Monday, November 28, 2005

reunion

Well...I'm tired. We had a wonderful weekend with my family. It was so great to see all my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. We have grown a lot since our last reunion two years ago. It was really fun and worth all the hard work!

Thursday - We met at the church at 2 pm and totally pigged out! One thing about my family - we KNOW how to cook! We had tons of food and just had fun visiting and catching up. My aunt Jerri showed a video presentation in memory of Andrea before we left. It was sad, but neat to see old pictures of all of us as kids and remembering Andrea... Her boys were able to be there and it was good to see them.

Friday - We all did different things during the day. I went shopping with my Aunt Jackie, grandma, my cousin's wife Nikki, Chris and my mom. It was fun, but BUSY! We had a Mexican potluck in the evening with a game night after. We played games for about three hours! I played "SongBurst" with my cousins and we laughed and laughed! If you have never played that game, it is hysterical!

Saturday - We had a family picnic at the park all day. We played all kinds of games, ate (like we needed to!), and visited. It was great. That evening, we went to Joe's BBQ for dinner. Afterward we said goodbye to everyone and my Aunt Jackie, Uncle Jim, Casey (his partner),my grandparents and my cousin Ryan and Nikki came over to our house to look around. It was nice to finally show my grandparents where I live. They have never been to a house that was mine before.

All in all, it couldn't have been better. The kids all got along and hardly fought.
I realized several things while I was with my family this weekend:
1. My uncle Jim and his partner Casey are precious people. Even though I may not agree with homosexuality, I love my uncle very much. They are careful not to push it in anyone's face and are respectful. They are so fun to be with and J and I have had some heartfelt discussions about this whole issue. Both of us have/had uncles that are/were gay.
2. Even though my aunt Jackie and I have had some rocky times, I know she loves me like I was her own. She has been a very important person in my life for most of my life. She is great and I love her so much. She takes the time to have a relationship with all her nieces and nephews...and it pays off for her, because I know that we all feel the same way about her.
3. This might be the last time that my grandparents will be a part of all this. I was so sad to see that time is taking its toll. My grandma and grandpa are very special people and I don't want them to get old. They took great pains to make sure our family took and still takes time for each other.
4. My mom is one hard worker! She put all of this together, organized everyone and made sure that everyone had a good time. I just took orders! HA! It was interesting to see this side of her!

Anyway, this is becoming a book! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and took the time to thank God for your own families! Wish we could've been with you all!

3 comments:

Jenell Coker said...

I am glad you had a great time!!!

Alyson said...

I'm so glad that everything went well. I know that it must have been great for you to be with your family for a holiday.

Things here were very simple, just me, Owen, kids and my parents. I wish y'all had been here. I found myself thinking of last years and other years past. Although, the quiet was really nice this year after all the hectic things we've been facing recently.

Marlene said...

I'm so glad you had fun! I miss my family get-togethers like that. I remember growing up with sooo many cousins, and always having fun with them on Holidays. That's when I miss my family the most. My kids don't really have that connection and it makes me sad. They have cousins, just not close by, and they are mostly all older. Treasure those times together. They go by so fast!