I've been distracted and am finally putting down my thoughts of the reunion. First of all, I thought it was awesome and such a great turn out!! We had only 4 families missing! I was kind of surprised by Sekona's lack of picture taking, but then again he was having fun with the water fight, water volleyball, volleyball and watching the kids enjoy the inflatable house and swimming. Lillian enjoyed the inflatable house, the swing set at Leon's house, swimming, and most definetly the bubble pool! We had lunch, games and talking, a superior slideshow (by Mike and Jenny, and even with technical difficulites it was a hit and a tear jerker), and dinner. It is amazing the ancestory--Frans and Verella have 4 children, 28 grandchildren and 83+ great grandchildren (I knew of at least one pregnancy). We have covered the South Pacific area, Europe area , United States area, South America area, soon Canada, South Africa, Asia, Trinidad area in the mission fields!! How amazing is that! It was a busy weekend with a nephew's baptism (Dakota), Family Reunion, a nephew's baby blessing (Jax). Here is basically my run down:
David and Sharon were on their mission in Russia! Annette was there with her kids and it was great to see her. Brian had other committments and therefore was unable to attend. Kevin's kids have all grown up! It was good to chat and see Cindy again, who is living in Rifle, Colorado. Leon was a very happy new father of a baby girl, Macey! Eric's kids are grown! McKenzie looks a lot like her father and the other 3 have grown so much. Becky is still in Rifle, Colorado but keeping her options open. David was there, but missing his pregnant wife very much. Dennis was unable to make it.
Lillie and Raymond looked great! It was great to see Kurt and Michelle (who don't look like they have aged since I have been away from college!). Their son, Taylor, accepted a mission call to Canada Toronto (south?)--the oldest great grandson! Clint looked great and you can tell that he has a deep love for his children and their wellbeing! Clark was not there. I was able to chat a little bit with Monica, but missed Grant (everytime I saw him he was on the other side of the group). Jill and Scott were doing great! She is expecting her first and I think she is excited. They have a plan--it must be nice to have a plan. I try at times, but my plans don't always seem to go as planned. JoAnn looked great as always. I hope she does well in her (would you call it a medley) Triatholon in Wales. She will be running the 5k, Travis, her husband, will swim, and Lillie (mom) will ride the bike. It seems like fun! It was great to see her twins as well.
Mom and Dad's family was doing great. I kind of felt bad because I was so busy making sure I made the rounds with my cousins, I didn't get a chance to talk to my sister-in-laws much. I hope they understand and had a great time as well. It was great to be able to spend so time with Bret and to know that we have some things in common. I didn't realize that we may have some similarities in our lives.
Ann and Bob were doing well. Todd and Dena's children seem to mix in so well that it was hard to tell which one belonged to which one. I saw Tony and was able to say 'hi', but didn't really get a chance to talk to him much. Mary was there and she looked like she was doing well. I probably bugged Taryn as he sat in the back of Sekona's pickup for the slideshow. Tiffani and Ruben were fun to talk with and I got to know Ruben better. Congrats on the house! Scott and Debbie looked great as always. Stephen and Korbi are doing well. I believe Korbi likes to take pictures, because she approached Stephen about running out of memory on the memory stick. Joel and Michelle are doing well and giving us Washingtonian's lip about our Washington potatoes aren't as good as his Idahoan's potatoes--like he couldn't tell the difference Washington's is always superior to Idaho's?! He had three pretty girls and a pretty new boy. Staci and Felix were a riot. Staci was glad to reconnect with David, Becky and Frans.
I had this crazy idea to attend the Phantom of the Opera. Mom, Bret (since Brooke was in a state competition), Shelly, Christine, Abby, ShaRee, Clarissa, Jenny, Haylee, Heather, Bonnie, Chelsea, and I were able to all go. Mom, Jenny, Haylee, Jax arrived Friday night and we were able to head over to Jeff's and be able to have dinner with them and to visit. It was a nice visit. Christine, Abby, ShaRee and Clarissa arrived Friday evening. Bret, Shelly, Frans, Heather, Dana flew in that morning. We all met up at Ruby Tuesday to have lunch before heading to the Opera. Frans, Dana, Sekona and Lillian were at home. Lillian loved having Haylee and then later on Dana to play with! The play (pop opera, operetta, whatever it is to be called) was nice. Christine's character had a strong voice, I loved the Phantom's voice and I thought Raoul's voice was a little weak. I had brought Sekona's binocular's and was able to see the costume's up close and they were beautiful. It turned out to be a really fun weekend. 
