A Day In The Life - 12/18/2010: The Vaterlaus Gathering

 The Vaterlaus Gathering has been an annual Christmas season tradition since we finally determined that getting us all together for Christmas and/or Thanksgiving was never going to happen. So, in the truest Vaterlaus tradition, we created our own holiday, the Gathering of the Vaterli.
The running of this event rotates between the kids, two

at a time. Stan and Patti are paired together since they both live in the Tuscon area (didn't get out in time) and then Richard (that would be me) and Paul (the "uncle" version) work together. Also Ann and Becky work together. This year we got to travel to Tucson to do the "gathering". A few must have gotten lost and others got the crud.

Some were AWOL but most made their appearance.
The fun begins with everyone gathering, therefore the name. And we sit and play games if we are older than 12 or so. Those younger than twelve get sequestered in the next part of the gym where they run around screaming at each other and trying not to get hit by the basketballs of the older others.
Then there is the food. It is mostly pot-luck. Actually, it is all pot luck. One of the hits this year was Quentin's arrival with a bucket of Eegee's slush mix.There is a kind of a program/talent show event. Most of us have run out of talent as we have gotten older but it is still fun and usually not too long.

Before we get to the cleaning up, there is usually a fair amount of visiting. That is probably the best part. Everyone is doing stuff that is so interesting to find out about and discovering what changes have taken place with each person over that past year.
Then there is The Family Meeting which involves Mom, Dad and their kids. Others can come if they want to but it is not very interesting for those not involved. We decide things like who is running next year's show and Mom and Dad often have a book or some other item for each of the families. But the very best part of the meeting is that lots of other people are busy cleaning up while that meeting takes place. Yes!