The Herman Zobrist Family - 160+ & going strong

Wow - I am really a part of this group of people. I feel so blessed to have been born into this family and to have such a noble heritage. I have a very strong sense of family, which has been with me for as long as I can remember. I love time with family - with my own family of six, with my parents & siblings, with Brad's parents & siblings, or with both of our extended families of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. I know that some people do not particularly enjoy family reunions, but I love them. We started having a Herman Zobrist Family Reunion in 2004. It was at my Uncle's ranch along the Rogue River in Medford, Oregon. It is the most amazing place. The reunion was a lot of fun, but a little tough for everyone to get to. In 2005 we didn't have a reunion, then in 2006 it was once again in Medford. Ben was very tiny & we didn't get to go that year. This year, we had the reunion in Las Vegas so grandma & grandpa didn't have to travel (grandpa was never able to get to the Medford reunions). Many families made an effort to be there & it so great to visit with my most of my cousins & to get to know their kids! On Friday night we met at a new YMCA and had their awesome pool & slide all to ourselves. It was great! Saturday we met at a church for the main part of the reunion. Every year we hold an auction to raise funds to pay for the next year's reunion. Rather than contribute something for the auction, I offered to take pictures & video throughout the reunion which I will compile into a DVD. I sold about 30 DVDs for $15 each to donate for next year's reunion. Here are a few of the pictures -

The 2 who started it all - Grandpa Herman & Grandma Virginia (87 & 85 years!).
They have 6 children, 34 grandchildren, 110 great grandchildren, & 17 great great grandchildren. When I asked my grandparents how they felt about this huge posterity, both of them got emotional. My grandma said that she could not wait for the day when she could take all of her posterity and present them to the Lord because she is so proud of them all.

Here is my dad & all his siblings. My dad is not at his finest because he had hernia surgery (with 2 different incisions on his belly) just 2 days before this picture was taken. That considered - he looks pretty good! L-R are Anne, Phil (my dad), Gerry, Duane, Ken, & Ginnie. Ken is the oldest followed by Duane, Anne, & then my dad. The youngest are twins, Gerry & Ginnie.

Grandpa, Grandma, their children & children's spouses. It was just yesterday that my parents & aunts & uncles were where I am today & now they are the grandparents. For me, it is surreal to see the generations flow from one to the next.

I think this picture of my aunt & grandma is great because I tried to get a lot of candid photos, but every time my grandma would see me with the camera, she would try to pose. Whenever I would try to get a candid picture I would tell her to NOT look at me, and that still didn't always work. In this picture, I think she is in "mid-pose". I love the look on her face!

This is my brother Jared & his little boy Ryan. I took this picture from across the pool then edited it to get a closer shot. I like the water behind Jared & the way they are interacting with each other.

Over the past few years, Madi has become good friends with my cousin Melanie's daughter, Marianne. They met at our first Zobrist family reunion in 2004 & have stayed in touch ever since. I love that our reunions can create family bonds that would not have otherwise been created.

This is one of my favorite photos that I took at the reunion. This is my cousin's adorable little boy. I took his picture before I knew who he was. I walked by him & saw him laying on his belly in the pool & it was the cutest sight. By the look on his face, I think he is thinking, "who are you & why are you taking my picture???"

Some of Herman & Virginia's great granddaughters - lots are from the Phil Z. family!

Here's the Phil Zobrist family. Everyone from our family was at the reunion (with the exception of Dawnae's oldest son, JP & her husband, Allen). I usually think our family looks big until you compare it to the group photo of the Herman Zobrist clan - then we look pretty small! In another 25 years or so we just might rival that big group picture - scary!!!

As a bonus to this post - I have done a little reminiscing & if you care to know - here is the good the bad & the ugly of growing up in the Herman Zobrist family.

You know you're a grandchild of Herman & Virginia if -

• you had orange lipstick on your cheek whenever grandma kissed you hello or goodbye
• you poured over grandma's stack of National Enquirers when your mom wasn't looking (what an education! who knew that aliens lived among us and that there was a 1000 pound man married to a 50 pound woman and they had a 200 pound 1-year old - this was information we HAD to know!)
• you ever sat and waited for grandma's cuckoo clock(s) to chime.
• you periodically "toured" grandma & grandpa's china cabinets to look at their massive collection of treasures brought back from countries foreign and exotic.
• you played on an Inch Master.
• you knew that grandma had stashes of junk food, hostess goodies, cookies, & candy and if you were lucky, she'd give you some. Have you ever had chicken in a biscuit crackers with cheese whiz?
  
• you ate grandma's salad at every family gathering - there was no variety - just grandma's green salad with lots of avocados & a blue cheese vinagerette dressing. It was the best!
• you looked at the collection of miniature Swiss houses complete with people, pets & little cuckoo clocks. They were fascinating & made you wish they would come to life.
• you knew about your heritage - the Zobrist were Swiss & that made you Swiss & you were proud of that.
• you may have been fortunate enough to witness Duane II & "little" Gerry coming out of grandpa's "special" room - that we weren't allowed in - each wearing one pant leg of grandpa's pants. It was hysterical & they got in so much trouble from grandpa! He did not see the humor of it at all!
• you wondered if grandpa really caught that marlin that hung over his sofa.
• you thought you were "semi-famous" because every Mormon in Las Vegas seemed to know a Zobrist - big family - all grandpa's brothers & his sisters were in LV!
  
• you went to visit grandma & grandpa but had to wait in the living room so grandma could "get grandpa's pants."
• you went swimming in grandma & grandpa's "indoor" swimming room.
• you sometimes got to see some of the "interesting" inside parts of animals that grandpa liked to EAT! Yuck!
• you got to ride in grandpa's Lincoln Town Car. Lincolns were the only cars he drove.
• you acted stubborn or strong-willed, it was usually blamed on the "Zobrist" in you.
  

If you grew up a Zobrist - do you have anything more to add to this list? I'd love to know!