Over the weekend me and 31 other people from my family headed back to South Dakota for a big ole' Kulesa Family Reunion!
My Grandma, Grandma Jan, was 1 of 10 children born to
John and Sabina Kulesa.
John and Sabina Kulesa.
They grew up on the family farm in Grenville, South Dakota.
After marrying my Grandpa, Gary Cooper, Grandma Jan left South Dakota and moved to Minnesota.
They were ready to have a family and start a new chapter in their lives.
And when I say start a family... boy did they!
My Grandpa and Grandma, Gary & Jan... no longer Kulesa but now Cooper, had 4 girls.
Janel, Jacquie, Jill, and Joy.
It is amazing to see how many people and lives can come from just one!
Really! Take a look...
Here is roughly how our family tree looks....
Janel (the 1st of the 4 Cooper girls) married Terry then Wayne and had...
Jennifer, Jessica, Justine, Jolene, and Jacob.
Jennifer married Loren and had... Greta and Tucker.
Jessica married Branden and had... Paisley.
Jacquie (the 2nd of the 4 Cooper girls) married Phil and Duane and had...
Alysha, Courtney, and Miguel.
Alysha married Nick and had... Landon and Addison.
Jill (the 3rd of the 4 Cooper girls) married Dale and had...
Justin, Joshua, Jonathan, and Jackson.
And finally, Joy (the 4th of the 4 Cooper girls) married Bryan and had...
Jocelyn, Joelle, Brayden, and Joanna.
From way out on the farm... John and Sabina Kulesa started the lives of all of us!
It is just amazing that our whole, huge, family are the descendant's of them.
So this past weekend all 32 of us packed our bags, loaded up the cars, and headed back home to the farm...
were it all began...
were it all began...
This is how my family tree started... with these two...
Gary & Jan Cooper...
Grandma with her four girls...
Janel, Jacquie, Jill & Joy...
Are you seeing a color theme here?!
Each child of John & Sabina was assigned a color and then all of that child's descendants were to wear the same color. So Grandma Jan and all of us down to my little Tuck wore orange!
And here we are!
All of these people came from just my Grandma & Grandpa
The Cooper Family...
Here are some pictures from the weekend...
My Mom, Janel, and Step Dad Wayne...
My sister Jes with Branden and Paisley...
Me and my sisters...
It was wonderful to be on the farm and see where I came from!
See where my Mom came from!
See where my Grandma used to live and what her life looked like back then!
It was such a neat experience to have hundreds of people around you and know that you are all related some how.
That you, and them, and them, and them... all came from the same two people...
John and Sabina Kulesa.
You know that saying...
"All because two people fell in love."
Well that was never more apparent to me then this weekend.
Life, Love, and Family are truly an amazing thing!
Chat later,
Jen
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