The Gathering of the Warren Clan

Yup, that meant a trip to Texas and Oklahoma during Tornado season - oh my!

The Warren Clan

It might not have been the best timing and the weather might not have been perfect - cold and stormy with a little bit of hail thrown in for fun...

The Siblings - we are missing a few!

But it was great to see the family together and meet a lot of the Cousins - this group doesn't get together often enough!

Great picture of my Dad!

The Gathering included 4 gen- erations of Warren's.

My Dad being the oldest Sibling @87 and the youngest great grandson @2.

Sweet Aunt Rita - the youngest

6 of the Siblings joined us, 2 couldn't make it, and 3 have passed...

That's a lot of fish!

A lot of the Clan still live around Texas/Oklahoma, but lots of folks traveled from the East and West to join in on the fun.

Very happy that everyone could make it!

Phil and his big Striper

Friday morning, some of the hardy folks got up very early to go fishing (not me!) and what a day they had.

Brave Britt and the Head

72 fish were caught and no injuries were reported - an accomplishment!

We had a hell of a fish fry that night that fed all of us.

Plus lots of fish to pack home - a Fish Papapalooza for sure!

Gavin and Eric - mighty fisherman

Thanks, Brother Phil, for organizing the big fishing trip.

What a day!

Warren's Gone Wild

We ended the day by dancing and whooping it up at Sneaky Pete's - right across the road. 

Plus, some really bad Karaoke... 

Karaoke - oh my!

We liked this place. 

Great food (especially the red shrimp) and cold beer, plus games and entertainment.  We spent a lot of hours here...

Crazy fun at Sneaky Pete's

Everyone had a great time and I am sure we entertained the locals with our shenanigans. 

The Cousins

That's our style!

Kyle, Bee, Ryan and Cath - the next generation

Saturday, was our Big Potluck.

Glad we had the Firepit!

All day was spent cleaning, cooking, eating, drinking, and lots of quality visiting time (and hanging out at Sneaky Pete's of course).

GrandPa Phil and Jagger

And, that is exactly why we all came together - Family Time.

Mom and Sisters Becky and Anessa

A wonderful time was had by everyone and so much good food (and drink, of course).

Plus a lot of leftovers - we could have fed the neighborhood!

Josh and Brittany - Engaged!

Special surprise -  being together for Josh's Big Wedding Proposal to Brittany - yahoo.

These two have been together for a long time - it was meant to be.

Wishing them many wonderful years of love and happiness!

Mom and Dad still got it!

And, just like that, it is time for everyone to head home....

Ness and Eric shaking it!

Love and miss you all and promise to get together more often.

Thanks everyone for coming!

Carla

And a gorgeous sunset

PS: We held the reunion at Lake Texoma Lodge and Resort. 

Nothing fancy, but a great place for the family to gather.

You could rent houses, cabins, or rooms in the motel, plus a huge lake, a pool, and Sneaky Pete's.

Check it out if you are in Mead, Oklahoma!

I had this much fun!

We are surviving the winter - hah!

I know, we shouldn't be complaining - it is San Diego and we do have very mild winters.

Beautiful Balboa Park

But, it is cold to us old people that are use to living in the tropics.

Catherine and Ryan @ Sunset Cliffs

We have purchased a heater, an electric blanket, and a de-humidifier. Oh my!

Enjoying beers and Ocean Beach

However, as I went through our pictures for this blog post, I decided to quit whining.

Sweet Panda!

We are at the beach in shorts and t-shirts and the skies are a gorgeous blue.

Doug and John checking out the tide pools

No more complaints from me - promise!

Stranded

Plus, we are loving living in a "destination city" and having company on Moondance.

Lots of Flamingos

Our nephew, Ryan, and his sweet wife Catherine came for a second visit.

They are so much fun and so easy to be with - we had a great visit.

Funny Monkeys

We spent a full day enjoying the San Diego Zoo (2nd best in USA), touring the tide pools at Cabrillo Monument, hanging out in Ocean Beach, and lots of time at the brew pubs of course!

