This past weekend I went to St. Louis for our Zimmerman family reunion celebrating my Grandpa's 90th birthday which was in March. I had such a good time. I was very nervous to leave my family at home because I haven't been without at least one of them for almost 5 years. They were fine and even though I missed them, I was fine too.
I had such fun at the reunion. It was so fun to see aunts, uncles and cousins, some I hadn't seen for 12 years.
We didn't do anything earth shattering by any means, but our reunion was what I picture when I think of family reunions. We mainly sat around and talked, heard Grandpa talk about his life and some of his WWII experiences, and ate good food. It was fun to hang out with my cousins. We are all a little nutty and crazy, but that's to be expected since we share the same roots. It's nice to know that we share similar humor.
My sister, Heather, made a slideshow of my grandpa's life. It was really good and I'm glad she put it on YouTube so I could show my kids. Kimball and Rebecah really liked the slideshow and have watched it 3 times. I knew Rebecah really liked it when I overheard her singing "God Will Take Care of You" the hymn that my sister used to end the slideshow, a favorite of my grandpa's. It really is a good song and it's teaching Rebecah an important truth.
My Grandpa really is a wonderful man. I'm so glad he is my grandpa. He is in good health for 90 years old and I would guess that most people would think him younger than he is. It helps that he has been active all his life.
Here are some pictures from the weekend.
Grandma and Grandpa with their living children and daughters-in-law.
L to R: Annette, Rick, Mom, Grandpa, Grandma, Steve, and Jackie
Arizona Zimmermans. L to R: Tina, Aubrey, Rick, David, Joe, Dan, Annette.
If Joseph ever talks me into moving to Flagstaff we won't be with out extended family in addition to Jonathan and his family.
L to R: Jackie, Eric, Lisa, Steve. I hope Kimball and Rebecah grow up as close as Eric and Lisa are. They are BFF and even though they both are adults and college grads they have chosen to live together.
Cousin shot. 12 of Grandma and Grandpa's 15 grandchildren.
Front: Tina, Heather, Aubrey, Joe Middle: Sharon, Chandra Back: Laura, me, Lisa, Eric, David, Dan
Group shot. If my family and the other 3 grandchildren and their families had all been at the reunion the number of people would have almost doubled. That would have been awesome.
Listening to Grandpa answer questions about his life and WWII experiences.
Grandpa's war patches, badges, ranks, medals, etc.
Display of Grandpa's achievements.
Grandpa has been well recognized in Rochester, MN for all of his accomplishments over the years as a school principal and volunteer.
Tina, Matthew and me sharing popcorn.
Grandpa holding the paper rose bouquet that Kristin sent him. I was glad to see the flowers in person since I had heard so much about them.
Grandpa and me. I love Grandpa. I can't wait for our next reunion in 10 years to celebrate his 100th birthday. Longevity runs in the family so there is a good chance Grandpa will make it.
Sunday morning for breakfast I made breakfast burritos...Joseph's favorite. After breakfast the kids gave Joseph some crafts that we had made for him. One was a questionnaire with questions that the kids answered about Joseph. For those of you who might not have known, Joseph's name is Eli, he is 2 years old, over 7 feet and weighs about 776 pounds. His favorite place to go is work and he enjoys playing legos and cooking with the toy kitchen. Joseph had some good laughs over his new statistics.
We also gave Joseph some indoor soccer shoes that he really wanted. He is now excited for the next Spanish family home evening so he can break them in.
Dinner for Father's Day was a true labor of love for me and was very disappointing. Joseph said for dinner he wanted canned fruit, cottage cheese and plain jello. I try to make nice things for Joseph to show my love for him so I was less than excited about these requests. Cottage cheese with fruit was always a meal I dreaded growing up and I swore I would never serve it as an adult. I am now eating my words because I did serve it, but none of the nasty stuff crossed my lips. The kids each tried a bite but didn't care for it. At least Joseph hasn't requested meatloaf. I did make salad and English muffin pizzas which Joseph requested so the rest of us would have something to eat.
This was Joseph's idea of dessert...plain jello made with some Sprite.
This is my idea of a jello dessert...a jello poke cake.
