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Showing posts with label easter gathering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label easter gathering. Show all posts

Monday, April 21, 2014

Pfundtner Family Easter Gathering 2014

Our Easter Sunday was filled with family at our annual Pfundtner Family Easter Gathering....

This year Steve's father, the patriarch of the Pfundtner Family was our host.  He rented the hall for Waupaca township for our group.  We are too many to fit comfortably in anyone's home. It is so nice to rent a hall instead of trying to visit for a few hours of time within in the confines of a restaurant.  Many of us travel 75-100 miles to attend and would like to have time to visit longer than a restaurant might allow.  The kids are all pre-school and need space to run and play and not disturb other diners. This works out so well!

Back row L to R: Steve Pfundtner, Dave Reh, Mark Pfundtner, Faith Hanna, Kirk Hanna, Heather Reh, Paul Pfundtner, Dan Pfundtner, Patrick Hrlevich, Frances Hrlevich, Ellie Hrlevich, Pete Pfundtner.
Front row L to R: Karen Pfundtner, Shirley Pfundtner, Lucas Jones, Robert Jones, Carson Jones, Jen Jones, Mason Pfundtner, Heather Pfundtner, Lynn Pfundtner, Wendy Pfundtner.
Tiny tots row up front L to R: Allegra Pfundtner, Erin Lock, Clayton Pfundtner, and Chelsea Pfundtner. 

Last year we held it at High Cliff State Park in the pavilion, but due to sever winter weather, there were frozen pipes both in the building and underground needing repairs, so the pavilion is currently not being rented out.  

Steve and I got to the hall early and started setting up.  
Soon the room was ready.....


Having tables and chairs all available from the hall is an added bonus so we don't have to 
gather and haul and set up card tables and folding chairs borrowed from family members. 


The family started to arrive and bring in dishes of delicious food to add to the buffet table.  The children were all excited to see each other.  We were missing a few family members.....  one nephew Andrew and also our son-in-law Mark both had to work out of town so would not be able to attend.  Also our daughter Heather, her husband Jesse, and our grandson Jameson were with Jesse's family for the holiday.  (we get them on Thanksgiving, and Jesse's family gets them on Easter)

The room was filled with laughter, chatter and silliness with the kids.... Steve's older brother, Mark, led us in a prayer while we all circled around and held hands.  The food line opened up and we shared in the family love put into all of the fine dishes. It must have been pretty good, because there wasn't much left over!



The grandtots were the highlight of the day....
Mason found a good place to hang out while everyone else was finishing up eating.


The giggly girls Allegra and Chelsea were outnumbered by four boy cousins!


After dinner was completed and cleared away, the grandtots were distracted for a bit down a hallway by myself--- the "Grandmuddah of Pfun"  while some aunties quickly took care of the Easter Bunny Duties.  Soon it was time for the Easter Egg Hunt!   

Each child was given a different colored bucket and told to look for the eggs that match their color!  It worked out so well with that system.  The older kids were busy helping the littler ones find the eggs of their color, and also filling their own baskets too.  It was so sweet to see them helping and sharing instead of hogging and grabbing all they could find.  



Here are a couple short little video clips of them during their hunt:





I really enjoyed watching them run around and discover their colors.  Little Grandtot Allegra looks so serious finding her pink eggs here!   Little nephew Lucas was concentrating on finding his orange eggs. 



Grandtot Clayton and nephew Carson were exploring the contents
of their blue and green eggs.....  oooooh candy!!!



Kidz N Forts! No need to say more!


After the children were done hunting their eggs, 
the men got out a cribbage board and started up a game.  
Those Pfundtner guys really like cribbage!  
 So cute to see all those generations around the card table, and seeing them all interact.

On another table some of the family members started up some other games,
and the kids were busy chomping down on their candy, getting a Sugar High.



And here are the wee ones with their bounty----


Monday, April 1, 2013

Busy Weekend full of GRANDTOTS and Family Easter Gathering

We had a wonderful weekend full of grandtot hugs and visiting with Steve's family for our Pfundtner Easter Gathering.

Saturday started with our fourth grandtot, Mason, to have his birthday party.  He turned ONE year old!  Thoroughly enjoying his birthday cake, this little guy is really experiencing the celebration.




Oh my how the time has flown...  and the grandtots all grew like weeds since we had been gone for so long on vacation. Not seeing them for a while really had our arms ACHING for some Grandtot Hugs! Both Granmuddah and Granfaddah Pfun got their fill of the grandtots----




Silly Erin brought a present for Heather's birthday which included this "stasch" on a pen to continue a joke from back during their cousin Christopher and Lyndsay's wedding.  Well.... Heather looks like a natural, but also grandtots Clayton and Allegra had to try it out too!



The little guy ripped through his presents and all of them played with the wrapping paper, bows and tissue paper.   I think they enjoyed it more than the toys!   We had a fun picnic lunch of hot dogs and all the fixens for a great one year old birthday party.



