Beth and I arrived early and stayed with Pete and Judy. They are always such wonderful hosts. I bonded with their pets too, who have been added to the Family Pets photos this month.

Sarah and Chris and little Sage came over often. Judy has all the gear and babysits Sage a lot. Beth and I worked on a picture board with photos of Pres and generations of his family. Baskets of other photos and family photo albums were placed around the house and studied by almost everyone. All through the trip we looked through photographs, including Audrey's albums. It was truly a memorable time.

Chris and Sarah with Sage (9 mo)

Pete did a grand job of organizing everything. He and his father had discussed the arrangements and agreed it was very important to welcome the whole Bullard family and all of Pres's good friends to share in the weekend. Victoria, Gia, and Gino did not make the trip but were there in thought.

On Friday night most all the relatives gathered at Pete's and went out for Chinese. Of course we were expected to use chop sticks, as Pres would have insisted. From the Chicago area were Jenni and Elizabeth/Betsy, who left their families at home and bunked with Ann and Lauren/Lori. The big surprise was that four of the Calendo's joined us: Bridget, Faith, Mike, and Joe. Their mother was Pres's sister, Joyce. They hadn't seen their Bullard cousins since they were youngsters. Also, old friend from Maywood, Harry Horst came with his wife. He greeted me with remembrances of my mother, Renee, from high school. Uncle Bob, Pres's brother, came with daughter Patti and her husband, Dennis, and also spent Sunday with us.

The service on Saturday was memorable. Tim and Jason with wife and twins (Angie, James, and Becca) joined us, as did Lauren (Beth's eldest), who read an inspiring letter from Pres and sang a song she'd written him. We all cried. Uncle Bob and Harry Horst presented some wonderful stories about Pres's youth and his philanthropic nature. Pres's mountain climbing buddy, Mike Donahue, told grand stories of their adventures. The big surprise came when Jonathan stood up and spoke of his important bond with his grandfather, who was like a father to him for many years. We cried some more.

Many old friends of Pres and Audrey from Fort Collins came to the service too. Afterwards we visited over a buffet at the church and many of us went back to Pete's for more visiting and story telling. I took group photos there before the sun went down. We talked and played games together until late that night.

Judy, Emily, Sarah, and Pete (Chris took Sage home for a nap)

Ann, Rachael (Lauren's daughter), Lauren/Lori, Tim, Beth, Jonathan, Jenni, Elizabeth/Betsy

Tom, Judy Jo, Kristen, James, Becca (Jason & Angie's 6-yr-old twins), Angie, Jason

Uncle Bob, Dennis & Patti (Bob's daughter)

Joe, Faith, Mike, and Bridget

Pres's mountain climbing friends, Mike Donahue and wife Peggy, and parents, Helen and Warren.

While Beth spent Sunday in Boulder with her "big" kids, Ann and I visited and saw the movie "Chocolat". No, we didn't go find a candy shop afterwards, but Ann drove me past the home her parents had owned in Fort Collins. It was a great place. Pete had taken Bob for a ride through the foothills that afternoon, but we all met back at Pete's for another evening out to dinner at a sports bar. We enjoyed that evening too and "us cousins" played cards and giggled and yawned for a couple more hours before bedtime.

Here's me (Karen Mueller) with Cousin Tom, waving BYE from Colorado!

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