View from Point Loma

Plus, we were fortunate to have John, my boss from Sandia, join us for a few days.  Fun catching up with him too.

Come back again soon, please!


Our Besties from Washington, Wanda and Steve, came to visit too.

Wanda and I have been friends since 8th grade (amazing!) and she is such a joy to be around.

Steve and Wanda @ beautiful Coronado Island

Lots of laughter and catching up, pub crawling, plus some tourist stuff of course!

Historic Coronado Hotel - wow!

We drove out to Coronado Island (my first time) and walked along the beautiful white sandy beach.

Interesting creatures in the Tide Pools

And, the Coronado Hotel is amazing - so much history.  Out of my budget, of course, but we loved wandering around.

It felt so good to have my toes back in the sand!

Cool stuff at the Air & Space Museum

While touring the tide pools at the Cabrillo Monument we were fortunate to be invited to share lunch with some sweet people.

First time for Iraqi food - it was excellent.

Never say No to free food and a chance to learn new cultures!

Adam promoting cruising in Fiji

And, we strolled thru the Air and Space museum - lots of great history. There are 17 museums in Balboa Park - we are just getting started.

And, then, it was time to say Good Bye (I don't like Good Bye's).

See you next time Wanda and Steve!

Next, we had a surprise visit from Adam - manager of Vuda Point Marina in Fiji. He was promoted cruising in Fiji, which we highly recommend.

Nice to catch up with you Adam!

Ospreys are back!

Looking back on February, no wonder we didn't get any boat work done.

We were busy, plus there is that whole work thing...

Before company - oh my

But all is well here in sunny San Diego.

Hope the same for all of you.

Spring is just around the corner and more company is coming to visit.

We better get busy!

I just turned around...

And, it was 2018.  How did that happen?  But, I am happy to put 2017 to Bed!

Big windows = lots of decorations!

It has been a big roller coaster with big highs and big lows.  Fortunately...

Too much? Nah!

It all turned out well. 

Catherine and Ryan - Sweet As!

We have jobs (kind of), a new boat and home, our families are doing well, and we are enjoying San Diego and love having company come and visit us.

I have high hopes that 2018 is going to be fabulous!

Me and Mom - always in the kitchen

Wrapping up 2017 included a quick trip to Texas to have Thanksmas with the Family.

Thanksmas with the Family

Lots of laughter, games, too much food, and family. 

Plus hours putting together a Wasgij puzzle.

Love those puzzles, but this was a tough one!

Phil and Danette come to visit!

Phil and Danette flew down from the cold Northwest to spend Christmas with us on Moondance.  The weather cooperated!

Checking out the coast

We spent 6 days touring San Diego and checking out the local pubs and eateries, plus playing tourist.

San Diego is a big city and we are just starting to explore. Always more fun when company is in town and you take time off work - hah.

Visit to Old Town

A special treat, having friends from High School days drive down from Long Beach area and join us.

Good times with old friends and family

We spent hours just talking and catching up, plus a pub crawl in OB - which is always fun. We loved spending time with all of you - thanks for coming!

Good stuff just grows on trees

New Year's Eve was just the two of us.

Tree art?

We wandered around the Hood checking out the pubs and watching the festivities and then back on Moondance just in time to ring in the New Year.

Unfortunately, no fireworks on the water. Oh well, we had a good time, plus got our exercise.

Chasing down electrical wires

Nice to just spend time with my Sweetie!

Even with all of the fun stuff and the goofy work schedules, we still had time for some boat work.

Doug is working on electrical issues and other fun stuff.  I continue to sand, varnish, and paint.  Oh boy! 

Enjoying the sunshine (and a beer)

Moondance is looking better all the time - of course, we have a long way to go...

Hope your December was fun and festive and you appreciated all the time with your family and friends - as we did.

Happy 2018 - may it be good to all of us.

Cheers!

PS:  Getting ready for more company.  Yeah!