Big family gatherings..

[matie-k]

My brother and his family were here for the week. They have five children, and there were 13 of us staying in my parents house all week - what a houseful! Anyways, it was a good week overall, and they just left this morning. I'm so exhausted!!! I feel like I'll need a week to recover - both physically and mentally! I don't know how you mothers with a number of children make it, especially when you're pregnant! We ended the week on a good note last night with a birthday party for our nephew who turned 4 on August 1st, and my hubby who's birthday is today! Since my nephew already had another party for his birthday, and since he knew that he would be 5 on his next birthday, last night he asked if he was now 5 since we were having another party for him! Another funny from that same nephew - he was sitting at the table and asking me where I and our daughter were going to sit, and so I told him. Some of the chairs at the table were from an old set and narrower than the newer chairs, and I was going to sit in one of those narrower chairs. Well, I look like I'm about ready to pop with this pregnancy, and my nephew told me "that chair is too small for you!"

Anyways, I'm just rambling. Family gatherings are great, but the ending of family gatherings is real good too! :ooops We did have such a good day on Thursday at the zoo all day - I love the zoo!

[matie-k]

I have to add that my husband is GREAT about these family gatherings! He's so patient with the kids and takes them here and there to play with them and get them out of the house for a while. They sure do love him!

[kevinmiller]

I always love family gatherings on my dad's side. He is the 8th of nine children so family get-togethers are usually of some size. They're always a lot of fun and the Miller family is typically pretty tight, which makes it even better. :lol

[Bakershalfdozen]

We also enjoy large family gatherings. My sister and I each have 4 children so when we get together it is always a hoot!

DH is 1 of 6 kids. Every summer his parents like to host a campover and if everybody comes, there are 26 people. Usually the great-grandparents show up too so that makes 28.

[PreacherE]

We have 3 family gatherings each year on my paternal grandmother's side. 2 different family reunions and a gathering on Christmas Eve.

If everyone shows up it amounts to just over 100 people. I see people sometimes whom I have to think about for awhile before I realize who they are. Especially, if they have not shown up at a gathering in some time.

[futurehope]

I have a family gathering at least three times a week. :Green

[kevinmiller]

We also enjoy large family gatherings. My sister and I each have 4 children so when we get together it is always a hoot!

DH is 1 of 6 kids. Every summer his parents like to host a campover and if everybody comes, there are 26 people. Usually the great-grandparents show up too so that makes 28.

26 people? I have that many in just cousins on the Miller side. :lol

[John81]

Sounds great Katie!

I loved the family gatherings we had when I was a child. Sadly, after some of the older ones passed away the gatherings got smaller and then people started moving away and few others died and now I can't even remember the last big family gathering we've had.

These days about the biggest gathering is when a few of us get together at my sisters place for one of her kids birthdays, graduations or whatever is going. Still, not the same.

[Bakershalfdozen]

[26 people? I have that many in just cousins on the Miller side. :lol

Yahbut do they all get together in one front yard, pitch tents and camp together for a couple of days? :lol

[kevinmiller]

Yahbut do they all get together in one front yard, pitch tents and camp together for a couple of days? :lol

lol, okay, you got me. We don't do camping for a few days. :frog
We do hang out in my grandparents' back yard for a while, though, if that counts. :lol

[JerryNumbers]

On my wife's mother's side of the family, on her mother's birthday, they use to have a family reunion.

There would be 75 to 150 people present to eat dinner, it always depended on how many could get away and be there.

And Linda's mother did all the cooking in her kitchen and went thru that about 25 times thru the years.

The weekend of the reunion her mother would have anywhere from 30 to 50 people spending the nights with her, and all the other local relatives would find a place for everyone who come to sleep for 2 or 3 nights.

My 1st one, I did not like, to many people, but after a couple of years getting to know many of them I to grew to love and enjoy it very much and was sadden to see it end when Linda's grandmother died.

[Anon]

I've always thought big family gatherings sounded like so much fun but alas, our family is not like that on either side. My husband has very few family members at all (we sort of "reunited" with many of them, but not all, over vacation and it was just like us, his mom, his aunt/uncle, and his brother/wife/kid and a cousin). I don't have very many family members either, only 5 cousins total on both sides!!! And my family is all spread over the entire country and we don't like each other enough to actually plan a reunion! LOL!!!!!!!! (Not my fault....) But I do envy those who have big gatherings on a regular basis. How fun it sounds.

[JerryNumbers]

On fathers side of the family, his mother died just before he turned 2 years of age, them an aunt and uncle raised him from there on up, they are now dead, and he was hardly ever with his father, or 2 brothers or 2 sisters during his growing up years.

They all failed to understand why he never did come around when they got together.

But I understand it, for I was separated from my family at about 20 months of age, father, half brothers, half sisters, and cousins and ect., got acquainted with many of them in the early 90's, they can't understand why I'm not real close to them. OH, I was very happy to meet all of them, it was a thrill for sure, filled in many blanks, but we did not share nothing in our growing up days just as my father and his brothers and sisters didn't.

My mothers side of the family, there was not to many of them, until they died I was close to my great aunts, one of them didn't have any children, the one who did they were much older than I and lived far away from here and I very seldom every saw any of them thru the years.

I think its so neat when a family is close and they have reunions.

The only family I have is a sister, daughter, and 2 grandsons and I usually see them several times each week.

I might add, after father died I found a note in his billfold from his father that said, "I sure would like to see my son once in a while." During fathers growing up years he hardly ever saw his father, and about the only time he saw his brothers & or sisters was at school. Yet he was not much more than 3 miles from his father, brothers, and sisters. With my experiences in early life I can fully understand my fathers feelings on this matter.

When a family is split up, it forever changes things.

I had a total of 12 brothers and sisters, my birth mother had several brothers and sister, I could easily envy big family reunions.

[HappyChristian]

My hubby has 5 brothers, so usually when we go down to visit his mom, they have an impromptu get-together. Sometimes they are all there, along with their kids and grandkids, sometimes just a few of them can make it. It's enjoyable.

My side of the family had a reunion of sorts at Christmas. My younger brother wasn't able to make it, but my hubby, son and I went to WA for Christmas (surprising my parents...it was great!). My sister and her hubby and kids came over, my older brother was there, and my grandmother (who will be 99 in Nov.). My uncle lives on the eastern side of the mountains, and no sane people try to drive through that way in December, so he didn't make it either. It was the first time since 1977 that I got to spend Christmas with my big brother. It was great!