We had a family day on Saturday. We had given up on getting together for Christmas. I know to some of you that is going to sound terrible. For us it isn’t.
Here are some of the reasons why:
-we all have our own churches and prefer to attend our own
-we have two nurses in the family and their schedules don’t coordinate
-Lora works at Best Buy and any time before Christmas is out
-some of the kids live two hours away and the weather doesn’t always cooperate
-Buck does snow removal so if there is 1″ of snow, he can’t leave
It was stressful and disappointing. We decided that we’d get together sometime in July instead and call it a family celebration. Well this last Saturday was the July day we picked. Plans were to go out to eat and then just hang out at our house. Someone mentioned taking the grand kids to the fish hatchery first so that’s what we did.
Here are Buck and Lora….and baby Lucy.
Here’s Auntie Kayla helping Scotty feed the fish.
There are machines that we put a quarter in and then got fish feed. Visitors can feed the fish.
Here is Carver feeding some. The fish jump up and splash to get the food.
Auntie Kelli was on Lucy duty for a bit. Kelli had a tough time with it all as she was still in her walking boot.
Here is Kayla and Spencer.
Here Craig is letting Scotty touch the water in the stream.
We tried to get a Grandma and Papa picture with the grand kids….here’s how it went….
Papa isn’t looking…
Papa is the only one looking….
I guess three of the five of us looking is the best we could do. Carver is in the green shirt. Lucy is on my lap. Hubby is holding Scotty.
Thankfully this crew was a little better at posing. From left to right… Karl, Kelli, Kayla, Kasjen (Buck), Kalissa, me and Hubby.
Later at home the boys played and played in the new sandbox Papa made.
They loved it!
Lucy was passed around while the boys played. Here Karl had a turn. This was the last get together before Karl leaves for Houston next week.
Sunday morning part of the crew was back. I made rolls. Carver had to lick the beaters.
As cute as that is, of all of the pictures for the weekend….this one is my favorite.
There is something wonderful about seeing your husband care for your kids. It’s even better seeing them care for the grand kids.
Cute grandkids. Little Lucy is a doll and so expressive! Looked like a fun day.
Ok, someone plz save my sanity and put the right boy with the right girl. I know Buck goes with Lora, Scotty, and Lucy. Then Kelli is with…..? And who does Carver belong to again? I should have it by now because I read this regularly. But I am the mom who still gets my own 7 boys’ names mixed up and can never remember their girls’ b-days, sooooo, yeah.
Kelli is with Jason. No kids to date.
Kayla is with Spencer. No kids to date.
Buck is with Lora. They have Scotty and Lucy.
Karl is single.
Kalissa is with Craig. They have Carver.
Hubby and me are still together after 32 years.
Nice family, Jo! Lucy is beautiful!
Where is Thelma?
We don’t have a Thelma.
due to family being spread out I think a lot of families can no longer get together for the holidays – it is great that you have a day in the summer instead.
Looks like a great day. You have s very beautiful family. Thanks for sharing
Getting together is so important, the date not so much. Our extended family celebrates “Easter in July”. We had to change the date one year due to a family situation and liked it so much (July weather meant the little kids could go outside) that we have kept it in July.
I think it’s wonderful. Your family is established a tradition that is meaningful to YOU as a family. That is most important.
And oh the weather you had was fabulous!!!!
Several years ago my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a big family gathering in July. Their anniversary is in January! The weather is so iffy in January, and they wanted everyone to be able to attend, so they moved the date. :)
It is nice to have family get togethers no mater the time. I don’t know if you are still looking for a chocolate coconut bundt cake, but here are a couple of links.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/242490761156198579/
https://foodbabbles.com/chocolate-coconut-cake/
Wonderful pictures!
The date the family gets together isn’t as important as the fact they can all get together with such wonderful smiles. Those memories are special and are to be cherished.
wonderful family time
What a happy family! Thank you for sharing!
Loved the pictures of your family get together. I have four grand children and trying to get a picture of them ALL looking at the camera is an impossibility! But so much fun!
It sounds like my family. There were four kids so between multiple members working at the hospital and some working part time and going to school, things never worked out. We went to a sorta rolling holiday with people stopping any time they could between Christmas and New Years. My mom always figured we would eventually have obligations on the in-law side of things and she was all for accommodating them. :) Now we pick a week in the summer and rent cottages together, or plan a giant family vacation together, we love it! Focus can be on family and not on prepping for a holiday. We still get together for holidays but we don’t guilt out when one can’t be there.
We are a family with 6 kids born over 20 years and we quickly spread to 4 states. At Mom/Dad’s 35th anniversary, they asked that we all be together every 5 years for 1 week. This began in 1983. With 10 in the next generation and now 11 in the great-grands, we continue this tradition without Mom and Dad. It’s a fantastic vacation in a great location near a lake or beach-planned by 1 of us kids. We meet the new babies/toddlers and reconnect with the teens/young adults. Our 2015 reunion had 34 attendees! I’m so grateful it has continued in the spirit of connecting that was important to Mom/Dad.
What a wonderful way to spend time with your family. Sometimes people make the Christmas holidays stressful by demanding that everyone adhere to one schedule and a strict way of celebrating. I’m glad that you were able to let love find a way to bring you all together.
Love the pics of the grandkids, so adorable. Looked like a fun day!