This past June we enjoyed a Swier family reunion on the coast. My mom and Aunts did a ton of work planning and preparing, as well as finding 3 houses in a row to rent along the Oregon coast. We're a big family which is only getting bigger so the fact that everyone was able to be together for a few days really was a big deal. In attendance was my Grandpa, my moms 3 siblings with their spouses, and 11 of my 13 cousins along with their spouses traveled from all over to spend a few days together. Growing up we were all really close, but time and life have moved some of us far away and many of us into very different stages of life. Two of my cousins serve in the military, one lives in Kansas, many of us are married, and some of us have a few or many kids of our own. It feels like a long time ago that we were playing together on our diary in Arizona or in one of my Aunts backyards. In fact I hadn't even meet all of my cousins spouses. All this to say, this reunion was a really nice and overdue chance to reconnect with one another.
Hanging out at the "Kid House"
My Hazelnut.
Uncle Caleb and Carter
Robert and his Boys!
Carter and Ollie
My Boys
The downstairs of "Kid House" had a pac-man machine. My boys may have spent A LOT of time on it while I enjoyed catching up with the grown-ups.
Payton and Evie
We had only to cross the street to be on the beach which was a dream come true for our littlest beach lovers.
One of the family activities was making T-Shirts
Grandpa and Cooper
Maybe not a great picture but I sure love laughing with my sisters.
One of our last outings was paddle boating. Hazel was not impressed but probably mostly because she was exhausted. Daddy headed home the night before we did and lets just say our night alone didn't go so well. Hazel woke up at 2:00 a.m. crying and I was unable to reason with her. Evie was asleep in my bed, my cousin and her little one were in the room next to us, my brothers were asleep on the couch, and I was desperate to keep her quite. I talked her into going to find Grammy upstairs but when Grammy's door was locked she lost it and I was about to loose it so I did the only thing I could think of at that moment, I took her outside and stuck her in time out in the car and gave myself a time out as well. After lots of screaming and flailing around she finally decided she was ready to go back to bed, but I'm not sure we ever fully recovered. We were definitely ready to head home at the end of the day.
Uncle Pat was a great sport taking the boys out since I obviously couldn't take everyone. Wyatt and Cooper just love him and had such a blast.
There really are a lot of us!
The Swier Family!
Top Row: Carlisle Family
Left Side: Moss Family
Center: Grandpa
Right Side: Horwood Family and Swier Family
The Moss Family
We shared dinner together each night and on the last night we took a minute to honor Grandpa and Grandma for all that they've done to make our family what it is today. My Aunts and Uncle read some favorite memories which had us all laughing and then we had a chance to tell Grandpa what he means to us and how much we appreciate him.
For me I'm thankful for the the strong Christian legacy that my family has going back to my Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, and even before that. I'm so very thankful for the investment Grandpa continues to make in my life and in the lives of my children. Moments like these make me miss my Dad so badly. I wish more than anything he was still here to be a part of this big crazy family. However, I know that he is still a part of us and as I miss him at gatherings like this I am also increasingly grateful for what I have and especially for the influence of Godly men like my Grandfather in my own life and the lives of each of my children. Great-Grandpa comes to all of the kids' events when he is town and always takes a minute to say hi to each of them and scoop them onto his lap and call them silly names. We are truly very lucky to call him Grandpa.
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