Family Reunion

Here I am again, playing more catch-up. Hopefully I can be more punctual...

In June we had a reunion with my mom's side of the family. We went "camping" in Heber Valley and had a lot of fun with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. (Okay, so we were staying in cabins with wooden bunks, we had flushing toilets about 50 yards away, and running water in our pavilion. So maybe camping isn't the best word to describe it.) I really wanted to document this so I could remember what a fun time we had.

First, let me describe my mom's family. She is the youngest of six kids (3 boys, 3 girls), and all of her siblings married and had lots of kids. :) There are 36 of us total, and all but 7 of us are married (1 engaged. Go Derek!). Between us cousins, we have 73 children. So, if everyone in our family showed up to a reunion, we would have 144 people. Of course, not everyone comes (we have them every other year), but we get a little different turnout each time, so I've seen nearly all of my cousins in the last 6 years.

This reunion was a lot of fun for me because I was able to stay the whole time, so I got to see everyone who made an appearance. Trevor and I had a lot of fun on the challenge courses (climbing tall things, going down zip lines, team-building activities, etc.) and playing games at night in the pavilion. Cassie loved putting on the helmets for the challenge courses and sleeping in a cabin (what fun!). I really loved hanging out with my cousins and their children that I rarely see.

Favorite moments:

• Giving Cassie a turn on a giant swing ("I bet she'll love this") and having her cling to me and urgently announce, "I'm all done!" before swinging at all.
• Getting 13 of us from a "sinking ship" to a tiny platform via rope swing. Including Cassie- Trevor held her while he swung. (Actually, that moment scared me, but it was really cool when it finally worked and no one was injured.)
• Playing "Who's got the button?" (or ring, in this case) and seeing it dangling from the string right next to Alysse's hands while her sisters try to get her to hide it.
• Watching everyone waddle with oranges between their knees and pie tins on their heads.
• Hearing everyone's memories of Grandma and Grandpa, especially Robert's memory of Grandma making him chew 24 times before swallowing. Classic.