Garner reunion: 20 and counting...

20 you ask? 20 what? 20 members in my immediate family - thats what. Between my siblings, their spouses, kids and my parents, there are 20 of us. SO FAR!!! 2 are on their way and I am sure in the coming years there will be a bunch more added (there is still four of us that aren't even married yet). Following is a brief glimpse at what happens when these 20 people (the adjective crazy could definitely be used to describe these people) get together for a weekend.

What do you do when there are twenty people that need to get ready in the morning? Get up early so that we can each take a turn? - o no - we all cram into the nearest bathroom and hope the fuse won't blow with two hair dryers going at the same time. You can't see it, because I am taking the picture, but I was in there right along with them.
There we are - with the exception of one brother who couldn't make it (but his wife still came - now thats awesome). I think we are a pretty good looking bunch... but I may be a little biased.

Here is my twin. Well technically we aren't twins, but we get asked if we are on a pretty regular basis. We think its funny because we also get alot of people that say "you guys don't look anything alike."

I called it!!! Just ask Riley, I said that we would definitely have competitions while at the reunion. I walk in the door and one of the first things I see is a bunch of brackets on the pantry door for family competitions - fuse ball, pool, ping pong, wii. Below is Dacia and MaryAnne beating JJ and Brody!! The funny thing is not only that we have so many competitions, but how competitive we are. Randomly you will hear yells or screams or someone will boisterously walk into the room announcing their victory.

We are a super lucky family. Our uncle and aunt (Uncle Paul and Aunt Jenny are amazing!!!) let these crazy 20 people stay in their gorgeous river home for the weekend. White water rafting and kayaking were just a few of the many things we got to do at their incredible home. Below we are looking for gold in the American River in Coloma, CA; where gold was first discovered in California in 1848.

With so many people in your family, its hard to see each other often, especially when we all live, literally, across the US from each other. But, I am thankful I have a family that puts family first. We all do what we can to visit each other on a regular basis. And two years from now we will have our next Doyle Garner family reunion... I'm already counting down the days.

Nieces and Nephews

My nieces and nephews hold a very special place in my heart. Looking at these pictures, you will understand why. JJ will become an uncle for the first time in about a month and I can't stop telling him about how wonderful it is. I decided to blog about some of the reasons being an aunt or uncle is the best thing ever (ok... so I do not have any kids so I cannot compare being a parent).

Babies... need I say more???

(This is Evie; my brother Chad's first)

Grandparents...

(This is Cache; my brother Thayne's first)



Learning to Walk... Look at that look of consentration - how cute!!!

(This is Aeriana; my brother Brett's first)


(This is Alyssa; my sister Dacia's third)

Reading Stories...

(This is Bryson; my sister Dacia's first)

Everything is so magical when you have nieces and nephews.

(This is Kaitlyn; my sister Dacia's second)

I'm getting old

Ok - so I am not that old, but I flew to Montana this weekend and couldn't fall asleep on the plane. :( This is very unusual for me, because I am used to being able to sleep anywhere - planes, trains, automobiles, you name it... I've fallen asleep there. A good example of this was in Europe, while on a train from, I think it was Vienna to Budapest, I propped my foot up against a rail, put my head on my knee and fell asleep for a good hour or so. But this weekend, on the plane to Montana, I was exhausted and couldn't sleep. I tried laying against the window, laying down on the tray tables - nada. I guess I will have to get used to this "sleeping in a bed" all the time.
P.S. This picture is my niece Alyssa. She is so darn cute, isn't she?!? I get to see her, along with all my other nieces and nephews (o yeah - and my parents, brothers and sisters) in two weeks!!!!

JellyFish

I think Jelly Fish are incredibly cool and beautiful creatures. They are always my favorite thing whenever I go to aquariums. No different this time. I seriously could have watched these things for hours (fortunately I was pulled away so I could enjoy other San Francisco wonders like clam chowder in a sour dough bread bowl and my new favorite place - Chocolate Heaven - on Pier 39).

Puerto Rico

This weekend I had some good friends (the Phillips) in town. We met a few summers back when we worked together in Puerto Rico. Saturday night at dinner we were describing to the others there how necessary it is to visit Puerto Rico and ended up writing up a list of absolute have to's for visiting PR. My big first is Bioluminescent Bay, which unfortunately I don't have a picture of. It is a bay on the NE corner of the island with a type of algae (?) that glows when disturbed. You kayak around the bay and the water running past your kayak makes your kayak glow. While we were there you could jump in and your body would glow, but now you are not allowed to leave your kayak. Definitely number one on my PR list and maybe number one of things I have ever done. Here are some other pictures from Puerto Rico summer 2006.

This is the view from one of the apartments I stayed in that summer. Yup - the beach was literally our backyard. I remember the first time I went to the beach that summer, it was after dark and I was kinda reluctant, because I didn't want to get cold - but as soon as the water touched my toes, I jumped right in. The water is as warm as bath water.

This is Cabo Rojo, which is the SW corner of the island. It is a very secluded area with lots of cliffs, a lighthouse and a small, but breathtakingly beautiful beach. I think that we saw only one other group the whole day we were at this beach.
And this is something alot of people may have seen - think 007 movie... It is called Arecibo Observatory. I love that it is right in the middle of all of these trees.

Another of my favorites that I don't have a digital picture of is San Juan. It is definitely a fun place to visit and in my opinion the best cruise port. It definitely is more touristy than the rest of PR, but it is a beautiful port, beautiful city and lots of very close cool things to see (like El Castillo). I would recommend a vacation to the island to ANYONE!! No matter your vacation style - PR is for you!

Grandma Garner

My Grandma Garner recently passed away. I am grateful for the special memories we have made throughout my 22 years - especially the ones that we have made in the past year. She is the kind of person that everyone should strive to be like. Her entire life was her family and I would be surprised if she had any regrets about life, even after her 90 some odd years. At her funeral she had about 90 kids, grandkids, and great grandkids there who were sad to see her go, but happy to know that we will see her again - some day. So here is to you Grandma; If I can become even half of the amazing person that you were, then I will live a happy life!

Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park

JJ and I drove down here a couple weeks ago. Absolutely beautiful. The waterfall falls right on the sand and... I SAW A WHALE. Poor JJ has to deal with me in public when I get that excited. But what can I say - I saw a freaking whale. It even blew air out of its blow hole. Totally the coolest thing I ever saw!!

Here is the JJ! I have some other pictures of him on earlier posts, but here is another due to popular demand. Yeah - I know... he's really cute.