What do you do when you’re shy and know you’re about to meet a whole bunch of family for the first time? You get anxious–at least I did. But, cousin Anita did a great job of helping us sort out the branches of the family tree.

Since we arrived in Las Vegas early, we went to help Anita and Jim Ziegler prepare for the reunion. Actually, the only help we could give was to cut pictures. Anita had asked us all to send her family photos. She edited them, printed them, cut them (that’s where we came in) and glued them on poster board according to family. She also made up family organization charts, showing us where and which part of the family tree we belonged to. To say that she put in a lot of effort is an understatement.

This effort began last summer with her asking for phone numbers and emails of all family members. She had no idea that she’d have 80 of us attend. This afternoon was the day we all met at the LVH Hotel. Even though I was anxious to begin with, I rapidly got caught up in the “who are you?” game. Anita had made up button badges of various colors according to our family branch. So once you understood the color/branch connection it was easy. Everyone was eager to meet and learn.

The Zieglers took time away from their photography business to plan and execute this reunion. I was amazed at their images, or should I say ART. From portraits to landscapes, their work is wonderful. And, they made sure that 66 high school seniors who couldn’t afford their senior pictures got them taken with out charge.

We have taken time to visit other places in the area and I’ll show you some images in a later post. Right now here isare some photos about the reunion itself–the preparation and first meeting. Tomorrow is breakfast and dinner. I won’t be so anxious.