We love going to Grandma and Grandpa's house and so we can't wait to go back with Lily and Jamison. We haven't been to Okmulgee since Lily was 11 months old - on Grandpa's 80th birthday. Yes, Okmulgee is not exactly a hotbed of activity but they have a Braum's. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about then you need to get yourself to one of the following states that have a Braum's - OK, TX, KS, AR, or MO. I will be eating ice cream everyday. I hope they're open Thanksgiving.....oooooh maybe I'll just buy a few gallons to carry me over in case they aren't open! Now I'll be prepared on TWO fronts - kids and ice cream!
While we've seen Grandma and Grandpa one or two times a year when we traveled to Texas, I wanted to prepare the kids for the amount of people that we will be around. If I don't prepare Lily for this it will quickly go downhill once the house gets crowded. There will be (more) attitude. There will be the fake "shyness" she claims when she just doesn't want to talk to people. There will be whining...well, that will probably happen regardless.
So far Jamison doesn't seem to be bothered by strangers or large groups as long as we're with him. He just sees them as new sources of snacks. Watch your plates! He is sneaky!
So we had a little family project and made a pictorial family tree. Brian and I explained that Grandma and Grandpa had four babies and those four babies had babies (well, to be exact, only the girl babies had babies and actually no babies had babies. but you understand) and then those babies had babies.
There are 23 people on this chart that only exist because of Grandma and Grandpa.
We look at the chart a few times a day and review some of the names. Both are confused that they can have an Aunt Linda on Brian's side and an Aunt Linda on my side. I also had to explain that while Maddie and Ruthie are girl twins, Ayleen and Ayden are boy and girl twins. Also, due to marriages, there are two Phillips and two Jeremy's. All the single cousins should make a pact not to date anyone who shares a name with anyone else in the family. It would make our reunions so much easier. Plus, Grandma and Grandpa have labeled cups for everyone and if we keep using the same names we'll never know who's cup is whose. (actually, I can bet that Grandma figured that one out already but we can try to make things easier on her!)
To any Reeves who are reading this - I tried to make the tree as nice as possible but all the pictures came out different sizes so it was hard to make it exactly right - please don't be offended if your picture is smaller or larger than what it should be. Ask Brian - I try my best to be perfect and continually fail. How dare I?!So now I'd like to do this for the three other branches - Whitt, Meeks, and Blankenbush. It will be difficult to get all the pictures but I think it will be worth it! (so either send them to me now or be prepared for an email requesting them)
5 comments:
I saw that when I was there this past weekend and wondered why we werent on it. I guess it is because Brian's grandparents didnt give birth to some one who gave birth to me or Mark. Makes more sense now.
What a great idea! And Don't worry, I think I married the only Demeree that will be in either side of our family. Check.
What about all your friends and their kids you are planning on seeing!?! ;-)
We have a Braums not far from our house...I'll check and let you know if they'll be open! :) It's a WONDERFUL place and I highly recommend their new cappuccino choc chunk frozen yogurt -- it's soooo yummy, especially in a sundae. Enjoy!
Just so you know, I was dating MY Jeremy before Michelle dated hers. She just got married first. She married the one with a last name starting with the same letter as her first name and I married the one with a last name starting with the first letter of my first name. Easy.
And Phillip Mc is spelled with two LLs while Philip L is spelled with one. See. There are great differences! Can't wait to see you guys in a few weeks!
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