WEEKEND OBSERVATIONS__SAMPSONVILLE

 

I get it now, why people love family reunions. We celebrated my husband’s parents 70th anniversary, family members traveled near and far for this joyous occasion. The festivities took place in a small town in northern California  that we affectionally call Sampsonville, the real name is Kelseyville, population 3000, three hours north east of San Francisco, nestled above the wine country. Reggie’s brother Alan and his family moved there about 20 years ago, he started a medical practice there, and soon other family members followed and settled in the area, including their parents via New York.

The weekend was jam-packed, starting with a welcome dinner friday evening at Alan and Kathy’s home. Kathy is a fabulous entertainer, and can host a large group as well as any professional caterer, and she owns a cute antique store in the town called Traditions. This is just a few of the 800+ images from the weekend…

Saturday the family a had a special church service full of “Sampson” music and a special acknowledgement of the parents 70th year anniversary.

 

Saturday evening the 70th anniversary celebration honoring the parents was held at the Armory in Lakeport. If we were to make it to 70 years I would be a 100 and Reggie would be 108! I don’t foresee this in our future, so to witness this it was truly special.

 

The weekend ended with a wedding, Reggie’s brother Michael got married to his longtime soulmate MaryJo, so apropos to honor the longest marriage in the family and end with a new union. Vernetta, Reggie’s sister and her husband Fred hosted a lovely brunch for the newlyweds at their stunning home on the lake.

Photography wise it was a very busy weekend, I am so glad my cousin John and his wife Sugar agreed to come and help me document the weekend. I realized after this weekend that wedding photography is a young photographers game…There was so much happening at the same time, my brain was seeing things, emotional expressions, interactions and reactions of the guests, and my “brain” was trying to process all of this and handle my settings and capture the shot, sometimes the communication was seamless and other times it was not. Knowing the bride and groom it was hard to control my own feelings as I watched my brother-n-law hand his heart to his bride, it was an emotional ceremony, watching someone reveal their authentic self. I wish I had video, but it is permanently imprinted in my mind.

I hope you had a nice Father’s Day weekend, celebrating the father’s in your life.

XOXO,

GIGI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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