Family Reunion 2008

Every two years my MIL has a family reunion with her 11 brothers and sisters. And of course Grammy K and Roy. This year it was in Tiskalwa, IL. It lasts about 3 and a half days and is always planned out so well. There are a ton of pictures...so sit back, relax and enjoy!

I tried to fit Gizmo in the suitcase but it didn't work. =(
On the plane ready to go!
The men got a break from the kids and got to sit by themselves.
Our handsome nephews
Are we there yet?
We landed in Peoria and drove about an hour to Tiskalwa. The windmills are so cool! And that's soy growing there.
This is where my MIL grew up!

This is their old house


The church they attended

The school they all went to
We stayed in Camp Meno Haven. The K's helped build the camp and my MIL was the camp director at one point. The rooms had bunk beds for the kids...life saver!
Lo tried to talk me into letting her sleep with her sissy but that got old pretty quick when they didn't sleep!

The brothers got up at 5:30 to fish. That's all my man talked about and he was so excited to do it!


If only I could have cooked it! Yum!

Frog - toad, what's the difference? All I know is that was another thing my man was looking forward to. Catching anything that moved! He caught a snapping turtle as soon as we got to the camp and it got away...karma. That's what he gets for leaving me to carry the 3 50lb bags to the room so he could catch a turtle. (he was in TROUBLE)
They were out looking for snakes - all I wanted was breakfast!
Grammy K - H's favorite!!!!
Lo loves her too!

Sisters
Before our adventurous day!

Looking for frogs
So pretty!
Looking for more frogs, or toads...
Itty bitty thing

D's always got surprises for the kids and this year he said he had a great one! Last reunion he found a turtle in the road...this year he brought baby raccoons! Him and his girlfriend are nurturing them back to health - a boy and girl - they lost their mom so they're getting them healthy and then going to set them free at about 12 weeks. They're 5 weeks here.
They're so sweet and cuddly - but soon they're going to have to get them used to the wild and start being mean to them (D explains it better than me!)
T was in LOVE!!
AWWWWW
The first full day consisted of rock climbing and high ropes.

The wall was in an activity center which had this gym, a play room and a multi purpose room which had all of Grammy K's photos for all of her children to pick from and take home.
He's a b-ball player!
Testing out the small wall!
We think she'll be our athlete
The ball's in your right hand Lo!
Well, give her some time!

Putting on the harness to rock climb!
There was a little wall that little ones could try
Ready to climb!

My big girl getting her climb on!

Ri's going to do it barefoot!
Dev's waiting his turn

Dev made it to the top!

Look at how sweaty his back was! I was drenched too! Humidity blows!

I kept trying to get a shot of him dunking but the camera wouldn't cooperate
T's taking the climb

To the top!!!

Tny made it to the top
I'm ready!
I think that's as far as I got
And I'm done

B got to the same spot I did...but I didn't mention that it was the third wall and there were only 4...that's not bad for first timers!
Balay (sp)
Climbing

Lucky first timer made it to the top!

D's next

Show off
Jen giving instuctions for the leap of faith - "climb up a 25ft pole, stand on a dish that is only attached by one nail and shakes and spins, turn 180 degrees then jump and catch a rope to ring a bell" so easy right...
B wanted to do it first because she didn't want to see someone else do it and be scared.

Lookin good!

And that's it, she's done. She didn't make it up but she also didn't get to see anyone else do it so she didn't have anything to refer to. I think she did great though! It's tough to face that fear!
Their cousin went second
It took him awhile to stand up...his legs were shaking like crazy and since he was the first to actually stand he wasn't sure it was going to work, but it did!
The first leap of the day!
Tab's up

The knee tatic didn't work - but it was a good thought

My man took these pictures because I was taking pictures of her with her camera...he's a butt man! ;)
Ton's up

really up...

talk about adrenaline rush!
diving backwards
I'm next...
Climb on

Trent also took my pictures...doesn't look like he was paying attention...


I sat there about 5 minutes making sure all of the belays (sp) were paying attention and would catch me if I fell. If you could see the rest of this picture I think I had one foot on the disk
And I'm up!

I barely hit the rope with the bell...too scared
D's up

The youngest to go...only 11 years old!
Logan did so good in the woods! And she never got bit! I did...on my BUM!!! I guess the bugs showed me that wearing mesh shorts aren't going to stop them from munching on my skin. And apparently I'm allergic...I had an extra bum for a couple of days from swollen bug bites.

