"It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." A.Holmes

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Family Reunion!

Family reunion. A time for family to come together and enjoy each others' company. This is my favorite photo. Brother-in-law Tim snuggles with his grandson Simeon. The reunion had many Grandfathers in attendance, and all were seen at one time or another snuggling, tickling, and playing with their and each others' grandchildren. The family reunion began the night before, our sons ( youngest on the left, oldest on the right of me ) made the 5 hour drive to join with family. I hug them both, I love them both so much! ( we missed you Breezy) The family begins arriving, and mingle and greet each other on the sidewalk. I make them face the camera . left to right, Hubby's mother,his cousin Phyllis, niece-in-law Daniella, sister Joanne, behind her, sister Judy, sister Jean, brother-in-law and neighbor, Joannes' husband, Thom, and then Jeff, son of Jean, husband to Daniella. Whew!
It was occasionally rainy, but not cool. We had plenty of covered areas to congregate and visit.
And visit...after all, that is the purpose of a family reunion!There were 50-60 family members here this day. That's a lot of visiting and catching up to do.
The men all supervise the barbecue King, our precious son-in-law, Tom ( aka Birdy Balaku).
Is this a big barbecue or not? The menu was Sliders ( see Noble Pig ) , hot dogs, barbecue chicken, and lots of salads and desserts the many relatives brought. YUM!
I made some of the little cousins stop and pose for me. They were having soooooooo much fun together and watching the children play together made me so happy.
Even the big kids had fun!This Grandpa was playing with his granddaughter( far left) and mine.
My husband said no organized games were necessary and he was right. The children ( and there were many ) ran, played, bounced balls, watched my animals, ate, played some more.....rode bikes, played dress-up,ran some more....snuggled and cuddled relatives they love....picked and ate berries..ran some more.....
Simeon being cuddled by his father.....
.......who played the guitar around the campfire at the end of the day. He played many hymns , we all sang together, enjoyed each other, and before everyone went home, gathered around our oldest son to pray for him and God's protection for his daughters....the most wonderful time ever around a camp fire and to realize we had so many in this family who know and love God , to encourage each other, lift each other up in prayer and encouragement, WOW! The many blessings and rewards for my husband , his siblings and cousins and their siblings....because they have and had Godly parents who raised them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and trust Him when all seems bleak and hopeless. What a privilege it is to see their lives rewarded in their old age with Godly children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. What a precious heritage, and eternal heritage. Thank-you Lord!

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

It looks like your family had a good family reunion. They are nice. We had our Custer family reunion the first Sunday in June. Nice to see everyone. Problem is that everyone didn't show up.

If I were you I would go for the medieval designs. It would be unique.

Thanks for visiting my Abe Lincoln's Blog.

KathyB. said...

Abe, everyone did not show up to our reunion, probably because we sent out announcements only a month and less ago. If everyone showed up we would have to rent a large hall.


I have considered, and am still considering Medieval designs....they intrigue and inspire me.

Wobegon Cottage said...

Thank you for the pictures. Our little reunion in Nebraska was very small. Very different than yours.

Anonymous said...

What a tremendous blessing to be surrounded by family and see the little ones run and play and smile. The food looks delicious and I am so happy that both of your sons were able to make the drive to be with everyone. What a privilege to lift your older son and his daughters up to the Lord in prayer while gathered together.

Southern Comfort said...

I want to cuddle with Simeon too, and Little J. on his birthday. You have a beautiful family and it looks like you had a beautiful time.

Anonymous said...

How nice and fun!

Woodcreek Ranch said...

Seeing everyone together brings back good memories. Hopefully our family can make it next time.

LindaSue said...

absolutely the vision of what a family reunion should be! Those kiddos look like snuggle and play magnets - and the food as usual looked fabulous.

KathyB. said...

Wobegone Cottage and Woodcreek Ranch, we missed you all! Maybe another reunion in a year or so?

Mildred, it was.....very much a blessing, especially to know that all of us gathered round the camp fire know Jesus, and love Him and each other.

