On October 1st we celebrated the 20th annual Zaruba reunion. Before my grandmother married into O'Malley clan she was Elaine Zaruba. Her family has so much history in Baltimore, specifically the Curtis Bay, area. She still goes to the same church she did growing up-Saint Athanasius- and if you recall was the church Tommy and I got married in and where Lilly was baptized. Lilly was even baptized in the same baptismal font as my grandmother.
My grandmother grew up in Curtis Bay in the house that my Uncle Joe and his family now live in and may or may not be haunted by James Zaruba, my grandmothers dad ; ). Each year my grandmothers side of the family gets together in good old Curtis Bay, MD at the US Coast Guard Yard which, of course, also has meaning to my family. It's where my grandmothers grandfather and father and brother worked as well as other family members.
The reunion is a great time to see people we don't see all of the time, to catch up with those that we do, and of course to reminisce. My great-grandmother, Agnes Zaruba, was an awesome lady and we love re-telling stories about her. They are the best stories really and often make us laugh until we cry even if we have heard the story a thousand times.
Here are the oldest and youngest members of the family!
This year there didn't seem to be as many people there although the amount of young kids present is begining to grow again- The next generation! It was a chilly day, but we all had fun and Lilly really enjoyed her 1st reunion. She especially loved hanging out with her cousin Autumn!
Every year the men (and some ladies) get together a horseshoe tournament and each year it's a battle to be the last pair standing. Here is the trophy my dad made one year so that the winners can take home more than bragging rights. We have had this in our house over the years and is again, another fun family tradition!
Each year we set up picture collages from each year of the reunion. It's so fun to look back over the years. At the first reunion I was only 9 years old-hard to believe that now I am attending with my family! My mom and aunts all had little babies at the first reunion and now those babies are in college!!! It just boggles my mind. Next year Lilly and Autumn will be running around in the dirt and playing on the play ground! We won't be able to stop them.
Another tradition we have is our family picture. We cram as many people as we can on the bleachers and some squeeze in around it. We set a camera on a timer and whoever is in charge (lately it's been my dad) runs like a crazy person to find a spot. Lilly thought this was the best thing by the way-you can see she's actually looking at my dad! Once it's all over the people sitting in the front few rows of the bleachers have to remember not to all get up at once, or else the beachers tip and whoever is on top goes flying. We're getting better at that one!
SOME people who will go unmentioned were in the bathroom during the picture and will need to be photoshopped in...see if you can point them out. (hahaha)
What a great family! Looking forward to next year!
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