Family Reunion at the Farm, Days 1 and 2

 Returning to the farm in South Dakota for our 2017 family reunion 

brought back happy memories to share 

and provided opportunities to make new ones.

Our family has grown 

from the original seven children 

to a total of 66 including Sam and Narene who started it all.

Each one is loved and appreciated.  

1984 photo.

(Scott, Marla, Sam, Narene, Ryan, Brent, Jeff, Beth, and Doug)

Family Reunion - Saturday - July 1

Our family reunion had originally been scheduled to officially begin on Sunday evening, July 2nd; but those of our family who were there on Saturday enjoyed the opportunity to visit with Randy before he returned to California and with Bill and Karen and their son Craig who had come from Scottsbluff for the day.  Ashley (Randy's daughter) and Philip and their cute little Dakota returned to California on Monday morning.  (Photos on previous blog entry.)

 New sign made by Tauna,

welcoming visitors to the home place in three-quarters of a mile.

After a day of visiting and enjoying being at the farm on Saturday, we went to town about 5:00 to attend Martin's Fourth of July celebration, which was held three days early to coincide with the Presbyterian Church's celebration of their 100th year in Martin.  More of our family members arrived in time to join us at the park (Beth and Todd's family, Jeff and Rochelle's family, Doug and Shannon's family, Sarah and Derek's family, Haley and Ty and Maggie).    

It was a nice evening, and those of us who had lived in Martin enjoyed visiting with friends at the park.  There weren't as many people at the park as had attended in former years, and there were fewer activities and food booths; but we had the choice of hamburgers, hotdogs, or Indian tacos for our meal.  Part of our group stayed for the fireworks, but Sam and I went back to the farm; and when the rest of the group returned from Martin, we had our own fireworks show at the farm with fireworks Randy bought.  He had actually said his goodbyes on Saturday expecting to drive to Denver to catch a flight to California, but surprised us by returning to the farm and spending the rest of the day with us and leaving early the next morning.  

  

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Family Reunion - Sunday - July 2

Not all of our family had arrived yet for the reunion Sunday morning, but there were 45 of us who drove the 43 miles to Rosebud to attend church.  It felt good worshiping together as a family and to have every family represented; and it is always a special treat to see our dear friends, Patti Busch and the Allen family.  Except for a district conference, it was the first time I can remember needing to open up the folding dividers between the chapel and the cultural hall for a meeting in Rosebud, which was needed to accommodate the numbers of our visiting family.

Sunday Afternoon
 

Returning back to the farm after church, we spent part of the afternoon visiting and playing games.  Tractor rides were enjoyed by the younger children, and rides in four-wheelers and side-by-sides were a nice way to tour parts of the farm.  A video of Grampa Harold was available to watch as well as books with life stories of Harold and Mabel. 

 

Sam, Miles, Corban, Rochelle, Jeff, and Jamon

Marla, Jamon, and Joshua 

 

 Monty, Joe, Corban, Brnylee, Rebecca, and Kate

 Rebecca and Mason getting ready to have a ride with Brent.

 Monty, Scott, Joe, and Corban

 Spike Ball - Sarah, Shannon, Brynlee, Derek, and Doug

 

Jacob watching Haley, Tyler, Jared and Joshua play Spike Ball.

 

 Rides around the farm were enjoyed.

Brent giving a ride to Beth, Doug, Shannon, Joshua, and Marla 

in the Side-by-Side.

 * * * * * * * * * * * *

Since a cribbage tournament was on the reunion schedule for Tuesday, July 4th, Ryan organized some tutorial games on Sunday afternoon for those wanting to learn how to play. 

  Cribbage was a card game enjoyed by Grampa Harold
and one that Sam enjoyed with his dad and continues to enjoy playing.
(clockwise:  Brent, Ethan, Ryan, Jacob, Derek, Grampa Sam, Haley, and Tyler)

  * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sunday

 Family Home Evening 

Marla introduced our reunion theme, 

Fun For Less at the Farm,

mentioning how Sam and I have enjoyed our travels

with Fun For Less Tours.

(During the reunion a challenge was to make a written guess as to

how many countries Sam and I have visited.

