Fourth of July Family Reunion

For the Fourth of July, Erin's side of the family had a big reunion at her Aunt Debbie and Uncle John's house in Fresno, CA. Jake, Erin and Parker stayed with Erin's sister, Leann, and her husband Greg and baby Lily, who were gracious enough to put up with Erin's stress and, um, let's call it "crankiness." They moved to Fresno in June, which is 45 minutes away from where Greg is based for the next two years to serve as a doctor in the Navy. Erin's little sister, Sarah, has moved in with them to be Lily's nanny when Leann returns to work as a nurse anesthetist.

At the big party on Saturday, there was a huge BBQ and a hired DJ, who also MC'd some karaoke (more on that, later).








Erin's cousin, Jen, and her boyfriend Rigel are having a baby girl, so a fun baby shower was also given to help them get started with all the baby essentials. Many people participated in creating onesie's for the baby girl-to-be. As you can see, Erin's sister, Leann, decided no girl should go without a bikini.

Some people were hard to catch on camera (where did all those teenage boys go?), but Erin managed to snag a few when people weren't noticing (Grammie with the food, Aunt Sally and Uncle Chris drinking O'Douls,

Aunt Debbie taking pics, Uncle John picking up after everyone, and Erin's cousins Kristin and Mariah whom she had to chase around to get a shot). Uncle Larry on the other hand, the usual ham, grinned easily into the camera.



The youngest gals, Autumn and Abigail, posed prettily.










It was nice to also have Erin's Aunt Barbi, Uncle Wayne and cousin Viktoria from her Dad's side of the family also join in the fray. Viktoria and Lily got along famously.




Greg and Jake stuck close together, a survival technique non-blood family members are prone to do when put in the middle of Erin's family. Erin's sister Leann, decided only an extra large beer would do, and Parker had a great time sweeping in the nude. Even though the drive was rather stressful as Parker is not a happy camper in the car and will not sleep easily anywhere, Jake, Erin and Parker managed to have some fun on the trip and even dared to sing karaoke (see dangerously scary videos below). Erin's brother, Richie, was the star of the show (as you can see, he didn't want his Dad to steal any of his glory).