Family Reunion Extraordinaire!

We had a blast this last weekend with some of my family at a beautiful big home by a beautiful big lake.  Sadly, Braden and Meredith, Christian and Rebecca and their families weren’t able to come and Davis and Melissa had to cut their stay short.  It breaks my heart we can’t all be together anymore, but we still managed to have a fantastic time.

We arrived Wednesday late afternoon to our great accommodation.  It was so nice to all be under one roof.  The kids immediately fell in love with the large yard and trampoline as well as the ping pong table, foosball, and table shuffleboard downstairs.  Shortly after we got settled Melissa helped the kids make tie-dye shirts.  They turned out really cute and the kids LOVED them. 

The cute finished products

We went into the little nearby town for dinner and shakes.  The weather was perfect, and the atmosphere was completely small town and felt like it hasn’t changed much at all in the last 60 years.

We headed back to the our cabin for a major game of steal the flag.  Everyone from my parents down to Joshy played.  We played several rounds and it was intense.  It was the perfect game to utilize all our different ages and fitness levels.  The kids were indispensable as rescuers from prison.  

We got the kids settled into beds and the adults gathered for a fun conversation.  We shared our phobias and discussed whether or not to honor people’s dying wishes. 

The next day Ryan, my Mom, Brennan and I played doubles tennis for a couple of hours.  It was a blast, with very evenly matched teams.  Bren and I lost the first game, but finally got our act together to win the 2nd.  It was so much fun.  We came home and loaded up for a day at the beach.
It never ceases to amaze me how absolutely entertained every age group is with sand and water.  We enjoyed a few hours of a jet ski, but mostly just  relaxed on the beach or played in the lake.

My 4 year old niece, Molly, was riding the seadoo with her Mom when she suddenly asked her Mom to stop.  Macy stopped and asked Molly what was wrong.  Molly replied, “I want one of these for my birthday.”  I can’t say enough about how darling all these kids were.  Only a few of them match up age-wise, but they were just one big happy bunch, completely self-entertained and busily enjoying each other’s company.  My nephew, Abe, worked for probably 6 straight hours on an elaborate sand structure/damn.  Every now and then one of the others joined him.  The girls made mermaid tails and filmed commercials for “spit mascara”.    My mom and Dad cooked hotdogs for lunch and we had everything we needed.

After a full day of beachy fun we headed back for showers and a delicious dinner by Ryan and Macy.  Then, one of my personal highlights, our talent show.  Every year it fills me with dread as I wonder what in the world I can possibly come up with to share this year.  Every year, we all got very creative and it’s a perfect blend of random fabulousness.  My brother-in-law, Josh, displayed his truly amazing skill of devouring an otter pop with impossible speed without getting brain freeze.  My 8 month old nephew showed us his clapping, Joshy sang “I love to see the Temple” with his back to us as he ran up the hill to get a running start to stop and jump onto the trampoline and do a somersault (all while singing very reverently).  Belle, with assistance from her cousins danced to “I’m having a Me Party”.  Ben and Rex did impressive trampoline tricks.  Anna and Abby each sang their solos from Musical Theatre Workshop.  My Dad sang one of his favorite songs, “Zipadee Doo Da”.  Bren taught us a tennis serve, Ryan taught us a volleyball serve.  Mom shared a favorite song with us, I did some tap dancing, Eliza taught us some Zumba.  Lucy blew a bubble with bubblegum, and Molly whistled.  Abe added another one where he ate some sour patch kids.  The thing is he did with all the flair and drama of a seasoned showman.  That was probably my favorite.  It was so much fun. 

Ben’s talent:

We slept well that night, exhausted and completely filled.  Friday morning we got up and the dads took the kids to a cool cave.  They loved it.  We girls stayed behind to have a nice little down time and let the littlest kids nap.  That afternoon we headed back to the lake.  We rented a boat and a big banana tube.  Good times.   We came home to a rousing version of the Olympics.  My parents had lots of minute-to-win-it type games and divided us up by families or “countries”.  We each had a flag to keep score on the back.  It was hilarious and very competitive.   It was Ryan and Macy’s family against my family against Mom, Dad, Josh, Eliza and Belle.  I’m very happy to announce that my family got the gold, Ryan’s the silver and the team with 4 adults got the bronze



After the kids fell quickly asleep, Ryan and Dad so sweetly made a shake run which we all were so grateful for.  We then played a variation of Charades.  We each had to write down a few scenarios and then had to act as many as we could out.  There were some great ones like, “walking into a stinker”, “camping and awaking to a bear attack”, “finding out you’re having quadruplets”, "Getting the birds and bees talk".  We laughed hard and had some academy award worthy performances.

Here we are just before leaving the cabin

The next day the kids and Dads went for a bike ride while we started the packing process.  Then we all headed out to a nearby area to a friend of my Dad’s ranch.  They had dozens of different kinds of animals and birds.  They kindly showed us around, let us feed the animals and even saddled up the miniature horses so the kids could ride.  I think it was one of my kids’ favorites of the whole trip.

 

This little guy could not get enough of the horses

After lunch at a trailer in the parking lot of metal shop (randomness at it’s best! and good food), sadly our trip was over.  We had a beautiful drive home and couldn’t pick our favorite part.  It was fun from beginning to end.  We had such a great time interacting with some of our very favorite people.  We love family reunions!

14 Years Old!

 

This beautiful young lady is 14!  How quickly the years have gone.  14 is so old, I totally remember being 14 and feeling so so old.  We feel so blessed to have Anna as our daughter and as big sister to our kids and as the oldest resident cousin.  She has set a tone of affection, playfulness and goodness for her younger siblings and cousins. 

Whenever I encounter a discouraged young mother who worries about their young child who loves trouble, I can honestly say there is hope.  Anna was nothing but mischievous as a toddler.  My brothers even nicknamed her “blackheart”.  Isn’t that sweet?  She was always a sweet little thing, but did love to make mischief.   She has turned that all around.  She still has and I hope will always have a playful streak, and likes to tease, but she is also so full of kindness and sweetness and is the most affectionate person I know.  She is very funny and often catches us off guard with her wit.  She truly has a desire to be good and Christlike.  We love her so much. 

 

For her special day we let her open presents nice and early.  I had fun shopping for cute little things for her room and then she also wanted rollerblades. 

Later that day we met at the park for a party with her friends.  They had a water fight and then played some soccer and volleyball.  It was so Anna.  After her party we rushed to closing night of “Hello Dolly” which Abby was in.  Anna’s best friend, Chloe, was also in it and so sweetly embarrassed Anna at intermission when she had them announce her birthday and the whole audience and much of the cast sang to her.  As embarrassed as she was, it meant so much to have her sweet friend pay tribute to her.  It was a big, happy day.  We love Anna so very much and are so grateful to have this sweet teenager in our lives!