On Sunday, we had to prepare for the Pfundtner Easter Gathering.  Steve and I headed out early to get the fire going... why?  Because we rented the pavilion at High Cliff State Park!   It's not normally heated unless someone rents it out ---- so we got in at 8am and lit a campfire in the big fireplace.



What a great place for a "camping family" to gather!   

This is one of the buildings that Steve maintains in High Cliff State Park where he works.  
Soon the fire was warming us up, and the room was heating to a comfortable level.  
When we first got there, it was so cold we could see our breaths as we spoke.  Brrrrrr




We added some spring decorations, and covered up the picnic tables with easter cloths. There are also outdoor tables overlooking the edge of the cliff...  but it was much too cold and snowy out there to enjoy any of that part of the pavilion grounds.  

The park is built on the Niagara Escarpment with a long cliff extending around the NE top corner of Lake Winnebago.  If you look close in the outdoor pic, you can see the frozen lake along the horizon.



We got the hams roasting up early to have them done in time for the meal at 1 pm.  
and I had along the large crockpot of calico beans to warm through too. 
They always taste better the second day


Everyone brought a dish to pass, brotherinlaw Pete brought us flowers, 
and daughter Erin and Mark brought us an Easter Lily.

We have so many March and April birthday's now that we had a cake made up for
 "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EVERYONE"  to celebrate.  
Also, it carries on the tradition that my mother-in-law Maryann Pfundtner 
would do each year for her sons, Steve and Mark.  


Family gathered together in prayer for the holiday meal, and we were laughing and eating and sharing stories with those around us. Food, Family and Festive Fun is a great combination.



Soon it was time for the Easter Egg Hunt!   

I took the kids outside for a trip around the building, 
looking for that elusive Easter Bunny....
they almost saw him, they even looked in the bathrooms!  
Nope, he managed to hide all the eggs and disappear! 

JAMESON                                          ALLEGRA




CHELSEA                                           MASON (and daddy Dan)

even littlest Clayton found eggs! 

CLAYTON



Once that was all done, now it was time for this Granfaddah and Granmuddah to hand out souvenirs!  Seeing as we had been to Texas, we figured our little grandtots would become COWBOYS & COWGIRLS!    (thanks to cousin Tim and Karen Hennum for pointing us to a good western wear shop near Dallas to get childs' size cowboy hats and bandanas)

What a bunch of buckaroos! 


Of course, the girls got pink hats, which they adored.  The boys were all the "bad guys" in black hats, mainly because I figured white would get dirty fast.  They all got matching bandanas to wear around their necks.  Little Mason kept taking his hat off, and little Clayton was having a hard time keeping his on.  The SMALL size ones were as small as we could get.... but we think the two 1 year olds will have to grow into theirs a bit.  LOL


Jameson wanted to a "Cowboy Robber" with his bandana over his face
and little Clayton just kept trying to keep his hat on and play with his easter toys.  


We brought the daughters and daughterinlaws all a tiny cactus from the desert, which can be stuck way high up out of the way of the children.  Each little clay pot had a magnet to stick it up on the fridge out of the way.  Then each of them got a big colorful pottery bowl from SJ pottery in Bethel Mo.   Then for our son and each son-in-law we brought 6 packs of Budweiser grilling sauces and bbq sauces from when we toured the brewery in St. Louis. 

After everyone pitched in the clean up, we carvanned down to our house in Chilton.  Many of the family had not seen our new-to-us house so we gave the Nickel Tours to anyone who wanted to come and see it.  The house was filled with the joyous shouts of the grandtots as they pulled out the toy box from the Munchkin Closet!  I just love to fill the house with the noise of the grandtots and the family coming to visit.  The giggling girls found the telephones that used to hang on the walls here.  How natural! 



 The grandsons found lots of fun toys, and Clayton discovered Grandfaddah's cell phone!

We cracked open a bottle of wine for us grown up gals to enjoy.  Some gathered out on the front porch, as it was finally warm enough to set out there a bit.  We are going to enjoy this porch more and more as winter goes away.  It's so light and bright facing the east with windows all around.  The kids ran around  in and out of the porch.  Up and down both staircases, around and around through the rooms.... We were very happy to have a home to have them come and visit.




After everyone left, just Pete and his girlfriend Cindy stayed for a longer visit.  We cracked open another bottle of wine to finish off the day. Things were now peaceful, but strangely quiet without all of the little ones bounding about.  We let up the dogs from the basement so they could run around and look for crumbs dropped by the kids.

After Pete and Cindy left, we still had to unload all the boxes, roaster, crock pot, and food from the car.    After sorting, condensing, and packed into containers into the fridge....

we finally collapsed into bed.... 
ahhhhhh  Another Pfundtner Easter Gathering under our belts.