I was impressed by the number of descendants, their humor, attitude of love, and each one's uniqueness. Not to mention talent, cute babies and general helpfulness.
Okay, that's enough bragging.
The only ones missing were our four missionaries--Jason in Las Vegas West, Esther in Virginia Richmond, Berkeley in Utah Ogden, and Zachary at the MTC in Provo preparing to go to Cambodia. We missed them, but we wrote them letters.
The first day there was a photo shoot taken by Michael Brewster.
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| Sheryl's clan |
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| Ken's clan |
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| Carl's clan |
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| Brenda's clan |
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| Neil's clan |
The girls had organized a 50th anniversary tribute for us. What a hoot! First Ken reviewed what was happening in 1964, the year we married, and then led his family a cappella in "Families Can Be Together Forever." Impressive.
Then Neil reminisced, particularly about what we did as a family in the great out of doors. Brought back a flood of memories. Then his whole family sang "My Heavenly Father Loves Me." Touching.
Then Sheryl, bless her heart, paid tribute to us as a married couple and then introduced Jonathan as comic relief. He told a joke about Adam and Eve--the perfect wife would cost an arm and a leg, so Adam asked what he could get for a rib! Jessica and Michael sang a duet, "We Two" which was supposedly popular when we married. Schmaltzy.
Then Brenda's Sam and Sydney read something they'd written about us and Maia read a cute poem.
Then Brenda and Mike sang "It Had to Be You." Catchy and apropos.
Then Carl told a joke about how Dad was once asked to speak on Christmas, he didn't know why. But Dad said he knew it was because if they said five minutes, he'd only take five minutes. His girls each read a verse of a nostalgic poem called "Piano" by D. H. Lawrence.
Kate:
Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.
Laura:
I
n spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.
Grace:
So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamor
With the great black piano appasionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.
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| Carl and his girls |
Then Jessica had made a slideshow of pictures down through the ages. Sweet.
Then fancy cakes.
What a celebration! We thought it was perfect.
The rest of the reunion was fun too. I'll just throw in some random pictures. Hopefully I'll get one of each grandchild and great grandchild! (Looking it over, I only missed Steph and our wonderful daughters-in-law.)
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| Annabelle and David shooting rockets with Jessica |
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| Sydney and Brenda distracted from reading |
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| Rachel and Ariana puzzling |
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| Jessica at Alsea Falls |
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| Carl's and Brenda's girls playing with baby Quin |
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| Erik, Curtis and Sam |
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| Trevor at the falls |
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| Joseph wasn't too sure of the pond |
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| Neil with Gideon |
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| Ken, the mad scientist, shooting off rockets with Maia and Grace |
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| Laura and Kate in a talent show skit |
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| Robin at the archery range |
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| Kate on the land zipline |
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| Jonathan and Sheryl relaxing at the pond |
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| Annie in a canoe |
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| Gabriel playing with a frisbee |
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| Mike and Brenda on the pond |
