Friday, August 24, 2018

Family Reunion Time


The whole group of us.
The hosts, Vidhya, Venkat, and
their son, Rohan
                       My husband and I just got back from a super family reunion held at the home of my niece and her family in Falls Church, Virginia. People came from Pittsburgh, Boston, and Raleigh (and we made the California unit), and a great time was had by all. It took place over about 6 days, given all the arrivals and departures. All of the people you see here in this photo stayed at their house — a big one, and a lovely one, too.

So . . . Meet the family:     This was the third reunion we've been to over the years. How about you?                                  

Yummy meals.
The Raleigh couple, Cheryl and
our nephew, Murali


The Boston family, our nephew,
Srivatsan, his wife, Simil,
their children, Saraswati & Shavan

My husband, Rajan, on right, his
Pittsburgh brother, Raghavan, on left.



Their Raleigh brother, Bashyam

Bashyam's wife, Seetha, on left,
Raghavan's wife, Kalyani, in middle,
and me on the right

A nice moment between Srivatsan
and his daughter, Saraswati.

Rocket man, Shravan, and
his mom, Simil












The rocket, fueled by baking soda
and vinegar. It worked!

This is the third reunion we've been to over the years.  How about you? Have you been to many family reunions? Do they tend to be large or small?

12 comments:

Anvilcloud said...

The younger members of the extended family are having a bit of a reunion at the cottage today. As space is tight, Sue and I are staying away this time, but we have been twice in the past few years.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

We haven't gone as often as we would like, either. But once we do all get together, it's just a lovely time.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I feel like a fool. Somehow, I am no longer getting updates of when you post, so to cure that problem, may I please add your blog to my left sidebar? I will only do so with your permission.

Your reunion looks like it holds both beautiful memories and great photo ops, too. Seems as if everyone had a great time.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Elizabeth. Yes, definitely add my blog to your sidebar. I'm honored. Thanks for stopping by. It was a really great reunion! I love my husband's family so much and for the most part we are on different coasts, so we don't see them much.

Chrys Fey said...

That looks like a wonderful family reunion! The last one my family had was when I was a little girl.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Chrys, it was. We were to one earlier this year for the 80th birthday of the Pittsburgh brother-in-law. (My husband is from India, and the 80th birthday is a big deal.) Before that, it was the 80th for the Raleigh bro-in-law, 6 years ago. And then, I'm embarrassed to say, it was years and years and years.

Beverly Stowe McClure said...

Great pictures. They brought back memories. On my dad's side of the family we had reunions. On my mom's side the family was small and we visited them often so never had a real reunion. I miss the times we did get together. The older ones are gone now; the rest are so scattered it's hard to get together. I have pictures though. :)

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Beverly. My side of the family is small and scattered, too. And a large part of my husband's family is still in India. That is one reason I like the Internet and especially Facebook: It's a great way to keep in touch with comments and pictures.

Kate Larkindale said...

Looks like a lovely event with people from many generations.

My family is small, so we don't tend to do big reunions like this. We do all try to get together at Christmas though. Both my side and my partner's side of the family which is nice.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Kate, my husband and I, being far from our family members, have an "extended family" of family friends going back 50-plus years, and we spend our Christmas with them. Christmas is my favorite holiday.

Julia Thorley said...

How lovely to get everyone together. So many families only meet at funerals!

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Hi, Julia. Sadly, that is true. It was our niece's idea. Originally it started off small for the nearby relatives as a birthday party for her son when he was little. Then it expanded into a reunion. We've been to a couple of "80th birthday" reunions with the relatives in this country, because in Indian culture the 80th birthday is a big landmark. But this was the first time we went for the general get-together, and it was so nice to see everyone again.