We are Fam-i-ly!

I got all my sisters (and cousins, and aunts, and uncles) and me!  This past weekend my parents hosted the Jackson/Kendrick Family Reunion at their house. 




Meme (aka Lois Jackson) is one of 9 kids.  Her parents had 5 kids and then her daddy passed away.  Her mom remarried Mr. Kendrick and they had 4 more kids.  This reunion was for all of those people!  Lila, Maddie and I arrived a little early so we were there to greet all of the matriarchs and patriarchs:)

 


Seven of the nine are still living and six of them made it to the reunion. 




We started out the day meeting Benjamin.  He and Maddie had fun on the see-saw.




Lila was a little nervous meeting all kinds of new people, but she found her smile again in the toy closet!




One of the first big families to arrive were these folks from Oklahoma.  Brittany is my mom's cousin's child--here she is with her husband and 6 kids.  Yes, you read that right!  Four boys and two girls.  And I thought my life was hectic!




These two knew just where to find some toys to play with...




and it wasn't long before Jackson convinced a cousin to play football with him.




While brother was busy outside, Miss Lila was busy having fun with her cousin Evie.  This was her first time to meet sweet Evie and they just loved each other.  So sweet.




We tried to get all of the families together for family photos.  Here is ours.  Two of my cousins didn't get to make it, but my cousin Jenny did, along with her husband, son and parents.




After the adults had chatted a while and the kids had had lots of fun in the pool, it was time to eat.  One thing about family reunions--there will be plenty of good food!




I don't know how she did it, but amidst the chaos of 80 people in the house, Lila fell asleep.  Meeting new people is such hard work!




We enjoyed our lunch poolside and Lila was even asleep out there, that is, until a kid shot her in the face with a water gun.  In his defense, it was an accident, but Mama was still a little bit upset.




Thank goodness she woke up with a smile on her face and was ready to play with her cousin Calen.  They are two months apart and really enjoyed hanging out.




After lunch it was time for my favorite part of the reunion; the cake walk!! When I was little we used to have reunions every year.  I would always come home with at least three cakes!  These kids loved it so much...




just look at the J man's smile after he won the sprinkle cake.  We baked two cakes for the event and this was one of them.  I was so happy for him!




Lila won, too, and she picked out this delicious banana nut bread.  Good pick, Lila!



Since the festivities lasted all day, Jackson had to take a rest at some point.  I found him in the media room watching Austin Powers (oh dear!) and grinning like the cheshire cat. 





In addition to us having the reunion, we also celebrated Aunt Ruth and Uncle Dan's 57th wedding anniversary.  We had pictures of them that dated all the way back to their Junior/Senior Prom.  Love it!

 


After cake time I snapped a pic of the Lilley Family--many of them were unable to make it, but it was so good seeing the ones who did.

 




At the end of the party, we somehow got all of these kids off the playground long enough to stand still for a big family picture!






And when I say big, I mean super-sized big!  There were 26 in this crew!  Yes, 21 from Oklahoma and 5 from Texas.



We all had a great time and hope that our next reunion is sooner rather than later. 

Thanks, mom and dad for hosting!