Kansas Family Reunion June 2008

After several years of missing family reunions it was fun to go and catch up with everyone. My brother Chad and I both got to introduce my mom's extended family to our children. Family reunions look different now that we have 5 little ones between the two of us. We spent bits of time catching up with people in between running around after our kids. There were 4 generations represented starting with my grandma, her sister and her brother. All of their children (my mom and her 1st cousins) came and most of their kids and grandkids came.

We stayed at a neat working farm ranch in Smolan, KS (near Salina). There was a big old house that accomodated about 30 of us. We did many outdoor activities - baseball, basketball, trampoline, horseback riding, frisbee, riding bikes, bubbles, etc! Carter and Mason loved playing with their cousins for a week! We also went on a fun hayride to eat a special dinner at an old schoolhouse. People come from all over to eat there. The weather in Kansas was awesome...80's and cool at night! It was a treat after being in 100+ heat in Midland for a month. On Sunday we all drove to First Baptist Church in a little town near Enterprise, KS. My grandma's grandparents were immigrants from Sweden and settled in Enterprise, KS. My grandma and her siblings came to their grandparents' farm every summer and lived with them during the depression in the '20s. It was very special to my grandma and her siblings for all of the younger generations to see this little church they used to attend and the cemetaries where many of our ancestors are buried. Sunday was a nostalgic day for the Stack/Anderson family. My grandma Norma's brother, great Uncle John put together 2 books honoring their mother Helen Stack and passed them out to everyone at the reunion. He also has worked up a very extensive family tree. Now he is working on a book honoring his father, Raynold Stack. All in all, it was a good reunion. Thanks to my parents and Grandma Norma for making it possible for us to go the reunion!