FAMILY FUN...AND FOREVER - ANOTHER GREAT FAMILY REUNION

July always bring our annual family reunion. This year we held it here in Heber, July 5th to the 9th.  The theme was 'Family Fun ....and Forever.' Andrea flew in on the night of the 4th and the next morning we met Jon's family at Lagoon to spend the day. Todd and Kailee and Ryan and Katie and families did not arrive until later that evening. 


Those of us at Lagoon had a great time even though the temperature was over 100 degrees. Luckily, Lagoon has lots of trees and many water rides to cool everyone off. While everyone stayed at the park until about 6, Dad and I left around 2 in order to be home when Ryan and Todd arrived. We ordered pizza for dinner which was perfect - no prep for me and lots of yummy food available whenever everyone arrived in Heber. The balance of the evening was spent visiting and playing outside. Before bed, or returning to the other side of the mountain, we gathered downstairs for our nightly devotional. Our devotionals centered around the theme of family fun as we reviewed four different past family reunions (one a night). I prepared a power point presentation of pictures from each reunion, to be shown on the night that particular reunion was to be spotlighted.  The idea was to remember the fun things we did and then talk about something learned at that reunion that could help us become a forever family. Andrea was first with our reunion to San Diego.  At this one, my Mom and Dad came, so Andrea's remarks centered around our great heritage, remembering the stories Dad told of their life. She helped us realize how important it is to live worthy of our heritage. Jillian and Maggie sang a song entitled 'Our Family Tree.' It was written by Andrea's sister in law, Charlotte.

While the older girls rode 'Wicked', Andrea and Lydia opted
for a gentler ride

Someone came up to us and said, "I didn't know they
assigned missionaries to Lagoon!" 

A wild ride

So glad Jaron could join us for the
afternoon at Lagoon

Totally drenched!!!

Amazingly, Andrea ran into an old friend while at Lagoon

The next morning was hike time. We had arranged for the family to hike to and explore Timpanogos cave. They needed to be at the base of the mountain at 11:00 for an hour to an hour and a half hike. They were then escorted into the caves for a 45 minute tour. Afterwards it was back down the mountain. They said going down was harder than going up because of the constant pounding on the knees and thighs. According to reports, the caves were awesome. I stayed back to babysit Aria. Andrea attempted to climb to the top but turned around half way up due to her recently healed ankle. Even little Nathan and Grandpa made it to the top. We all met at Purple Turtle for a quick bite before heading back up to Heber. While I was getting dinner, everyone went to Heber's new aquatic center for a quick swim. It was refreshing after a long hike.

Still smiling even after a grueling hike

The devotional that night was by Todd who had been assigned our reunion in Klamath Falls. The theme there was 'Mission Impossible'.  After the power point presentation, Todd showed us an old video of when our children were young and at a family reunion in Price, Utah. It showed us as a family acting out a poem I had written about our family's talents. He talked about how we all have different talents to get us through this 'obstacle course' of life. At that reunion in Klamath Falls, we had put the children through a couple of different obstacle courses which were rather difficult. They all had to apply their talents to get through them, as well as work together.

Friday was a jammed packed day. We started at Top Golf, where everyone had a chance to try out their golfing skills. It is a driving range with different targets to try and hit for points. Most of us, less serious golfers, were just glad to hit the ball while Todd and Grandpa were in a heavy duty competition with each other.

Waiting their turn to try their golfing skills

Nathan wanted to look like a real golfer
so he had to carry his golf bag while swinging the club!

Anxious to try swinging the club

Looking good Jaidon

The more serious golfer

Everyone was on their own for lunch and then we met in Provo at 'Get Out Games.' We were divided into three teams and sent into three different rooms. The idea was to solve the clues placed around the room to 'get out' of the room.  Two rooms were trying to break into a safe to retrieve some stolen diamonds and get out of the room before the bad guy returned. Our room was a nuclear reactor that was leaking and needed to be shut down before it exploded. We failed in our attempt but the other two teams were successful.  Everyone really seemed to get involved and enjoyed the challenge. 

