The Sherwood side of our family holds a family reunion every two years for everyone from my parents on down. Thats 2 grandparents, 7 kids, 6 with spouses, and the baby in my tummy will make the 30th grandchild. So it's quite the big affair. The reunion this year happened to be scheduled for last week, which since we found out when my due date was, we had reconciled ourselves to the fact that we just couldn't go this time. Not with only 2 weeks to go.
But as June drew to a close, we became especially sad for our kids who would have to go 4 years between seeing some of their favorite cousins as a result. We began to entertain the idea of sending Alex and the kids, and just risking that Alex might be late, if I went into labor while they were gone. Then we found out that there would be no phones, cell service, or internet at the lodge they were going to, so absolutely no way to even let him know if I did go into labor; and that didn't seem like such a good idea anymore.
My brother's youngest boy was getting baptized in Colorado the weekend before the reunion, and some of the family would be there, so we decided to risk going to that event (it was 3 weeks before due date) and at least we could see some family and if I went into labor, Colorado Springs has very good hospitals. It sounded like an ok alternative to the big reunion.
Then it dawned on us, that my parents would be at the baptism, and were planning to come visit us at the end of July to help with the baby. We could send our two oldest children with them to the reunion, and they wouldn't have to miss out at all. We deliberated several days on the issue and ran the idea by my parents and family. Everyone was so supportive and excited about the adventure, that we decided to go ahead and send our children away.
It was hard to drive away that last time in Colorado Springs, leaving them behind and not feel like a little bit of a bad mom; but I'm so glad we did. The girls have had a blast, and are reported to be behaving themselves for their grandparents. My SIL, Rachael took a whole bunch of photos of the reunion and posted them on facebook. I downloaded all the ones with my princesses and a few others. (Thank you, Rachael for taking so many wonderful pictures of my girls. It feels like a little sneak peak into their week with family. I wish I could have been there too. It looks like a wonderful week at a gorgeous location!)
Here are my favorites:
Princess M with a cousin from Utah. I understand they quickly became thick as theives.
Funny Girl with the littler princess crowd. Can you tell they don't miss us at all?
About 2/3rd of all the grandkids. What a good looking crowd!
And my absolute favorite: All the Little Princess Cousins (with one notable exception from CA not in the photo and one from Chicago who couldn't come to the reunion). Aren't they all so beautiful!
I put the rest of the photos I downloaded on this slideshow if you are interested. It certainly looks like they had a wonderful time; and the scenery is absolutely fantastic. I hope we go there again sometime, so I can see it in person. And no, I don't think they miss us at all. I'm very glad! Thank you, Mom & Dad for making this possible! I'm thrilled for all the time they are getting to spend with you!
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