Sam has been to four more than I have,

making his number of countries 61 and mine 57.

Ryan's lucky guess was 56 and was the winner, and 
Brynlee was the winner among the youth.)

(The world map was available as displayed on the fireplace.)


 
Each of the tour guides (our seven children)
were given a different colored tour flag by Marla (tour director)
for their assigned tourists (their individual families) to follow on the farm tour.

Professional looking tour brochures were provided

with historical information about each of the sites,

which were shared as the tour groups rotated from site to site,

also adding their own personal memories at each location.

Grampa Sam giving the historical tour of the house and renovations.
(Carson, Maria, and Marisa)

Grampa Sam stayed on the main floor of the house during the tour

and provided the history of changes and remodeling 

from the beginning with pre-indoor plumbing

to how things are today.

Saturday night baths in large wash tubs were a usual

part of those early years.

 

I took each family group upstairs for the house tour.

Of particular interest was telling how

the 5 girls of the Howard and Mary Ireland family (Sam's grandparents)

shared the bedroom at the top of the stairs,

and the 7 boys shared the bedroom at the right.

The bedroom on the south was added by Sam's parents,

and the large bedroom on the north was added by Sam and me 
when Jeff was a toddler.

Harold Ireland and siblings (1985):
(back) Eulalia (Curly), Wilma, Mable, Forrest (Shorty), Berniece (Beanie), Wayne
(front) Bob, Myrtle, Theodore (Slim), and Harold.
(Oscar and Melvin were killed in World War II.)
  

 Here is a copy of the tri-folded tour brochure (front and back).
(Click on the image for a larger view to read.)

 


 Marla conducted our Family Home Evening.
(counterclockwise:  Marla, Brynlee, Maren, Maggie, Megan, Kate, Rebecca,
Matt, Robert, Joe, Brittney, Jenna, Shannon,
Rachel, Grampa Sam, Ethan, Jacob, Jessica, Trent,
Isaac, Austin, Joshua, Miles, Curtis)

  Sam told about their family moving from Oregon 

when he was a baby and going to California,

and then moving to South Dakota when he was in the first grade
in the spring of 1944.

 He shared some early family memories at the farm

and how things have changed.

The original home with Karen, Phyllis, and Sam on horseback.

Marla had also asked me (Narene) to tell how I came to be in Martin.
 (counterclockwise:  Seth, Narene, Tani, Ryan, Mason, Joshua, Austin, Isaac, 
Trent, Jessica, Jacob, Ethan, Jamon) 

My parents came to South Dakota in 1931 from Utah
with my brother and sister,
seven years before I was born.

Just days before my 4^th birthday, my family moved 

near Mission, South Dakota, where my memories begin.
I went to school in Mission from the first grade
through the first semester of my 10th grade
when we moved to Martin.
That is where I met Sam, who was a junior
and invited me to his junior prom in 1954.

Brent shared information about the farm changes
through the years up to the present.

Brent put a map on the television screen
showing the land highlighted that is owned and operated as Ireland Bros.

 

 An interested audience.
(clockwise) Sam, Amanda, Narene, Doug, Scott, Shannon, Tyler, Haley,
Seth, Carson, Jared, Sarah, Paul, Ryan, Brady, Weston,
Ethan, Jacob, Jessica, Trent, Mason)

 Learning about our family roots.
(beginning in the kitchen with Shannon, then Tyler, Haley, Seth, Carson, Jared, Paul, Sarah,
 Weston, Ryan, Brady, Kortney, Koryn, Kyle, Maria, Brent,
 Jenna, Brittney, Shannon, Maggie, Rachel, Jamon, Ethan, Jacob, Jessica, Trent,
Kate, Rebecca, Marla, Matt, Robert, Monty, and Joe)

Enjoying our "sack of snacks."
(clockwise: Curtis, Anna, Rochelle, Jeff, Zack, Tani, Mason, Miles, 
Joshua, Austin, Isaac, Trent, Jessica, Jacob, Ethan, and Jamon)

Scott had the honor of presenting us with a framed picture
of our family tree he designed with all 66 of our names.

(left to right:  Marisa, Maria, Scott, Kristine, Rachel, Monty, Matt, Robert, and Rebecca)

More visiting followed the family prayer.