Southern Comfort, thank-you. Aren't little ones so appealing, can't help but want to cuddle them.

Amy,I know you definitely love big family get-togethers!

Linda Sue, that's the best word for them, 'snuggle magnets', I like 'tickle magnets' too.

Leslie said...

Your reunion looks like a great success and that everyone was having a terrific time. The BBQ looks good. I also like to do BBQ mostly because I get more help from the men. Go figure, as soon as the food is outside they suddenly can cook.

Timi said...

What a great post about your family reunion! Thank you for sharing with us!

Brenda Kay Ledford said...

Looks like you had a wonderful family reunion. It's great so many relatives were able to attend. The food looked really good and the children had a lot of fun playing games. Thank you for sharing these photos. I'm thankful your family could get together around the campfire, sing hymns, have a lot of fellowship.

noble pig said...

What a beautiful family and I am so envious of that BBQ! And yeah for sliders and little kids having fun with the family!

audrey y said...

Looks as if your extended family is as large as mine, Kathy.

Family, home and loved ones. Yours seems ideal

May the summer remain full of good moments and good things

Audrey

Flower said...

Wonderful to see the good times you all had!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful celebration! It looks like you all had a great time. Children are so imaginative, they don't need structured games :)

Thistle Cove Farm said...

For whatever reason, blogger has not been allowing me to comment here. Hopefully, things have changed for the better...
What a wonderful reunion you enjoyed and it gave me so much pleasure seeing the photos of the family and fun. I truly believe in praying, one for another, lifting each other up in prayer and know Heaven's Gates have been opened in ways you can't even know...yet...on behalf of your son and his daughters. Others are still praying as well.
The campfire looked so cozy and REAL...love it!

Nancy M. said...

It sounds like such a wonderful reunion! Looks like everyone had fun! That is a big grill, I'll bet the food was great.

Jennifer said...

Looks like everyone had a good time. Our family has not had a reunion in years. I am glad yours turned out so nice, family is truly a blessing.

Paula said...

It sounds like your family had a wonderful time together Kathy! I just loved the picture of you and your 2 sons- it's such a beautiful picture of you!

Eggs In My Pocket said...

How sweet and fun all of your family photos look! You are truly blessed to be surrounded with such love! blessings,Kathleen

Lanny said...

I realized that I had read this the other day and got called away before I could comment.

Everything looks so lovely! and everyone looks so well and happy!

We thought and prayed for you guys often that day and we were hoping that the less than stellar weather was not affecting your fun and it looks as if it did not

Connie said...

What a wonderful post this is, Kathy. What a great joy and blessing this day must have been to you and your family. I enjoyed "meeting" everyone and seeing the photos that you shared.

I hope you have a great weekend! :)

KathyB. said...

Leslie, YES! As soon as the food is outside they can cook, love that comment!

Timi, Brenda Kay,thank-you.

Noble Pig, thanks for the sliders recipe...we had enough left over we put them into the freezer and they do very well being taken out individually and micro-waved!

Audrey, thank-you. I just read your sisters' e-mail about your daughters' serious health problem, will be praying!

Flower, yes, wonderful time!

Kenleigh Acres, I love watching the things kids come up with when they all get together! ( well, most of the time )

Thistle Cove, I too have been having problems on and off leaving comments...had to go to Blogger helps and a kind blogger gave me the solution! And the prayers are much needed and appreciated!

Nancy, that is the biggest grill we have ever barbecued on!

Jennifer, you should try to host a reunion!

Kathleen, that day I truly FELT blessed! thank-you.

Farm Chick Paula, thank-you! Very much!

Lanny, the cloudy weather was actually a blessing! Most of us in this family don't do well in the heat and the rain was scarce, we had plenty of covered areas and you know a little rain doesn't keep children from enjoying themselves. Thank-you for the prayers, very much.

Daisy, we had a great week and the family reunion just kicked it off!

Anonymous said...

Finally got a moment to see the reunion. Wonderful photos and it looks like a total success! I know it took a lot of work but it all looks worth it.
Love you, sister Karen