So, I will.
As stated in the last post of a couple of days ago, we wended our way to Montecito, a rather lovely community just south of the also-rather-lovely city of Santa Barbara. It's where Diana and Dick live. Diana is Tom's sister.
It's a little bit of a sashay from our house (7 hours plus stops), but, since the dinner wasn't to take place until Friday, we were able to drive down on Thursday while most everyone else, notably drivers of big rigs, were apparently busy elsewhere. The small downside was that, when we got hungry, there was almost nowhere open to get something to eat. One Carl's Jr. in Santa Maria finally delivered.
Also in the last entry, there was a photo of folks sitting at the table for the fabulous dinner we enjoyed. I won't re-post it here, but Diana and Dick are seated at the far end, smiling in front of the windows.
Others at that table included (first photo): Ben and Luke (Lisa's sons) sitting next to Dick (on right). Next photo: Grace ( Rachel and Eric's 5-year-old, foreground, left), Rachel, Lisa (D & D's daughter), Carl (Lisa's significant other) and Joel (Lisa's son). Then, there's a better picture of Grace, Rachel and little Lilly (9 months--Eric and Rachel's).
Behind them, our table munched away. The following picture shows them a bit closer: Ruth (Tom and Diana's mom--89 years), Eric (D & D's son), Tom, Jean (Dick's sister) and Katherine (Jean and Dick's mom--almost 95 years old). Overall a very congenial bunch with whom to celebrate!! We were thankful to have been invited, I can tell you.
The food was wonderful, too. While, sadly, I don't have everybody's recipes to share, I can put up the one I used for one of my contributions, which was a cheesecake. Go here to check that out--http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001119574 Worth the trouble, I'd say.
Most everyone else went back home, but we stayed over one more night, at the Trautwein's gracious invitation, until Saturday morning. As you may or may not remember, Tom and Diana's younger brother, Ken, passed away a bit over a year ago (check out early October '09 post, if you're interested). He was cremated, but the final resting place for his ashes had not been determined all this time. So, a few weeks ago, it was decided to bury them under a young live oak tree in D & D's gorgeous yard. That's what we did on Saturday morning. Diana led us in a beautifully simple memorial service for just of the five of us, including Dick, Tom, mom Ruth and me. It also turned out to be what would have been Ken's 55th birthday. The last photo is of their home. We planted the ashes to the left and toward the back of the picture. Perfect spot.
We arrived home around 8:30 Sat evening, yes, thankful.
