Sometimes it’s hard to remember why we go to family reunions.  They are sometimes awkward, especially if you have a family as large as mine.  My mom’s side of the family is fantastically huge.  Most of her eight brother and sisters have large families of their own, and every time we get together I meet family members I’ve never seen before in my life.  Though it seems like my dad’s side of the family would be more simple because he only has one sister, it’s not.  Instead of gathering together on the Aunt-and-Uncle level, dad’s side of the family still gathers on the Great-Aunt-and-Great-Uncle level (as relative to me, anyway).  So although dad’s immediate family is rather small-ish, there can still be over 100 people at a family reunion on dad’s side when all of his cousins and their families are in attendance.

Today was one of those family reunions;  The Goodwyn Clan got together for a rousing afternoon of good food, good times and, inevitably, a few more introductions to new family members.

Last week I went to a camera store to buy a lens cap and walked out with a few umbrellas, light stands, a flash, and a remote triggering system for my camera.  Because I’m overly zealous to use my new camera equipment, and because I have a desire to one day be able to actually put a face to all the names of my family members, I set up my new portable studio in the hallway of the church and had the families come in one-by-one to take some family pictures.  The idea went over smashingly well.  Above all the pictures I took today, though, I think I will value the one I posted here the most.  That’s (Great Aunt) Ina, (Great Uncle) Tom and my Mema, Burnell (starting from the left).  They are the foundations of the family, three of the original six Goodwyn children, and you just would not believe how outrageously fun these people are.  These three are the reason that we brave family reunions and their potential for awkwardness.  Once you get the Goodwyn Siblings into a room together, the laughter becomes contagious.  That much is obvious, I think, by the way my Mema is just about to double over in stitches about something that Tom had said just before I snapped the picture.