Ten Things of Thankful: Father's Day and Family Reunion

 

My dad holds me as we attend my first family reunion

(I wrote this on Wednesday, thinking it was a day later and I'd be able to link to the blog hop if I stayed up late enough that night. Then the days went by and I forgot until this morning. All this to say, take the "tomorrows" and other time references in this post with a grain of salt.) :-)

Say the words, "family reunion," and I immediately think "picnic." My great-great-grandparents' descendants started holding annual picnics more than 100 years ago, and settled into a favorite location about 65 years ago. As you might imagine, many of the original picnic-goers have left this world, and many of the descendants have moved from the state. It has been almost 20 years since the last reunion, but this year, some of us are gathering again. 

My great-grandparents, dressed to the nines for a picnic circa 1920

The couple standing at the back left are the same couple as in the photo above. My grandma is standing directly in front of them.

I've been surrounded by family since the end of last month. John hosted a guys weekend at the end of May and our two sons and one of John's brothers came. After they left, John and I brought our grandchildren to our house for a week of fun. A few days after the grandchildren went home, I drove to Oregon to spend some time with my parents. My visit with them overlapped my sister's visit, so I was able to visit with her for a while, something we hadn't done in much too long. 

My sister and I attempt to take a nice selfie, but between my closed eyes and my sister's worried face, we ended up with a laughable attempt 

My sister and I managed to get a more acceptable selfie, where we are both smiling and have open eyes.

Tomorrow I'm going to dinner with a cousin. John will come out this weekend (but our home will not be empty/unattended, so any ne'er-do-wells need not bother with us) and we'll attend the family reunion. We'll bring picnic food, sit on camp chairs, reacquaint ourselves with how we are related to second cousins, reminisce about the past, and maybe even play a game of horseshoes. And we'll take photos and promise to do this again next year. 

I'm thankful:

1. For my children. 

2. For my grandchildren.

3. For my parents. (Happy Father's Day, Dad!)

4. For my siblings.

5. For my cousins. 

6. For my grandparents and others who have gone before me.

7. For in-laws.

8. For more distant relatives.

9. For family reunions.

10. For John. 

Do you have a family reunion scheduled anytime soon? If not, plan a picnic and invite your cousins! 

Be sure to check out the other Ten Things of Thankful posts this week!