Jonathon's family did their bi-annual Family Reunion July 5-8. A different sibling is in charge of each reunion, and this year was Crista's turn. She planned the reunion to be held at Zion National Park in southern Utah. On Wednesday, the 5th, we all drove down to the cabin that we rented. The drive wasn't bad at all. It is nice to have bigger kids now that travel well.
We arrived at High Place Cabin in the Ponderosa Ranch Resort around 4 pm. The cabin was spectacular! It was huge and had room for everyone to stay comfortably. Most of the adults had beds, and the kids did great sleeping on the floor. It also had a fully furnished kitchen, so all we had to do was bring the food. It was really an ideal place. We had dinner, a family organizing meeting, and then settled in for the night.
The next morning, we got up early for breakfast and to head to Zion Park. It was about a 45 minute drive to get to the main parking lot. We waited for 30 minutes in a long line, and then road a bus for another half hour. By the time we got to the start of the hike, it was already after 10:00. The time it took to get anywhere in the park was a bit annoying, but we finally made it to the start of the Emerald Pools Hike.
The older boys did pretty well on the hike. They cruised up the mountain with their Aunts, while we hung behind with Hyrum. He walked for a while, but pretty soon he was whining about being tired and hot. Jonathon put him on his shoulders and hiked him to the top. There were a bunch of other little cousins on the hike who also had to be carried, along with three babies who were riding in backpacks. When we arrived at the top, there was water dripping from the rocks. It was pretty cool to see.
By that time, Hyrum was getting really grumpy, so we headed back down. Christian and Andrew went with Jonathon, and Grandpa and I helped Hyrum down. With some encouragement, he made it down half-way, but Grandpa finally put him on his shoulders and took him down the rest of the way. Everyone was hot and hungry when we made it to the main lodge. We found some shade and ate our lunches there. It felt so good to be in the shade for a while. While we were sitting there, one of the rangers approached the kids about doing the "Junior Ranger" program. She invited them to join in with her group. The kids all went to the presentation and learned all about animals and how to take care of the environment. They did this through a bunch of games and a fun little booklet that they were given. They had a great time, and when they had completed the booklet, they were officially sworn in as Junior Rangers and received little badges. They were sure proud of those little badges. I thought it was such a cool program to have at a National Park.
The newest Junior Rangers
After we finished with lunch, we headed back to the cabin. The bus ride back was pretty miserable because of the temperature. When we arrived at the park that morning at 9 AM, it was already almost 100 degrees. Blech! It was stifling, and riding the bus with 50 other people crammed in was pretty bad. A lot of people can handle the heat well, but I have never been able to deal with extreme temperatures. When we got to the car, the temperature in the car said 112 degrees. We couldn't even drive off for a few minutes because the steering wheel was so hot that Jonathon couldn't even touch it.
That afternoon, Jonathon took the boys to the swimming pool to cool down. Then we had dinner and played games. All of the meals the whole reunion were wonderful. Every family was responsible for one meal, and they put a lot of work into them.
The next day, a bunch of the single siblings and Dad went on a 12 hour hike called "The Narrows- Top Down." They had to leave at 4:30 AM to get to the start of the hike. Jonathon volunteered to drive them bright and early. They were gone the entire day and arrived back around dinner time. I had no desire at all to do it, but I think Jonathon was a little disappointed to not go. He thought about going, but in the end, he decided to stay and help me with the kids, which I was extremely thankful for.
That morning, we tried to get going earlier, but breakfast took a while, and by the time we got back to the park, the line for the buses was all the way to the parking lot. Our car was the first one there, and we waited for about 45 minutes in line. Nobody else was there yet, and we weren't sure what to do. We had Gracie and Leah with us and we didn't know where Nathan and Emily were. We later learned that one of the cars hadn't started, so they had to go back to help. Cell phone reception inside the park was terrible, so we felt bad taking their kids without them, but we were in a tough position. The kids were soooo tired of standing in line and were already getting cranky, so we felt like we had to keep going. We hopped on the bus and road it for 40 minutes to The Narrows Trail.
It was so, so hot, and I was starting to get cranky too. We finally arrived, and hiked the 1 mile trail to a fun place in the canyon where the kids could play in the water. Everyone else eventually showed up, and we spent some time hanging out in the water. It was a very pretty spot, and the kids had a great time. I think that in different circumstances, I would have really enjoyed it, but by that time, I was so hot and tired and grumpy that all I wanted to do was go back to the cabin. I felt bad about being grumpy, but honestly, on the bus ride back to the car, I thought I might pass out at any time. I had a mini meltdown at the car when the temperature said 113 degrees. It was just too hot!
We finally made it back to the cabin, and I took a rest while the kids went swimming again. After a nap, I felt much better and wasn't nearly as cranky. I think the extreme heat and being tired affected a lot of people because several people were stressed more than usual during the reunion. I was really impressed with the moms and dads with tiny babies that were total troopers throughout the whole thing. They had such good attitudes, even packing their babies around in that heat.
That night we had another great meal and then played more games. Playing games with everyone was by far my favorite part of the whole trip. I sure love our family. I love being with them and spending time doing things with them. We learned to play a new game called "Code Names." We played it for hours and had such a great time. It is definitely a new family favorite.
The next morning we cleaned everything up and took a family picture. It was kind of a last minute thing, so we were scrambling to get everyone together and find a place for the picture. In the end, I made a crazy tower out of a table, chair, ice chest and box to set the camera on so we could get a picture of everyone with the timer. It was not ideal, but the little kids were losing patience quickly, so we just had to get it done. The framing wasn't perfect, but without moving the whole crazy tower, there was nothing I could do. Haha! In the end, the picture actually turned out pretty cute. At least it was a group shot that showed everyone who was there.
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