Reunited And It Feels So Good
Two weekends ago we experienced our first family reunion. It was my mom’s side of the family and in honor of my Granny’s 90th birthday earlier this year, nearly 50 of us gathered at Carter Caves State Resort Park in Olive Hill, Kentucky (since it’s a short drive from Granny’s home in Huntington, WV).
It was a pretty brief trip, with folks arriving Friday evening and leaving Sunday morning. But we packed in a lot of quality time in those 40-ish hours. For instance, Clara experienced her first pony ride.
We also went on a short hike that the ranger described as “stroller friendly.” We’re not sure if he knew what a stroller was.
It was a fun hike nonetheless. Clara (and I) were in rock heaven.
Burger had fun too – although this photo is mainly to show my sister Emily that if she’s gonna photobomb my picture like a big weirdo, I’m going to put it on the Internet.
Here’s a better shot of us (with Sherry’s ol’ turkey leg shirt) enjoying the hike together.
But this trip wasn’t really about our little family foursome – it was about the family forty-some and getting to spend time with our cousins, aunts, uncles, etc, etc. That “etc” is mainly my sisters’ and cousins’ kids since I think there were about fourteen kiddos there who were under the age of ten. Including this troublesome trio of Clara and her cousins John and Emanuel. They were just touching the rock, but I think it looks like they’re ready to be frisked. Except for Emanuel. He’s about to make a run for it.
Clara also got to hang with our cousins daughter Elsa, whom she idolizes.
The reunion centered around a big picnic / cook-out on Saturday evening at one of the park’s shelters.
And it wouldn’t be a reunion without matching t-shirts right? And since my mom’s family is the Kelleys, we went with a kelly green theme (though the little kids got white shirts with clovers on them).
Here are the women that run this show / are responsible for this madness. That’s Granny in the center flanked by her daughters (and daughter-in-law on far left). My mom’s the one on the far right. The hilarious thing about this picture is before we snapped it, Granny put in a request: “I want to be airbrushed.” Ha!
Granny is the definition of a grandma with spunk. She’s always smiling and cheering people on and still always surprising us with great one liners. This picture is right after we presented her with the new TV we all went in on together. She stood up as we all chanted “Speech! Speech!” and then simply said “Thank you for the TV. It looks lovely.” and quietly sat back in her seat.
Her three daughters certainly inherited some of the spunk. Particularly my aunt Liz (far left) who made these t-shirts for the three of them.
But the gathering wasn’t just t-shirts and photo-taking. There, of course, was eating.
Between the watermelon and the icing that Clara’s smashing into her cake-hole below, I swear she ate some real food. At least I think she did.
At least she stayed hydrated. Did I mention she idolizes Elsa?
The saving grace for all of those with children was the big playground that was right next to the shelter.
Clara was queen of the swings. Or maybe with the way she’s clutching that Sleeping Beauty doll, she’s more like King Kong of the swings.
One of her favorite swinging buddies was her baby cousin Ben (John’s little brother). Clara just lights up around him.
And sometimes he does the same around her. Isn’t he a handsome devil?
This next series of photos cracked me up. Ignoring the fact that these two toddlers are related, this picture is like the epitome of playground flirting. Do you eat lollipops here often?
She said she’d go out with me!
And here’s Emanuel’s attempt to break up all of the mushy stuff. Not sure he was successful.
But perhaps Clara was learning the ways of her cousin John. Because at the end of the day she just wanted to steal his seat in the double-stroller next to his brother Ben.
As many cute photos came out of our reunion weekend, my favorite was probably this one – which is a photo taken who knows how many years ago. It’s Granny and my Papa back in the day. Such a charming picture of the two of them. Makes me wish he were still around to see all that this family has become.
Our first ever Kelley Family reunion went so well that we’re already starting to plan the next one (probably in 2014). Any fun family reunion tips or suggestions to make the next one bigger and better? Well, maybe not bigger. Forty-eight people was a lot already!
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Looks like a great time! The little photos series is very funny. Makes me wish I would have been able to make my family reunion this year – they do them every year, so hopefully next year.
Looks like a great time. When my kids were younger, my parents hosted a Christmas in August party so grandchildren who lived too far to visit in December could see their house decked out for Christmas. (Yep, they decorated to the max – inside & out). It was lots of fun and my kids have great memories of arriving early, since we were one of the out-of-town families, and getting to help set-up the party.
This is so sweet! I am sure you had a great time together!!
It looks like you had a great time! Family gatherings are just the best :) And a Happy Birthday to Gramma!
