The Maxfield 5 - Briefly Reunited

Tucker's family has the unique characteristic of being a "combined family". 20 years ago, Jeannine and Neal found each other and made the life-changing decision to mesh their two families. Jeannine had two young adult children (Jeff and Lynda Ann) at the time, and Neal had five at home...Tucker was 17 and Derek (the youngest) was only 8.

Now, 20 years later (and a LOT of hard work later)...there is hardly a trace of that difficult transition. If you peeked into our family gatherings, you'd see a lot of love and laughs...with no divisions. But it's taken effort on everyone's parts to create that.

One of my most favorite things Jeannine says when asked by people how "her" children are doing (referring to her original two, Jeff and Lynda Ann), she often says "Gosh, it's been so long I can hardly remember whose kids are whose anymore!".

That being said...of the seven children, two are seldom at family gatherings/holidays. Derek lives in China...and has for nearly 5 years. And Spencer lives in Colorado, and until this past weekend, hadn't been back in Utah with all of his siblings for nearly 10 years!

He drove to Salt Lake with his little 9 year old boy, Walker. It was my children's first time meeting Spencer and Walker. Walker is such a sweet and friendly little boy. He was happy to realize he wasn't a lone redhead! And Derek was able to fly through Salt Lake from China on a layover to a USA diving job he was heading to.

We snapped a few pictures of the original five Maxfield children, on this rare occasion. It is amazing how different children from the same family can be! As grown adults, they have all chosen very different occupations and have very different talents. It was special for them to share a few hours together again.

Order of age...Tucker, Maren, Spencer, Lyndsy and Derek

Cousins: Peyton, Lexi, Brock, Jordyn, Taylor, Boston, Walker, Jaden and River

Doggie Cousins...and Thank You!

(text photo updates my mom sent to us while gone...especially to reassure the girls that Belle was okay. Lexi had a REALLY hard time leaving her)

One of the biggest stresses for me when preparing to leave for Utah was who would care for Belle? She is getting older and I was afraid she would die of loneliness! So I felt huge relief when my mom offered to "dog sit" her. She literally came and hung out with Belle...or picked her up and took her to her house...every day for over two weeks. Belle is a very possessive dog and doesn't love to share attention. But she had to share the spotlight with her "cousin" Bernice (my mom's dog). I actually think she had a fun vacation, rather than missing us.

Then, on the drive home, I kept picturing our hairy floor from two animals, our stale smelling house and our empty fridge. Well, imagine my relief and surprise when I walked into a freshly vacuumed rug, cleaned sink and lots of groceries! Oh my gosh, it was so nice.

Thank you Mom and Dad for being so thoughtful and helpful while we were on our Utah rendezvous!

Family Reunion – Being Silly

This was one of the funniest things during the reunion.  Many of these pictures keep making me laugh out loud.  Mindy went around asking people to (how do I describe it?) make a horse noise with their lips.  And then she would snap a picture midway through the lip flapping.  Man, we got a good laugh every single time.  I think my top favorites below are Jeff Gertson, Jeannine, Greg….oh man, I don’t know.  They are all hilarious!

 

       

Family Reunion Day 6

Last year was the first time we rented this huge waterslide on the 24th of July (Pioneer Day, a holiday, in Utah).  And we loved it!  It was such a blast.  So we decided to do it again.

We all gathered out at the Gertson’s house in Stansbury Park in swimsuits and ready for some crazy dives off the big blow-up slide – adults and kids alike.

 

We were also priviledged to have Derek join us all the way from China for this final day of the reunion.  He was able to take a 2 week job in the USA that allowed him to stop off for a few days in Utah.

 

Lyndsy was in charge of dinner and made her yummy “Cafe Rio Pork” dinner.  It was so good!  We had a fun day in the sun…but quite a few adults injured themselves by trying to show each other up on the slide!  Then there were a few, like Jeff H and Justin, who didn’t even chance it.  Were they wimpy or smart?  Hmmmm

 

This day concluded our last day of the reunion.  The consensus all the way around was that the reunion was a total hit.  As we said our goodbyes, there was a sadness that it was over.  I love to reflect on how all of us came to be together.  There was lots of heartache and tragedy that led up to this combined family.  And since then (20 years) it’s taken a LOT of work and effort on each family member’s part.  But as I watched everyone this week, I realized that – over time – hard work and patience can bring sweet rewards.  The precious relationships that have formed between the grandchildren – and seeing that the children know no bounds or division between families.  They don’t care about blood relation…or whose parents grew up with whose.  The effort to bond and make memories was apparent as I watched the family come together all week long.

 

And a huge thank you goes out to Maren for coordinating such a huge event.  She did an amazing job.  And I know it wasn’t easy since she was nursing a 2 month old the entire time!

 

 

This pic of Mindy and Jeff is one of my favorites.  Just before this picture, they had run into WalMart together.  The cashier said “I can tell you two go together”!  LOL

 

 

This is my Axl Rose or Brett Michaels look, using my tie-died bandana.