Larry C. Family Reunion
The first reunion of the bunch started on June 13th at my parent's home in Idaho. My parents and all of my siblings and their families were able to attend. It was a quick 3-day reunion during the only weekend that all the families could get together. Even though it was short, our days and souls were filled with happiness. It was so much fun for my kids to hang out with their cousins, playing non-stop for 3 days. We went swimming, fishing, yardsaling, enjoyed the amazing Idaho sunsets, and played lots of games.
Since my parents are leaving on a mission in November, we wanted to make sure we got some great family photos before they left. I was tasked with taking the pictures, which is always a bit stressful, but I think they turned out pretty great. I love my family. I love spending time with them, and I hope we are always close.
Terry H. Family Reunion
Jonathon's family reunion started on June 17th, so we went straight from Idaho to the Oregon Coast. This year, the reunion was held at beach houses in Lincoln City, Oregon. The scenery and weather could not have been more beautiful! The whole time I just soaked in all the green vegetation and salty sea air.
We arrived on Monday evening and got all set up in the various beach houses. There were three of them, all on the same street, and only a block from the beach. The house that we stayed in was perfect. We had our own room, and the boys shared one. Upstairs, there was plenty of space for Aaron and Audrey's family and Tera and BJ's family. It was also the main house where all the meals and gatherings were held. Tera and BJ were in charge of this reunion, and everything was so well planned and super organized. I was very impressed by all they had done. All of the siblings and their families (minus Crista's husband, David) were able to make it, which was super fun!
On Tuesday, we intended to go for a hike to see a waterfall, but there was construction work happening on the bridge to the trail that day, so we had to change our plans. We decided to go to Pacific City to climb the sand dunes. They were massive and quite a challenge to climb. Not only was the sand burning hot, but for every step you took, it seemed that you would slide two steps back. We were up for the challenge though, and finally made it to the top. It was worth the effort for the amazing view and crisp ocean air that greeted us. Not only that, but running down the sand dunes was pretty fun too!
When we reached the bottom, we stopped to look at the ocean for a bit. The water was freezing cold, so I didn't even get my feet wet, but a few of the more daring people actually jumped in, including Hyrum! As we were standing on the beach, we spotted a whale spout. It was amazingly close to the shore. Every 3-5 minutes or so, it would spout again and dive back down so we could catch a glimpse of its tail. What a neat experience that was!
That night Crista prepared a great Family History game that reminded us of all the wonderful stories of our ancestors. Then we surprised Amanda and Sam by showing their completed wedding video. It was their one year anniversary, so it felt special even though it took me so long to compile. I was proud of how it turned out, and I think they were grateful to have it.
On Wednesday, we headed to Tillamook to tour the cheese factory and eat some of their famous ice cream. The cheese factory has completely changed since the last time I was there (back in 2004!), so it was a new experience for me too. After learning how the factory worked and sampling some cheese, we ate lunch and got some amazing ice cream. On the way back to Lincoln City, we stopped at the Cape Meares Lighthouse to check it out. The other half of the group got lost, so we ended up waiting for quite a while for everyone to show up. When everyone arrived, we took some quick pictures of the lighthouse and went on a short hike over to see the crazy octopus tree, before heading back.
That night, we played a new group trivia game called "Hog's Wild" that I prepared. We originally played it on our cruise, but I changed it a bit to work better for teams and also came up with some new categories. It was a blast!
Thursday was an early morning trip to Devil's Punchbowl at low tide. It was my favorite part of the whole trip. You could walk into the open cavern and see all of the little tide pools. The kids jumped from rock to rock looking at crabs and starfish and tons of other cool things.
Then we wandered out to look at the ocean and stumbled upon the coolest tide pool I have ever seen. It was on top of a massive rock outcropping covered in oysters and was home to so many animals... crabs, fish, anemones, star fish, sea slugs, etc. I had never really seen the appeal of tide pools until that day, but now I'm a huge fan!
After Devil's Punchbowl, some of the group went whale watching, and some decided they would rather go to the beach. Hyrum really wanted to see some whales, so Jonathon took him on the boat. It wasn't a great time of year for whale watching, but they got lucky and got to see a couple. Hyrum had the time of his life! He loved the waves and the boat and the whales! Several on the boat got seasick, so they didn't enjoy it quite as much, but Hyrum said it was the best thing he had done in his whole life. Riding the trolley in San Fransisco was the last thing that got that distinction, so it was a pretty great day for him!
