Last weekend we had our annual family reunion. We missed the year 2020 because of COVID but as a family we have been getting together for over 10 years. My mom has three sisters. As a mom of three girls I now know that my Grandma Stewart must have been a saint after raising four strong and independent women. When my mom and her sisters get together it is non-stop gabbing and fun. Getting to see all my aunts, uncles, cousins, spouses, and their kids is so awesome. It is so awesome to take one weekend out of the year and reconnect with people who have known me my whole life.
I have six first cousins on my mom's side of the family. Most of them have kids so in total we have 37 people every year at this family party. 14 kids can be found running around all weekend ranging in ages from two months to 14 years old. My girls love it. Even though these are cousins they only see about once a year they always pick up right where they left off. There is giggling, running, and sugar. There is so much sugar. When you invite all the grandkids and all the grandmas to one party there will be more sugar than you could even imagine. My mom is the youngest of all her sisters. She had to wait the longest to become a grandma and was not patient about it at all. At this party all the grandmas give all the grandkids anything they want. They don't discriminate among grandkids, they spoil them all equally as a collective unit.
My aunts live in different places. Two of them live in northern Indiana, one lives in Ohio, and my mom lives in the Indianapolis area. Every year we rotate between all their houses for hosting duties. It is on a four year rotation with my mom up next. My mom has been planning her party for four years. She comes up with ideas and changes her mind but she is thinking about this event for four solid years. I love traveling to see my family especially since the longest drive is only five hours. Most of my cousins live near their mothers so we also get to see their homes in the process of going to Stewart Family Christmas. The hardest part of the travel is trying to bring home all the loot my kids get from their amazing great aunts.
We also have a competition every year. It is a wrapping contest. Basically it is an elaborate way to conceal a gift for the person whose name you picked. This contest gets crazy. Just to give you an example of how presents were wrapped this year we had a life sized dog in a garden, two golf courses with golf carts, a 3 foot wine bottle, a retro television, and a massage table big enough for an American girl doll. The family votes and whoever wins gets a prize. However, more importantly they get bragging rights until next year when presents are wrapped again in crazy ways to demonstrate our creativity. I actually won the "good try" award. Since this was the first year I have ever won anything in the wrapping contest I will take it.
Stewart Family Christmas is one of my favorite annual events. Even though everyone with the last name of Stewart is no long with us we are still carrying on the strong family dynamic that they established years ago. People have been added and people have left and the event still continues. This party is way bigger than just one person. I love to share all the people that have known me my whole life with my girls. I love to increase the village of people who love them. I love to see all my family dote on my girls and pour into them just as they have poured into me for all the years I've been alive. It is an exhausting and fulfilling weekend that I hope it will continue for many years to come. I am confident Stewart Family Christmas will turn into a cherished tradition for my girls too and that is worth every second of lost sleep from last weekend.
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