Opa's 90th Birthday Celebration

As I mentioned in my earlier post, my family came down to celebrate my Opa's 90th birthday. We started the day (Saturday) off with hockey, then had a little program at my grandparent's church in Abbotsford. That mainly consisted of sharing memories of Opa, singing, appetizers, and a slide show. My Opa kept on saying we were celebrating "family day" rather than his birthday (cute).

Following the formal celebrations we had a mini-reunion at my brother's church. That mainly consisted of watching the Canucks game, playing boardgames, playing pool and foosball, eating, writing poems about the family and reading them, doing an "older generation" vs "younger generation" trivia game, and other fun things.

Here are my grandparents. Oma and Opa.

Here they are with most of their children. Two of my mom's sisters were missing.

 

Here they are with most of their grandchildren. 20 something are missing (if you include some great-grandchildren).

My family naturally took the opportunity to take a family photo. This is the first time we have all been together for an occasion other than a wedding since... my Oma's funeral in 2006. This was taken for Akiho, the Japanese student who has been living with my parents since August.

The Girls.

Add in two SIL's.

I mentioned the poems at the after party. The cousins were to write about the aunts and uncles and the aunts and uncles were supposed to write about their nieces and nephews (aka the cousins). My nephews and two cousins just heard they needed to write a poem and they ran out the door to write one. They followed a common Jansen layout - the alphabet poem. They went first and read their poem which went something like...

A is for axe.

B is for butt.

...

F is for fart.

...

X is for fox.

It was adorable. They were thrilled to have our undivided attention and we were happy to give it.

Here we are looking at some of my uncle's photos.

And here is Jenn with her little baby belly. Poor girl, I couldn't stop looking at it and smiling. And touching it occasionally. Next time I see her the baby will probably either be begging to come out or I will be able to actually hold it!

And a final one of my mom and some of her sisters.

 It was definitely a fun weekend. Very busy and full of family, but so much fun! I miss family events like these. I find it interesting to come in as an adult. It is interesting to see how relationships change and to notice things about family dynamics that you didn't see before. I enjoy developing different relationships with my aunts. I enjoy talking to them about things that matter and having common interests. I hope we have many more of these family gatherings.