Family Time

Editor's Note: I am going to continue to try to catch-up with everything that has been happening for the past month. Unfortunately we had a bit of a camera lapse so the only pictures I have are ones taken from other people and most of those I don't have yet. (If you have a picture of my family taken at Aspen Grove, please email it to me!) I do have some so I will tell all about it as best I can.

Jason and my oldest nephew Christopher playing shuffleboard

After a couple of days in Utah just hanging out, the festivities began. On Wednesday we went down to a camp owned by the BYU Alumni Association called Aspen Grove. It's in the mountains near Sundance Ski Resort (owned by Robert Redford, not where they have the film festival) and is the best place ever to have a family reunion. This is our third time there thanks to my Grandpa (my mom's dad). They have cabins, a cafeteria that feeds us (pretty good food too), age appropriate classes for the kids including a place for babies, crafts, a ropes course, a fishing pond, organized tournaments for things like volley ball and badminton and plenty of time and places to just sit and chat.

My mom painting a figure of a dragon while my aunt Marilyn and uncle Marty watch.

This is the first time I had a baby and it was kind of a strange experience. After breakfast and lunch I jut dropped her off to play with other kids her age while I did whatever I wanted. Then before lunch and dinner I picked her up again. We both were able to enjoy ourselves doing our own thing. It was nice but strange to be without Anna for that long. I don't know how working mothers do it because I was ready to pick her up when it was time.

The first day, after people generally got there, (but some were still arriving) they had a bunch of games in the field. Our family is so big that it's hard to have us all on one team. It kind of turned into the kids doing the stuff and the parents following them around and talking. That night there was a thing in the little ampitheater where they had all the kids' classes do a cheer then the counselors did a bunch of really goofy skits (very similar to scout skits).

My nephew Dallin dancing.

After that, they played music and a bunch of kids from our family along with a few from other families went up on the stage and danced. It was so funny to watch them dance but the best part was my sister Emily (sorry Em). She was standing in the audience part and dancing right along with the kids. She is pregnant too so between her belly, her ability to groove and the fact that she was being a little bit silly for the kids (I hope) it was really funny to watch her dance.

Emily, me, Hilary and Marrisse beading.

Our first full day there, I spent the morning in the craft hut with a few sisters. They were making beaded necklaces. At first I wasn't going to make anything and was just finding beads but then I was sucked in and ended up making a pair of earrings. That afternoon I played frisbee golf with Jason and some brothers. I got creamed but it was fun. That night my mom reserved one of the rooms in the lodge and we all just got together and chatted. The reunion was all of my cousins on my mom's side and there are some people that we only seem to see at Aspen Grove.

Then my grandpa got all the kids gathered around him and they sang a song called 'Twoooooo Bluuuuue Pigeons' followed by all of us singing 'You've Got to Accentuate the Positive'.

Jason, me, Emily, Jen and Uche hiking to the falls.

The next day we decided to go for a hike to some water falls. We started by driving down to Sundance and taking the ski lift up the mountain. When there is no snow, a ski lift is dang far off the ground but the view is beautiful. Once at the top, we went a mile and a half to the falls. Crossing roaring rapids to get there.

Kristen then Emily crossing the "raging river of death" (Emperor's New Groove) with help from Josh, Dave and Jen.

Once we arrived, we enjoyed the falls for a little bit but by then we started to worry about not getting back in time to pick up our kids. So we called some people who were back at camp to pick them up, sent two guys to run down the mountain to try to get there sooner and and hurried back. Good thing we hurried too because it started to rain then hail on us. Fortunately it didn't do that for too long but we were still quite wet. We got back to camp in the last fifteen minutes of lunch (fortunately they don't kick you out early) and just in time for a real deluge. That afternoon was spent indoors, mostly in the game room with the pool tables, fusball, air hocky, and ping pong (I'm telling you this place had it all). That night after a closing program and I didn't pay too much attention to (what can I say, Anna wasn't in it) came the family dance. Anna and I like to dance together so this was a lot of fun even if she was really tired. It was also fun to watch other people and their kids dance. Emily wasn't feeling it this time but my cousin Teri and her husband really stepped up for the entertainment. At one point, she was on his shoulders and shimmying.

My grandpa with his four kids: Marily, Judy (my mom), Michael and Ron.

The next morning it was time to clean up and leave. Once we were all checked out, we hung around and just kept talking. We all took pictures with Grandpa in our families. For some reason, none of the the other family reunions stayed, just ours but none of us wanted to leave. After a couple of hours, we decided that we couldn't drag it out anymore and got into our RV and drove off into the sunset.