We had a couple of family birthdays this week, so it seems appropriate to wish them both a big Texas Happy Birthday!
Grandson Taran turned 10 on Sunday! Yep, another one hits the double digits! His heart is a big as his smile – and I’m excited that we’re going to see him (and the rest of the family) this weekend!
These kids are growing up so very fast!
But today is Tammy’s birthday – and she doesn’t seem to age at all!! As I was looking for a recent picture of Tammy, I realized I couldn’t find any of ‘just’ her. Her heart is always for her family, her friends and her Jesus. We are so thankful we get to claim her as one of our beautiful Daughters-in-love.
Our other February birthday, Ellie, was back on February third – but we already talked about that!
I’m not gonna lie – it was a lot of driving –
Some of it lovely –
Some of it not so much –
But all of it was worth those lovely days we spent with our Ohio kids and grands!
We helped out a bit at Lara’s house,
and celebrated Thanksgiving Day with friends of Lara’s.
It was a lovely day!
Friday Lara was working, so we ran some errands (yay – a Costco!!) and generally enjoyed hanging out with Alex!
And then came Saturday – the day that ALL the Ohio Conrads got together!
Miles Traveled – 2042
Dollars spent – Who’s counting?
Dollars saved in postage (Christmas deliveries!) – $40.00 +/-
Memories made – Priceless!
It was a last minute decision to head north for Thanksgiving – but we’re oh-so-thankful that we did! Hoping your holiday was filled with love and gratitude also!
PS – We also enjoyed bonus visits with friends in Nashville both coming and going. No photo documentation, but it was still a delightful break in our travels! John & Rosie – we are thankful for you guys, too!
Do you see the birch tree in the header picture above? We’ve been watching that tree get closer and closer to the pond each year we come. And the concern was that it would eventually fall into the pond and then be impossible to get out of the pond. Gary had worked on trimming off some of the easier to reach branches earlier in the summer
but knew that getting the main part of the tree down would have to wait. Since we had a good supply of 40-something men and a couple of willing teenagers around during the reunion, Gary came up with a plan that involved a couple guys in the boat,
and a brave soul willing to shimmy himself (and the saw) out over the pond.
Sometimes it takes two on the tree to get it low enough to fully cut through!
While it didn’t go exactly as it had been envisioned, our gang is great at improvisation and at the end of the day, the tree had been dispatched, no adults or teenagers or turtles were harmed in the excursion, and The Pond activities resumed.
Actually, I’m not at all sure they were ever interrupted to begin with!
OK – let’s get going on some reunion talk!! Of course, the most important part of any reunion is the people who come! This year we had quite an exceptional turnout – of the 13 cousins (our kids’ generation) all but one family was able to make it. Of the next generation (42), only three (and a spouse) were missing! And we welcomed our first entry into the newest generation! Our oldest attendee was Aunt Vesta – my dad’s cousin – who turned 99 this spring and joined us on Saturday.
(Sitting here with Fitz, our second oldest attendee at 80!)
Here are our youngest three – all born within 3 weeks of each other!
(The cutie on the right is the newest generation baby!)
I wish I could say I was organized enough to get photos of all the individual families, but while I got some – I did not get all. My apologies to those I missed, and here are the ones that I was able to get-
We missed all those who couldn’t make it – and they sadly missed some wonderful family time. This was also our first Big Family Reunion without my dear sister Elna – who would’ve been over-the-moon happy to see all of these beautiful smiling faces. But knowing she is well and happy in her new heavenly neighborhood helps my heart get past the “missing” and into the blessing of having her as a sister-friend for these many years.
So PEOPLE! The Very Best part of our 2024 Dwinell Family Reunion!
Stay tuned for just what all those people did for four days!
I’m sure you’ve seen them before. You take a photo from years ago, and recreate it with the same folks – but years and years later. We siblings tried to do it 25 years ago when we took this photo from 1956
and tried to create it again in 1996 –
It was pretty lame as photo recreations go, but then again I think it was a spur of the moment thing!
Apparently, having a really good photo recreation calls for a bit of planning. You try to have as many details the same as possible – not just the same people! Granddaughter Hayley approached me this spring to do some sewing so she and Uncle Woody (son Josiah) could recreate this photo from our family vacation in 2011 (see yesterday’s post!).
She checked with Uncle Woody so he could be lining up his wardrobe, and I got to sewing a pair of lime green pajama pants! And then, at the Family Reunion at the Cabin this summer, they got to it! Short white socks, ankles showing, Uncle Woody in bare feet and looking at his phone.
They even made sure I was standing in the background – just like in the original!
So fun!
I gave some thought to some additional photo re-recreations during our reunion, but even trying to get one big group picture was a bit like herding cats…
Maybe next time!
His heart is a big as his smile – and I’m excited that we’re going to see him (and the rest of the family) this weekend!
