Family Reunion 2015 {Day 1}

We traveled to Idaho on Tuesday night (June 30th) in anticipation of the bi-annual C-- Family Reunion. It is always a huge event with lots of people and tons of fun! My dad was one of nine children of Merlon and Roma, and I am one of 56 grandchildren. When we all get together, you can expect well over 100 people. My family had to miss the last reunion 2 years ago because I was VERY pregnant with Hyrum and couldn't travel to Oklahoma. That made this reunion all the more exciting for me. 

I don't think I truly understood how unique our family was until I was getting my haircut a few hours before the reunion started. My mom and I were telling the hairdresser about the reunion, and she seemed to be in shock that our whole family enjoyed being together so much. She kept asking about all the events that were planned, and how we managed to get everyone together so regularly. She was also taken aback when we told her that everyone gets along great, and we never have any drama that would keep people from wanting to attend. I have grown up with these reunions for the last 30 years of my life, and I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every single one. I love my aunts, uncles, and cousins, and getting to see everyone is one of the highlights of the year for me. I am so grateful for an amazing family and for the chance to spend time with them. A lot of work went into the reunion and many people travelled long distances, which all made it so special.

Without further gushing...

Day 1

The Family Reunion started the evening of July 1, 2015. We all met at Uncle Roger's House for dinner and a short program. The first night there were probably about 100 people in attendance, and all during the evening, people moved from table to table chatting with relatives that they hadn't seen in a while. There were families from Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Utah, California, and Idaho. For dinner, Uncle Roger barbecued up some hamburgers and hot dogs and made homemade root beer. Yum!

After dinner, we had the "Opening Ceremonies" for the reunion because the theme this year was Olympic Games. Each family created their own family flag that they presented for the group. Hannah, Jonathon, and I worked together to create our flag, and then I ordered it from banners.com. I was very happy with how it turned out. It looked super professional and suited our family well. There were so many cute flags. Each family really went all out to make them nice. During the flag ceremony, little McKay (with the help of his Dad, Joe) carried our flag in. He was sure proud of his big responsibility. Here are a few of the flags:

(Larry's) Our Family

Uncle Mike's Family

Uncle Darell's Family

Aunt Sharon's Family

After the flag ceremony, Rachel and Melodie gave a presentation about having a covenant family. They read journal entries from Grandpa and Grandma about how much they loved the Lord and wanted to serve Him. Grandpa and Grandma have both been gone for several years, so it was so touching to hear their own words and testimonies. The journals will filled with stories about their children and grandchildren and the daily things that they did. Then Jake talked about some of the fun family traditions that we all remember fondly (duck hunting at the drain ditch, eating toast and jam at Grandmas, swinging on the willows, etc.) Merlon and Roma (Grandpa and Grandma) were really "salt of the earth" people, and I am proud to be one their descendants.