This past weekend Jerry, Gardner, Robbie (Jerry's brother), and Mrs. Becky (Jerry's mom) attended the Gardner Family Reunion in Elizabeth City.  The reunion is a great opportunity to interact with family that we don't see very often.  This group of family are related to Mrs. Becky.  Her late father had a number of brothers and sisters (only 3 of which are still living).  The remaining living brothers and sister, children and grandchildren all converge at the Hampton Inn  and have a fun time!

The fun for us began on Saturday.  We all have dinner at Golden Corral, which is walking distance from the hotel.  Following dinner is a talent show and dancing.  The talent show is organized by Tyler and Candy, who wrangle up various family members to perform.  This year's theme was holidays.  As I walked into the meeting room to grab a seat I noticed that Tyler and Candy were fiddling with the projector.  I immediately put Gardner down to walk into the crowd of family and sprung into action.  I started messing with the projector and helped them to make the photo smaller.  You can take the girl out of event planning, but you can't take the event planning out of the girl.  It was irresistible to watch someone struggle with something that I was very familiar with.  I seriously could not help myself. 

The show began with all the family photos that we had sent in with our family during the holidays.  After the slideshow, Candy struggled to get the screen to retract.  I sprang up, with Gardner on my hip and walked to the front of the room and pulled the screen down to get it to retract.  There was applause.  Again, I just couldn't help myself. 

We really enjoyed all the fantastic acts.  A notable act included one family that sang "A Few of My Favorite Things" about Thanksgiving with the newest family member, Magnolia, as the Turkey, just 3 months old. 

One of the funniest acts was Jessica and Reece Jr., a brother and sister duo with their kids.  I can only explain it by showing you the video below. 

It was absolutely wonderful to see family, laugh, and share one of the newest members of the Gardner clan, Gardner Merritt Rivenbark!  It will be fun to tell Gardner about his name and meet his Gardner family when he gets older.  We warmed the heart of so many and they were honored that we named him after the family and were thrilled to meet Gardner in the flesh. 

Family reunions are events just like any other, though I will say that this event is a lot more fun than the ones I'm used to running.  There are no court officials having talent shows at my events.  However, this week the Superior Court Judges are having a social with square dancing, so they in fact may be stepping up their game on the fun scale!

We loved the reunion so much that we've agreed to stay two nights instead of one next year and be more involved in the talent show by singing or dancing to some kind of Broadway tune, which is next year's theme.  We better start practicing now!