I missed some of the family poker games this year simply because I was out trekking the forest trails and my coach was parked up at Kevin and Gayl’s place and I spent some time working on PokerWorks website, although it doesn’t show in posts to Tango. But the poker games I did make were a lot of fun. We played 1c and 2c blind NLH with a $3 min/max buy-in. I won. So did a few others. Some lost heavily…ok $15 to $16 for a teenage is pretty heavy damn it! So the adults that won all decided it would be a wash this year, no one owed any $ to the pool. I decided I didn’t want the two young winners to feel that they had to donate their wins to a wash so I paid them. We didn’t tell anyone, we just hid the score sheet. When I played with the family, I made them go by the basic rules…they almost called me ‘by the rules Linda’. Pshaw!

I got two Aces dusted right into the atmosphere when I raised it 25c and got called from my sister Neomi and my granddaughter Jasmine. They both beat me, flopping two pair, and Jasmine won the pot. She was tough. She’ll be 21 next year and I plan to bring her to a poker table in Vegas and play cards with her…but I’m staying out of her way. Jasmine will hate this picture – but that’s what she gets for crushing A-A. *laughing*

Some of the family members went horseback riding, compliments of Kevin and Gayl. Riot even got to sit on the back of one of them, with Kevin as his prop and Gayl leading the horse in a corral. (And check out that boy’s haircut!)

There are railbirds everywhere, even at the corral. Left to right, Darian (Riot’s dad), Eric (Vickie’s grandson), and Jasmine

Both Kevin and Gayl are serious horse people and ride all the time. There’s no monkey business or stupidity allowed when you’re going riding with them. But they take a lot of time in allowing the family (especially the little kids), horseback time in the corral, usually leading the horse around if the child is old enough to hold the saddle horn and reach the stirrups. Nice!

If any of you are familiar with hornets, wasps, and yellow jackets, you know that this time of year is brutal when you have any food or beverages outside. It draws the wasps and yellow jackets like a rich bad poker player draws a waiting list.

Kevin managed to do the thing we all try to avoid every year – take a sip of beer and find one in the ring of the bottle. He got hit, right inside the lip. And Kee-rist, did it swell. I felt horrible for him. He was drinking shots with Monte and chasing them with beer. Maybe it was a good thing. Gayl was in Spokane or Coeur d’Alene that night for a bachelorette party and Dan and I ended up pouring Kevin into his household…w-a-a-y too much to drink. I got a few pictures of him with the puffy lip but I decline to post them. They will be best seen by the family when the cd’s come out. But let this be a reminder, NEVER, NEVER EVER, take a drink from a bottle, can, or glass, when you’re out in the woods unless you check first.

Kevin and Gayl have four horses and two dogs – their immediate family. This is Colt, their newest addition, he’s about eight months old and being trained. He’s sitting patiently in this picture, with a piece of meat on his nose (placed there by Kevin) and he won’t move until Kevin tells him it’s OK.

Most of the posts over the next few days will be family reunion and pictures. Not much poker going on in these pages right now. I haven’t played poker on the internet, nor live, other than the games with the family in over three weeks. So…if you want poker news, check the other bloggers and PokerWorks main pages please.