Schamal Family Going Away Party

On Saturday, my cousins Suzanne and Mary Jean hosted a going away party for Todd, me and the kids at Suzanne's house in WI. All of my aunts and uncles were there and almost all of my cousins and their families. Since their are 6 kids on my dad's side and 19 cousins, the party was HUGE! And so, so much fun.

We visited with everybody where Todd was able to talk to his heart's content about his new job and the area we are moving to. He loved it and it was so nice to see him happy and care-free. It's been a long, long time since that has happened.

The little kids all ran around and played together, and can I say here how glad I am that my kids are the ages they are because I was actually able to relax and have a good time without being overly-paranoid about what my kids were up to. They had fun with their "distant" cousins. It was so nice to see that generation of our family playing like we used to.

Below are some pics from the day...

Almost the entire Schamal family sans a few cousins:

My cousin Suzanne--who hosted the party--and me toasting to good family and good times:

Todd and me with my absolute favorite uncle Dave:

This next picture is so reflective of all of the memories I have of these parties. My parents and all of my aunts and uncles on my dad's side always laugh so much when they are together.
Front row: Aunt Flo (dad's sis), Mom, Aunt Marian (dad's sis), Aunt Mary, Aunt Margie (dad's sis), Aunt Millie (dad's sis)
Back row: Harold, Dad, Uncle Dave, Uncle Morris (dad's bro), Uncle Wally, Uncle Willie

It was difficult saying "good-bye" to everyone--moreso than I ever imagined. It hit me as we were leaving that it's probably the last time for a long time I will be able to attend one of these parties. For all their quirks, my family really is the best in the world and I am so grateful to them for loving me so much that they wanted to send me off in this way.