Family Reunion 2014

This year's H. Family Reunion was EPIC! 

(And as such, this post might be a bit epic in length :) 

Nathan and Emily planned and hosted our second bi-annual family reunion in Oregon, and everyone (minus the two missionaries, Aaron and Tiffany) was able to make the trip. First off, it should be known that Nathan and Emily had a brand new baby boy (Ezra) 3 WEEKS before the reunion. When we found out they were expecting, we told them we could cancel or postpone the reunion. They wanted to continue with the original plans. I wasn't sure if they were crazy or just really confident that they could pull it off. It turns out they completely nailed it... everything was awesome. I'm sure it was stressful, and they would have liked to sleep for about a week afterward, but it really was a total success!

We split up the long trip to Oregon by stopping in Idaho at my parent's house for a few days (more on the Idaho portion of our trip in the next post). That was only a 4.5 hour drive, so I was worried about how Hyrum would do in the car for the remaining 8 hours. He hasn't ever traveled that far before, and I could imagine him screaming for a large portion of it. To help the trip go smoother, we decided to leave at 5 am so that the kids could all sleep in the car for the first couple of hours. I always have these "brilliant" ideas that sound good on paper, but never work out... but this time, it worked perfectly! Hyrum slept for the first 4 hours, and the other two boys also took a good long nap and then quietly watched a movie on the laptop. When Hyrum finally woke up, we stopped in Pendleton, OR for breakfast and to fuel up. We ate and then got back in the car. Within 30 minutes, Hyrum was back asleep again without a single fuss. He slept for two more hours and woke up just before we were planning to stop to hike Multnomah Falls. We ate lunch at the Falls and then hiked up to the bridge to see the waterfall. The kids ran around and played and used up all of their energy. The Falls were beautiful, and the short hike was well worth it!

An hour later, we arrived at Nathan and Emily's home. I could not believe how smoothly it had gone. There was no fighting, no crying, and the time just flew by. I am not naive enough to believe that this will always happen, but it gave me hope that my kids can be good travelers.

We were the first ones to arrive, so we just talked and let the kids play that evening. The rest of the family got a late start and had to go slow because they were pulling a trailer. They didn't arrive until 1:30 am. I was so glad that I was sound asleep when they finally pulled in.

The next morning, several members of the family went to hike Mount St. Helens. It was supposed to be a challenging hike, so I opted to stay at home with the kids. Jonathon, however, was excited to give it a try. They got up at 5:30 am and left by 6:20, so they could make the two hour drive. During the day, we took the kids to the park and a splash pad while we waited for word from the hikers. They were supposed to be done by 4, but that time came and went. Finally, by about 5:30 pm (after 8 1/2 hours of hiking), everyone was off the mountain. When they got home, I wish I had my video camera handy. They were walking like stiff old men and everyone was dirty and sunburned. They came into the house and crashed... some on the couch and some just laid on the floor. Apparently, it was harder than most of them had thought.

The first two miles of the hike were through a forested area that was fairly easy. The next two miles was in large boulders where you were climbing almost straight up. Jonathon said that it was by far the hardest part of the day. Every so often there was a stake in the ground to show you where to go since there really wasn't a trail at that point. Jonathon said that the burning in his thighs hurt so bad that he contemplated turning back more than once. When they finished the rock portion, the last 3/4 of a mile were all ash. It was like climbing up a sand dune. Their feet would sink and slide back with each step. Thankfully, BJ brought a trekking pole that he let Jonathon borrow. That helped a lot and he felt like he could complete the climb. Finally, they reached the summit. They were completely worn out, out of breath, and sore, but they had made it. Jonathon took a panorama of the view from the top, which was pretty incredible. They could see the volcanic crater and several other tall volcanic mountains in the distance.

 In the forested section

Crista climbing up the boulders

The view from the top

Hail the conquering heroes!

 (BJ, Jonathon, Cameron, Crista, Dad, Amanda, Nathan)

 On the way down through the ash

Coming down the mountain ended up being more difficult than expected because of the boulders. They tried climbing down them one at a time, but it was taking so long and their muscles were aching, so they decided to glissade down the glacier instead. Some sat down and slid, while others went down standing up. It saved so much time and energy. Crista and Amanda didn't want to get their clothes wet from the snow and ice, so they slowly made their way down through the boulders. When everyone finally made it back to the cars, they then had to drive 2 hours home. After so much exertion and muscle strain, sitting in a car for two hours was one of the worst things they could have done. That is why they were moving so gingerly when they arrived home. Thank goodness for some 7-11 slurpees.

After such a long day, they only had a few minutes to rest because we were supposed to be at the campground that night, which was an hour a way. We quickly got packed up and headed for L.L "Stub" Stewart State Park in the Coastal mountains. It was a beautiful area, and the campground was perfect. My kind of camping involves cabins, beds, and access to bathrooms and running water. This campground had all of that. Nathan and Emily reserved three cabins that were right next to each other. The cabins were immaculate with plenty of beds and an outdoor picnic table and campfire area. In the middle of the 10 or so cabins in the campground was a restroom and shower facility. We didn't have much time to explore that night, so we got everything unloaded and headed to bed. Here are the cute 2 room cabins:

The next morning, the boys got up early, so Jonathon took them on a hike before breakfast. They made it about 2 miles on a trail near the campground. When I woke up, they were just coming back and breakfast was getting started. We had a delicious pancake breakfast and then got ready to go to the beach.

