Family Reunion Get-a-way 2010

Have I ever told you how much I love V's family? If not consider yourself told! The are a-maz-ing people and I am beyond blessed to be a part of them!

This passed weekend was V's mom's side of the family bi-annual reunion. V's grandma is one of 13 children, all of whom are still alive (the eldest is 85 I believe). Collectively they are the sweetest, kindest people on the planet! We were so excited that this time the Reunion was a mere 3 hours from us on a beautiful lake we adore. V. and I took Friday off, Mom-in-law and I got pedicures in the morning (hers are the purple with tiger stripes!) and mid-afternoon we caravaned up to the lake.

It was a beautiful drive and luckily the roads were not too crowded!

We arrived early, got all checked in and unloaded our things into our shared cabin (with mom & dad -in-law). Unfortunately V and I had to sleep on *gasp* separate bunks! It would not have been so bad but the beds were SO squeaky, no loving all weekend :( Good thing the weather and scenery were amazing or it could have been a looong weekend for me! V and his dad unloaded his fishing boat, that thing was such a hit! V had a blast taking different cousins, uncles and such out! Dad-in-law even caught a fish the first night! (a 5lb 24 incher, if you care). Unfortunately that was the only fish they caught all weekend! LOL! Here is a pic from the porche of our cabin, the guys are coming back in from one of many fishing trips.

So it was a beautiful weekend, lots of just hanging out and enjoying the family. I was on cloud nine for most of the time as there was only one toddler and no one had mentioned a thing about babies. Until the black sheep of the family (literally) cornered me and verbally slapped me for "not giving your wonderful in-laws the grand baby they deserve!" I couldn't even look at her, what did she expect to happen? Was I going to suddenly have some revelation about having children right there? Luckily V saw this happening and saved me, essentially telling her it was none of her business! I felt so weak, I had no defense, no way to respond. What could I say to her? I couldn't tell her off as if she were some stranger, though I hardly know her, I will likely see her frequently over the course of the rest of my (and my future children's lives). I was caught completely off guard and it still makes me cry just thinking about it. The worst part is a random husband of someone in the family over heard it, you could tell he had no idea what to say but could tell I was deeply hurt. By the way that lady is a mess, and I greatly dislike her now, she thinks she is the cats meow because she has a 3 mo grand-daughter....really lady? Your not-even 18 year old daughter gets knocked up by her second cousin and gets married and suddenly you are the knower of all things *angry obscenity*

Back to more pleasant things, I so enjoyed playing random games with random family members, sitting around chatting and such. This is the kind of thing I've longed for since I was a child and I know have it more than my heart can contain. I especially love V's great uncle HH. He is almost the eldest and I believe almost or at 85. We've always had a special bond. I particularly enjoyed hang out with him, he recently had surgery and while he's recovering well he hasn't been at the in town family gatherings. Other than that a fair amount of my time was spent just sitting by the lake shore enjoying God's beauty and reading my book. I recently got "Eat, Pray, Love" and I really like it. I love biographies, I love true stories! I like hearing the way other people see things or experience things (like 9/11). I'm fascinated by it. I've read some fiction and don't mind it in moderation but I just find biographies more interesting.

The weekend as a whole went by for too quickly, before we knew it we were packing up our things and looking forward to next time while we passed the time on the drive home. I so hope next time we will have a child to bring with us, not to show up the black sheep lady but because that is what my heart so desires. I would have loved every moment of waddling around with a pregnant belly or my infant/toddler. My time will come though, I know that for certain. All things in his perfect time.

A evening sky, campfire perfect for smores!

Tell me a fun story about someone in your family you love a little extra (such as great uncle HH).