This past weekend I was in Gilford, New Hampshire at a reunion of my mother’s side of the family. Larsons everywhere. One of our projects for the past few years has been videotaping each family branch.  Getting all the members of each branch together is never easy – like herding cats. We barely get nearly everyone together and they begin to disappear again.  We are trying to get my  cousin Jennie’s family together here – and almost succeeding. Her grandchildren are mostly older, and young Serein is still a babe in arms.

Before we started on our branch we got my five children, Philip (top left) and his lady Connie, Chris and Diane ( middle step), and Betsy and Kate with Kate’s newly fuzzy husband Greg together for this photo.

It took more work to get the whole gang together, children, grandchildren, and my sister-in-law Joan on one end, and brother Tony on the the other. Unfortunately, my brother Dean and his wife Marcia were not able to attend this year.

While Greg and his sons, Anthony and Drew went off geo-caching, Kate joined my brother and his wife, Tony and Joan, and me on a Lake Winnipesaukee cruise aboard the Mt. Washington.  It gave us a chance to do some serious catching up, out of the chaos of 80 other talking, laughing, running, splashing, eating, drinking, cartwheeling, scootering Larsons.

My cousin Erin came all the way from San Diego with her family including the youngest family member, Ethan, 8 months old. Its a cliche, I know, but this is the most important crop we raise, children rooted deep in family history, love and connection.