SUCCESS!

Well, the Croatian family reunion was yesterday and it was a phenomenal success.  We had close to 120 people there, enough to fill two rooms of the San Antonio Winery in Los Angeles.  A few of us who planned the event got there early:

First, everyone had to check in and get their name tag:

Then it was on to the buffet line to choose a meal from one of 2 dozen selections.   While everyone was eating, we were entertained by Tamburitza musicians, many of whom are members of the family:

Over their heads, you can see a screen where we had an ongoing slide show of pictures of family members, living and deceased.  It was one of the big hits of the day. 

Then the family introductions began.  At 90 years of age, here's the oldest family member present - Kuzma Domancich:

 

Here's one of several lively octogenarians: Annie, one of my favorite people.  In a number of ways, she reminds me of my mother. 

There was a family comedian who gave us an amusing lesson in Croatian, then told many stories from his "Croatian" childhood.  It was hard to hear him, though, as everyone wanted to talk with everyone else.  So while he continued, people watched, some listened, but many just wanted to visit.

Here's my husband, Tony, with his sister, Stephany, his mother, Phyllis (88 years old) and his nephew Jay.

Here's my nephew Ben and my son Jeff (with the beard):

 

Here are the Silmans:

And the Sherers:

Here's my granddaughters standing in front of some of the family posters:

 

 

And my son-in-law and grandson, who is preparing to take pictures:

After the introductions and presentations, the band returned and the Kolo dancing began:

 

 

And it continued:

Two grandnieces of ours, Savannah and Stephany, tried to entice their cousin Mason to join in the dancing, but he was having none of it:

Finally, after door prizes and a final good-bye, a group stayed for a winery tour and we packed up to leave. 

It was a wonderful, exhausting day, one I'm sure everyone will remember for a long time.