The Mid-Cart Parentals: Family Reunion Part 2

I like to have T-shirts made every year as a remembrance & for our family snapshot. I think Jill did a great job on this year's logo!

We gathered on the beach for our photo shoot. I snapped a couple of pix of each family as they arrived - although these aren't great pix, I think it's fun to see who belongs to whom.

Rochelle's & Gina's families...

Ben's & Kyle's families (minus Adia)...

Our #1 grandchild (Kyle & Amy's oldest daughter, Adia) was absent this year. She was on a service mission to Burkina Faso, Africa. She had a great experience with lots of different types of ministry including street evangelism, outreach events, building relationships with kids in rural villages, planting fields of trees to create food for a community, & organizing a medical clinic for victims of malaria. Although we missed her terribly, we are proud of her desire to follow her heart & serve the Lord.

Jill's & Cindi's families...

Leah's & Terri's families...

I didn't get an individual pic of Nicole & of course we were all missing Ty & Christi who were following doctors orders for Christi to be on bedrest, waiting patiently for the new arrival...

Wait a minute! Who's on bedrest?

As we were all getting set up for our big group photo, Jill was trying to balance her camera on a bunch of blankets & towels so she could set the timer & then run into place for the photo. A crowd was starting to gather, watching us...it is an overwhelming sight to see all 45 of us in our matching shirts! Then this nice lady volunteered to take the photos for us! She did a pretty good job of trying to get everyone looking towards the camera on at least one of the many pics she took. Jill still spent tons of time working her photoshop magic - cutting & pasting several heads into the final product so that everyone is at least facing forward!

Here we are with 26 of our grandchildren (missing Adia & Ty's little one)...

The sibling shots are always fun. I sure do love these crazy people! (Ty belongs on the right end.)

I love how they seemed to have scared the seagulls at just the right moment on this one...

The girls got creative with this one...

And then this happened...

I just love that these cousins are so close in age! All of them were born in a 6 month period! I hope they grow up to be good friends & have great memories of summer fun together...

Of course, we couldn't be left out of the photo shoot...I'm always relieved when the photo shoot is over. I know it's such a hassle for everyone, but I'm so grateful that they all make it happen for me because I love the result! I have priceless images to help me remember & cherish throughout the years...

The last night we were all together, we went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. When our kids were younger, we spent many family nights here - playing & riding the rides. We thought it would be fun for our kids to share their favorite memories with their kids & cousins...

Google image

It was pretty crowded & everyone kinda went in different directions according to their interests, but it would be impossible for our numbers to stick together. I tried to snap pix as I saw people having fun, but it was impossible for me to keep up with the big kids! Some rode the big kid rides while others rode the kiddie rides & others just ate & watched the craziness. It was fun to see their excitement & their smiles...

Cassandra crashed really early, so Gina was one of the first to call it quits & head back to the hotel. Alana really wanted to stay, so she ended up in the very last group to leave the Boardwalk! She didn't quite make it...Aunt Cindi carried her out!

Last group standing - these crazies closed the place down!

Another successful reunion behind us. We all played on the beach the next day, too (those pix are mixed in with the previous post), then we all said our goodbyes & went our separate ways.

Since Leah & Terri were headed back to Utah, they stopped by the Riverhouse on their way home for one more evening & took advantage of one more kayak run down the River...