Ellis and I went to the Fat Cats arcade as part of his birthday gift from Little Billy and me. (Yes, it was a long time coming haha.) What I realize each time I play these fun games is that I am not good at them. Ellis doesn't seem to mind, and we always have a great time.
Afterwards we headed to Arctic Circle for a treat.
I love spending one-on-one time with this sweet boy.
Monday, Sept 26
Emmett came over and helped me get out some of my Halloween decor.
All his favorites: spiders, rats, crows, and skeletons.
(And his current fave book is right there on the floor - he especially likes the back cover that shows all kinds of flies, of which he can name almost all of them.)
I love spending one-on-one time with this sweet boy, too.
Wednesday, Sept 28
Thanksgiving Point.
I always love spending time with these darling grands.
Tuesday, Oct 4
Time with Reesey is always fun.
Jack is always interested in whatever treat Reese may have in her cute little hands. Looks like she shared it with him ;-)
Wednesday, Oct 5
Another playdate with Reese.
I am blessed to be a Gigi and love these little grands SO MUCH.
We made the beautiful drive to Star Valley, WY for the Call Reunion.
We arrived and set up tents and helped with a few other preliminary tasks, then met Jason and Lex at the Valleon for lunch.
I'm sure they weren't prepared for a large group in the middle of the day in this small town, so we waited a long time for our food {and it wasn't as good as last time}. It filled our bellies, and most importantly it was a fun time hanging out together.
Once the reunion officially started, we had fun checking out the many activities with M and B.
No one can resist the homemade bread and jam. Soooooo good.
We gathered to practice for our "spotlight" segment at the family meeting to be held later in the day. This little activity can produce some stress (there may be *some* in the extended family that view these types of things as a talent competition), but I think we rocked it. Our spotlight was about mi mamita (each family spotlighted their "first generation" family member). Mar wrote and was willing to perform a cute song, and the rest of us were just... backup dancers haha.
We went over to the farmhouse-turned-museum to take a private tour with mi mamita.
The girls all tried on some vintage hats...
...and the guys checked out the interesting artifacts in the boys' bedroom.
Everyone gathered for the traditional family picture. I'm sad I don't have a better copy. I'll have to ask my mom to see if she has one, and if she does I'll replace my poor-quality one below.
I believe we had dinner at this point (no pictures to remind me),
then it was family meeting time. B loved the hats we used for our spotlight.
Each first generation family member was spotlighted by their family. Each one was unique. My mom had no idea what we were going to do for hers, which made it so fun.
Miss Louise Goldsberry - Yes, it's time to look and see
All the things that make her special and describe her perfectly:
Sewing skills, yummy scones, and such a lovely home
Testimony like no other, at the temple serving weekly;
Full of love, pretty smile, time with her is so worthwhile,
Her example is never second best;
Mother, grandma, and great, take a glance and you'll see
She's the best, she's the best, she's the best!
She loves books, gardening, yes, her mind she's sharpening;
Traveling around the world, Jerusalem's her destiny.
Games with kids, family, she makes friends so naturally,
Family history she preserves, and she really loves to serve.
Day by day, one by one, she blesses us, SHE'S NEVER DONE!
Supportive and always full of fun;
Now there's a little glance, and if you get the chance you'll see
She's the best, she's the best, she's the best!
The sunset was breathtaking.
We loaded up on the trailer for the ride up the mountain for the traditional bonfire and marshmallow roast (I can't remember, but I don't think we had a wiener roast this year - I'm pretty sure we had dinner at the barn).
Saturday, July 23
Beautiful sunrise (courtesy of Little Billy, who got up early enough to see it haha).
Our family was assigned breakfast duty, so we were up early enough to
git 'er done.
These cute kids loved sleeping in a tent, and obviously enjoyed snoozing even after the sun was up.
After breakfast there were more activities - Jason wanted to try his hand (literally) at arm wrestling.
His take-away, "Farmers are STRONG."
(He also enjoyed it enough to join a club and pursue the sport further.)
I took B on the kids' tractor ride (I didn't mention that both M and B hated the ride they took the first day, and ended up screaming to get off haha). This ride was soooooo uncomfortable for this old lady {with very long legs}. But it was worth it to give B a better memory of it.
There were wax museum tours at the farmhouse. Everyone who attended loved them. I was helping with the kids, so I didn't make it over to it. I very much enjoyed my time with M and B, though!
Lex took M on the torture tractor ride.
She concurred that it was quite uncomfortable for grown ups.
The final event of the reunion is lunch.
I'm always impressed at how this huge event gets pulled off biennially. I was so glad Jason and Lex made the trip - it's always so much more effort to travel with kids. I loved seeing those "first generation" aunts and uncles, and chatting with cousins I don't cross paths with often.
And here are 9 of the 14. In those uncomfortable buckets. I don't envy them haha.
After helping with our cleanup duties, we headed home.
That evening we had a mini firework show out our front door for Pioneer Day.
