An Unexpected Family Reunion

Teaching the adult religion class each week has brought many blessings into my life. Some have been unexpected. Case in point...

A group of moms with small children got together and organized a co-op nursery so they could all take turns attending the class. This brought more people each week and gave me an opportunity to make new friends. As I was getting to know the names of the new people, one 20-something lady said, "My name is Becky Crookston." I said, "Well Becky Crookston, somehow we are related." We quickly figured out that her husband's grandfather is Ray Crookston - my Grandmother, Lola's, brother.

I invited their family to join my family's Christmas Eve festivities. My sister Wendy and her family also joined us. We had so much fun getting to know our new cousin and figuring out how we all connect. So here it is...

My great grandparents, Byron and Emmaline Crookston had 5 children, two of whom were Lola (my grandma) and Ray. Ray had a son named Robert. Robert had a son named Kevin. Kevin married Becky. They moved to Yuma 6 months ago because he found a job doing some smartsy engineering thing at the Yuma Proving Grounds. Kevin and Becky have two children - William 2 1/2 and Katherine 14 months. The minute I met Kevin I knew he was a Crookston because, well, he looks just like all the Crookstons I know.

We attempted to act out the story of the Nativity. Lizzy was Mary. My sister's son Jacob was Joseph. Kevin Crookston, Porter and Ethan Horrocks were Wise Men. You can see how Porter warmed up to Kevin. Ethan is with his mom and Ben in the Camel costume. As you can see, Ben and Ethan are facing the wrong direction and what you can't hear is Wendy desperately trying (inside of the Camel Costume) to get the boys to turn around and play their part. I was the angel and Becky Crookston and her two children were sheep. Sam was the narrator and Troy was the camera man. I'll post the movie when it is finished.



This is the best we could do at getting a kids cousins picture. They were all too wild after our little play and all the fun we had. You can see Kevin's daughter Katie in this picture.