i’ve got a lot of cousins.  no, seriously, a lot.  on my dad’s side alone i have 30 first cousins.  yes, that’s right, 30.  whenever i tell people that, i always get the question, “do you know all of their names?”  of course i know all of their names!!!  i’ve got a ton of second cousins, i couldn’t even begin to count.  i think i’d need a calculator, or at least more fingers and toes.

 

i think my family is unique.  my dad has 8 brothers and 4 sisters.  when i was growing up, most all of them went to my grandma’s every sunday for dinner, socializing, and volleyball games (i NEVER got to play – no, i’m not bitter!)  because of that tradition, i really got to know my cousins – all of them.  another tradition is the family reunion which takes place every summer in Black River, MI.  my family has been going there for as long as i can remember.  i think it may have started when i was 1 or 2.  it’s a lot of fun and even better now that i can bring my own kids.  it’s so cool to see my kids playing with my cousins kids. (would they be 3rd cousins?  i have no idea.  i can’t keep track!)

 

this year i was really inspired by a table that my uncle greg and aunt barbara made – they put a ton of work into it.  they took a regular table – 8ft long i think.  they gathered photos of everyone in the family – my grandparents and their siblings, their kids, the grandkids and all of the great grandkids.  everyone is represented. they sealed all of these photos into the table.  so every year when we go up for the reunion we can look at these photos and tell stories and remember.  it is so unbelievably cool!!!  greg and barb, thanks so much for all of your hard work – what a gift for this family!  (i guess i should’ve taken a picture of it!)

 

so, this year, i brought my camera and took a few snapshots of some of the grandkids and great-grandkids.  

 

my husband’s family has also started a new tradition of a summer family reunion.  while not as large as my family, it’s also a ton of fun!  especially for the kids.  it’s so great to hear my kids talk about seeing their cousins.  one thing that i learned about the beekman family, early on, is that they are competitive!  so the games are always a blast!  we had some mean games of kick the can and a game i’ll call “fill the cup with water?” 

 

so here’s some thibodeaus and some beekmans: