Monday
Coming to the reunion, for Tomás, meant missing some crucial training and meetings he was supposed to attend for his Student Teaching starting the next week. As a compromise, we headed down late on Monday so he could attend a luncheon with the Principal of Skyview High. We left Nampa around 1:30 and arrived in American Fork around 7:00. Tomás' Aunt Susan and Uncle Garth live in Alpine, which is right off the road headed into the canyon, so we took a short detour for an hour or so to visit with them before heading up the canyon. There's no service up at the cabin, so we were truly free of the world while we stayed up there! As the last to arrive, we finally made it up there around 8pm. We are all together! Yay! It's been two years (almost to the day) that we were all together before, and that was our wedding. Oh, did I mention our anniversary was that Sunday before we left? Go two years!
After getting settled and to bed in our respective areas of the cabin, Roen started crying. Miriam was doing all she could to try and comfort him, but he kept crying. She left the cabin a few times to let us sleep, but his cry was really intense. After more than an hour or so or crying, some of us started to get worried. Eli came up to where we were sleeping, and asked Tomás if he had some oil for a blessing. Since we had only brought my keys on the trip, we didn't, but Jordan did. Quietly, Eli, Kirstin, Jordan, Aja, Miriam, Tomás and I made our way onto the back porch to give Roen a blessing. Right as Miriam put Roen in Tomás' arms, he stopped his crying. He seemed soothed by him. Jordan anointed the oil, and Tomás blessed him. It was a beautiful and memorable experience that strengthened our faith in the Lord's priesthood. After the blessing, we all just sat in awe at the bright stars above us in the sky and the experience. I felt as though, on this first night, our bond as a family had already been tightened.
Tuesday
The cabin we stayed in belongs to the Gunther family, who graciously allowed us to stay there for a whole week! It was a large, pretty awesome cabin. Most of us slept in the main area of the cabin, where the kitchen, living room, and two lofts were. A separate room hosted the television, and a ping pong table. There was definitely more than enough room for everyone. The cabin was up the canyon, right next to the Tibble Fork reservoir. It was a beautiful area. The view from the cabin was breath-taking.
After sleeping in, some of us decided to hit up the reservoir. Well, it was a beautiful, sunny day... but the reservoir was freeeeeezing. Tomás, and some of the kids ventured into the water, but I didn't. No thanks. After dinner, we had a little Family Home Evening with everyone. Our topic was "Eternal Families", which I thought was fitting, and Aja had a cool puzzle activity for the kids. After that, we put the kids to bed, and we (as in the adults) watched the Truman Show. It was nice being together as siblings (and in-laws) again.
Wednesday
Today, we decided to head into town to get some supplies for the birthday party we planned to celebrate Aislin, Eli, and Sequoia's birthdays. We went to a newly built Walmart in Cedar Hills, right outside of the canyon and purchased some groceries, a cake, and things for the kids. After getting back to the canyon and having lunch, we had the party! Man, did the kids have a good time. They pretty much went bonkers! Eli brought a piñata and a bubble machine, and Kirstin bought and decorated with balloons and streamers. We all pitched in for some goodie bags for the kids too. They were pretty wired after that. So much candy!
After the party, some of us went to a park outside of the canyon for a short time, while baby Oliver and Roen took their naps. Maya and Sequoia ended up falling asleep in the car ride down anyway. They were all pretty pooped.
After getting back to the cabin, we ate dinner, then put the kids down so we could hang as adults again. We closed off all the kids in the main area where we all slept, and closed the blinds and door to the other room, so we wouldn't wake them up with the light.
For a short while, we just sat and reminisced for about an hour. Jordan started to get thirsty, so he went over to the door into the main room and tried the handle. It was locked. Somehow, we had managed to lock ourselves out, with all the children asleep on the other side. First, Eli tried to call to Sequoia, who was the closest to the door asleep. Being only three, though, we weren't sure she would figure out how to unlock the door. So Eli started to call to Juniper, who was also close. Juniper, being the oldest, was probably the best candidate to unlock the door. Eli probably called through the door for about ten minutes before Sequoia came to the door. Clearly confused, she just looked at us, smiled, then went back to bed. After some more calling, Juniper came, unlocked the door, and went back into her bed without a word. Who knows if she was even awake as she did it. It was definitely the adventure of the night. After making sure the door was unlocked, we went back in and played Apples to Apples until pretty late. Whoo! What a night. We all laugh about it now.
Thursday
Although we slept in pretty much every morning, we were definitely late waking up on Thursday. Today, Eli was going to pick up Abe (the only person not in attendance until now) in the afternoon. After Eli left, Tomás and I, Miriam, Kirstin, Jordan, and some of the kids went down to the creek to play around while we waited for Eli & Abe to return. Kirstin said she had found a cool spot one day while out running, that the kids could play in where the creek wasn't too rapid. We headed down to that spot and hung around while Jordan and Tomás built a dam in the river. It was hot. Eli and Abe made it back to the cabin around the same time we did.
We ate an early dinner because that night was date night! I had asked Sara earlier to babysit all of the kids so we could go out as adults. She was nice enough to do it for us. Thanks Sara! We dropped off all but newborn Oliver to her apartment, and went bowling. It was a blast! Afterwards, we went to a frozen yogurt place and relaxed for awhile before picking the kids. On our way back up to the cabin, we picked up Unstoppable from a Red Box, and watched that when we returned after putting the kids to bed. It was an eventful day, for sure.
Friday
Tomás and I had prepared a little mini concert for everyone of original songs Tomás had written, and we had been waiting until Abe came to perform. We decided to finally perform on Friday, after breakfast. The kids seemed to like it, as they started to dance around to a few songs.
After the show, it was picture time! Aja brought her nice SLR camera and tripod to the cabin, so we thought it would be a good idea to take some sort of family picture while we were all together. Especially since we don't know where we will be next year, and Jordan and Aja said they might be moving to Texas in the next year or more. We all spent most of the day hanging around, and getting everyone showered and primped for the pictures. Once the sun started to set, Aja started taking individual family pictures, then we headed down to the reservoir for a big family photo. They turned out great! Aja & Jordan did a great job. (P.S. Some of these pictures I have posted were taken by Aja)
After the show, it was picture time! Aja brought her nice SLR camera and tripod to the cabin, so we thought it would be a good idea to take some sort of family picture while we were all together. Especially since we don't know where we will be next year, and Jordan and Aja said they might be moving to Texas in the next year or more. We all spent most of the day hanging around, and getting everyone showered and primped for the pictures. Once the sun started to set, Aja started taking individual family pictures, then we headed down to the reservoir for a big family photo. They turned out great! Aja & Jordan did a great job. (P.S. Some of these pictures I have posted were taken by Aja)
That evening, we had burgers and Jordan made a fire in their fire pit out front of the cabin. We roasted marshmallows, and bananas with chocolate. Yum. We spent the rest of the night out there chatting about a variety of things, and stories from the past.
Since it was our last night together, we had to make it last! I think we went to bed around 2am. Whew! The week seemed to fly by, but we had such a great time. The cousins had so much fun playing together, and I know it was a week of memories we can always look back on and remember.