Granny is spunky and I want to look just like her when I turn 90! Looks like a great time was had by all. I love all the pics with Clara and her cousins :)
We have a family reunion for my Dad’s side every 10 years. There is over 144 of us, so it’s hard to get everyone together, especially since they are spread out all over the country. For the last family reunion, we held a slideshow for everyone, which included old pictures, and newer ones, so everyone could see how far the family has come, and catch everyone up to speed on what they are all doing. We always charge about $10 a person for the reunion, to help cover food costs, and to rent a place.
Yours looks like an awesome time, love the matching shirts!
My mom’s side of the family has a reunion every summer, usually in June. We change locations to keep it fresh, with a different aunt or cousin doing the planning each year. Sometimes we go to a dude ranch or an amusement park, and sometimes we just chill out under a pavilion at a city park. We don’t usually do t-shirts, but when we do, they usually include the motto “be there or be talked about”
Haha so funny!
xo,
s
Thanks for sharing this!
I always wanted my family to have reunions, but when they did plan a big get together for my Grandma’s 90th birthday, I was over 8 months pregnant and didn’t think being 7 hours from home was a good idea so I missed it.
What a great family time together. Cute photos :)
Those are some great photos! I love all of the t-shirts (especially the one your mom and her sisters wore), the photo series of Clara and her boy cousins, Elsa hugging Clara, and especially the old photo of your grandparents. Looks like a fun time.
Your Granny doesn’t look 90! My grandma turned 90 this year and she can’t stand or walk without a big walker. I hope to be as spry as your Granny someday. She looks amazing for her age.
What a fun time! Your grandparents were such a lovely couple – love that old photo.
Looks like a nice day! I can’t believe how big Clara is. She looks so tall! Is she tall for her age?
Yes, she gets her height from her daddy’s side of the family! I never could have guessed I’d have a tall daughter since we’re all so short on my side (my mom is 4’11″!)
xo,
s
My family gets together every Christmas but it’s a rather small group of about 20 people. We do a shirt every year and take a big family photo. We also put together a “newsletter” that gets handed out and read together.
For the newsletter, each small family puts together little snippets of highlights from their year as well as photos of those highlights. Then someone (it’s been me so far!) puts everyone’s photos and snippets together into a newsletter/mini-magazine of sorts. It does take a bit of time but it’s fairly easy and everyone LOVES reading it.
With a bigger group like yours, this should probably still be manageable and affordable. Sounds like a good idea considering there’s no way you could get around to all 40+ folks to get their highlight reel!
It looks like a great time with a great family. We just had a family reunion last year and its great to see all the extended family. I love the last picture with your grandparents. It’s amazing to think this big extended family started with that young couple. It makes me hopeful for what my family will look like in 50 years!
We went to a family reunion this summer also, my grandma was one of ten so you can imagine the size. I think on Saturday there were 140 some people and that was 80% of the family. We also did t-shirts but each of the original siblings picked a color and all their descendants wore that color. It was an easy way to see the family groups.
I love that idea, too cute!
I love it! We used to have family reunions in Nags Head, NC every two years when we were all younger. In fact, one year we have t-shirts made too!! I really miss those times and it’s harder to do it now that we are pretty much all grown with our own families, etc…we have thrown around the idea of doing on again, so maybe it’s time to just plan it and hope we can get every one together! Love the pictures of your grandparents! They’re adorable!
What a great event! It totally made me laugh out loud in my office when I saw the picture of your sister photo bombing you. Too funny. I actually live in Huntington and have been to Carter Caves, which is breathtakingly beautiful in the fall. Thanks for sharing.
John, I love the captions on the kids. (Little) John’s face in the second picture is priceless! It needs to be painted (a la Norman Rockwell). Your Granny sounds like a great lady. The last picture is so special. However, I may be a little partial – I also have a Granny and Papa! Those names just fit so nicely together don’t they? :)
I love our family reunions! My grandmother’s side has a reunion every 4 years on the 4th of July and there’s over 100 of us (no idea the exact # anymore). We didn’t pick the 4th of July for holiday reasons, that was really the day that my grandma’s father passed away. My grandma’s 83 years old and is now the oldest of the original 13 children who are still alive. And she’s just as spunky as your grandma. :) I can see mine being just like her in just a short 7 years from now.
My mom’s family are Kelleys, too. Wonder if we’re related??? They have had a family reunion every year for the past 53 years with the exception of one year when one of my cousins unexpectedly passed away just a couple of days before the reunion date. Huge family as Mom was one of 10 siblings.
