MLK Day 2014

Back in 2005, we had our first ever Martin Luther King, Jr. Day gathering. It started when Whitney and I got back from DC and she threw an intern party at her house on a night of MLK weekend. Vic and I had just begun dating and this was one of the first real times that we had hung out with Kristofer and Keller. Kristofer and Keller were babies at maybe 20 years old? They couldn't buy beer yet and when they did, their other underage friends would come by to drink it, but not always contribute. So, when they met Vic and realized Vic always brought an ice chest with a few of his own beers, (as to not have to drink someone else's), they liked him immediately. They bonded even more on the day following the party, as the three guys plus Whitney and Katerina, finished off the keg from the night before while playing 42 all day long. While I stopped by once during the day, I was not actually there for the fun. This was our "day apart" that Vic and I instituted when we started dating. He probably instituted this to get a break from me, (haha!), but I thought we were being so independent doing our own thing one day a week!

From then on, we all became the best of friends and spent as much time as possible together. Whitney, Katerina, Jenna, and I, for some reason, dubbed ourselves "The Circle" and would have Circle Potlucks and Circle outings and be sure to tell the guys how awesome The Circle was. Well, being the ever-entertaining three that those were, they began calling themselves The Posse and liked to tell us how much better The Posse was than The Circle. Silly? Yes! But, those days were so fun and carefree and we have a ton of great memories.

While people still lived in College Station going to school, we remember getting together on a couple of MLK weekends to cookout and have fun. But, then, back in 2010, we began an even more official annual MLK weekend event. The time of year is ideal for our Lubbock farmer to get away, and almost everyone else has MLK day off, so we picked right back up with a gathering on this weekend. And, it has continued every year since. Now, it usually starts Thursday and ends Monday. During the weekend, Vic and Whitney cook up some delicious food; we hit up the best College Station restaurants for a little throwback Thursday to our college days; we stay up way too late every night enjoying as much back porch time as possible; we go to Northgate at least once; we take naps; we have the annual Auckerman/Ernstes family dinner; the girls listen to the boys impress one another with their hilarious conversations of beards, beverages, and why they have the best ideas of anyone else on the planet. These weekends have given us a reason to get together even though we've had people travel from DC and New Jersey and Kansas and Lubbock. They have also been weekends stuck in the middle of life changes for our little group: engagements, weddings, pregnancies, babies, moves, career changes, illnesses, death. They are our support system more than they know. Vic and I just love these weekends so much. We love these people. Even when we only see them a couple times a year and even though we may not pick up the phone to call one another as often as we should, they are our friends. Actually, they are our family. Literally. (Have I mentioned that Taylor and Mary met at mine and Vic's wedding and took care of sealing our fate to be forever tied to the Veretts, when they were married?) They will be our friends and family for the next 50 years! We will raise our kids together and vacation together and attend each other's important family events. Oh and do you know what else makes this group so great? They love our kids. I mean they really love them and don't mind having children around almost 100% of the time they are here since apparently, it's frowned upon to just leave babies at home to fend for themselves and go out on the town just because your college friends are in town.

Bottom line: They are important and special and we look forward to this weekend. Every. Single. Year.

So, this year, we decided to celebrate 10 years of MLK weekends. We ate, we drank, we laughed. We got a limo. We got a babysitter. We had a good time. A really good time.

Also, our initial group was Kristofer, Keller, Vic, Katerina, Whitney and myself. Since then, our group has grown to include Taylor and Mary, Kristofer's girlfriend Katie, and Katie, Kirsten and Kinsey. We lost Keller in September 2008, but there is never an MLK that goes by that he is not talked about, usually because of some crazy story he was a part of. And during this weekend, we had some additional friends spend time with us as well. Some pictures below....get ready. I took a bunch!

Whitney, the ORIGINAL Verett, arrived first. She and I like to remind everyone each year to thank us for bringing the group together.

 Our chefs for the weekend. Grace was just a bonus in the picture!

 Whitney, bless her, was giving me a break and playing with Grace and Atticus. Or maybe she just really loves playing with trains.

 Mary looks beautiful and photogenic as she holds our sweet "trap baby", Grace. According to Taylor (who deep down probably wants 6 kids, but who talks like any other man who says kids won't happen for awhile....oh please), Grace is a "trap baby". This means she is so precious and adorable that when you see her, you immediately want one of your own. Then, you have one and realize how much work they are and realize you fell for the trap. I'm sure I got that exact definition wrong, but basically, he thinks our baby Grace is precious! And she is!

 Cady and David always come for at least one meal while the crew is in town. And, this time, they had a new little family member, Holly, to join the fun as well!

Backporch time.

 Food, family, babies. Mary, Grace, and Katie.

 Whitney and Kristofer's Katie - (Kristofer - don't mess this up!)

 Katerina's 30th birthday is January 30th. So, we celebrated a little early. Of course, when cake, icing, and candles are involved, Atticus is sure that he must help the birthday person blow out their candles and eat all of their cake.

 

 Oh, this moment. I'm glad we got it on camera. I asked them to pose to which they realized this situation looked like 2 dads with their baby. As the first picture was snapped, one of them stated "Equality". As you can see in the second picture, we couldn't stop laughing. What's funnier is that this really does look like two gay dads with their baby.

 Lovebirds. Kristofer and Katie.

 More Lovebirds. Chris and Katherine.

 Even more Lovebirds.

 Limo time on Saturday night! We fit 16 people in this limo, plus an onscreen fire. Cozy!

 Shot Bar. We had to do it. It smelled like memories as soon as we walked in. It was also practically vacant since this was probably 8:45 at night. We started early so we could end early!

 Memories in the making.

 Mary and I. Family first. Then we became friends. Then we became family all over again.

 The Posse, edited. But, Keller, of course was there in spirit.

 The original MLK Day crew.

 Kirsten and Johnathan. Lots of Lovebirds in this group.

 And this describes them perfectly. Taylor and Mary. Together forever!

 End of the night. Exhausted from drinking so much water and getting so much rest.

 Last night together. Homesick Texan enchiladas and one of my favorite picture poses at the table.

 Relaxing. Another reason we love this group.

 Grace says that Kristofer is so funny!

 This was after "Uncle Tay-yur" taught Atticus what a noogie was and gave him plenty.

 Another group pic before they all headed out.

This photo describes these three. Someone is making fun of someone else and they are laughing. I bet it had to do with Kristofer telling Vic to stop killing so many horses at his job. It was the weekend joke even though Vic does not kill horses at his job. Maybe you had to be there. And even if you were there, it still didn't make any sense. But, it sure was funny!

 

 It was an epic weekend. 10 years of friendship celebrated. Can't wait until next year!