11/22/07 - We all met at the church in Weiser for brunch and getting to know each other again because most of the cousins haven't seen each other for several years . . . at least that was my case. We had such a great turn out, but we still really missed everyone who didn't come.
We played some really fun games. I didn't get to play some of them, but they looked fun. Nat came up with a memory game where everyone had a chance to write as many (minimum of 12) memories about cousins or other family memories. Nat separated all of us as couples (yes, our poor spouses had to participate) and my cousin Kevin would read a memory. If it applied to us or we remembered it, we got to move a few yards across the gym floor. It was really funny!
The Marc Anderson and Bruce Anderson families were in charge of the Thanksgiving dinner and after cooking 11 turkeys, we served the dinner that evening. We were able to fill up the "thankful tree" provided by my cousin's wife Shana.
My Grandpa Lynn Anderson (I'm named after him) turned 90 years old, so we helped him celebrate. I didn't get a video recording of it (but Lindsay did), but I must say that our whole family singing "Happy Birthday" to Grandpa was the most beautiful song I've ever heard. Lindsay worked really hard on the family video. It had old pictures of Grandpa and Grandma and the kids and then old and current pictures of all of my uncles, aunts, and cousins. It was really fun to watch and I think that Grandpa really appreciated it.
11/23/07 - Brunch in the morning and family pictures simultaneously. Have you ever tried to get 120 people to take a picture together? It was difficult, but I think the photographer did it very well. We played some more games, had a fun little talent show, and then began the murder mystery dinner. Here is the cast:
Mrs. Peacock - my cousin Stacy
Professor Plum - Stacy's husband Dustin
Mr. Green - my brother-in-law (Natalie's husband) Ian
Mrs. White - my sister Natalie
Miss Scarlett - my sister Lindsay
Colonel Mustard - my Uncle Bruce
Miss Peach - my Uncle Bruce's wife Aunt Nita
Miss Something (I can't remember) - my cousin Chelsey
Professor Clueso - my cousin Susie's husband Jeff
The Body - my cousin Summer's husband Bill
Narrator (I can't remember her name either) - my cousin Summer
Summer asked me to be Miss Scarlett, but 100% of me is so happy that Lindsay did it instead. Everyone was in character the whole time and it was hilarious. They all had to make up alibi's and answer our questions as we went to each other their rooms as groups. It was a fun activity and the actual murderer seemed surprised that it was her!
11/24/07 - Because of circumstances beyond our control and because of someone making up their own rules about building scheduling (I'm still a little bitter), we were forced to move over to the Payette church building for our last day of activities. There were so many leftovers from the 2 days previous that we didn't even have to cook our planned meal. It was so fun to be able to sit with my cousins that I haven't seen or talked to either since they were 4 years old (now married!) or I probably never talked to because they were the older cousins.
For our final activity, some of the older kids (including Dustin . . . thanks) stayed with the little kids to entertain them while we all went to the Relief Society room to have a sit-down with Grandpa and his kids. I had asked all of my uncles and aunts to make a short list of Weiser memories to get a little jumpstart on this activity. My aunts and Grandpa all complied, but that sure didn't stop my uncles from telling their stories. It was great! I loved Uncle Ned's stories of him being BFF's with my dad and getting into trouble only because he was doing what my dad was doing. Grandpa told a lot of stories too. I had the opportunity to sit with Grandpa a couple of years ago to hear a lot of his stories, but this was a good refresher course. We could have sat there the rest of the day plus some just listening to stories. This was my favorite part of the reunion.
11/25/07 - Elliot got totally sick, but Stella and went to church anyway. It was nice to see a few of my old friends. We had more leftovers at my parents house for family members who were traveling back home. Hum, leftovers for 4 days . . . maybe that's why Elliot was sick. We drove to Boise in the afternoon and flew back home. It was late, but we were happy to be home. I love my family! Success!
No comments:
Post a Comment