Reunion Season Part II

I LOVE family reunions!  I probably would've shocked myself 5 years ago by saying something like that.  The older I get, the more I realize how important family is!  I love my little kids, but I've come to appreciate all those aunts, uncles, cousins, 2nd cousins twice removed, etc.  I missed our Allen family reunion due to girls camp, but couldn't neglect the annual Newton reunion!  My first time going to this reunion was right after we got married.  I thought it odd that my mother-in-law was still having a reunion with her cousins and she was encouraging her own kids to attend.  What's the point, I don't know anyone!  My husband's 2nd cousins?  Several years later, I look forward to this reunion.  I've come to love these people I hardly know.

We had a great time!  Dallin found dirt and rocks to suck on while Anna carried around a pet water balloon and invited herself into groups, asking for juice.  Can't wait 'till next year!  In the evening, we went back to American Fork, ate some more, and watched an incredible fireworks show from the backyard.  Can't beat that!

The Reunion Season Part I

Saturday July 12, 2014

The day started out ordinary enough, your typical Saturday in July with a double-header of family festivities!  Paige was baptized up in Centerville and it was a great service. It was hard for me to focus due to Dallin and his constant need to bang his hands against the plexiglass of the font.  That kid is starting to get VERY busy!   Nora had a great ice cream party afterwards.   Who needs a huge meal?  Ice cream was perfect on such a hot day!  Paige looked so good in her beautiful white dresses.  Cousins came down from Idaho and really made a weekend of it!  We had to bug out early to make it to the great Hawkins Family Reunion!

 My sweet mother-in-law had been planning this for months!  Most of Bevan's aunts, uncles, and cousins were there.  We made quite the entrance, coming 45 minutes late.  We were stuck in a huge traffic jam at point of the mountain, but thanks to Bevan's guts, quick maneuvering, and an illegal U-turn on a busy freeway, we finally made it!  Anna helped herself to junk food and followed her girl cousins around.  Dallin even found a little cousin his age, and together, they found gravel rocks to suck on.  We had such a good time sitting around and eating.  As long as there was food, we stayed.  Finally, when it got dark, we started planning for NEXT week's family festivities.  That's what July is all about, right?  Gotta make the most of these long days!

4th of July Party!

We couldn't let a major holiday come and go without doing something fun!  What's something we hadn't done in a while?  Bike Riding!  We spent the morning riding down and up the Provo River Trail, we knew what a zoo it turns into come afternoon with all the tubers.  We were horribly late meeting up with Bevan's parents at Vivian Park.  I didn't plan enough time finagling the bike rack.  Oh well.

The weather was perfect and the crowds weren't too bad yet.  I wish there were more trails like this around Heber and Midway.  It gets a little sketchy towing 2 kids behind you on busy roads.  The kids didn't complain... much.

In the afternoon, we met up at the cabin with Nora, James, and the fam!  It was so hot and dry!  We needed a fire to roast hot dogs, which I volunteered to make.  I was surprised how quickly the wood caught fire.  I didn't need any kindling and probably could've held the match to the log.  Wish it was that easy in the winter to get a fire going.  Sheesh!  Anyway, we just hung out the rest of the evening while Anna played with cousins.  She had a ball and ate nothing but junk.  Anna Heaven!  I failed to take a single picture.  We stayed over night, although it didn't cool down much and the sun came up way too early.  Time to go!

That night, we had tickets to see Diamond Rio, our favorite has-beens 90's country band (and they're still together!).  We totally scored with $5 tickets... but we had to drive all the way to Tooele to see them play.  There's always a catch, right?  I feel weird having grown up in West Valley and NOT ONCE been to Tooele.  It's actually a pretty town, in a pretty valley (at least the part we saw).  I imagine it's what the Salt Lake Valley looked like before it got built up.  The locals were hysterical and they put on a great fireworks show!  We were very impressed!  It was a great 4th weekend!

Girls Camp at Colter Bay!

My summer has been spent in anticipation of 3 major events we are partially or completely in charge of.  The first is girls camp!  Check!

When I got called into the Young Womens months ago, I was ecstatic that camp was being held in Grand Teton National Park!  I thought about the mountains, the lakes, the wildlife and that amazing summer I spent there before I got married.  I then got thinking about the practicality of taking 20 girls into the wilderness, 6 1/2 hours away!  It took a lot of prep and "winging it" to make it happen.  I was put in charge of supplies and with the help of my tent-camping family and generous ward members, we had almost everything.  Luckily Colter Bay has a camp store with overpriced bug repellent and a cheap clothing dryers... and showers, but towards the end, nobody cared.

The camp food was amazing, the camp decorations were so clever, the devotionals were touching, the mosquitoes were CRAZY, and the activities were a blast.  Everything was pretty much planned out before I got brought on board, so it was hard staying back and not giving advice about everything, especially about Yellowstone.  Bevan and I have that place planned out out perfectly so we hit the best sites and skip the lame ones.  Oh well.  It was still fun!

One thing I remember from being camp director a couple years ago was to have it ONLY last 4 days.  Now, I can see why!  Everything starting falling apart on that 4th day, the girls and the tents!  It rained every day, off and on, but eventually those tent flies got SOOOO saturated, they all started leaking!  Luckily, we were able to dry out the sleeping bags and cover the tents with extra tarps.  Of course, the next morning was sunny and blue, but we were all ready to go.  Home never looked so good!  Beven even volunteered to clean and dry out the tents.  Now we get to start focusing on the next 2 summer events:  Ackerson Family Reunion and Swiss Days 10K!  What a summer!