21 Reasons I Love My Family

Did you know that I totally love my family? Well, I do. We had such a fun time in Pennsylvania last week. Here are favorite memories with each member of my family.

Dad: The first night of the reunion, my dad gave a lovely spiritual thought and then had us count off by our numbers. Since Bylund Team Numbers were his idea originally, it was fun to see them in action!

Mom: My mom made a fishing pond out the window of the cabin for the grand kids. They loved getting to use the fishing pole to "catch" their prize. I was excited to also get a turn to fish and love my patriotic hair band. :)

Carma (sister): We were in charge of making dinner Sunday night. We decided to make waffles. To make sure that we had enough, we mixed up almost the whole big box of Bisquick. It took over two hours to cook them all in the one waffle iron we had. But they turned out great.

Greg (brother-in-law): Our last day, we went to Six Flags. I love roller coasters almost as much as Greg. It is so fun to go on rides with him because of how excited he gets. Two thumbs up for Superman and the Joker's Jinx.

Thurman (nephew): The Lincolns brought their Wii and Thurman patiently talked me through how to play golf. He was also there to rejoice with me when I miraculously scored an Eagle.

Nico (nephew): When we were at the pool, I heard a Rambo-style cry and then something on my back. Nico was looking for a ride to the deep end of the pool and off we went. I love how much energy he has.

Eric (brother): I wish we would have had more time in DC so Eric could have gotten to visit all the sights that he wanted. Luckily, we were able to see his #1- the White House, even if it was from a distance.

Michelle (sister): One night after the kids went to bed, we were hanging out in the kid-free cabin and Michelle had the urge to play some of the games from our childhood. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and then Land, Sea, Air and to top it off, Hello Mr. Butterfly. So much laughter...

Dan (brother-in-law): While at Six Flags, we decided to take Anna on the log ride. Dan estimated where we could sit to get the least wet. Not sure how well that worked because we were totally soaked when we got off. It was a warm day so it actually felt great and luckily, Anna didn't seem to be bothered by it.

Anna (niece): I got to take Anna on a few rides at Six Flags, besides the log ride. She really wanted to go on the teacup ride. She wanted to know how we could make the cups spin and I explained that we would have to turn the wheel in the center. As soon as the ride started, she was cranking it for all she was worth. A girl after my own heart!

Rachel (niece): Rachel has always been kind of wary of me (as she is with most people). But in the pavilion before the family talent show, she suddenly warmed up to me and we had a great time playing and jumping from one picnic table to the next.

Kevin (brother): Kevin never disappoints when he pulls out his juggling equipment. His clever routine involved a "walk through the zoo" and imitating several animals while juggling. My favorite was the ape. My description couldn't do it justice so let's just say it was funny!

Emily (sister-in-law): Despite, a several year hiatus from clogging, Emily was able to learn the dance in one evening. The Sunshine Cloggers debuted at the first ever Bylund Bash Talent Show. I hope we have more performances in the future.

Grace (niece): When talking to Gracie about her new house, she said, "Yes, we have a new house. Do you want to come see it?". I said that I did and she said, "Okay, how about you come tomorrow." I told her if I went tomorrow, she wouldn't be there because she would still be at the reunion. Undeterred, she replied, "Okay, I will drive up tomorrow, too."

Anne (niece): I loved watching Annie at the swimming pool. She loves being in the water and looked so cute in her little polka dot swimsuit. Her thunder thighs didn't stop her from taking a few steps (while holding her daddy's hands) in the kids pool.

Jenny (sister): One of Jenny's great family reunion idea was to have people memorize the Gettysburg Address. Even though I didn't have it memorized when I got to the reunion, Jenny convinced me that it wasn't too late. I spent a couple of hours one morning memorizing it and it was a very positive experience.

Aaron (brother-in-law): Some of us decided to run the Firecracker 5K course. Despite having run a half marathon only a week before, the hills of Pennsylvania proved very difficult for me. Even though I know he could have run faster, Aaron ran with me and distracted me from the pain by talking about the Civil War as we ran past the different monuments.

Spencer (nephew): When making smores, I helped Spencer roast a marshmallow and put it together with graham crackers and chocolate. This little guy knows what he wants- he pulled out the chocolate, ate it and went looking for more. When his dad said, "You sure love chocolate. Do you get that from your mom?", Spencer replied, "No, I got it for me".

Joshua (nephew): This is the happiest baby I have ever seen. Despite clogged tear ducts that results in perma-tears on his cheeks, he is all smiles. I loved watching the other grand kids play peek-a-boo with him and never failing to get a giggle.

Emily (sister): Emily and I have loved Family Feud since we were kids. I stayed with her for a few days before the reunion and we made a point to watch the show each night. Even better, we found an online version and spent several hours delighting in our awesome skills.

Richie (brother-in-law): When everyone lined according to their family number, most of the in-law were towards the lower number end. But since Emily and Richard were just married a year ago, he was at the other end surrounded by babies.