The Annual Kelly Reunion

My husband, Ryan, has a large family.

A large Irish family...

When we first met it was August 1999. I had just came back from Philly where my mother's side of the family had our first official family reunion. I was pumped and feeling like we had just started something special. Family is important to me and it was great to meet someone that understood why I felt the way I did. He mentioned his family did a reunion too. But his reunion was a little more historic than mine. :-) It wasn't until we were married that I went to my first Kelly Family Reunion in 2001.

Every year, during the first weekend in August those that can make it gather at the original homestead near Randle, Washington to catch up and keep the tradition going. Ryan and I live in the Seattle area, so for us it is a 2 hour drive to the "back woods" as I call them. I can distinctively remember my first time going... I was thinking... no one will know how to find me if something goes down out here... but my crazy thoughts were drowned by the enveloping beauty of the surrounding mountains, trees, water and wide expanses of sky.
Yes, there are signs put up to help those of us that do not know the logging roads... this is the end of the county road that leads you to the base of the logging road.
I always love crossing this little creek... it reminds me of some place I seen in a calendar...
And of course a little tune keeps rearing its head ever year we go down these roads... "Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother's house we go..." I know cheesy... but I can't help myself.
Another fork in the road... and another sign to help lead the way.
"....la la la la la and through the woods..."
alas... when we hit this clearing, I know we are getting closer and almost there...
...and the final fork in the road, last reunion sign, and the official Kellys posting leads us to the ranch.
The entrance of the ranch...
I'm not sure how many acres are out there, but there is no camera angle that will capture the whole thing. Its basically like I said earlier... a endless expanse of sky, mountains and trees... it is so gorgeous out there and peaceful too.
The picture below is towards the end of that picture above where we all park our cars. The reunion site is actually in the middle of those trees. Family members set up camp around the property on Friday night and then on Saturday we have the lunch, activities and dinner.
You know you have arrived when you see the flags... :-)Now, the lunch starts at Noon, but we were late this year. (Not my fault) :-) But we got there in time for the family pictures. Well we missed generations 2 and 3, but we got there for generation 4 (Ryan's generation. :-)) He's in the grey sweatshirt on the left side.

Generation 5 is our kids... little Ry is holding Asher on the left side of the group and Jo and Quin are on the right side in green shirts.

And then there is the in-law shot... or as they say "The folks that would marrying into this family." Its a great family, so I'm honored to be a part of it!

Picture time done... so we set up a spot for our chairs/cooler and headed on over to sign in. This year was a smaller reunion, but fun none-the-less! So it is official, Asher has been to the Kelly Reunion... he is #67. So this can be added to his list of firsts...

...and for the boys, they can do what they came to do...eat & play.

One of the activities for the kids is a guessing the candy or money in jars... Josiah won one last year. They also had a fundraiser for the Kelly reunion fund with a raffle... I put in for the $50, but didn't get it this year! :-)Another activity is "story time." It is great to hear old letters and stories about the "good ole days"

Someone (I believe it was Joe) brought this picture of the old homestead. There were 3 houses on the property... the first two were destroyed by fire, I believe. I couldn't hear exactly where this house was situated on the property, but it wasn't in the same location as the house now. I think all 3 houses have been in different locations. ...and of course the picture books come out. There is photo book that has been around a few years, I can't remember who made it, but it has a bunch of photos from past reunions. Helene also made a couple of amazing scrap books . Below Ry and Carol looking through one of Helene's books and Papa Kevin talking to Asher...

This is the book of past reunions...

Let's not forget the poker sessions. Some have run late into the night... my brother even participated a couple of years there. There are usually 2 or 3 games going. This was just the start of the first round of games.

We normally have a family baseball game... which this year no one had the equipment I think. So no baseball game this year. Some of the teen guys played football though, which I didn't get shots of. :-(

One of my favorite things to do while we are there is to find a spot and just listen to the wind. It is sooooo peaceful there. You can literally sit on a hill and just listen to nothing... which for a city girl is a rarity. When you hear about people "listening to trees"... it makes more sense when you are out there. Man, its gorgeous out there!

Of course, I have to get in a quick line from the Sound of Music... "The hills are alive with the sound of music... ahhhh... ahhhh... ahhhh"

...and to interrupt my musical homage... this is also where Ry and Keegs go hunting in the fall...

The best part of the reunion though is the people and seeing family grow! Tammy is now part of the production crew... just part of the cycle of life... passing it on to the next generation...

Great times, great food, great memories till next year at the...