Hey, Mrs. Wilson!

Okay, first off I am SO SORRY for not posting until now. A bazillion pictures take FOREVER to edit. I DO have a life outside the internet you know! Goodness. (Hi Ann!)

Kaylie had her birthday party on Saturday, but since I did not get the permission from any of her friends’ parents, I cannot post pictures of it. She had a blast though. We held it at the local public pool. Best place EVER for a birthday party, in my opinion. There’s no mess at your house, and kids absolutely LOVE to swim. We put them all in life jackets and didn’t have to worry about watching them too carefully. Of course we watched them, but I didn’t have to worry about anyone drowning.

After Kaylie’s shindig, we headed out to another birthday party.

My Grandma’s 80th.

The 80th Birthday Bash for my Grandma was AMAZING. It was so great to see all my relatives I hadn’t seen in forever. It was hosted at Clarence & Cheryl’s place (my dad’s brother - where all family gatherings are). Their place is absolutely GORGEOUS. They have a huge property 10 minutes outside town and pretty much the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen. That addition on the back is a green house. Oh. My. Word. It’s breathtaking.

Anyway, enough about the house. More important things …

So many of my cousins had fabulous cameras. I had some serious lens envy. Rayna has the same Canon Rebel that I do, just newer. AND, she has this neat little thing that keeps her from losing her lens cap, which is a bad habit of mine.

Ben has a sweet lens. Apparently he got it off eBay for next to nothing. I may have been a little jealous.

And Brandon? Well, he just had a point and shoot, but still, a really cool dude (who just happens to be my little brother).

Ome Geert (Uncle George) came all the way from Holland for the special occasion. I was never clear on whether he was my Grandma’s brother or brother-in-law. He totally spoiled Kaylie while he was here!

Grannie, Liliana, and Kaylie. We had just arrived and Liliana was wondering why she was stuck in front of a camera when there were so many awesome places to wreak havoc.

Like so.

Kaylie made sure that Ashley got in on the action. She definitely got her exercise.

And then spent the rest of the evening on poor Ben’s shoulders. That dude will need a serious massage after the trauma his shoulders went through.

Liliana and her Uncle Brandon.

My sister and my cousin, Chrissy.

I have a big family. This is not even all of us. My grandma had six children, and each of them had 2-4 kids, plus my one aunt and uncle are foster parents, plus in-laws, plus great-grandchildren … yea, it’s big.

My Grandma was pretty excited about the fact that all her children were able to make it for her birthday.

Have you ever seen a bunch of adult children try to decide who was going to stand where for a picture? It’s a bigger ordeal than you think.

Finally, though, they got it together.

My grandparents are Dutch. Born and raised in Holland. They were married there, and had three girls there. My Aunt Jane (second from left in back row), my Aunt Joanne (far right in back row), and my Aunt Hilda (front row). Then, they immigrated to Canada and had three boys. My dad (second from right in back row), my Uncle Clarence (far left in back row), and my Uncle Rick (in front).

My Grandpa died of a heart attack when I was a kid. He had already lived beyond what the doctors told him he would. He had diabetes and they told him he’d be lucky to live to 19. He lived quite a lot longer than that.

Um, yea. Kids will be kids.

In addition to her six children, my Grandma has 21 grandchildren (I think I counted correctly) and six great-grandchildren (with two more on the way).

Add spouses to that and family gatherings are never small. Ever.

Someone brought vintage family photos to the big hoorah and then got it in their head to take “now and then” pictures. Apparently there’s one of the granddaughters about 15 or so years ago. I think there’s two missing from this photo.

I’m still not sure where Uncle John freaking us all out comes into play.

Pam (right), Chloe (middle), and I were all born in the spring of 1983. The best year ever for babies, in my humble opinion. We all made sure to smile nice for a picture for Grandma.

We’re all about the serious family photos.

This is 3/4 of my immediate family. The other 1/4 were a long drive away and we missed them dearly. Apparently Mom and Dad didn’t get the “make a funny face” memo. Erica, Kaylie, and I got it. Noah got the “slack-jaw” memo (his favorite), and Brandon and Liliana are wondering how to make their faces look as cool as everyone else’s.

My parents and half their granddaughters. At this rate, I’m doubtful they’ll ever have a grandson.

I think this is my favorite one yet of our little family. We’re a bunch of whack jobs.

We sang Happy Birthday …

and then proceeded to do what we do best. What’s a Braam family get-together without a Braam family song? We do them for birthdays, baby showers, weddings … I think we should start a business.

When Noah and I were dating, we attended my cousin’s wedding. Which one, I cannot remember. Noah was adamant that he was not going to sing the crazy song with the rest of the family. Some family members were pressuring to make him sing. My Auntie Joanne was there and told Noah he did not have to participate in the embarrassing family ritual. From then on she became his favorite aunt.

I know, I know. This is a great picture of the background, with my brother and I in front of it. The bad thing about having a fancy schmancy camera is that it’s hard to teach people how to use it when you want them to take a picture.

That is a beer in my hand. A Coors Light to be exact. I am the heavy drinker in my little family, which is to say that I have a beer every six months or so. I know, rehab here I come!

Noah says it makes me a nicer person. He says I should drink it more often. I don’t really know what to think about that. Either it means he thinks that I’m a naturally unpleasant person, or he wants me to become an alcoholic. Either way, I don’t think I’m going to add to my 2-a-year alcohol consumption.

So there you have it Ann. I FINALLY posted again. Are you happy now?

ps. It’s my mother-in-law’s birthday today.  She’s 25 (times two).  HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUE!!!