Junkin Family Reunion

We recently had a Junkin family reunion (Mom's side of the family) which are always a hoot and a half. It's basically a weekend of eating food, playing cards, laughing, singing, and telling stories. This reunion was a special one for me as it also included the group sitting on the front porch singing all the old songs that we used to sing while my Grandpa was alive (and since he died in 1992 it's been a while).

First stop was Bestamor's house (Dad's Mom - Bestamor is Norwegian for Grandmother). Since we don't travel to the Seattle area much anymore we usually try to at least stop by the house of the people we aren't seeing much to catch up for a few hours. Nate, Abby, and I arrived about a half hour before my parents and niece, Haylee, met up with us. They'd been crabbing on the boat all afternoon so we were treated to fresh crab meat as an appetizer. Yum-me! It's funny how gender's tend to navigate towards each other and then separate. At one point in the afternoon Dad, Uncle Steve, Uncle Mike, and Nate were all hovered around the BBQ while Bestamor, Mom, Haylee, Abby, and I were chilling at the patio table. Just like minded people getting together, I guess. :-)

The girls playing together on Bestamor's piano.

After dinner with the Akers' we headed to my Auntie Sue's house where the Junkin family reunion would take place. There was just a small group of us to begin with as most of the other family members wouldn't arrive until the morning. Still we spent the evening catching up with Grandma, Uncle Roger, and Auntie Sue, watching Haylee and Abby play together (they found out about the bunk beds and were in high heaven!), and generally just enjoying each other's company.

The next morning Uncle Bobby, Cousin Kent and his wife Shirley showed up. It was sad seeing Uncle Bobby without Aunt Nancy (who passed away last June) as I don't think I've ever seen one without the other. But even with another member of our family missing we were still able to have a really good time with each other. And since this is my story I'm telling and not theirs I'll just say that we caught up on the goings of everyone's life and there were much more ups than downs. :-) After a few hours Mom and I decided to take Haylee and Abby to the park to let them run off some steam. They'd been great playing on their own (Abby at one point grabbed a snack from upstairs, then went downstairs, climbed onto the top bunk of the bunkbeds, turned on the portable DVD player, and proceeded to watch Lady and the Tramp while eating popcorn.) but we could tell that the walls were starting to be a little small for them.

The girls with their Grandma. You can see Mom is trying to pass off her phone so she could also have a super cute picture like this one. :-)

This girl's fearlessness frightens me. It wasn't until she got to the top and couldn't figure out how to hang down from the bars that she called for help.

Climbing up the rope ladder.

And then up onto the platform.

The girls swinging together. They loved spinning faster and faster!

Later that evening we found ourselves hanging out on the front porch watching the girls play tag. Auntie Sue went inside and came out with her ukulele and sheet music and the extra super special fun began.

Auntie Sue tuning up and getting the festivities started.

The girls blowing bubbles and playing with kazoos while the rest of us sing.

One of the best parts of the evening was when the family began to sing an old favorite The Titanic which Nate had never heard before. He thought it was a little weird when we were so enthusiastically singing about the Titanic sinking but when we all went high pitch to sing about the itty bitty children who lost their lives he just lost it. And I so wish I had a video to show you but I was so into singing I forgot to tape it! So I've put in the lyrics so you can get a sense of the awesomeness of this song. :-) There's lots of Google videos if you're interested in how the tune goes.

The Titanic

Oh, they built the ship Titanic
To sail the ocean blue,
And they thought they had a ship
That the water wouldn’t go through.
But the good Lord raised his hand
Said the ship will never land,
It was sad when the great ship went down.

Chorus:
Oh, it was sad, so sad,
It was sad, too bad!
It was sad when the great ship went down
To the bottom of the sea-ea-ea-ea
(Husbands and wives, itty bitty children lost their lives)
It was sad when the great ship went down.

O they were not far from shore,
When they heard that mighty roar
And the rich refused to
Associate with the poor.
So they put them down below
Where they’d be the first to go,
It was sad when the great ship went down.

Chorus

The boat was about to sink,
And the sides about to burst,
When the captain shouted,
“Women and children first!”
The captain tried to wire,
But the lines were all on fire,
It was sad when the great ship went down.

Chorus

Oh, they swung the lifeboats out
O’er the deep and raging sea,
When the band struck up with,
“Nearer My God to Thee.”
Little children wept and cried,
As the waves swept o’er the side,
It was sad when the great ship went down.

Chorus

Oh, the moral of this story
Is very clear to see.
Always wear a life-preserver
When you go out to sea!
So if your ship goes down,
You will never, ever drown,
It was sad when the great ship went down.

Chorus

Read more: http://bereavedandblessed.com/2012/04/titanic-part-i-it-was-sad-when-the-great-ship-went-down/#ixzz2cRwJFRVD

Auntie Sue, Mom, and Me enjoying the moment.

Abby playing the tamborines and singing along with the rest of us.

Here's one video of Abby playing the kazoo while Auntie Sue sings, to give you an idea of the "funness" of our songs.

Our group - Nate, Abby, Kent, Shirley, Uncle Bobby, Mom, Mindy, Derrick, Uncle Roger, Dad, and then swinging around for Auntie Sue, and Grandma.

The weekend was simply an amazing time of family togetherness. I know it's easy to use words like awesome, amazing, fantastic, etc but I truly mean them. The family doesn't get together as often as it used to and so each time we're together as a group I treasure our moments together because I know that all too soon we may be missing another member. So I have some great memories to cherish until our next big get-together, which hopefully won't be too long!