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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Folks Family Reunion

We spent the weekend in Oklahoma for the annual Folks Family reunion. The boys were great on the 5-hour ride each way...whew! We were surrounded by family from near and far. As always, Mitchell really enjoyed all of the activity. Maverick was a happy baby, as always! He was passed from person to person, rarely making a peep. They always do a drawing for door prizes and Maverick won a King-sized quilt made by Jacob's Great Aunt!

Mitchell immediately made friends with two of his cousins (and I use the term loosely...I think they are maybe 3rd or 4th cousins). The little blonde cutie is 10 days older than Mitchell!



Unfortunatley Grammy Diane and Jacob's sister Skyler didn't get to make the trip afterall because Skyler had emergency surgery to remove her painful wisdom teeth :( We'll see them in 2 weeks in Maine!

Here's our immediate clan at the reunion.
L to R: Katy (Jacob's sis), Connor (Jacob's bro), Maverick, David (Jacob's Dad), Mitchell, Jacob and Me





We stayed with Jacob's maternal grandparents in Sallisaw, OK. I will always cherish staying up late and listening to old stories about how they met and about Papa's experiences in the war. I hope they enjoyed telling them as much as we enjoyed listening. I know the opportunities to hear those stories are dwindling with age. :( I found it humorous that even after all of these years, there was still a "her" and a "him" version of each story. "No, Paul, that is not how it happened." :) MANY things change with each generation, but a man's selective memory is one constant - ha!





We also visited with Jacob's paternal grandmother, Lois. She wasn't quite feeling up to joining us for the reunion in 90 degree weather, so we visited her at home. It's hard to believe this little woman birthed and raised 3 strapping boys!

Unintentionally, Maverick happened to wear the same little outfit that Mitchell wore the first time he met Grandma Lois. He doesn't fill it out quite as much though :)

Side note - do you notice where Maverick is looking? He watches his brother ALL of the time!!!! It melts my heart to see how much he enjoys him. When Maverick giggles, it is almost always while his eyes are on his silly big brother. :)


All in all, we had a wonderful trip and feel so blessed with a great family! As hard as we try, we can't help but think it's confusing to Mitchell to have so many grandmas and grandpas. Between our parents/step-parents and our own grandparents, Mitchell and Maverick have 7 Grandpas and 5 grandmas! Just try this one "Grandpa is coming to get Tex, so that we can drive to Oklahoma where Gran and Pops live to visit Grandpa Folks, Granny & Papa and Grandma Lois. Grammy Diane couldn't make the trip, but we'll see her in a few weeks in Maine, right after we visit Grandma and Grandpa Bays in Wisconsin." See what I mean?

Grandpas
My Dad (Rick)
Jacob's Dad (David)
My Stepdad (David)
Jacob's Stepdad (Rick)
My Paternal Gpa (David)
My Maternal Gpa (Wayne)
Jacob's Maternal Gpa (Paul)

Grandmas
My Mom (Patti)
Jacob's Mom (Karen)
Jacob's Step-Mom (Diane)
Jacob's Maternal Gma (Sue)
Jacob's Paternal Gma (Lois)

While it causes some confusion for a 2 year-old, we love it because it means that he is surrounded by loving family members! I think it's also wonderful that at 30ish years of age, Jacob and I still have 5 living grandparents! Good gene-pool :)
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1 comment:

Lisa said...

Ha! I love roly poly Mitchell in the orange outfit! Funny that you did a repeat unintentionally. You guys have a huge family! Will only has about 12 relatives total! Well, with spouses and kids we may be up to 20 combined between both sides. ;-)