Reuion- Family a la Brian

It's always so fun to be with Brian's family. Especially because the kids just adore Sean. It's so funny, the instant Sean and B1 get together, B1 chitters away about the battle plans floating around in his head that he wants Sean to act out with him.

Yep, there's a whole lot of action going on behind those eyes.



And couldn't you just eat up those freckles?

I've known Chris since I was born. I'll have you know that she saved little things about me as I grew up and made a scrapbook of my life for my 18th birthday. She's once amazing woman, for that and much much more.

I was going to put a picture of Chris talking a picture of B2, but then I saw this random kid's expression and couldn't pass it up.

B1 thinks its funny. D2 thinks it's sad.

What a cutie. B2 looks so much like her mom. Love that golden hair.

I wish this picture was better, but it perfectly captures how active this boy can be. Going and going and going and going and going...

I can't tell you how often I've seen this expression from Brian. His skeptical, "what are you talking about" look. He's always forcing me to be well-reasoned.

But he's got a light side too. But then again, he's talking to Uncle Bob. Everybody smiles when talking to Uncle Bob.

Reuion- Bocce Ball

Does everyone know about bocce ball? Basically, someone throws a white ball, then everyone gets two chances to throw their own ball, attempting to land closest to the white ball. Pretty simple but pretty fun!

Here's dad showing us how it's done. That's a face of concentration.

Darren's got it down pat.

Code time: I'm going to name each kid by the first letter of their parent's name and their birth order within their family. Brian's first kid would be B1. Jenny's third would be J3. Darren's fourth would be D4. Got it?


B1 liked to run down close to the white ball and see how close everyone's ball would land. So everyone aimed... carefully.

Dad doing a little victory dance?

Darren's matchy matchy with his bocce balls!

Sean became the designated measurer when the winner wasn't obvious. Of course he was very unbiased when it was between him and someone else.

You gonna win, Brian? Are ya?

Oh good form, babe! I think dad may have first heard of this game from Sean's dad.

So we could say that Sean won because he's played it many a-time. Yes, he certainly had the advantage.



But I'm still pretty proud of him for beating all those guys!



Many thanks to my pops for lending me his telephoto lens for these pictures. I want one.

Reuion- Mom and Dad

As we must always do when all our family members are together, we took family pictures. Look at what a beautiful family my mom and dad made!

In every picture, some kid was doing something funny. I guess that just adds to the personality of it all.

I've got some cute nieces and nephews! (I'm going to avoid using their names, to protect the innocent)

My pops, the inspiration of my photography hobby. And I think I may have inspired him to switch over to a digital camera. Yes!

Dad's a reader. At most any break in action, you can find him with a book.

My momma's pretty. No, she's gorgeous. She likes it when I say that. And it's true.

Hee, I thought that was funny. I like it when my parents are silly.

Aw, this makes my heart warm.

Next up, bocce ball!

Reuion- The Cabin

I'm here, I'm here! It's been tooooo long. Believe me, if I could have blogged sooner, I woulda. But last week I was at the oh so spectacular Zechiel Family Reuion (yes, I meant to misspell that- at a previous family reunion, the shirt-maker company spelled it wrong. Now it's tradition.). There was internet there but it was creepy-crawly slow, so no blogging possible. Then our home internet suddenly stopped working the day I arrived home. So now I'm at the library, uploading all the FUN reuion pictures I've edited. I've got about 12 or so blog posts to planned for them.

So much to look forward to!

My family stayed at a nice cabin in Spencer, TN. It had lots of room for everyone to run around. You need room with 10 adults and 9 kids.

As you'd imagine, there was wood all over. With a nice wood smell. And while on the porch, you could look out at...

...this luscious landscape. It looked incredible after it rained, as captured here.

There was also a fun little pond next to the cabin. So lovely. And so mosquito-y.

I really liked the rock driveways: mostly gray with an odd golden rock thrown in here and there.

The basement was a treasure-trove of games like Ping Pong, Pool, and Air Hockey (I wonder why I capitalized those... It feels like they should.) We had a fun hockey tourney. My dad and I had an epic match that came down to the very last point. Ooo, my adrenaline kicks in whenever I think about it. The grand champion was my bro-in-law Josh. Da Man!

More coming soooooon