My husband Tom and my cousin's husband Gari.
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed getting together with a bunch of my cousins over the weekend! I'm the oldest of all of my cousins on my Dad's side and I've also discovered I'm the shortest. Being the oldest, I was around to hear about or see all of their births and like to keep track of how each and every one of them is doing. Getting to actually see, talk to and hug them is even better! My cousin Brad and his wife and kids traveled here to WA from the Chicago area and are on their way to CA. They were staying just down the road for 2 whole weeks - right next door to my parents house.
It's always been very important to me that even if my kids don't get to meet or see very often, all of our aunts, uncles and cousins, that at least they know their names, ages and how they are related. Then when they do see them in person - they treat them with respect and know very well who they are. So far, my kids remember very well who each family member is and how we're related - on both my side and my husband's side of the family.
I tried to put all of these photos into a slide show but the program didn't want to work with me here. So ~ At the bottom of this post is the music and all of the photos are listed one by one. Thanks for stopping by my blog to catch up on our family!
Me with Little J who just loves our new little cousin Gavin. Lucky for us, this little guy doesn't live far!
CT has always enjoyed helping with the little ones and here he entertains 2 of the little girl cousins.
This is my cousin Brad and his baby girl. His mom is my Dad's baby sister.
My cousin Michael on the far left, his wife Karla and baby girl Ellie traveled here from Minnesota! This is our first time to meet Ellie in person although we've been enjoying watching her grow through her grandma's blog at" Wobegon Cottage". Next to Michael and Karla in the photo are Brad's mom, my Aunt Joanne and her newest grandson, my Dad's brother David and my dad holding Little J on his shoulders. These three siblings live next door to each other and just down the road from us!
My mom Kathy holding Gavin - he's a social little guy!
Michael, Karla and EllieEllie is such a good and happy little girl and so mature for her age!
Aunt Joanne always makes sure the kids are having a good time and got out paper and crayons for all the little ones at the table. ( Little J with my cousin Michelle's 2 youngest. )
MN and her pal, cousin Alani. These two always enjoy their time together.
Little J with Brad and his son Carson.
Three of the youngest boys, Little J, Gavin and Carter.
The little doll Ellie with her daddy.
Cousin Michelle's son Carter.
Gavin working on standing - with help.
Awwww, brother and sister, Michael and Michelle.
A couple of photo's of the first generation cousins at my Aunt's house. Michael, Brad and his sister Jenny in the back row. Myself and Michelle in the front. I like what baby Olivia is doing in the second photo and yes, she did get Michelle's hair at least once!=)
Aunt Joanne always makes sure the kids are having a good time and got out paper and crayons for all the little ones at the table. ( Little J with my cousin Michelle's 2 youngest. )
MN and her pal, cousin Alani. These two always enjoy their time together.
Little J with Brad and his son Carson.
Three of the youngest boys, Little J, Gavin and Carter.
The little doll Ellie with her daddy.
Cousin Michelle's son Carter.
Gavin working on standing - with help.
Awwww, brother and sister, Michael and Michelle.
A couple of photo's of the first generation cousins at my Aunt's house. Michael, Brad and his sister Jenny in the back row. Myself and Michelle in the front. I like what baby Olivia is doing in the second photo and yes, she did get Michelle's hair at least once!=)
The picnic was at a park and our kids were able to meet up with two little girls who belong to a co - worker. They all enjoyed feeding ducks bread on a pond. There were MANY ducks. One of the little girls dropped her lipgloss into the pond on accident and the ducks went crazy over it. She was very upset about it until CT retrieved it from the quacking mob.
Little J looked on from his stroller, very entertained by the noise and splashes from the duckies.
We then had to leave early to make it to CT's tae kwon do belt test on this hot and humid day. I'll write about that later. The day finished off with lots of food, friends and family gathered at one of my cousin's homes to watch the UFC fight and visit. ( And rest. )
Sunday brought us to my family reunion which was held at my parent's house. I got to visit with many family members I hadn't seen in a long time and got to meet a few cousin's spouses I had not met yet. My cousin Megan, shown in the photo above ( right ) is here visiting with her family from Illinois and I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting her daughter, son or husband until Sunday. I think they all make exceptional additions to our family!
The kids had no trouble entertaining themselves. It seemed my dad's hammock was a big attraction and plaything. These are actually the only two photos I was able to take since I was busy chasing Little J all over the yard. Now that he walks it's quite a work out to keep up with him. For more on the family reunion you can visit my mom's blog : 
In the middle of all the chaos ... ahem, I mean fun ... we got a pool! My husband finally broke down and gave in to all my begging and pleading for something to swim in and bought us a pool just big enough that all 4 kids and I can fit in it at the same time. Woo Hoo! This is HUGE for me as I was the little girl who would fill a 5 gallon bucket with water and sit in it in the summers just to be IN water.
