"E" Family Reunion

Mom H.'s family gets together for a family reunion every 3 years. The last time it was held, I was one week away from having a baby (Hyrum), so I wasn't able to go. Before that, we were in New York, so it has been a long time since I have seen most of them. Jonathon's mom was in charge this year, so it was fun having the reunion around our area.

Mom H. planned and worked so hard to make it a huge success! Jonathon got to help too. He created the schedules for everyone. He thought of the great idea to put them on a lanyard so that everyone would have the schedule with them at all times. It was also a convenient place to have everyone's names since there are so many new members of the family. They turned out great and were so helpful. There were plenty of scheduled activities to keep people entertained, and just enough downtime to enjoy each other's company, talk, and play games.

The reunion started on Friday with an optional hike up to Timpanogos Cave. We had never been before, so we decided to take the whole family. The website described it as a "paved 1 1/2 mile hike", so we figured it would be no problem. Haha! It was paved, but it was also extremely steep with switchbacks all the way up. Hyrum gave up after about 1/8 of a mile and Jonathon carried him the whole rest of the way up. The other two boys were exhausted by the half way point, but they were troopers and kept going. We had to be to the cave within an hour to go on our assigned tour, and when we were at the 3/4 mark we only had 10 minutes left. We were all huffing and puffing, but we made it to the cave with 1 minute to spare.

It was worth the effort though because the cave was really neat. It was very dark and chilly inside, and contained several really neat structures made from dripping water over thousands of years. Hyrum was hilarious. Everything in the cave echoed, and Hyrum only has one volume... loud. At one point, he said, "I have to go potty... oh, just gas!" Ha! Later he told Aaron all about his new undies, and then told the tour guide that the cave formations that she said looked like ice cream didn't really look like ice cream. I'm pretty sure everyone got quite a good chuckle while on the tour. Toward the end of the tour, Hyrum walked right into one of the rock formations. He got a pretty big goose egg on his forehead. He cried for a while, but was able to calm down. When we finally got out of the cave, he did have to use the bathroom, so Jonathon had to hike back up to the top to take him. An hour later we were back down to the car with one piece of advice... The hike to the cave is totally worth it, but never take a two-year-old!

"The Heart" of the cave
The largest and most prominent stalactite formation.

After the cave, we drove up to Heber Valley Camp where we had reserved cabins for the night. The camp is used as a Young Women's Camp during the week, but families can stay there on the weekends. It is beautiful with bunkbeds, a kitchen area, bathrooms, showers, etc. It is definitely my idea of camping.

We ate a delicious dinner and then went down to the lake to canoe and paddleboat. Everyone got to participate, even the kids, so it was a fun time. Jonathon and I even won the little three-way canoe race we had. It was a perfect evening in a beautiful setting. We went back to camp and had a fireside that talked about fun stories from various ancestors. Then we ate s'mores and went to bed.

 

Teya and Audrey

Dad, BJ, and Caleb

Hyrum was so wound up that he didn't go to bed until 12:30 am. It didn't help that we chose the cabin right next to the fire pit where everyone was talking late into the night. Argh! He and Caleb (his 2 year old cousin) thought they were hilarious and giggled at each other until they both fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion. It made for a rough night and a very early morning since he was up with the sun, as usual. Breakfast was pancakes and eggs, which were delicious and helped clear the cobwebs from lack of sleep.

Sue, Kelly, and Jason making breakfast

When everyone was up and dressed, they held the Family Auction that helps pay for future reunions. The auction is nice because it allows people to pay what they can without feeling guilty. There were a lot of things donated to the auction, but Hyrum had his heart set on a little Lightning McQueen car. Unfortunately, there were several other little boys at the reunion. When the bidding got up to $17, we had to bow out. Hyrum was heartbroken. Luckily, they found a Lightning McQueen book to auction. It became a two-way bidding war between Hyrum and one other little cousin. Hyrum kept raising his hand to bid every time the auctioneer looked at him. It was hilarious! I was laughing so hard I was crying. At some point (around $22) the auctioneer, cousin Jerum, saw that no matter what happened one of the little boys was going to be devastated. After some quick thinking, he found a Lightning McQueen blanket in the auction pile and let the boys choose. Hyrum got the blanket and the other little boy got the book. Thank goodness it all ended happily! I also learned never to let Hyrum gamble :)

Our Auctioneers (Jerum and Keenan)

Our big morning activity was a challenge ropes course at the camp run by Senior Missionaries. There were several team building activities to start with and then you could do the ropes course. It consisted of a pole climb, tightrope walk, and then zipline. I actually did the same course last year at our RS retreat, so I decided to let other people try it and instead took pictures for the family. Jonathon completed the course, and then Christian gave it a shot. He got really scared about half-way up the ladder, and decided to be belayed down by the nice missionary. I was proud of him for giving it a shot because I knew how scary it was.

Crista and Jonathon

 Christian

Stacy

 Aaron and Amanda

Tera

We ate lunch and then decided to head home since Hyrum was beyond tired. We hadn't even left the camp yet when he fell asleep in his carseat. We made it home in time to take a nap and a shower before heading over for dinner. Later that night was the Stadium of Fire. Several families had bought tickets, but they were super expensive, so we just stayed home to recuperate from the fun.

Sunday we went to church and then hosted the family dinner. We cooked a whole bunch of enchiladas that we had made and frozen beforehand. It turned out delicious! Then we gathered for a family picture before having another family history fireside. In the downtime, we taught the kids how to play Kubb. It is an outdoor lawn game that my family introduced to us. Matt and Katie made us a set for Christmas last year, and we have loved sharing it with other families. The kids (and adults) fell in love with it and played it several times throughout the reunion.

The Whole Family

 Emma and Ila

 Playing Kubb (pronounced "koob")

The little kids loved Rod

Family Tree

Monday was the fourth of July, so some of the family headed to the parade and then we all met in the mountains for a picnic. After lunch, the reunion ended, and everyone had to head out to their various homes. The reunion was such a fun chance to get to know Jonathon's side of the family better. Several families (Jerum, Trevor, and Jason's families) got to stay at our house, and it was fun to talk to them in the evenings. Christian and Andrew even had some "cousins" their age that they got to play with. I am grateful for the good people that are part of our family and for their dedication to living the gospel of Christ.