391. first cousins' (& spouses) gathering Friday evening (for Jim & his generation - aged 40-something to 71)
392. the hostess who set the stage by recreating a scene from their long-deceased Grandma's kitchen in the host & hostess's front yard - Grandma's kitchen chairs, a mixing bowl, a bucket with corn shucks
393. the trivia game and hearing so many of the shared memories that Jim & his cousins have
394. first cousins' gathering (for LG & LM & their generation) Friday evening at the farm ... eating, playing, and making memories for such a time as they gather in 50 years to reminisce ;)
395. Celebration of Life service Saturday morning for Jim's aunt who passed away before vaccines allowed more than 20 to gather for her funeral and the 100+ people who remembered her gentle, quiet spirit and more importantly her Lord & Savior
396. Her youngest brother-in-law who gave the devotional remarks and shared this eye-witness account: He was a teen living at home when his newlywed older brother and wife (the one who is now in heaven) could not sleep all night and called his parents on the farm, asking if they could come out, and Grandpa & Grandma led the young couple to the Lord. He woke up to the sounds of the two couples talking. What a precious memory!
397. Jim's dad and his five siblings - all together at the Celebration of Life. Their 94 year old sister was there in her wheelchair, having been delivered by the nursing home van, and happy, so happy to be in the house of the Lord and with her five brothers. <3
398. Annual reunion in the park Saturday evening and watching LM playing on the playground with Jim's cousin's granddaughter, who is just a few months younger. (It brought back memories of the two of them at the reunion four years ago, infants lying on a quilt with Jim's mom. <3 )
399. Listening to a CD (transferred from a wire recording from 1949) of Jim's grandparents, great-grandparents, aunt, and a few others singing, "He Leadeth Me!"
400. Learning that the Oregon cousins had arranged for the family Bible from the 1500s (belonging to Jim's grandmother's father's family) to be placed in a Mennonite historical center in Lancaster. Road trip goals! :)
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