The Burns Family Reunion

It's Saturday. We are at Lake Stanton Park, Falls City, Nebraska for the Burns Family Reunion. The family starts arriving soon after breakfast (we get Anna's homemade donuts for breakfast - yumm!).

Tom takes my dad, Walter, and me for a tour of the farms. We stop at the grain elevators, a feedlot, and a field freshly planted with soy beans. Then we check out the tractors (the oldest was a 1951 Fordson Dexta), and sample some sweet corn straight off the stalk. We see the house where Carol was born. We drive past a field where they are burning winter wheat stubble, and lots of CRP fields (Conservation Reserve Program - you are paid to not farm). My dad has lots of questions. Tom has all the answers.

We get back in time for lunch. I try to remember how everyone is related. Here's the Burns family reunion by numbers: [yes - it's all from memory]

• 7 of 11 Burns siblings were present (4 brothers - Roland, Ralph, Roy, Tom, 3 sisters - Dorothy, Francis, Carol)
• 4 sibling's spouses (Wilma, Delma, Roxanna, Anna)
  
• 13 of their children (Cindy, Britina, Clay, Sandy, Kim, Tracy, Brian, Amy, Marcia, Walter, Nicolle, JoEllen, Neil)
  
• 4 spouses of the children (Hatch, Chrissy, Michelle, me)
  
• 11 grandchildren (Mindy, Matthew, Mavrick, Jerad, Rhiannon, Shayla, Quinn, Devyn, Kai, Grace, Vivian)
• 1 grandchild's spouse (Mindy's husband)
  
• 4 great grandchildren (Dylan, Missy, Carly, their brother)
• plus Katura (still in foster care) and my dad
• and 10 dogs - honest!
  

That's 56 souls, of whom 21 have travelled at least 500 miles to be there. A good turnout.

Later in the evening we play volleyball. I can see that lots of Advil is going to be consumed tomorrow. Hatch and Kim "Brown Pants" provide the entertainment.

I am glad Vivian could be a part of it.