Making Memories ~ Palm Springs and Seal Beach

Rejoice with your family 

in the beautiful land of life!

~Albert Einstein

Somehow, we'd never thought of it before! Then, came an email. An idea, from my cousin Kate, asking if all the girl cousins would like to get together for a "Cousins' Retreat" at her family's timeshare, in Palm Springs. Immediately, emails started going back and forth. Yes, yes, yes! 7 out of 9 had RSVPd in the first 24 hours.

All 9 of us were able to make it. 

Palm Springs, California

It was the first weekend in October, that I picked up my cousin, Allie, who also lives in L.A. and headed to Seal Beach to her sister Jen's place. Then, we hit the road to meet the rest of our cousins, in Palm Springs.

We all arrived Friday afternoon and I don't think anyone expected that we would barely leave the room until the next day, to hang by the pool. Usually, when we get together there are 40 (?) of us, with the aunts, uncles, kids, and so on. This time, it was just my generation and it was ... really, really, special.

Kate said they'd never had one huge round table in a room, at this timeshare, before. All 9 of us could fit around this one large table and tell (ghost) stories, and funny stories, and laugh and cry ... and laugh again. It was perfect and meant to be!

These sunset shots were taken from our patio.  Beautiful, huh?

Call it a clan,

call it a network,

call it a tribe,

call it a family.

Whatever you call it,

Whoever you are,

you need one.

~Jane Howard

 Here's the time share ...

Palm, looking up from the lounge chair ...

That evening we all went to dinner in town and then walked around, ending up in a hat shop ...

Where we got super silly and took a million pictures. No idea how long we were in there!

Oh, and if you're curious, we span 25 years! 25 to 50!

Families are like fudge -

mostly sweet

with a few nuts. 

~Author Unknown

(And I might be the biggest nut in the bunch! ;)

Sunday we packed up and headed to breakfast in town.

It was such an amazing time, it felt weird to leave, but we made sure to make our plans for October 2015! Can't wait!

Jen, Allie and I headed back to Seal Beach.

Allie and I decided to stretch our legs, with Jen and her husband Phill in Seal Beach, before heading back to Hollywood. As you can see, it was a gorgeous day!

Jen and Phill

The happiest moments of my life

have been the few 

which i have passed at home

in the bosom of my family.

~Thomas Jefferson

Jen and Allie on the pier ...

My amazing, wonderful, hilarious, crazy, fun, smart, beautiful cousins ...

Can't wait until next year!!!

The first night, after chatting around the table for hours, I showed them a video I made of all of us. Well, a slide show with music, that spans about 40 years. (It jumps around but you can tell a lot by the clothes.) It's 2 songs long. And yes, there are boy cousins, and they are in the video! ;)

My sister and I spoke that following week, a few times, and we just kept saying how lucky ... how blessed we are!

And, thank you cousin Kate, for your beautiful idea, and making it happen!

I hope you are blessed with a wonderful family. Whether they are blood or not, it doesn't matter. You you love them, and you hold them dear. 

You don't choose your family.

They are God's gift to you,

as you are to them.

~Desmond Tutu

Blessings and light!