Christian, Andrew, and Grace decided they wanted to spend more time at the beach instead of whale watching, so I took them back, and we played at the beach for 2-3 hours. The kids splashed in the waves and dug in the sand, and I relaxed and enjoyed life. It was such a pleasant afternoon. That night we had a hot dog roast on the beach and spent some time flying kites. It was a great end to a great day!
After the kids were in bed, I spent a couple of hours cleaning the beach house so that we could leave early the next morning. We were stopping for the night at my parent's again on the way back, so I wanted to be there in time for dinner.
The drive to and from the coast was long, but uneventful. The boys did great, and I can't really complain because they travel extremely well. By the time we got back to Mom and Dad's we were exhausted and crashed hard.
On Saturday morning, we got up and I went yardsaling with the girls again. I found so many great things. Jonathon was less than thrilled that he had to find room in the car for all of my treasures, but he managed. :) The sister-in-laws also did a fun craft project for our porches. The pallet flags turned out super cute. We left after lunch and made it home Saturday night. 10 days and over 30 hours of driving meant we were definitely ready for a break... but only a short one because there was another reunion just around the corner.
Extended C. Family Reunion
My dad's side of the family has been holding family reunions for as long as I can remember. I am one of 56 grandkids, so whenever we all get together, it is a massive undertaking. Now that all of my Dad's siblings have grandkids and great-grandkids of their own, there has been a lot of talk about discontinuing these reunions in favor of each family doing their own reunion. Aunt Sharon really wanted her youngest boy, Jay, to have one more chance to enjoy the reunions before he leaves on his mission, so she agreed to plan and host what could be our last one. The idea is so sad to me, but I totally understand why it may be necessary. I love all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins, and feel that I have turned out the way I am, partly because of their influence in my life.
The reunion was once again held up at the Heber Valley Girl's Camp. Over the week of the 4th of July, families could reserve the campgrounds, so it ended up being the perfect time for us. The camp is so amazingly beautiful. It is brimming with nature (we had tons of ground squirrels and deer walking through our camp), but it also has modern conveniences (a huge commercial kitchen, and nice bathrooms and showers) that make a huge gathering not only doable, but also enjoyable.
The first day, my parents and I went up early to help set up and get everyone settled. Since I have been there many times, Aunt Sharon put me in charge of organizing cabins etc. As everyone began to arrive, I kept getting more and more excited. We ate lunch and then played games and visited with each other. During the afternoon, Uncle Mike did "Name that Tune," Uncle Darell asked some Tough Duck Hunter Questions (TDQ's), and Mom and I helped kids with the Humanitarian Project we were in charge of.
After dinner, we had a big Family Home Evening. All of the recently returned missionaries and soon to leave missionaries were able to give short reports, and parents got to talk about those that were currently serving. It was so good for my boys to see how many of our family were serving the Lord! Then each of my Dad's siblings told a short story or two about one of their favorite memories growing up. At the end of the evening, Vaughn and Uncle Roger's family played a game with the entire group. We had a blast working together as teams to win some little challenges based on only one clue. For example, Vaughn would say, "Send up someone from your team that you think has the longest." We would choose someone, and then he would reveal that the challenge was "the longest finger nails, etc." It is a wonderful game because everyone can play, young and old. Highlights included... all three of my boys being chosen on their different teams when the clue was "the loudest," (Ha!) Jonathon having to dance for "the best," and my team eventually winning by a long shot.
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| The Loudest Clap |
Then in true C. family fashion, we ate ice cream for dessert and spent the rest of the night talking and playing more games before heading off to the cabins.
The morning of Day 2 was mainly focused on what our family calls "breakout sessions." People with particular experience in a subject lead a little discussion group with others who may be interested in that subject. Topics for groups that morning included: Improving your Temple Experience (Dad), Pro Tips on Motherhood (Kym and Rachel), Entrepreneurship (Daniel), Come Follow Me Ideas (Kristen), Health and Exercise (Darrell and Missy), Teaching Tools (Eric) and Science (Jonathon). The discussion groups were held in two main sessions, so you could choose two of the groups to attend throughout the morning. While these events were going on for the adults, Joe led the kids on a nature hike during one session, and then Uncle Darell and Aunt Gayle played games (tug-a-war) with them for the other.
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| Uncle Darell's famous tug-a-war |
Jonathon was asked to lead the discussion group on something dealing with Science. He chose the topic "Why do I look like my family?" It couldn't have been more perfect for a developmental biologist at a family reunion! He prepared an awesome slide show, complete with genetics trivia questions and a video clip from Jurassic Park. Everyone was so intrigued when he began setting everything up at the beginning that Aunt Sharon asked if he would be willing to do it for the whole group first before we split up into smaller groups. It wasn't really what he prepared for, but he nailed it!
