Day 3 - Meeting the family

So, for many years Paul has always felt sad about the fact that I rarely get together with my family. However, traveling out the East Coast, he was able to finally see extended family I don't have frequent contact with.

For the most part, my mom's family has a hard time getting along and would prefer to be visited individually, but my dad's family has no problem getting together for a BBQ every time I come out. This time we actually had all the aunts, uncles, and cousins (minus two who I never actually was able to see) together at one time. But before I get to that part of the day, I should talk about the morning.

The weather was mostly like this...very pretty, but not necessarily good for the day's plans

For the most part the rain held off, so Paul and I got ready and went out on a walk around Tilton. My dad lives about a half-mile away from downtown, so it's easy to walk around to the most "popular" places in Tilton. After stopping by a few of my cousins' houses to no avail, we climbed the hill to the Tilton arch, where you can see most of Tilton-Northfield. For the longest time I always thought the arch is where Mr. Tilton was buried, but a few years ago I found out that wasn't so. However, it still looks like a place where someone important is buried. Just see for yourself:

See? It has a date on it like someone died.

4-5 years ago Paul and I vowed to save our kisses for whoever we would marry. The first time we kissed our spouse would be on the altar when we're pronounced husband and wife (whether it was with eachother or someone else). Therefore, we settle for eskimo kisses :)

The tomb-looking thing is behind my head, but here you can see the rest of the arch. It's this structural feature that gives it its name.

We headed down the hill to the Tilton cemetary (where Paul likes to stop at churches, I have a fascination with cemetaries...morbid, I know). I then proceeded to guess at how to get back to my dad's house. Now, people tell me all the time that it's impossible to get lost in Tilton, however, I have done it!! No joke! This time, though, I had paid attention when my dad drove home the night before and we ended up taking the long way home, but we made it in time!

The BBQ lasted for about 4 hours, and I got the chance to see everyone and catch up on their lives and tell them about what I'm currently working on. They're impressed that I'm currently working on a masters, as none of my other cousins have even persued the path of a college education. The talk of the BBQ was my cousin's new twin babies. They were tiny and so adorable.

I was one of the lucky few that was able to hold Lily, the smallest one.

Nick is the boy twin. He's still small, but in comparison to his twin sister he's definitely a porker!

While the women spent their time holding babies and talking about how cute they were, the men played horseshoes on the pits my dad put together that morning.


It took Paul a few throws to get his form down, and he and his partner did very well (if I remember correctly). My poor Uncle David played despite the fact that he'd been sick and in and out of the hospital for the past three weeks. His throws were terrible. Most of them took huge chunks out of the grass or flew at unsuspecting spectators :0! Eventually the twins left and I took a try at the game.

I was made fun of for my "ballerina form" as I lifted up my back leg and balanced on one foot as throwing, but hey, I landed a solid ringer with that form!

The BBQ was Paul's favorite day. By the end of it we were both so exhausted from talking to so many people in the course of a day. Hey, that takes a lot of work for two people who spend a lot of time just sitting and listening to what's going on around them!

After a midnight bought with doorbells and cell phones (which is a funny story you can ask me about if you care to know), day 3 ended and day 4 came all too soon.