AUTHOR: Anonymous TITLE: DATE: 1:48:00 PM ----- BODY:

The first weekend of 2004 was a blast! My brother hosted a two-day family event at his house. We flew our other brother and his family down from Portland, OR and the rest of us descended on Brentwood, from various points in California. All told, we had 26 bodies crammed into my brother’s house for a weekend of laughs, hugs, singing, games, food and fellowship. I was able to get some knitting in too. Each family unit brought a unique gift to the gathering. My oldest brother, wife and youngest daughter brought the gift of music. My sister brought the gift of family lore, by telling some our family’s most treasured stories. My other brother’s family brought hand-made cards with sentiments written inside for each family member present. My husband, kids and I also brought gifts for each family unit. Here are our gifts to my family spread out on the kitchen table. My husband and daughter did a wonderful job decorating the wrapping in a pretty leaf motif. What’s inside? The official Niles-side 2004 calendar with each family member’s birthday and anniversary listed. Remember I spent the day after Thanksgiving going through all my mom’s boxes of old family photographs? Well, I picked out my 12 favorites and compiled a calendar. I call it my gift of administration because it also has all our contact information (email addresses, cell phone numbers, mailing addresses, etc.) included. This is the month of December with my dad and my Uncle Ed on top of the Empire State Building in 1943. There’s just something about a man in a nice wool trench coat and fedora. My mom also celebrated her 79th birthday and for a gift I enlarged a photo and had it matted and framed. This is my mom and dad in 1946, young and in love. Yes, 2004 is certainly off to a great start!

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