Family Time

Last weekend the kids & I were on the Island for my grandma's funeral. My sister came down from up north with my niece and my brother flew in from Alberta. It was the first time us three siblings had been together in four years and it had been about five years since the three of us have been together at our parents' house. My dad was sure happy to have all three of their children home at the same time!

Here are some pictures from that weekend!

Waiting for the ferry to take us to Vancouver Island

Becca, Kathleen (my niece), Daniel & Aiden (my youngest nephew)

My brother Steve with his son, Aiden We had fun going through photos from Grandma's
My sister Karen & I when we were younger

After Grandma's funeral service, we took some family pictures.
These are all of the first cousins that were at the funeral. Some of them we hadn't seen for almost 20 years!

Grandma's four remaining boys (from her 1st marriage)

A little fun between Uncle Rick & Mom!

All the siblings (minus one uncle who couldn't make it)

The siblings & their spouses

As I mentioned in the last post, it's a very interesting story of how my Grandpa and my Grandma met and combined their families. I'll try to tell it as simply and quickly as I can. I'll use their first names in order to keep everyone straight.

Many years ago (not sure of the actual years), Roy and Victoria (Tori) met and started dating when Tori was only 14 years old. They dated for seven years and married when Tori was 21. During their dating years, Tori became friends with Kathleen. Tori introduced Kathleen to Roy's best friend, Douglas. Douglas was the best man at Roy & Tori's wedding.

A few years later, Douglas & Kathleen married. Douglas & Kathleen had three children: Brian, Don & Robyn. During that time, Roy & Tori had five boys: Ron (who passed away a few years ago), Rick, Randy, Russ & Roy. When Roy (Jr.) was one or two years old, Roy (Sr.) passed away. A few years later (I think), when my Mom was four years old, Kathleen passed away.

Fast forward many years. My mom is now married and my sister is one year old. Douglas and Tori get married, combining the two families! I now have two uncles and five step-uncles. When I was growing up, the "step-family" thing was never made an issue to my siblings & I. My Grandma (Tori) is the only grandma I knew on my Mom's side.

Although my family hasn't stayed very connected with all the relatives, it was fun coming together and seeing uncles, aunts & cousins again. It had been years since we had seen some of them!