*Tears of Love*
We celebrate my Grandma’s 90th Birthday at the end of September, but unfortunately my husband and I will be missing the celebrations. The celebrations are in northern Indiana, we’re in northern Utah, and we’ll be about 32 weeks along the path of another great-granddaughter for my Grandma.
When she was asked about her pet peeves once, my grandma remarked, “white hair … it looks good on people like Auntie Lorraine, but not me! and cooking… after cooking for 5 kids and a husband, I’m done!”
This woman was orphaned at the age of 7 and has some amazing stories.
Like you, too, it makes me miss my Grandpa. He was usually the main cook at family reunions.
Blessings to all!
Aw, so sweet! She sounds like a spitfire!
xo,
s
A little PS… our wee one will be a Susanna..
My grandma’s youngest was Suzanne. She died about 13 years ago. I was hesitant about a similiarly-named child in the family, as when my hub and I prayed, we got “Susanna”… no family connections that we know of!
My grandma was overjoyed that there would be another girl in the family with a similar name. Yet her own person, just as my Grandma is her own (very strong, very wonderful) person.
So fun! Our family reunions, which only happen for my dad’s side of the family, are HUGE. They usually involve 150+ people. My dad is one of 5 and each of them has at least 3 children. Of the cousins, we have started having families too so it really adds up! Because of this, our reunions are held at my grandmother’s church grounds where the kids can play ball or run around in the field and we can sit in air conditioning! Fun times.
I adore the sweet old black and white at the end. Everyone was so beautiful and classic back then.
Do you think our grandkids will look at photos of us and think the same thing? Hmmmm…..
Looks like Clara had so much fun! She is smiling so big in some of those shots it is contagious!!!
And your sister….is an AWESOME photobomber! I love it.
You look great Sherry! Skinny mini!
Aw thanks! Only took two years after Clara was born! Haha.
xo,
s
Awww. It looks like the four of you (can’t forget about Burger) had so much fun. It’s really nice that Clara has a bunch of cousins to hang out with, even if it’s only a few times a year. This weekend I had a university-friend reunion which I consider a different kind of family. We had such a fun time catching up. Anyway, hope you’re having a lovely day! :)
I’ve always wondered this, but have never asked. Why is John’s nephew also named John? Is he named after his uncle? It just seems unusual that a woman would name her son after her brother…
They’re both named after the same man (John’s grandpa on his dad’s side).
xo,
s
I’m going to have to steal the ” mom loves me best” for my five kids (ages 25-9)!
The b&w picture of your grandparents brought tears to my eyes. So wonderful. :)
We have a family reunion every single year on the 3rd weekend of July in Columbus, OH. This year we celebrated the 50th consecutive reunion and it was awesome. There is usually around 300 to 400 people that come from all over the country. Like yours, it is from Friday-Sunday. We all camp out in one of my counsin’s big back yards with our tents and RVs. Saturday we have games like sack races, relay races and a big water balloon toss and then Sunday a priest comes in and holds mass for the family. I have never missed 1 in my 23 years of life, and I wouldn’t give them up for anything!
Hahaha it looks like John stole $herdog’s turkey leg shirt!
Olive Hill?! That’s where my family is from/living! It’s the world’s smallest town… what a small world that you were there!
Oh my goodness! We are also the Kelley’s (with an E-Y) and we also have family reunions in matching Kelly Green shirts (usually of the green and white horizontal stripe variety- yuck!). So glad to see you guys embark in the same embarrassing traditions. We are up to about 55 now. So fun!
Happy Birthday, Granny! (I hope the family sprung for a nice big 60″ flat screen? :)
Awww, look at all the adorable little ones! The expressions on their faces are priceless!
Good looks definitely run in your families :)
xox
The pics of Clara “flirting” with her cousin make me smile because my husband and I declared our love for one another at one of our family reunions 20 years ago! We had always been in love but were afraid to say anything because we didn’t know how the family would react. By the time we were 35 years old (we are 10 months apart in age) we decided that our love was stronger than any objections anyone might have. We will be celebrating our 18th anniversary next weekend.
Can I ask how you are related?
Were you cousins as well?
So stinkin jealous of the shirts. I always feel like my family reunions are not legitimate, since there has never once been a t-shirt.
Yay for Kelleys’ spelled CORRECTLY! Looks like a fun time!
How wonderful that the whole family could get together!
