We Are Family

We recently returned from a family reunion in Zion National Park.  (This was for my mom's side of the family.)  It was a non-stop party!  Out of our 90 family members, 84 were there.  It was John's first time at one of our reunions (we do them every 3 years, but he had to work during the last one), so it was a real test for him to see if he knew all 90 names.  Quiz him.  

We kicked off Day 1 with some activities for the children.  Deborah and Kira were in charge of Kids Club, which was for children up to age 4.  Most of the kids hung out for a looong time at the Froot Loop necklace station.  Genius!

Tambourine making at Kids Club.

Oliver and Elise ran the Baseball Camp for kids 4-7.   (There was also a Sports Camp run by Peter and Riley for the kids 8-12.)

We got to do some horseback riding.  Here's Kira, Uncle Dean, and John blazing the trail.

Family Olympics-- the Human Knot Game

(My team had two PhDs on it, and we still couldn't get untangled!)

We think they should add stunts like this to the real Olympics. 

Here we are geared up for the zipline.  Benson was so pumped about this until he saw the height of the building he was supposed to jump off!  Needless to say, it didn't happen.  I think he's still experiencing PTSD from just the thought of the zipline.

My cousin Brenda designs her own jewelry, so she taught a bunch of us how to make our own too.  We all caught on so quick and now we're ready to become earring designers at Anthropologie.

Here's Jonah having a swim lesson with his aunts Elisabeth and Rachel

Riley, Brenda, Kiffer, Kim, Heidi, Rachel, Isaac, Heather, and Matt-- 

these guys look innocent, but they're probably plotting which person they'll toss over the wall next!

John racing down the slide.

The hot-tubbers

Conner, Kim, Caleb, Christina, Ryan, RoseAnn, and Zaya

Here's Deborah, Brenda, and Mackenzie chilling in the pool.

This was on Heritage Night when my mom unveiled our new book of ancestors.  This book had true love, heartbreak, scandal, success, tragedy, inspiration, perspiration, and even a spelling bee romance.

The pregnancy couch-- wait a minute, GABE!

Here's the starting line for the Family 5K Fun Run.  (Not to trash talk, but the Babbels really cleaned up. Tyson won for boys, Elise won for girls, Tara and Evan won for fastest couple, and John and I won for... most talkative runners.)

The cute twins Claire and Juliet rode along for the race.

Here's the Cheer-Mobile for the run.  These boys were also given water guns to spray at the runners to keep us cool.  Some took that job a little too seriously.  

Jenessa, Kira, and I make up The Three Musketeers.  Evidently, we never change-- see if you can guess which picture was taken during this reunion, and which was taken during a reunion 12 years ago.  (Don't let Jenessa's pregnant belly give you any hints!)

This part was my baby.  I was in charge of the "Famous and Infamous Cousins" game show.  We broke into 4 teams and had to race to finish my quiz, which listed one clue for each person.  Some of the clues were: "This person was kissed by Robert Redford" (Aunt Janeice) or "This person drank 24 oz. of fry sauce on a dare" (Jilleena). 

This was another of my brilliant contributions to the reunion.  Here's my Six Feet of Bubble Tape game.  We're still not exactly sure who won-- it was a photo finish-- but Amy and David here were at least tied for first.

We spent one day doing different hikes in gorgeous Zion National Park.

More hikers

Here's John and Cole debating about taking a waterfall shower.

The refreshing mountain stream was the perfect end to our hike.  

Some of the kids joined the Junior Ranger program while we were in Zion's.  Here they are getting sworn in: "... and I pledge that I will do my part to obey the Park rules and act in a safe manner..."

It's hard to believe (after such a lengthy post) that we actually did a lot of things that aren't pictured.  For example... Paintball, a candy count, book club (Switch), movie night (Jane Eyre), biking, Capture the Flag, skydiving(!), ATV riding, skateboarding, game night (Wits and Wagers), bungee trampoline, lots of baking, rock climbing, our own church service, a baptism, and solving the world's problems.  It was a fabulous reunion!  I can't wait for our next one in 3 years.