bit in intensity for good photos:

 

With the visit taking place mostly in darkness, Jason and Jesse were limited in what they could do outside. They spent much of the time inside the fifth wheel, playing games and watching TV:

 

They are two bright, well mannered children that should make Brian and Amy proud.

The visit came to a close near 8:30 last night as they all left for home and Josie and I finished up the outside tasks to close down the visit. We hope to see much more of everybody at our location here at Lake Pleasant where there is so much to do.

Austin and his WMU football game is in Ypsilanti, MI, tonight against Eastern Michigan University. We wish him success in that game today and I will be attempting to watch the game online on ESPN3 where all of his games are telecast. It would be nice to see them win another game. We're sure that Patty and Mark will be traveling there for the game, so we wish them safe travels...