An agenda was provided for our reunion with
assignments and planned activities.


* * * * * * * * * * * *

Sleeping accommodations were in four locations:

Brent and Tauna's home, 
Gramma Mabel and Grampa Harold's former home (being renovated),
Roy and Barbie's home,
and at a hunting lodge nearby.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Day 1 Reunion Agenda

Day 3 of our reunion will be in the next posting.

Our Ireland Family Reunion at the Farm

By popular request, we held our 2017 Ireland Family Reunion back at the farm in South Dakota.  It was a big success with 59 of our family attending.  We were missing seven due to work (Judd and Amy; Todd, Taylor) and graduate school (Trevor, Megan, and Sadie).  A big THANK YOU goes to Brent and Tauna for all their preparations and for welcoming our group back to the farm.  Another big THANK YOU to Marla and Curtis for the planning and work done before, during, and after the goodbyes were said.

I always appreciate Beth being our official family photographer, but I did take some photos with my iPhone.  Beth and her family arrived Saturday evening, July 1st; so the photos I am sharing on this blog entry are ones I took before she got there. 

 Friday, June 30th

 

 Welcome to the farm!

 (Marla's photo)

 The reunion officially was to begin Sunday evening with a

Family Home Evening;

but Sam and I drove to South Dakota on Friday,

so we could have a visit with 

Randy (Sam's nephew) and Ashley (Randy's daughter), Philip, and Dakota.

Craig came with Bill and Karen (Sam's sister) from Scottsbluff on Saturday,
so they also could be there before Randy returned to California.

 Saturday, July 1

 Craig, Marla, Randy, and Scott

Randy, Ashley, and Dakota

 Karen, Randy, and Bill

 

 Ashley, Dakota, Philip, and Karen

 Craig, Bill, Sam (grandson), and Weston

 Sam and Randy

Craig and Tauna

[left] Brittney, Joe, Monty, and Trent;

[right] Rachel and Jenna 

 Bill, Sam, and Scott

 

 Marla, Barbie, and Karen

 

 Scott, Brittney, Trent, Monty, Joe, Shannon, and Jenna

 Matt, Karen, Grampa Sam, Scott, Bill, and Craig

Sam (our grandson) giving a tractor ride to 

Brittney and Matt's little boys, Monty and Joe.

 

Philip, Brent, Matt, and Sam playing Slammo in the shade

with others watching from the comfort of the shady porch.

Ryan, Grampa Sam, Craig, Karen, Bill, Scott, 

Brittney, Joe, Robert, Kristine, Monty, Tani, Tauna, and Marisa

Volleyball

 Randy, Scott, Ryan, Monty, Philip, Brent, Trent, Sam, and Matt

Grampa Sam, Jenna, Shannon, Kristine, Marla, and Jessica

* * * * * * * * * * * *

  We were fortunate to have sleeping places for all 59 of our family

with Brent and Tauna's home, Roy and Barbie's home,

Grampa Harold and Gramma Mabel's house,

and renting the hunting lodge nearby.

 Grampa Harold and Gramma Mabel's house

provided a good place for sleeping even though

the new carpets had not yet been installed.

The walls were freshly painted and floors were done

except for those waiting carpets.

There was no furniture except for a couple of beds and air mattresses

in the bedrooms, but the bathrooms were remodeled.

It did bring back a memory to see Gramma Mabel's 

rural pictures still on the walls in Grampa's bathroom.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

 

 Brittney and Matt arrived at the farm Friday night.

They drove from San Antonio, Texas, with their

cute boys:  Monty, Joe, and Robert.

Scott and Kristine with Jenna and Shannon also came Friday evening

having driven from Colorado in time to have a visit

with Scott's cousin, Randy, and Uncle Bill and Aunt Karen

who were there to visit on Saturday. 

 (Brent, Brittney, Joe, Matt, Bill, Karen, Grampa Sam, Scott, and Kristine)

* * * * * * * * * * * *

  

 

Saturday and Sunday more of our family arrived, 

and Sunday evening our reunion officially began with a Family Home Evening.

Blog entries will follow with photos and memories from those days.