Hey Gorgeous Friends!

Today was all about family. This day is the reason we traveled this far. This is the day when family came in from far and wide and paused to spend the day  together.

My grandparents were born in Pennsylvania. They grew up in the same small town. My grandma was best friends with my grandpa’s sister. She never noticed my grandpa and he never paid much attention to her either. She was 2 years younger than him, and he was drafted into the service right out of high school.

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When he returned, he was painting his mom’s house, and my grandmother stopped by to hang out with her bestie. The way she describes it is that she looked up at my grandpa while he was up on a ladder, and that was it. She noticed him and he noticed her. And they were married shortly after!

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They moved to Chicago for a short while, but my grandpa was dreaming of sunshine. Having lived in cold weather his entire life, he wanted to work and live somewhere warm. So he loaded up the family and headed for California!

My grandparents had a total of seven children in approximately 10 years. My mom was 2nd to last to be born.

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They raised their kids in California, and my grandpa would save his vacation time, so that every two years the family could travel back to Pennsylvania to visit their family back home.

All of my aunts and uncles live in California right now, and most of my cousins do too. One of my closest cousins lives in Washington and a few others live in other states.

My mom and I moved to Florida after a traumatic event involving my father when I was seven, and we’ve lived there ever since. I trust that God made beauty from that disaster. I could share story after story of the blessings God provided for us in Florida! Yet, the loss of immediate family being close by has been difficult. These trips back to California are always treasured.

Here is a picture of my large, beautiful family!

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The day was filled with food, laughter, and lots of catching up! I didn’t get to talk with everyone as much as I wanted because it was hard to get around to everyone and keep up with the kiddos at the same time. My family is awesome with kids though and the kids had a great time bonding with family that they were just meeting for the first time.

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Here are some other pics from our reunion day!

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And here is a picture of two very tired people at the end of the day!!

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And just a reminder that God is in every single detail….our campsite wasn’t available for Saturday night. But that happened to be the same night that everyone was staying late at grandma’s anyway. There was a perfect side street for us to park the motorhome so that we could stay late and also be right there to go to church together in the morning. So it ended up being better that we park there anyways! God weaves His goodness into each detail even overbooked campgrounds.

Hug your family tight, appreciate them and even celebrate the differences and unique qualities of each family member.

Blessings!

Vanessa Lynn

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