Celebrating Life and Family Reunions

Today is my mother's 82nd birthday and she has been gone for over two years. So much has happened in those two years that I am still trying to recover. This year we sold her home, bought a new to us home and are in the process of selling our home from before. Each step of the way there is always the thought that I should call my mother as she would enjoy knowing about the changes. My children say she already knows and is keeping track. This spring my mother-in-law passed away, so we adapt once more to having a loved in a better place. The older one becomes the shorter this life seems to be. While children, grandchildren and possibly great grandchildren seem to extend the joy we know, in the end we will all pass on to the better place.

John Philip Olsen Family Reunion Sherwood, Oregon

Yesterday, September 15, 2012, the descendants of John Philip and Julia (Brown) Olsen met in Snyder Park in Sherwood, Oregon for the annual family reunion. For this couple, both of immigrant families from Norway, this would be an honor and acknowledgement of their valiant efforts to raise a family. All of the children were born on the family farm, Oak Leaf Farm, in Orenco, Oregon. Of the close to two hundred descendants and extended family, there are at least one hundred and six living. Twenty-five direct descendants attended this event, along with fifteen extended family members, for a total of forty people. Of the family groups (in bold below), three were represented and three were not.