Nathan and Emily took us to a beach called Oswald State Park. It was a really neat beach where you parked just off of Highway 101, and then hiked about a 1/2 mile through what felt like a rainforest to get to the cove. The hike down to the beach was amazing. Everything was vibrant green and with every turn, there was something beautiful to see. We made it down to the beach and had a picnic lunch. The kids were so excited to play in the water, so they ate quickly and ran for the ocean. It was a warm day, but the water was a bit chilly, so they mostly just splashed around in the waves. It was their first time in the Pacific Ocean, and they played until they were exhausted. Everyone built sandcastles, and then we flew our kite that we bought at the Oregon Coast on our Honeymoon. We actually forgot the dowel that holds the kite together, so Jonathon went out and found a stick that worked perfectly. It was a lovely afternoon. Unfortunately, our white skin doesn't handle the beach and sun well, and I could tell that Hyrum and I were starting to burn. I knew we needed to get inside soon, so we suggested going to get ice cream. We went to the cute little town of Cannon Beach. We found an ice cream shop and enjoyed a yummy cone, and then went to a candy shop and watched them make salt water taffy. The whole experience was so charming and idyllic. I told Jonathon I could gladly retire in a place like that.

Christian and Andrew on the hike down to the beach

Cute kids at the beach (Andrew, Christian, Grace, and Leah)

Cousins and their Ice Cream!

When we got back to the campground, we had hotdogs and s'mores and talked while the kids rode their bikes up and down the paved trails until bedtime. The next morning, we had another great breakfast and then planned out the day. The big kids wanted to go mountain biking on the double black diamond trails around the campground, but the rest of us couldn't handle those, so Jonathon suggested we take the kids to a paved trail that he had seen earlier. Dad H. put all of the kids' bikes in the trailer and took them down to the trailhead. Jonathon and I decided to ride to it because it was all downhill. I found a kid's bike seat at a garage sale the Saturday before, and Jonathon was able to get it installed, so Hyrum came with me. Going down that hill on my bike was so freeing. It reminded me of when I was a kid, and we would ride as fast as we could down the big hill by my house. The wind was blowing my hair, the wild flowers and trees were surrounding us, and I was practically giggling the whole way. It was so much fun.

When we arrived at the trail, we headed off with the kids. Christian and Jonathon took off ahead of us because Christian wanted to go faster. Andrew, Grace, Grandma, and Hyrum and I took it slower. The trail was really one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. At one point, Grandma remarked, "Where are we... The Garden of Eden?" I totally agreed with that sentiment. The paved trail was mostly downhill, so we were cruising along and the kids were doing great. After 15 minutes, I figured we should probably turn around because going back was going to be a lot harder. Going uphill was a lot less fun, but the kids never once complained. They would get off and walk their bikes when needed and then get back on and pedal for as long as they could. We completed our bike ride in about an hour and had the time of our lives. I think this was the point when I fell completely in love with Oregon.

 Getting ready to go on the trail/ A cool motion shot from a moving bike

Biking in the Garden of Eden?

That afternoon, the kids were pretty tired out, so we put on a movie on Grandpa's laptop and let them rest in the cabins. When the movie was over, they were back to riding their bikes. It seemed that whenever they weren't eating, they were riding their bikes... hours and hours every day.  The older boys pretty much entertained themselves the whole time. Hyrum did great also. He hasn't learned to walk yet, so we couldn't really put him down on the ground. We brought our Ergo baby carrier and one of us would pack him around the campground. Grandma was awesome and would usually have either Hyrum or Caleb (7 months) on her back at all times. We also brought the stroller and let him sit with us around the campfire. Despite not being able to put him down, it really was quite pleasant to camp with a baby. Whenever I needed to put Hyrum down for a nap, I put him in the cabin in the pack and play and turned on the baby monitor that I brought. That way I could be outside helping with the meals and still hear him when he woke up. He took several nice, long naps.

That evening, Uncle Nathan taught us how to make box ovens out of cardboard boxes, aluminum foil, and charcoal. We glued the foil down, cut holes for the metal pipes that would hold the food, and got the coals hot and ready to go. Christian was particularly excited about building the oven and came up with a great new design to vent the oven. We tried it, and it worked great. Emily, who slept at home, but came up with the baby during the day, brought 6 Papa Murphy pizzas with her and we cooked the pizzas in our box ovens. They worked remarkably well. The pizzas came out bubbly and delicious. It was fun to be able to have pizza on a campout.

Building the Oven

Cooking the pizza

Eating pizza during a campout... so cool!

After dinner we played games around the campfire that included our own version of "Reunion Cranium." Teams had to Act It (movie charades), Draw It (Pictionary), Sing It (Name a song with a given word), and Brand It (name the company by its famous slogan). The team that included Nathan, Emily, Dad, and Mom crushed the rest of the teams and won the candy bar grand prize. The next morning, we ate, rode bikes some more, and then got packed up. The weather was great, the scenery was beautiful, and the conversation was engaging.  I really couldn't have asked for a better camping experience.

The Whole Family

We arrived back to Nathan and Emily's home tired and dirty, but happy. The next morning Jonathon and I left for Idaho at 5 am again. It worked so well the first time that we decided to try it again. The trip back wasn't quite as amazing (i.e. Hyrum didn't sleep for 3/4 of it), but it was still a really good drive with happy kids. We arrived in Idaho around 2 pm. Jonathon had to go back to work, so he caught a ride back to Utah with his parents when they came through later that afternoon, and the kids and I stayed in Idaho to play with my family for a few days. It was a whirlwind week, but one that was full of great memories and happy times.