I stepped off the plane in Washington last Wednesday and the next day life started moving at a million miles an hour. Both sets of grandparents live within an hour of each other (and my parents live in the middle), so when I come home I get a lot of family time in.

My mom’s parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this December so we spent a few days last week celebrating with that side of the family, a bit of Christmas before Christmas if you will.

My two days of family time started with a trip to my former elementary school to watch a few cousins sing. It was all exactly the way I remembered it. The same lady is still leading the music!

This little photographer wanna-be cracked me up. He snuck up to the front for every number and held the camera high over his head to take some pictures. I wonder if any of those pictures turned out? I hope my kids are this enthusiastic  about taking pictures.

You can spot one cousin grinning at me in the left photo, third from the left on the back row, and the other wearing a blue shirt completely dedicated to the song in the middle of the frame.

Later that evening 6 of my greandparents 7 children, their spouses, and a few grown-up grandchildren (like myself) got together for dinner at Applebees and a night with Manheim Steamroller.

Grandpa.

My funny mom.

Grandma and Grandpa were presented with a triptych of photos my mom took. They loved it.

I snuck a few photos at the concert. The graphics were cheesy but the band definitely knew how to rock out. The woman who played the recorder was my favorite.

My great-grandma. Isn’t she darling?

Is it weird to take a picture of your uncle’s bum because you like his wallet?

Harvest is over but the packing shed is still running full-time so my dad is still working crazy hard. I won’t tell whether he made it through the entire concert with his eyes open.

My grandparents and their kids (minus one brother). I’m not sure what that peace sign is all about.

The sisters. Our family gatherings are pretty crazy, as you can probably guess from a photo like this.

When you own the camera you don’t get your picture taken very often. I look so different in photos than what I see in the mirror!

My parents. Love them!

The happy couple,  still smiling after 50 years. I hope TH and I are just as smiley 49 years from now.

This family gathering we went a little fancier than usual with gouda, brie, and blue cheese, along with our usual snack of cheddar.

My aunt and her family are selling potatoes (they started selling them out of Target parking lots) so baked potatoes were the main dish that night. I took this picture after everyone had already eaten!

Because these grandparents are dairy farmers they always get gift boxes of cheese/meat/crackers which they share with all of us.

That darling great-grandma you saw pictured above makes the best cookies. The chocolate chip are my favorite.

The adults gathered around the dining room table.

While the teenage boys took over the video game consoles. The teenage girls? They tucked themselves away into different nooks and crannies throughout the house for some girl time.

The youngest kids? They took over the racquetball court (yes, my aunt’s house is the coolest ever) to play a game called “butt ball”. To play you throw the ball at the wall, and then you (or someone else) tries to catch it when it bounces back. If the ball bounces off you in any way you have to run toward the wall before someone else picks it up and throws it (at the same wall you are currently running toward, I found it a bit scary).  If the ball reaches the wall before you do you get a b, then u, then t, etc etc. I liked it!

I joined in for a few rounds to try to burn off some of the chocolate chip cookies I ate, with strict warnings that my belly was off limits and no craziness around me would be tolerated.

When I stepped off the plane two days earlier I told my mom “I still don’t feel like I look pregnant”. What the heck was I thinking?

I handed over my camera to a responsible cousin while I played and asked her to take pictures for me. The portraits that resulted crack me up.

I snuck home with my dad shortly after this and collapsed into bed after two full days of family fun. Don’t mind the water spot on my chest, as my belly grows so does my chest, and I’m a bit clumsy in my new body. The little kids definitely got a kick out of it.

Now that Christmas is almost here I think I’m ready to do it all over again.

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