Monday, February 20, 2017

Sorensen Cousin Christmas Reunion

Being a military spouse, it's hard being away from your family all the time.  I only see my parents & brother once every two years & I only see my extended family (cousins) once every 3-5 years.  My dad's entire family pretty much still live in the same town I grew up in in Utah.  So I'm always super jealous they are so close to each other.  So when I wind up in town, I always try to organize a big family reunion so I can see everyone while I'm in town.  I've been emailing my cousins Jodi, Hailey, & Whitney, & my Aunt Heather, & thanks to their help & hospitality, we were able to put together an amazing reunion right before Christmas.

I was amazed at how big our family has become.  Not only did I get to see almost all my cousins, their spouses, & their kids . . . I also got to visit with my dad's brothers & sisters who I haven't seen in years & years.  The whole night was just perfect.



I was SUPER excited to see my Uncle Ryan (my dad's youngest brother).  He's always been my "big brother" rather than my "uncle" since he actually moved in & lived with us when I was 9.  So he always was kind of a brother to me.


Everyone brought either an appetizer or a dessert to share & we had a big feast in Jodi's garage.  Everything was delicious & I just couldn't get enough of all the smiling faces.


I was excited to see my cousin Gentry who I haven't seen in almost 10 years.


My Uncle Kent & Uncle Ryan spent all their time with Bladen who totally cracked them up.  They loved his no nonsense (no filter) conversations.


Cari & I enjoyed catching up with my cousin Hailey who lives in Colorado now.


At the end of the evening we did a huge gift exchange for all the kids ages 0-18+ (unmarried).  We divided them up into age groups & played different games to decide who got what gift.  The kids had a BLAST.




Canyon got a giraffe pillow pet & a cute Christmas book.



Bladen got a super hilarious game called Wet Head.


Craiger got a drone.



Taya got a fun family dice game.


Lorien got a beautiful gold heart bracelet.


And Cadence got an adorable monkey mug full of candy & some hilarious snowman pencils.


Before we left we TRIED to get a big family photo, but I there were still people there that didn't squeeze into the frame.  It's amazing how big the family has become.  I wish Grandma & Grandpa Sorensen were here to see the legacy they have created.  We miss them so much.


Merry Christmas everyone.  Thank you for coming out to see me while I was there.  We had a blast catching up with you all.

2 comments:

  1. Family reunion is great! You can see your relatives and bond with them and also those relatives that you haven't met yet. Enjoy the moment with your fambam!




    military benefits for spouses

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Mary. It was a wonderful reunion. :-)

      Delete