5th Annual Kemper Family Farm Weekend!!!!

Six years ago I got a wild hair to try and put together a fun working farm weekend for my Dad's side of the family. There were some projects that my Dad and Uncle Marc had around the farm that had to take a back seat to the farm/ranch work so I thought it would be a good way to do something for my Grandma, celebrate her birthday, and get everyone together. Growing up I have such fond memories of holidays spent with my cousins and I really wanted my kiddos to experience the same. At the same time, I really felt we all had a pull back to the farm where it all began for this big beautiful family. We are literally scattered all over the world now and it takes great planning and effort for some to make it back for the event and I thank them. We missed our weekend last year but gathered for my Grandma's funeral and while she is no longer with us, I still think we all felt that familiar pull to the farm. I guess you really can take the girl out of the country but you can't take the country out of the girl.

I mentioned we are scattered all over the place and my cousin Karen and her family get the award for traveling the farthest, from Russia!!!!! Karen had been in the States for a couple of months while her husband stayed in Russia to work. It was so adorable to see the reunion when he finally, after flight delays, made it to the farm. Those were the happiest boys on the planet!

Our project this year was spending time together and I personally enjoyed every minute of it. We painted and hung a barn quilt on the side of the barn and it turned out great. My mom had seen these in photos and got the craft together and I love how it looks. You can see the completed quilt on the picture above with everyone in it.

There are a bunch of kiddos in our family about the same age, most of them being boys, so you can imagine the fun being had by the littles. Didn't matter if they were in town or out at the farm, there was something happening. They went swimming, played baseball, practiced their roping and spent a lot of time just enjoying the fresh air. There were so many great pictures but these are some of my favorites!

The adults weren't left out of the fun, although our fun seems to involve a slower pace and food :) We always try and divide up the cooking responsibilities a bit. The aunts and uncles take a meal (or a couple) and the grandkids have the other. The grandkids usually have the bbq which my husband loves to play grill master for. I think his "supervisor" did an excellent job of making sure the burgers were cooked to perfection too!

We also got to celebrate Aunt Coleen and Mike's birthdays. They were good sports for the surprise and I thank them for giving us another reason for some cake ;)

Uncle Marc hooked the Ranger up to his wagon to take the kids for a ride through the alfalfa field and they had a blast. They even saw deer on their little jaunt! Yes that's my Aunt Tam in the back. We had to send someone with them to keep them all sitting still! The bandit just so happens to be my son!

Here are a few of the adults hanging out over the weekend. My sister is going to love me for posting the one of her but I love it and can't stop cracking up every time I see it! And I'm not sure what the guys are doing by the flag pole. Are they trying to figure out how the darn thing is in the ground or why the flag seems to have enough wind to fly but the kites won't? :)

We always try our best to get some pictures of the aunts and uncles together. In the past this included Grandpa and Grandma Kemper but even though they are now absent from the photos, they are a very special snapshot of what makes this family go round. Where it started and why it continues. We are missing Uncle Larry who had to leave early for work but he is there in spirit!

We have quite the musical family and sharing music is such a wonderful gift that brings everyone together. My Grandpa Kemper was a very good saxophone player. He played in a band when he was young and I can remember one day we got his sax out and he tried to play it. Of course the reeds were a million years old and he was suffering from emphysema at the time but that toe was tapping and he got some notes belted out. There has always been a piano in the middle of the room and there are several that play and there seems to often be someone walking by and randomly playing a tune. My cousin Ed got out some old sheet music and started in on the Tennessee Waltz which got my dad wanting to sing and well, here they are. This was a song my Grandpa would play on his sax!

By far one of my favorite moments of the weekend was when my Aunt Tam and my Dad walked out of the back room with their guitars. I had wanted to do a campfire with some music but time ran out and I thought it wasn't going to happen. I can't tell you how happy I was to have them play and it just made my day! Here is a little clip of some John Denver!

As always, we end the weekend with Mass and lunch at Aunt Tam and Uncle Marc's and everyone is off headed in their own direction. Having so many here this year just made the weekend extra special and I felt so blessed that all the great grandkids had so much time together just getting to know each other and playing. It always leaves me looking forward to next year! One last picture.... sunset on the farm!