Also, so glad someone else thought Sherry’s shirt looks like food! “Sherry’s ol’ turkey leg shirt.” The first time she wore it months ago (Easter?) I thought it looked like pork chops until I saw it closer and could make out the birds. It’s weird how stuff photographs sometimes : P
I love that picture of your grandparents! It’s so neat to see and think of older family members when they were young and in love. :) It looks like it would be a great addition to one of your frame walls. Think it’ll pop up there some day? ;)
Wahoo! I hope so!
xo,
s
Okay…small world! My dad’s side of the family is from Olive Hill, KY! I don’t think I know anyone who has even heard of Olive Hill :) I haven’t been there in years (like, 20), but my dad moved back awhile ago. SO STRANGE.
Did you happen to cross the New River Gorge Bridge on your way? So gorgeous! (no pun intended) It’s off of Rt. 19 in WV, so it may have been out of your way.
Yes! It was totally breathtaking!
xo,
s
Looks like so much fun!
My family has big reunions every few years (usually around 200 people– we’ve got a big family!) and the highlight is usually about halfway through the night when they all break out the songbooks. Many of the older family members grew up together (or at least during the summers) and remember a lot of the same songs that they sang during “camp.” Eventually, somebody wrote them all down and printed them out. It’s fun for the older folks who remember the songs, and it’s fun for the younger cousins to see their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents sing and dance!
I love family reunions! My paternal grandmother’s side has an annual reunion in Punxsutawney, PA at the old family farm, and I have so many great memories of sleeping on the floor with my 25 cousins and running downstairs early in the morning to get the good cereal (last one awake always ends up with cornflakes while the rest of us are happily munching on Lucky Charms or Fruit Loops). I haven’t been to the reunion in many years, but at my grandfather’s funeral this past April I found out that our board of directors (Yes, my family has a board of directors…) are in the midst of planning the big 100th reunion and everyone is planning on attending. I can’t wait to touch base with all the distant cousins I’ve lost touch with,,,and fighting for the Cocoa Pebbles come morning.
Those ‘mom loves me the best’ T-shirts are hilarious. I should give them to my tripletsons when they turn 15 next month :-)
Btw, I read: ‘It’s Granny and my Papa back in the day’ and I was completely confused, as ‘papa’ is Dutch for daddy. I thought: wow, your grandma is so YOUNG to have a son that big!
I don’t have an extended family, and most of them don’t get along well enough to tolerate each other for a reunion. So when I first went to my then-boyfriend/now-husband’s family reunion, I was in awe. There are over 100 of them. They do this every year. Anyone who can, camps together for a week beforehand. And they all still LIKE each other! Now it is six years later and I’m just one of the crazy family members who look forward to it each year.
So cool that you visited Carter Caves. My family and I live in Huntington, WV and I have a cousin who lives in Grayson, KY. Glad you enjoyed your visit to our area. I personally think we live in a gorgeous state.
Sherry, I love your jeans, do you mind sharing where you got them??
Gap a while back! They had them in short sizes so I snatched them up. Haha.
xo,
s
Thanks! they are really cute and dark, I like them!
How funny, I don’t think I’ve ever met another person who has a “Granny and Papa” like I do. I wish my Papa were still around, too. Looks like you have a beautiful family! And what a fun trip…makes me want to go hiking! :)
Looks like fun!! Love the T-shirts your aunts & mom had on! We do a family reunion every 3 years that brings around 50-75 people. For the next one (2014) we are making shirts with everyone’s name and a number (like a sports jersey) that reflects the order in which they entered the family, either through birth or marriage. We’re also going to have our own olympics (our family name is Mucha, so they’ll be the Mucha-lympics), complete with inspriational music from the Olympics, Rocky, etc. Probably will use minute-to-win-it type games for that! The more embarrassing the better! We are total dorks and we let our freak flags fly with pride. Hmmm… maybe we should have a flag too.
Sounds like my family – We do t-shirts with our “bar code” for example, my grandmother was the 9th child in her family, my mom is the 7th, and I am the 1st so my number is 9-7-1. My husband is 9-7-1 S (for spouse) and my younger sister is 9-7-2, etc.
My mom is one of ten and her side of the family gets together once a year in August. Luckily most of the family lives in the same state to do this. Anyway, we basically bring our tents, pop-up campers and fifth wheels to a cabin on a lake (it’s in the family) and hang out for a week! We play lots of card games, sing around the campfire, drink and sleep. The past seven years or so, we’ve been coming up with a theme and dedicating one day to that theme. This past year was redneck, but previously we’ve done Hawaiian, 60′s, pirates, and country. Next year it sounds like it’s create your own super hero! It really is just as fun for the adults as it is the kids and we all look forward to it every year!
How exciting to see the location! I went to college at Marshall University in Huntington and even went caving at Carter Caves! Love that little nook of the world! :-)
Glad you had a great time — it looked wonderful!!