We made our annual trip to -------- a few weeks ago. It was Crazy fun like always. The reason for the secrecy is per request of the owner. We were talking to her while we were there, and she was saying the they are already booked for 2011, and filling up fast for 2012. They NEVER thought it would become as popular as it has, and they are thankful for the fun they can give, but they don't so much want any more people to find out they exist, or call them. Lucky for us, we already know, and they can't get rid of us now, Waaahaaaahaaa.
This was the first reunion my family has had since our Mom passed away, we haven't all (everyone but Paul and Janelle) been together since the funeral, so we missed Mom deeply. We kicked the weekend off at the best kept secret in Idaho, playing on the 700 foot slip-n-slide, 500 foot zip line, playground, mud football pit, waterfalls, and such greatness as that. Here are a few images of the fun we had...so much better in person.
The next day everyone (but me) ran in the "running the gap" marathon. Some actually did the marathon...OK, only one person actually ran the full marathon, but hey it sounds cool huh. My Brother Matt is CrAZy and amazing. He only trained for 4 weeks for the marathon, and we are talking he went from not running AT ALL to running 26 miles in 4 weeks....CRAZY! I look up to him a ton, for lots of other reasons too.
The rest of the family ran everything from the half marathon to the 1.5k for the kids.
That night some of us went to a wedding reception at Maridales (previously mentioned), and it was absolutely magical! Whimsical if you will. I mean really, It was incredible. So happy we had the chance to see it in it's prime.
The next day Craig gave Benson a name and a blessing...the name was Benson G. Hall. The G stands for "G". you know, like "whats up G?".
OK, so it actually stands for his grandpas. Their names both start with G, and we wanted to honer them both, so we just went with G. That's what I like to call "playen it safe".
After the blessing luncheon my side of the family all went out to my Moms grave (first time), and that was an emotional visit for us all. We had a bunch of flowers (that's a whole nether cool story where the flowers came from), so each of us (grown ups and grandchildren) gave a flower to Grandma Anna, and one to My Dad, and told our favorite memory or story with that grandparent. After that anyone that wanted a chance to say something about "Grandma Leslie" (my mom) got to have the floor...or grass. It was a very special afternoon, and we all felt very close to Leslie our Mom, Grandma, Daughter, and Wife.
The next and final day of the reunion was pretty dang cool. You see, we had it all planned, and it was cool. Here is what we did for the reunion.
Theme- Climb
song- "Go climb that mountain" by Mercy River
Book- "The Travelers Gift" by Andy Andrews
We talked about what it means to climb. Literally and in our lives. After that we listened to the theme song, it's about having willing feet, and taking one step at a time. after that Judy passed out shirts for every one that she made. They said "Climb, Romriell 2010" and had a picture of a person climbing, they were a great touch. Prior to the reunion we all read the book on our own, and the book has 7 decisions of a successful person. Each of us (6 kids) and my Dad choose a decision, and planned an activity to go along with our decision. We talked to the kids about the topic, and hoped they learned something from it...if not, at least they had fun.
Judy did "I will persist without exception" (#7) and we went on a hike...or a climb, if you will. She had jogged the trail a few days before and taken pictures of landmarks along the way. She passed out the pictures to the kids and numbered them, so the kids knew "I have number 1, so my land mark will be first" or whatever. the kid with #1 lead the group up the trail, and when we got to his land mark he stopped, and read a cool quote by someone famous about climbing. It was really cool.
the other activities I can remember were
1."The buck stops here" Matt, making and flying paper air planes in the holt arena. (I don't remember exactly how he tied that in, but it fit really well)
2. "I will seek wisdom" Annabeth, she did a treasure hunt.
3. "I am a person of action" Me, we played freeze dance.
4. "I have a decided Heart" Joanne, and I'm drawing a blank on her activity. (sorry)
5. "Today I will choose to be Happy" Dad, gave us a great talk about how being happy is a choice we make. Even when bad things happen, we can be happy if we choose it.
6. "I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit" nobody had this week...but it is a really good one too:)
I felt like I had been at EFY, The weekend was uplifting, fun, and tiring. What more can I say, I loved it.
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