Shanna's Shenanigans: The Kitten Kaboodle Klub Grows Up

Last week I bragged about how wonderful my little Princess was at the Texas wedding. In keeping with my promise for Part Deux of the Texas Wedding Extravaganza, this week I'm gonna brag about how wonderful my entire family and extended family is!!

To preface the big event, I should tell you a little bit about this family of mine. The Veeder family gatherings have always a lot like Thanksgiving dinner itself: everyone looks forward to it, it's pure bliss while you're in the moment, and in the end it's kindof exhausting and sometimes just a little "too much". A lot of food, a lot of booze, a lot of laughs, a lot of noise, a whooooole lot of crazy. But mostly, a lot of love and memories shared between us. I don't think any of us knew it at the time, but we had something rare in these gatherings. Rare and incredibly special. Because the get-togethers built relationships that have withstood miles and changes and the test of time. We have been this way since I can remember, and will very likely never change. The gatherings usually consisted of my Grandparents (Pete & Edie Veeder), their children (Kerry, Gene & Wade and their spouses), and grandchildren (Lindsay, Shanna, Seth, Marni, Jessie, Ashley, Alex & Shad) and of course generally occurred during holidays or big life events (weddings, baptisms, funerals, etc.) but were often spontaneous. One thing they have always been: extremely FUN.

The whole crew, taken (I'm guessing) about 1991. Note the
massive bangs, biker shorts, and fanny pack. Good times.

When the glue that held us all together was suddenly and unexpectedly taken away from us, we found a way to keep on keepin' on. The older I get the more I realize how lucky we were to have this bond with my cousins and aunts & uncles, as I have found in my adult life that people like these are extremely hard to come by. They are a rare breed who are truly good people to their core. They put a tremendous importance on the value of family and support each other no matter what. They love, unconditionally, and respect each other. As our family grows and moves on the gatherings have changed. When our spouses/significant others came into the family, they were often bewildered and probably a little terrified about the whole clan. We have this intense connection that falls somewhere between the Griswalds and the Clampetts, with a little Cleavers mixed in for good measure.

One of the last times ALL eight of us were together (our wedding in June 2003)

As we have all gradually turned into "grown-ups", the gatherings have become fewer and further-between. They include a more diverse audience (diversity in this case generally means there are more boys present, which frankly would have come in handy when we'd needed an extra boy or two to play "groom" when we put on our pretend weddings… but I digress). Of course we've outgrown the Kids' Table, and are far less likely to perform Christmas pageants in the living room for a small fee, but in many ways it's still the same. We just pick up right where we left off. So when we get together we give each other crap mercilessly for our leotard-legwarmers/ mall bangs/Zubaz phase, for "that one time when…" [fill in the blank] and for our [lack of] athletic ability. Because we have shared so many memories together (many of which are rather embarrassing and recorded for posterity) it's so incredible to just spend time with people you feel so comfortable with. People who are uncannily like you in many ways. We are dramatic and passionate and talk way too loud and use huge sweeping gestures to emphasize. So we seize the opportunity to stay up until the wee hours to chat about our lives, our dreams, share inside jokes, and reminisce about the times we've shared together over the years. And thus more priceless memories are made!

Baby there's no other superstar you know that I'll be...your pa-pa-paparazzi

So when our not-so-little anymore cousin Ashley ("Pee-Pants") got hitched in Dallas this October, we all flew in from far and wide: from Fargo to Miami and everywhere in-between, to celebrate the big occasion. The only cousin not in attendance was Lindsay. And she had a pretty valid excuse: she gave birth to her son Sylas the night before we left! Everyone was a little travel-shy after our last trip to Texas (for Marni's wedding), as we had all run into bad weather and nightmarish travel stories began to emerge. But we all arrived without any travel incidents and piled into the hotel where we shared hugs and smiles and those "oh, you look fantastic" or "It's been ages" and "my, how you've grown" and other obvious exchanges of pleasantries that all families tend to do when reuniting. Then we promptly planned out our weekend (starting with a trip to the liquor store, of course. Cuz it's sometimes sortof hard to tolerate family without booze.)

Beth and Seth, stocking up for the weekend. And being the
good North Dakootans they are, wear plaid to the liquor store.

We began our weekend with an adventure, as per usual. The first night started with a GPS-related near-disaster when we were unable to find the groom's dinner location. But Uncle Gene and I, like a modern-day Lewis & Clark, managed to navigate the minivan to the correct location (ok, with guidance from Wade on the cell). We let Jessie & Alex out of the trunk and headed in… to the breathtakingly lovely riverside dinner.

The lovely rehearsal dinner site.

The food. OH dear Lord the food! It was ahhh-mazing.

A toast to the couple, to family, to love.

We did a lot of catching-up, drank some champagne, got teary-eyed over the beautiful slideshow that Luke (the groom) put together and spent a perfectly lovely evening enjoying each others' company! The rest of the weekend went by in a flurry of activity. Chatted over coffee. Bought new shoes. Fought off locusts and fire ants. Went for a white-knuckles ride with scary Drivers' Ed as he peeled out at the stoplight with the rented Minivan. "Observed" artwork. Watched our beautiful cousin marry a wonderful man, their new life together beginning right there in front of us all. Laughed, snorted, toasted, teased, prayed, cried, sang, danced, ate, drank, sat by the campfire and took pictures. 948 pictures, to be exact, between only 2 people (albeit 2 people who permanently had their cameras attached to their faces the entire time) which sufficiently captured most of the big moments of the weekend.

Goin' to the chapel.

The beautiful couple, Ashley and Luke, saying their "I do's".

Sisters, sharing a 'moment' before the ceremony.

Our "elders" (snicker, snicker)

The "Singles dance"

The "Little Kids", showing how badass they are now that they've turned 21.

Mom & Pops, cutting a rug

Cheeeeese!

Two words: Shopping. Cart.

"Shhhhh! You'll wake the baby!"

Jason has only been an "official" member of the family
for about 4 years, but he certainly fits right in.
We happen love his passion for shopping cart races.

As we filed out one by one to head back home to Miami, Watford City, Lemmon, Brookings, Austin, Little Elm, and Fargo, we hugged and said our goodbyes with heavy hearts. Because we had so much fun, and because we're never sure how long it will be until we're all together again. Every time we get together, we say "we really should do this more often" and "let's plan a trip". And we really DO have the best intentions to do so. But work and houses and bank accounts and spouses and kids and life, unfortunately, often prevents us from doing that.

Planning our next trip in the airport on our way back home.

Here's hoping that we'll be able to get together more often than once every 4 years. I know these family ties that bind will stay strong through the years so that, just maybe, we can create these same kinds of memories with our children, and their children, and so on. It's totally worth the driving in the snow, and flying through tornadic activity, and dealing with puke on the airplane to get there.

Studying the artwork, like the intellectuals we are.

So here's to you, my fellow charter members of the Kitten Kaboodle Klub. Thank you for giving me so many memories to cherish and look back on with joy and affection for each one of you. Thank you for the heaps of photographs and the plethora of video footage to laugh at, and to cry at, and to relive those moments. Thank you to my parents and uncles and aunts and grandparents for giving me a family full of people who just so happen to double as some of my best friends.