Thank You for a Lovely Gathering!

My husband and his six siblings celebrated a family reunion over the July 4th weekend, which was hosted by his brother who lives in the Sacramento, CA area.  The siblings gathered from Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Washington (that would be us), and California, and a great time was had by all.  We motor-homed down, bringing our bedroom with us!  

Joe and June put a lot of work into assuring that it was a fun-filled and memorable occasion.  The reunion gathering was filled with catching up on our lives, reliving hilarious memories, and just generally a lot of talking, laughter, and joking around.  An old-fashioned hot dog and hamburger barbecue topped off the day with a yummy selection of salads, chips, desserts, homemade ice cream, iced tea, beer, and wine.  But, not only did they feed the group on this reunion day, July 5th, they also hosted a 4th of July gathering as well, with barbecued pulled-pork sandwiches, broccoli/ bacon salad, chips and dips, veggie and fruit trays, watermelon, and a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages!

And then to top it all off, this same lovely sister-in-law, June, hosted another event a few nights later for the ladies in the family.  (We let the guys fend for themselves with pizza and politics out on the patio.)  You might well ask, "What is Happy Hour Painting?"  This is the scoop!

The owner of the company comes to the house and sets up easels, canvases, oils, brushes, and wine, thus the name: happy hour.  June chose the subject of our painting lesson beforehand: a peacock.  When the setup was complete, the artist arrived with her sample of the painting that we would all be trying to replica.  There were 12 ladies in attendance all related and a few very close friends, all who had never painted in their lives before and didn't really think we had an artistic bone in our bodies!  I was absolutely shocked that 2-1/2 hours later, we all had a peacock painted on each of our canvases, and not a bad job either!  It was an absolute blast, full of chatter, joking, and laughter.  I hope I get to do it again someday.  The company hosts painting sessions at several cocktail lounges during happy hour on a regular basis.  On my next visit, I will have to take June, her daughter, and hopefully my daughter(s) out for this occasion!

You might ask where this story is going...well, I felt it only fitting that I make and send a thank you card to Joe and June for all their hard work and for providing such a delightful five-day visit!  I made this little card from a kit provided once again by my cardmaking mentor, Liz Thayer.  It was so cute, I just had to share it with these special relatives down south to be sure they knew how much we enjoyed our visit, how thankful we are that they took on this huge task of hosting all of us for this event!!! 

Recipe:  SU products: Cardstocks:  Pool Party, Real Red, Whisper White.  DSP: Fresh Prints pack; Stamps: Happy Watercolor; Ink: Real Red; Framelit dies: Circles; Stampin' Write Marker: Real Red. Gold Sequin trim.