Team #1

Team #2....and the winners!

Team #3

Afterward we went to Todd and Kailee's home for a spaghetti dinner. There Ryan gave his devotional. He talked about our Yellowstone reunion where the theme was 'Frozen.'  He showed a couple of video clips of all us of dancing at the hayride/barbecue. His point was to help us realize how important it is to step outside of our comfort zone and "DANCE" as we live our lives. We quickly then packed up and headed for the Scera outdoor theater to watch a local production of Sussical, the Musical. It was incredibly well done, fast pasted and colorful. Jon's boys were a little bored but the rest of us loved every minute of it - even Aria.

My breakfast helpers

Saturday, after our traditional breakfast of sourdough waffles, we headed down to Jon and Mindi's for an afternoon of swimming and eating and visiting. Jon and Mindi had been working so hard to get their home ready for all of us. They are in the process of a major remodel but the pool and yard were perfect for our family party. The children loved the coolness of the pool and spent most of the afternoon swimming. Mid afternoon, we barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs and then had our devotional. 

Jon and Mindi's lovely pool was so much fun

The slide was a big hit!

Jaidon cooling off

Grace just chillin'

When Aria was finally brave enough to get in the pool,
she became the center of attention.

Gavin spent most of his day entertaining Nathan at the pool.
So patient and loving.

Again Aria is the center of attention. Julia, Carly and Olivia
were always wanting to take care of her.

It was Jon's turn and his assignment was last year's reunion in Couer d'alene, Idaho. The theme on that one was 'A Blast from the Past.' After showing the pictures of all the things we did, including the individual family pictures of old hang outs in Spokane, Jon talked about how important it is to make wise decisions and not be influenced by peer pressure. Jon had each of his children tell something they remembered about their Dad after going to his different hang outs. One of the things remembered was his breaking his nose at the water slides. He went on to tell how the action resulting in the broken nose was in response to peer pressure. Had he not given into peer pressure he would not have had to be taken to the emergency room and his nose would not be crooked to this day. A great lesson for teenagers, especially. By 5 that afternoon, Andrea and her girls had to leave to catch a flight leaving at 8. We were sad they had to leave as it meant the end of another great family reunion. We were also sad that Casey and Charlotte could not join us for any part of the week due to scheduling in their business in Eugene. Taylor had work conflicts and Jaron could only join us for a couple of activities due to work also. It's hard when grandchildren begin to grow up and have other commitments that take them away from family activities.

Nathan loved to stay in his PJ's and just play
all morning while Ryan was out working

Ryan and Katie were able to stay another few days. Aubrey had a volleyball camp at BYU from Monday through Thursday so the rest of the family stayed at our home til Friday morning. They visited family and friends and went on a couple of outings so we could continue to keep our missionary appointments during the week. It was great, though, to have them to visit with at the end of each day. Before they left for Oregon, Gary and Deon had come to stay with us and took the kids fishing at our neighborhood pond. They were so excited to finally catch something.  The night before all they caught were crawdads.

A FISH!!!

Getting ready to catch a fish - thanks to Uncle Gary

As our official reunion was winding down, Deon and Gary came to town to visit Garret and Kristen. They were all staying in a condo near Park City so we had them come for Sunday dinner. Todd and Kailee and Jon and Mindi came up to join us but Ryan and Katie left for Ogden to have dinner with an aunt. It was a houseful but good to be all together. The only tragedy - our trampoline split right down the center. Luckily only one person, Carly, was on it at the time and she didn't get hurt. Had it split during our reunion when there were often several jumping at one time, someone probably would have gotten hurt. A little tender mercy.

We went down to Pleasant Grove and bought a new mat the very next day.

By Thursday, Deon and Gary, and Kim and two of her children came to stay at our home. Ryan and Katie left early Friday morning and by Friday night, Than and 3 of his children and Casey and 2 of her children were also staying here. That night we went out to dinner to Cafe Rio and then came home to make s'mores out at the fire pit. Everyone left on Saturday and we finally could take a breather, which we did. 

