Family Meeting

Thanks for the nudge Sue :)

So, last weekend Michael and I ventured up to Lake Gaston to meet the Fussell side of his family. Fussell was his mom's maiden name and she was one of 5 siblings. Lake Gaston is only about an hour and a half from Durham but we didn't leave until 7:30 or so and decided to take the back way there.

We arrived at his Uncle Preston's beautiful lake home and were greeted by an eager bunch who provided us with hugs and refreshments. We sat around chatting with his aunts and uncles and a handful of cousins. The two of us lucked out and were given a room at the main house. His uncle had rented a second house a few miles away for overflow (other cousins and their spouses/girlfriends/boyfriends). We stayed up late that night chatting with his cousin David (they were close growing up).

We awoke the next morning to a seemingly beautiful day. His aunts and uncles had cooked a yummy breakfast and Michael and I took a walk down to the dock to see the lake. Unfortunately a huge storm came across the lake (it was cool to watch ) so we were forced to retreat indoors for much of the day. Luckily his family LOVES games so the day was spent playing poker (I won), Sequence (great game) and Left, Right Center. All day long I sipped Sweet Tea Vodka...yes, its vodka infused Sweet Tea...so yummy!

That evening we were treated to another yummy dinner including BBQ, pizza dip (imagine Skyline dip but with mozzarella, pepperoni and sauce instead of chili and cheddar) and of course tons of leftover birthday cake. I have learned that Michael's family has alot of August birthdays so there was tons of cake to go around.

Apparently I wasn't the only one imbibing throughout the day because by the end of the evening, Michael's' aunts were toasty. I apparently passed the "meet the family" test because they still liked me when they were intoxicated!

We made it an early night since we were traveling back to Durham the next day to have lunch with my parents. We were awoken to the smells of bacon, sausage and pancakes...again, the aunts and uncles cooked. It was a great weekend and I returned home to a friend request from Michael's cousins wife, Sarah! (They liked me, they really liked me!)

Here's a pic of the lake...it doesn't do it justice!