Every other year when I was a kid, my dad's parents organized a reunion, at which I got to know my cousins. My mother's family had been doing the same thing for quite a bit longer, and those reunions fit nicely into the summers when there wasn't a Broadbent reunion. Those were reunions of a much larger group, involving all the descendants of my mom's grandparents, so I am acquainted with some of my second cousins on that side. Those reunions still continue today, although it's been almost 20 years since I attended one. The Broadbent reunions started to get pretty large once the grandkids (there are 45 of us) started their own families, and the task of organizing reunions was eventually dubbed "unwieldy" and the regular gatherings stopped. Not too many years after that, the branches of the big extended family started having their own reunions, many of which follow the same pattern as the bigger ones. Some of the branches can expect their reunions to be larger than the ones my grandparents held, as one of my aunts has more than 40 grandkids already with prospects for many more, and another is well into the 30s with more on the way. These branches were the first to have their own reunions. Mine was the last. I know this because many of my cousins started writing blogs 8 or 9 years ago and I have seen posts or heard news of reunions in every branch. Ours was last because we didn't really require a scheduled reunion to get together. For a time, all of us lived in the same state, except for our college-attending "baby" brother, who would come home for holidays. It was common for the entire extended family to be together on Thanksgiving or Independence Day or even General Conference. A few years ago, though, my sister and her family relocated to Texas. That year, we were all together for our younger brother's wedding before the big move. Two years later, the time had come for us to start our own reunions. So in preparation for the summer of 2013, we researched possible venues. We found a place in the high country, but not too far from certain civilization (a grocery store and a medical facility were non-negotiables) that could sleep 30-40 people. My parents investigated and found the place sufficient.
This picture shows the view off the back porch. It was rural, quiet, and cool weather in July. There was plenty of room for everyone.
On the first full day, we had a lake excursion. I do like a day on the water. Then, following tradition from the old-school reunions, we had skit night. My dad decided to shake things up and start with the youngest...
... which ended up being a mistake, as these two set the bar entirely too high. I MEAN! Guitar AND accordion. I ask you. Their baby boy is at Kaity's feet. He will be old enough this year to emcee the whole event, and his younger brother will no doubt also take part.
We had an excursion into Snowflake. My dad is on the front walk, and his dad grew up in this house. Our ancestors on that side were among those who grew the town in early days. Which is why THIS:
...is a pretty big deal for us. We also visited a monument in the middle of the town.
My niece Grace is touching the shoulder of the likeness of her great-great-great-grandfather, Jesse N. Smith, one of the town's earliest settlers.
So the late nights with cousins, staying up to play games and socialize, have continued with the new reunions. But it's not the cousins staying up late!
It's the siblings! HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!
So that was the first-ever PFB reunion, a blog post that I have intended to do for almost two years now. Which means the next reunion is coming right up in a few weeks. So maybe I'll post about that one in '17, at the rate things are going.
Hey! No one's pregnant! Quick, take a picture!
The grumpy one on the right, she's my come-uppance for being such a photographic stinker back in the day. Karma.