After he went through his slide show, he did an experiment with the group where everyone collected their own DNA (from cheek cells) and used some common household items (dishsoap, contact solution, and alcohol) to get it to clump together so that you could actually see the DNA. It was pretty cool to see. Then he set up his microscope so that everyone could look at the developing fish embryos that he brought up. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy his presentation. We ended the activity with some DNA sugar cookies that I made for him the night before. I was glad that he could participate and show off what he does for a living. After his presentation, he had to leave to go back to work, but I'm glad he could be there for some of the reunion.
The other two breakout sessions that I went to were wonderful. Eric taught a phenomenal class on how to be a better teacher, mainly focused on church callings. He divided his discussion up into three main topics to improve your teaching, which were... 1. Connect with the Material, 2. Connect with the Students, and 3. Connect with the Spirit. I just loved those three ideas and thought they were perfectly stated. I also went to the Come Follow Me class. I came away from it feeling much more at peace with how we are doing. I realized that everyone feels like they are struggling a little bit, and that's okay. This is a new program, and we just have to do our best. Feeling guilty about not doing more isn't helpful, so I need to just keep trying.
After all the breakout sessions and lunch, we played some more games like volleyball, Dibby Dibby Dib, Movie Trivia, more TDQ's, etc. Then I introduced everyone to Hog's Wild, and they loved it too! At the very end of the reunion, Uncle Darell mentioned that my game was his favorite part of the reunion. That made me feel great!
When the kids weren't eating food or playing games, they were trying to catch ground squirrels. There were millions of squirrels around that were very used to humans, so they would come really close to the pavilion where all the activities took place. The kids got containers and tried to tempt them with some food. I thought it was pretty funny, but much to my horror, they actually caught one! They brought it over to show me while I was in the middle of a game, and I had a mini freak-out when they surprised me by shoving the box in my face. Haha! When they finally decided to let it go, Hyrum was heartbroken and cried and cried. All of the kids spent hours and hours playing in the dirt, chasing squirrels, and having the time of their lives... and all without any media!
Also that afternoon, my grandpa's youngest sister, Arlene, was able to come up and visit. I had never met her before, but it blew my mind to have her there with us. My grandpa died in 1989, so having her there felt a little like time travel. She told some stories about her recent family history trip to Denmark where she met some long lost relatives, and then she described some of her feelings about my grandma, which were so sweet.
That night we had a special 100th birthday party for Grandma Roma while the whole family was together. My grandma passed away in 2007, so it was special to remember and celebrate her and Grandpa Merlon. Uncle Joe put together a slideshow about her, all of my Dad's siblings shared some memories, and Melodie talked about the work she had done transcribing Grandma's journals. Throughout the night, they also asked for short memories about her from people in the audience. It was a wonderful evening, and I was moved to tears more than once thinking about my wonderful Grandma.
At the end of the party, Stefani presented a plan for how we were going to celebrate on Grandma's actual birthday (January 6th). The whole family is going to have a special week of service dedicated to Grandma. She was constantly serving others, and especially her family, so it is only natural to spend the week honoring her in that way. They passed out magnet reminders and got everyone excited for the upcoming event. Even though it is still 6 months away, I am looking forward to participating with my whole family. To wrap up the festivities, we had cake and ice cream with Grandma's famous hot fudge topping. Delicious!
Tuesday night a group of people (Dad, Aunt Sharon, Jonathon, Jay, Darrell, Missy, Bryant, etc.) wanted to play Hog's Wild again, so we sat around in the pavilion playing until 11:00 pm when we were afraid everyone would be annoyed by all the laughter. Those are the simple memories that make family reunions so special.
On Wednesday morning, we packed up, cleaned the camp, and had one last devotional. Uncle Virgil led the discussion about some final memories or impressions about Grandma or from the reunion. It was the perfect way to wrap up the reunion. Afterward, Christian came up to me and said, "Mom, we are lucky to have amazing grandparents who were righteous and did the right things on both sides of our family." I was impressed that he had been paying attention and thinking about what a blessing that truly is. It was a reunion to remember, and if it is the last one, I will look back on it fondly.
The last family reunion of the year happened over the 4th of July in Murtaugh, Idaho with Jonathon's extended family. He had already missed so much work that we couldn't attend that one. We were super sad to miss it, but hopefully, we can make it to the next one. Family is everything to us, and we have been blessed with two of the best. Thanks to all of our amazing reunions, it has already been a summer to remember!
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