The Blackketters

As usual I am the last to post about important family happenings. My sister and my mom have already provided excellent recaps of the Blackketter Family Reunion but I too must share the fun and excitement.

First I must admit I have a pretty stinkin' cool family! My dad has 2 siblings, Don and Ellen, and total there are 8 grandchildren. So we aren't a large family but with all the married ins and babies there were 23 folks at Papa's house for the fun! (24 if you count Bub)

Another neat Blackketter reunion fact is that the foreigners nearly out numbered the Americans. Uncle Don married a Canadian, Vicki, and all three of their children, Riley, Britini and Shadd, all married non-Americans (Riley and Shadd married Canadians and Britini married an Aussie). Then of course I brought my own Canadian to the family (Love you Clay)!

Overall it was an amazing time with family. While we mourned the loss of our beloved grandmother, mother and wife, Sue, we also rejoiced in such a wonderful legacy that she left behind with such a blessed and amazing family!

Here are some highlights of the weekend. I didn't use my camera nearly enough but hopefully others captured moments that I missed.

First, a couple of cute pics of my nieces...

Lily was very brave and learned to swim by herself !
(prior to this she always wanted mom or dad nearby)

Grace cools down in the pool!

Here's some pics of the family chillin' at Papa's house.

Lily shows Gramby how to play her video game!

Alyson, Jim & Grace

Ellen was amazing and had a puzzle made of old family photos and a game of family trivia! Both were huge hits and a great way to share some special memories.

Ellen watches Papa, Landon, Vicki and Meghan working on the puzzle

Blackketteropoly!

No family time is complete without a nap!
Sleep tight dad!

The Alysons (or Allisons) make dinner!
Alyson Klein & Allison Owen!


Gma Sue's cousin Dorinda (sp?) came for the memorial service
Ellen, Papa, Dorinda

Clay & Phillip work IT for the memorial service


Meghan, Ellen & Vicki

The family gathered for the memorial.

So a *funny* story from the memorial. I sat next to Vicki and started crying almost the moment we sat down (I think I waited until Don said a prayer). Then we sang a few of Gma's favorite hymns. The first one we sang was "I'll Fly Away", Gma's favorite, and the water works started flowing. With just the family there and everyone tearing up it took everyone's voice to keep the song going. So I'm sitting there sobbing and not singing so Vicki kicked me to try and get the water works to stop. It didn't work but it did make me smile.

Landon, Parker & Brent

Britni & Jonathan making dinner

Papa telling the family how to make the perfect gravy

Shadd & Heather
Alyson & Riley w/ Jonathan laughing at the silly cousins

Allison & Brent suggested we hike Camelback Mountain. It was a lot of fun but it was a crazy steep hike. Allison had read to make sure and bring lots of water. So we were all appreciative of Parker who packed 7 liters of water up the mountain for us. Brent had a gallon and Allison had a liter. In the end it wasn't enough and a stranger shared his water with us. Apparently the stranger has a good Samaritan mission to bring water up the mountain everyday and share with folks who don't bring enough!

Landon, Allison, Phillip, Brent, Parker & Clay

The climb begins!
(yes it's that steep)

The rocky terrain

We made it to the top!
Clay, me, Landon, Parker, Allison & Brent

So that's the family. They are crazy and wonderful and amazing and silly and spread too far apart. But it was a great time and I can't wait until we get together again.


P.S. I think I got a picture of everyone in this post, but I didn't take a lot of staged pictures so we will have to link to Allison's family shots to make sure I got everyone!