We had a busy weekend! Not only did we have a family wedding but because of the wedding we had a bunch of family in town from Chicago. Now I have never mentioned this before but Josh has a gigantic family! His father Al is one of 14 children. Those children have children and some now have grandchildren. Al's father Al has 6,7,8 siblings himself (I have no idea how many I just know it is a lot)!
This family is very rich in tradition and history. One of my favorite memories is sitting with Grandpa Al and listening to stories of growing up in Strawberry Hill 80 years ago and how he sold newspapers on the street when he was just 5 years old. How all of the immigrants settled in the area worked hard to give their families a good life and how they all learned to speak English which is something you don't see too often these days.
In the late 70's Al moved his very large family to Chicago, IL where he worked to take care of his with Elizabeth (Betty) and his 14 children! When I think about the sheer volume of laundry, groceries, cooking, cleaning, etc. that had to be done to keep this family going it seems very daunting. Grandma Betty passed away last summer and when we traveled to Chicago for her services we were pleasured with stories of her spunky, no nonsense approach to motherhood and how even though she had 14 of her own kids to take care you would often find places set at the dinner table for the friends of her children as well. She was quite a legend in their town so much so that she was featured in the local newspaper several times in her life!
Hands down what is most remarkable about this family is how close they all are. I have a very small family on both sides and sadly we are not very close. Entering this family was like entering a whole new world for me. I always get such a warm, loving feeling when we get to to be with them. Unfortunately it is not too often but when we do it is always an amazing time!
This weekend several came down to KC for the wedding and then the next day we all traveled to "The Farm" and joined the rest of the KC family for a small family reunion. I only say small because it was said that next year they were going to have a "big" reunion. There were over 50 people there so it seemed pretty big to me! Something I should mention is that this family has what I call "Super Genes". You can't look at any of them without seeing the face of another. They all look remarkably alike and there are several sets of dopplegangers all along the generation lines. There is even a baby girl cousin on the the KC side that looks just like my Lilah! And here I thought she looked just like me!
We had a wonderful time going on a hayride with Grandpa Al his brother Joe and Joe's two daughters playing instruments and singing old Croatian tunes and sing along songs all along the way. Kaleb learned how to skip rocks and had a blast playing in the sand at the little beach at the pond and getting his feet wet in the water. Lilah and her cousin Summer (here all the way from San Diego) ran around hand in hand and even did the Hokey Pokey while Grandpa Al and his brother Joe played the guitar and sang. At dusk a fire was lit and the kids and adults alike roasted marshmallows and made smores.
It was a truly wonderful time and was sad it had to end! I can't wait to we get to see them all again.
This family is very rich in tradition and history. One of my favorite memories is sitting with Grandpa Al and listening to stories of growing up in Strawberry Hill 80 years ago and how he sold newspapers on the street when he was just 5 years old. How all of the immigrants settled in the area worked hard to give their families a good life and how they all learned to speak English which is something you don't see too often these days.
In the late 70's Al moved his very large family to Chicago, IL where he worked to take care of his with Elizabeth (Betty) and his 14 children! When I think about the sheer volume of laundry, groceries, cooking, cleaning, etc. that had to be done to keep this family going it seems very daunting. Grandma Betty passed away last summer and when we traveled to Chicago for her services we were pleasured with stories of her spunky, no nonsense approach to motherhood and how even though she had 14 of her own kids to take care you would often find places set at the dinner table for the friends of her children as well. She was quite a legend in their town so much so that she was featured in the local newspaper several times in her life!
Hands down what is most remarkable about this family is how close they all are. I have a very small family on both sides and sadly we are not very close. Entering this family was like entering a whole new world for me. I always get such a warm, loving feeling when we get to to be with them. Unfortunately it is not too often but when we do it is always an amazing time!
This weekend several came down to KC for the wedding and then the next day we all traveled to "The Farm" and joined the rest of the KC family for a small family reunion. I only say small because it was said that next year they were going to have a "big" reunion. There were over 50 people there so it seemed pretty big to me! Something I should mention is that this family has what I call "Super Genes". You can't look at any of them without seeing the face of another. They all look remarkably alike and there are several sets of dopplegangers all along the generation lines. There is even a baby girl cousin on the the KC side that looks just like my Lilah! And here I thought she looked just like me!
We had a wonderful time going on a hayride with Grandpa Al his brother Joe and Joe's two daughters playing instruments and singing old Croatian tunes and sing along songs all along the way. Kaleb learned how to skip rocks and had a blast playing in the sand at the little beach at the pond and getting his feet wet in the water. Lilah and her cousin Summer (here all the way from San Diego) ran around hand in hand and even did the Hokey Pokey while Grandpa Al and his brother Joe played the guitar and sang. At dusk a fire was lit and the kids and adults alike roasted marshmallows and made smores.
It was a truly wonderful time and was sad it had to end! I can't wait to we get to see them all again.
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