FISRT GENERATION - 1942
Here are the two that started it all!
By 1947 the two had become six!
The Four Angels about 1952
It just gets funnier and funnier folks! (1957)
The extra male here is Dennis Carpenter,
a family friend. Don't you just love those hats!
My dress was straight from the Thrift Store....a rustling purple taffeta! I LOVED it!
(Purple and Easter kind of go together, right?)
A few years later...
The Four Elders
This photo below barely represents half the family at this time!
Those who were able to attend this year.
Part of the Alexander-Biedler Clan (above). Seven missing.
Youngest daughter Lori and her husband BC plus 11 month old Liam in back row.
Only son Daniel in very front.
Karen's calling Dude or trying to play kissy-kissy with Liam.
Love that Dude!
Lori and her family.
The Elders (2nd Generation)
Brother John and his wife Gwen.
My sister Mary and her only son Jonathan.
Dan and his three sons, Sean. Craig and Dan II.
Two of Dan's four granddaughters, the eldest is Craig's and the younger is Dan II's eldest.
Six of the 10 of the next generation. Four women missing!
All five male cousins were present in the 3rd generation! Yea!!
Lori was the only female cousin of five in the 3rd generation able to make it.
(Above) Anyone who has raised a child knows they reach a certain stage when they don't want to go to strangers. Here is the hand-off from Papa to cousin Conner to see if we can get a shot of the four (of 16) who were present from the 4th generation.
What is Liam looking at you ask?
Need you ask?
(above) All those silly adults, of course…
My oh my but they are entertaining, aren't they Liam?!
Ya, whatever, Grandma.
Yeah, you're just "pulling my ear again",
trying to convince me that they aren't going to leave me here.
Okay, I'll give you just a tiny taste of the
charisma I am capable of.
Then it's adios, Amigos!
Jocelyn taking it all in.
All the men present at the reunion. There are so many missing.
I have a hard time keeping the count straight anymore.
The females present. Even more missing!!
Those with some version of "John" as their given name.
All the "Dan's" in the family!
Adopting the "COOL" look!
Six of us wear glasses. Craig came up with the idea that those who don't wear glasses borrow the glasses of the six and have their picture taken.
I think Conner looks great in his!
Jonathan Williams: Actually, Craig deserves the credit.
It was his idea to swap glasses. Great idea Craig!
Jonathan Williams: John looks mystified . . .
Karen Biedler Alexander: That's because he is a mystic....
Jonathan Williams: Or had gas . . .
Mary B. Williams: And none of you could see a thing...
Mary B. Williams: Or couldn't see a thing and was trying to think his way through it.
Since none of them could see clearly out of the glasses they had borrowed, they had to look down their noses at us to see us!
Here is the gang weeding at the historical society late in the afternoon on July 4th. Man, I wish I had them here more often! They also felled a couple of small trees for me, cleared one small part of the forest floor of debris, swept my metal roof, cleaned my gutters and cleaned my van within an inch of its life!
One Historical Society Board member asked me after seeing the photos I sent <> I responded,
“Community service” during our family reunions---even IF the “community” is “only” the host family----is a loooog tradition in our family. Our parents brought us up this way so we Four Elders learned early on to work as a Team and to have FUN doing it. We still have fun to this day working together. During one reunion in Pasadena, CA, we even volunteered to work on one of the Rose Parade floats! (Don’t know how much the public realizes that that parade would not take place were it not for volunteers and the thousands of hours they give!)
We four Biedlers are very blessed to have stayed so close all our lives. We have passed this tradition on to our 10 and trust they will continue to pass it on to the 4th generation (now 16 strong!), which they all seem to be doing so far. They also continue to press us to get together as an extended family at least every 3 years, though not everyone is always able to make it, obviously. But we are thrilled that they WANT to get together!
They also swept the metal roof and cleaned out the gutters....
as well as did a bit of thinning in one section of the forest.
Conner also raked the orchard for me: a huge help since my shoulder still can't bear much of this kind of work yet. He seemed to be singing and memorizing something the whole time he was working.
Gwen was our Kitchen Captain. I couldn't have hosted this reunion without Gwen's willingness to handle the kitchen duties for me! She organized and spent hours in the kitchen preparing meals with Mary's help (and occasionally some from me). Though I prefer working in the kitchen (HA!), I gave it up to play with Liam or be outside working with the guys. (Karen "preferring" kitchen duties to outside work is a big family joke! Just ask Gary what she used to ask for as Mother's Day Gift when the kids were growing up.)
Liam was out test taster for the vegetables.
Stay Tuned! More to come!
