The Reunion

We spent the last week in St. George, UT at the L. Family reunion. Besides the traditional swimming, eating, playing Hearts to all hours of the night, and the unfortunate few who got sick, the following are highlights:

Monday: We went to prearranged tours at the Brigham Young Home, Jacob Hamblin Home and the St. George Tabernacle. Elder and Sister Udy were our missionary guides for the entire day. They told us about the details of each place and gave us all the attention we wanted. That evening for family home evening, we had a song, lesson, and marshmallow guns. The mothers were in charge of starting the marshmallow war which turned into a lot of laughter and a few tears.

Tuesday: Dad’s brother, Uncle Michael, came and visited Grandmother and the rest of the crew. We were glad to see him! In the afternoon, the men and boys went to Fiesta Fun Center for unlimited go-carts, bumper boats, and fun. They bashed and banged each other up along the course.

Wednesday: The runs and puke had hit some of the group so we left them to recover while we went and hiked in Zion’s National Park. We hiked the Pa’Rus trail, rode the canyon tram, hiked to the Emerald Pools, and ate ice cream. It out to be a fun day.

Thursday: The men took children to the pool while the women including J. went shopping, talking, and to lunch.

Friday: Some returned to Zion’s Park to go hiking. Others swam. L4 and I with our boys went to visit Aunt Dona. Aunt Dona is my Grandpa K.'s sister. It was a lot of fun to visit with her and her daughter, Sarah.

Saturday: We packed up the car and headed to the Lehi Bakery. Since today is Father’s Day, we bought my Grandpa K his favorite cinnamon rolls at the bakery of his childhood. Then we were off to see J. A., L4’s friend and roommate from BYU. J. recently changed employment from New Jersey to Utah. We were thrilled to see him and glad that we got caught up. We finished our drive to Idaho by early evening. We unloaded the car and went to the car museum that was put together for Grandpa K’s birthday. Underfoot got to drive a car! He loved it.

In addition, we learned that our Aunt Lois Denne passed away. She was the youngest sister to my great-Grandpa. We have arrived safely for another family filled week. We hope that Father’s Day is a pleasant day for each of you.

Prearations

Greetings from St. George, UT!!! The annual L. family reunion has started, and we look forward to the adventures this week will bring.

This last week was spent in preparations for leaving. K2 still participated in swim lessons, and Underfoot had refresher lessons. One day this week, Underfoot and I were doing his scripture time. One of the pictures was of a family dressed white standing in front of a temple. He pointed at the picture and said, “They’re angels, Mama.” This tender moment gave me hope because we believe we have the opportunity to be a family forever. I hope he recognizes our love for him and K2 and our desire to be together forever.

As I would drive between swimming lessons, I listened to taped lectures and books specially about the American Civil War. I have learned about the people, the politics, the reasons some fought, and the battles. I have learned how this war from not so long ago still affects us today. I am grateful to have learned about the past. Different perspectives have helped me to teach my children about belief in and for a cause. It has also helped me to teach about obedience. In addition, I’ve learned that most people do not succeed in all times of their lives but have a time in which they shine and prove themselves valuable.

L4 worked a lot of extra hours so he won’t have to use all of his paid time off while in on our trip. K2 and Underfoot have been thrilled to greet him when he comes home. He took Underfoot for a bike ride one night and carries both boys often at their request. Arriving home early on Thursday evening, he assisted in the final travel preparations. I’m grateful he came home. I love him!

Thursday was a bustle of activity. We packed, cleaned, ironed, loaded the car, and went to bed after midnight. We woke early the next morning (around 3:30 am to Underfoot crawling in our bed saying he didn’t feel well). After attempting to go back to sleep for an hour, we dressed, prayed, and left for our adventure. We drove and drove with a few stops for earrings (Thanks D.!), potty, and eating. We listened to Louis L’Amour books, talked, and stopped to eat at a buffet in Las Vegas. About 13 hours later on Friday evening we pulled into St. George. We then went swimming.

On Saturday, we checked out and checked in, went shopping, made supper, and welcomed the family with a meal. L4 even surprised everyone with homemade ice cream! Our boys did awesome! K2 would scream when he was done being in his car seat or bored. L4 has dubbed him 100 dB. Underfoot stayed close and did amazing on making it to the bathroom as a newly potty trained boy!

Mount St. Helens

My friend BC says that poop and puke stories are always better when they involve someone else’s child.

On Sunday, (last week) K2 wasn’t feeling well. We didn’t know it until he vomited all over Mama during the last hour of church. It was not a trivial amount of spit up. It was a Mt. St. Helens eruption. Mama was just about to begin the lesson for her class of 4 year olds. They watched in stunned silence. K2 didn’t have a fever. We realized after the fact that he was probably sick because he was getting two new teeth, on top of the two other teeth that came in earlier in the week. Mama discovered the new teeth on Wednesday.

On Monday we worked our guts out during the morning and then we had a BBQ at a friend’s house in the afternoon. I painted the pergola while Mama and Underfoot worked in the Garden. Mama pulled out all the broccoli and transplanted some melon plants into one of the garden boxes. Our tomatoes are coming on. The garlic is almost ready. We planted three basil plants and they are growing like crazy. Our blackberry plants are giving us a few blackberries every couple
days. Most of the grape vines have grapes. The garden is going to start producing in large quantities just as we are heading north for vacation.

The heat is on. We’ve had several days of 100+ temperatures. We turned on the A/C on Monday night. On Tuesday I installed an automatic watering system for our chickens. They now have a clean water supply that is tied to the irrigation system. On Wednesday I re-insulated the refrigerant tubes for our air conditioning system. The old insulation was sun-baked and falling off. I’m hoping that the improved insulation will boost efficiency and save us on our electric bill.

Mama has been preparing for the L. family reunion this week. In addition to some shopping in town, she taught several piano lessons. She continues to drive all over the place. I think she likes the new car.

On Saturday Mama got up early and sprayed for weeds. She also fertilized the garden. She then went to do Bountiful Baskets. We are happy to have a basket again. We took it easy during the heat of the day. After supper we washed and waxed the Pilot. We then went to fill up the car and both boys fell asleep before we got out of our neighborhood.