Too handsome!
My man is afraid of heights so I'm SO proud of him for doing this.

Good job baby!!!
He's all slack from being so tense!
Next we hit up the zip line. T was over the heights and took the kids fishing.

First was the wire on top and bottom
Good job Tab
Next was the wire and two ropes
Then over the tree to meet Jen and go down the zip line!
Attaching my harness

Time for a walk

This was the worst part for me! The wire was wobbling from side to side once I got to the middle...
So mom said to squat and walk...like that's easy!
Here I gooooooooooooo. It was SO fun! I was like a fairy in the forrest!

I think this is B

D showin' off!

My BIL

After I went someone realized they could hold on to the top rope...thanks for letting me in on it!

5 sets of twins at the reunion! Hopefully we don't add to that if we decide to have another!

The four on the left are siblings and they have three other sisters...lots of girls!
Tab and her new baby
Their feet were so soft, I could just play with them forever
Lo is so good at entertaining herself.

Hold me please!
My precious baby

The K's always get together and sing. They have wonderful voices and harmonize so well.



Roy and Grammy K
At Grammy K's house Roy had a raccoon puppet that Logan found...after seeing the baby raccoons she really wanted it. But he was hesitant to give it up as he has grand babies he could give it to. Logan cried so he gave in.

T and his precious toad
Tab, T, D, B and Me - hey we could make a song out of that!

We hung out at this abandoned house...scary!!!!
More fishing
Large mouth bass
My man was so proud

Buzz bait was the best

Reading a book from Grammy K's
She loves to read to people that don't exist...her imaginary class

Camp Meno Haven
This was the worst hike I've EVER been on! Mosquitos, daddy long legs...all over the place and eating my face! Gross!
Tiskalwa has Pow Wow days every year and there was a beer fest. Little did we know that their meaning of beer fest was Miller, Budweiser and Coors! Oh well!
I was trying to get the shot behind me but it was dark.
Lo playing in the park

H swinging
It was a little hot and humid

They had a rock climbing wall and the kids loved it!

We went to Kevin and Danielle's wedding on Sat and it's also where their grandfather is buried so we visited his grave
Now you know what grammy K stands for...

Mom and her boys
Mom and groom taking the walk
She was so good during the ceremony
Here comes the bride
So pretty

The K's!
The day before was their 38th wedding anniversary so I took a picture at the exact place they got married!
After the wedding we went to Kirksville, MO to visit my FIL's family
So different from IL

Our family in front of their aunt's house
We had some wiggly people so we took a lot of pictures

Me and my girls
I forgot to rotate a bunch of pics! Oops!

The kids got a little restless, there wasn't much for them to do and it was SO hot and humid outside they didn't last long out there.
Their cousin, his wife and their daughter
Aunt J and my girls
T and Aunt J
Brother and sister

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at this lake.

Found this swallow's nest under a picnic area
Suckin' it in!

We stayed in Kirksville for two nights and then us kids all drove back to Peoria Monday to catch our flight. Mom and Dad stayed till Wed. We stopped at Dairy Queen in Lewisville to have lunch. DQ is the most popular restaurant in MO!!
We found a lake on the way back

Oh how T would have loved to fish it!

Lo tried to throw a rock into the lake but hit H on the shoulder so she hugged her. So cute!
On the plane watching the sunset.
Is that a care bear I see in the clouds???


We all had a great time and it's always nice to take a family vacation. Thanks Mom and Dad for sharing where you grew up with us. It's so interesting to see stuff like that. And we're really glad we got to meet the rest of your family Dad. (we as in the girls and I)

I didn't take pictures but Grammy K had some stuff that she wanted everyone in the family to go through at her house and take. I got to see the china she gave to us for the first time and am so excited to get it! I took a pie spatula, a whisk, a bag of matches from all over the place, some crosses, a Christmas apron and a quilt that she made in 1940! Thanks Grammy K for letting us take things to remember you!

We look forward to the next reunion in two years!

Editors note: this took me ALL day to do in between appointments at work so I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Please forward this site on to any family members who are interested in seeing it. And if you want to keep up with us please add us in your favorites and check back often!

Love,

K, T, H and L