The Last Sha-Bang!

So this is a post about our summer family reunion, which is a pretty common, even annual thing for a lot of families. But, for my family it is a pretty big deal. We don't see my extended family (my aunts and cousins) very often at all since our grandma died, most of them I haven't seen in years. So, it was really neat that several of my Idaho relatives made an effort to come down to the reunion for the day. I always love to show off my kids! It was really fun. . .and they all cook really well, so the food was great! But, it was also an amazing feat that we got the whole Top family, all of my siblings and their children, there too. This month has been so crazy, because Jessica (my oldest sister) just moved here a week ago with her 7 children. I just met her two adopted children from Africa for the first time, her husband is still on duty in Georgia, and they have been in-transit for like a month. So, despite her exhaustion, she stilled hauled all 7 kids up in her "Training School" van to the reunion in Downey, Idaho. It is also amazing that my brother (Justin) and his family came, because he just got back from being in Navy training for 3 months without his family, and then they were in the process of getting ready to move to Florida in like 5 days.


The most amazing appearance of all, was that I actually got my husband to come! He hates to crawl out from under his rock, leave the security of his DVR remote, and actually have to talk to people. . . .but, he was a SUPER star at the reunion! I couldn't have survived without him. Nick stayed within arm's reach of Dad at all times, because sometimes he gets really frustrated by being accosted by 6 little female cousins at one time!











(Chloe, Gavin, Gwynyth, & Sophia)







Gavin told me he likes hanging out with his oldest girl cousins best of all!





Gavin's first time ever roasting marshmallows! (I know, I'm such a poor excuse for a mother that it has taken 4 years. I'm just not a big camper.)



Gavin's first time eating a roasted marshmallow! Sorry, Janey, if you're still mad about all of the smores and marshmallows being gone by the time you got there, you have this culprit to blame!

We all let Don & Janey watch the kids, since they don't have any of their own yet. I hope it's not a deterrent to procreation! Here they are with 4 of Jessica's kids and 1 of mine. BTW, my sister Janey does not normally dress like a hooch, she just came from the water park.

We never got the kids altogether at once to take a picture. The reason this post is called the "Last Sha-Bang" is that it was a big party for all the cousins to be together before 3 of them (Justin's kids) move. It was a fun opportunity for everyone to get to know Jessica's new kids, Diamond and Florence better. We don't know when we will all be back together again. Hopefully sooner than later! Jessica will only live in Utah for 15 months, and then she's off to who-knows-where. So, this was a great way to end a great summer and the great, yet short, time we all got to spend together as a family this past week.

For those of you who are wondering, trying to keep track here is the count for the Top family:

Jessica--married to Brian Simons, 7 kids--Oakley, 11, Chloe, 10, Gwynyth, 8, Florence, 6, Sophia, 5, Diamond, 5, and Giselle, 3.

Justin--married to Katie Abbott--3 kids--Caleb, 5, Alyssa, 4, Elijah, 2.

Me--married to Mike Wilson--2 (almost 3) kids--Gavin, 4, Nick, 2, and due in October with a girl.

Janey--married to Don Kaufman--2 years of marriage, no children yet.

I love my whole family! Thank you everyone for coming. Thanks especially to Mom & Dad for putting it all together, doing all the cooking & cleaning, sleeping in the teepee with the kids, and footing the bill! I really did have a blast. . .and I'm so grateful for the memories my kids are making with their cousins.