We had a family reunion! I know, right? We have only had one of those that I can remember, other than this one. It's hard when you drop your kids off all over the country and when 2 of them marry military men themselves and some just need an attitude adjustment! But hey, we did it and plenty of people came!
Finishing the binding on the quilt on the trip up to Mom and Dad's!
Mom came up with the theme of celebrating all the holiday's that they miss celebrating with all their kids and grandkids because everyone is so spread out.
We had 4th of July with sparklers and pool and slip and slide time,
We had Christmas presents- white elephant gifts,
We had birthday celebration complete with mini cakes to frost and decorate,
The book has pictures of all the kids and grandkids. The quilt was a representation of each family. They chose the main color. I chose the square that would represent the family. We have green and a hunters star since Rob is Army and we move a lot and we own a lot of guns. Karl's is red- I assume for Arizona State and his is Wheel of fortune, because he is in the finance game. Mike's is maroon, I assume for Texas A&M and his is Sister's choice, since they have a lot of girls in their family. Cindy's is robins egg blue (not sure why. Probably because she likes that color) and is a windmill- they live in Washington state and were Air Force, so it seemed to fit. Dan's is.... I can't remember! It was birds in flight though. Was it blue??? Anyway, him and his wife both work for the airlines, so that's why the pattern. Lise's was purple, because that fits her and the pattern was bento box, because she loves anime. Tim's was a pattern that just looked digital to me, because he is into everything digital and it was grey, because he likes things plain.
We had Easter with the only two littles left that would participate in an egg hunt.
We went on a treasure hunt of places that Mom knew growing up.
I can't tell you now what any of these places are, but we went there and checked them off our list!
We went to the temple and did baptisms for our dead ancestors.
We visited with Great Grandma Keck
We played games and we chatted
What a great fun family reunion Mom and Dad planned! It was so good to see everyone that came. I haven't seen my sister in years and I had never met the two littles. Gretchen and Dan were a blast. I love people who aren't afraid to get into the fun even if it means getting soaking wet!
Until next time family! Love you all!
She's the quiet, shy, reads good books, is a perfect mom, bakes squash to make baby food, can make a penny stretch farther than I have ever seen, goes into a thrift store and comes out with the most amazing things ever kind of sister. This is a perfect Cindy story. One day- I think after I went to the temple and realized all my dresses were now not going to work- I asked to wear one of her dresses. She refused. I asked please and she said, "why don't you wear your own clothes, anymore." I didn't really have an answer except that I liked all of her stuff better now. Then I walked away, thinking of what I could wear. A little later, I went to my bedroom to get dressed and there on my bed was the dress I had wanted to wear with a note on it saying that she was sorry she had been so selfish. Love you Cindy!
She was born about the time I was 10, I think. She had wild hair and cried a lot- and I mean a lot. Mom thinks in retrospect she may have had problems with her formula. Anyway, she just graduated from College, got a job, job decides to downsize and cuts everyone in her office, can't find a job, finally moved outside of Utah to find one. I haven't heard from her that whole time- over a year. So all I can say is I think she is in Portland somewhere now, trying to find a job. Drop a line now and again, Lise. Uh, that's one thing about my sister I can say- her name. It is Annelise- but it is German and you say the e's as soft a's. My mom spelled in wrong and it's suppose to be Anneliese in German to make the i say e. But I just heard that in Finland or Norway or somewhere like that it is spelled correctly, so don't worry Lise- somewhere your name will actually not be said like a very bad and annoying head critter! 