Kim was taking Brock and Aspen on a college campus tour,
They visited BYU Idaho in Rexberg, University of Utah, and BYU

As for missionary work....It seems like we are losing people to teach. Jessie started working so her scheduled appointment doesn't always work. Jimmy moved to Provo and we are about to finish up with our baptism lessons for Reighlee and our after baptism lessons to Lily and Gentry. We have been praying every night for new people to teach. An answer to our prayers happened when the Stake President came into our missionary coordination meeting and asked us to visit a Brett Tandy. We met him at his ward meeting the next week where we just happened to be speaking. He confirmed that he was anxious to meet with us. He is trying to change his life and come back into full fellowship. We are anxious to start meeting with him.


We said good bye to Elder Thompson and hello to three new elders. There has been a change in the mission assignments and we now share elders with the Heber North Stake. The Spanish elders, who were responsible for our stake, are now to concentrate solely on Spanish investigators but we still get to feed them each Tuesday. That meant we fed four elders for one week and then another elder joined them so now, each week, we have the pleasure of having five elders in our home for lunch. The new Spanish elder is Elder Beutista. The new English speaking elders are Elders Hill, Baron, and Brister. Elder Baron goes home mid August, hence the threesome. 

Beutista. Gorido, Hill, and Baron

Elder Brister, on the left, joined us a week later.

The two groups of missionaries walking
 down both sides of the street.

We had a really fun missionary experience on the 4th of July when we walked in the Provo city parade. It extended for 3 1/2 miles and the streets were lined heavily with people. The senior couples walked behind the young elders and sisters of both the Utah Provo and Utah Orem missions. It was quite impressive to see all the elders and sisters, in their Sunday best,
walking together. The reception we all received was amazing. The crowds cheered and waved all along the way. Our hands were sore from all the high fives we gave to the little children as we walked. The people in Provo love the missionaries.

Our district - minus Sister Ward

Other missionary news happened mid month when Paul was called to be the new district leader for our district. Elder Barnes, our former district leader, was called to be our zone leader. Each week, Paul now takes calls from the other couples in our district when they report their numbers for the week. It's interesting to see everyone else's numbers. We fall down in invitations big time but are trying to do better. Paul also sends out a weekly agenda for our district meetings and we decide how best to cover the assigned Preach My Gospel lesson.



This month, Paul had to have a cataract removed. It was an out patients procedure in Salt Lake. It put us out of commission for an afternoon but by that night we were back doing missionary work. It was kind of nice to spend a day reading a book. That doesn't happen very often.





Now for the biggest news of all....Our granddaughter, Charlotte, received her mission call. She had been assigned to serve in the Pennsylvania Pittsburgh mission and is to report to the Provo MTC November 15. We are so excited for her. She had been waiting for over a month to receive that call. For a minute, we all thought it had been lost in the mail. In reality. it arrived at a perfect time. Casey's whole family was in Eugene for a family reunion so they could all share in the opening of her call. We watched on Facebook Live. Before she opened it, she bore a powerful testimony of why she was serving this mission. We are so proud of her. Interesting fact - in a song she wrote, sang, video tapped, and posted on Youtube refers to her possibly serving in Norway, or London, or PENNSYLVANIA.  She said that whenever she thought about serving stateside, the state of Pennsylvania would come to her mind. Obviously this call is perfect for her and there is someone just waiting for the gospel message that only she can touch.

And then there is Aria........ She melted our heart this month. Todd and Kailee had been telling us about all the things she was able to say including Grandma and Grandpa. When she was around us we couldn't get her say anything until one Sunday, as they were leaving, we heard a 'Bye Grandma.'  Music to my ears.

At our home, eating snacks out of a bowl with sunglasses?

Aria loves drinking
out of my water bottle

We took her to Dairy Keen and
she downed the whole ice cream cone.