Catch-up Post #2: Family Reunion

Over the 4th of July weekend, Dave and I travelled to Colorado to attend the R.E. Whiting family reunion. R.E. Whiting was my great-grandfather. As a child, I spent at least a week in the summer at the family ranch in Colorado. That is where my grandfather, his brothers, and my great-grandparents lived. There were always lots of cousins, aunts and uncles around. I always looked forward to our annual summer visit. My grandma's molasses cookies and homemade bread were always available and absolutely delicious. There was swimming in the creek (which actually was forbidden because the creek could be dangerous and there was never any adult supervision), riding horses, get pop from the vending machine in Uncle Don's barn. We could earn money for the vending machine by picking peas for Uncle Rod or Don (I can't remember which one had the pea field, but I do remember I only ever made enough for a pop). And even though this was my dad's family and he could rarely get the time off of work to go for a visit, my mom always made sure to get us to Colorado for at least a week every summer. That was no small feat since she was travelling with 5 children and the drive was 11 hours from Tucson (where I lived until I was 12) or the drive was 18  hours from Aberdeen (where I lived during my teen-age years). Yeah, she is pretty much a rock star for getting us there.

But after growing up, getting married, having kids and being busy with life, several years elapsed between visits. The last time I visited the ranch Katelyn was about 7 and Carson was 4. Then there was a family reunion in St. George about 8 years ago which we were able to attend. So over the last 25 years, I have visited with extended R.E. Whiting family members a total of two times. When I realized how sparse our visits had become, I made it a point to make sure to get to this family reunion to visit with my grandma, those various aunts, uncles and cousins I had known in my youth, and spend some quality time with my nieces and nephew.

Even though it was about a 17 hour drive each way, the drive was well worth the memories that were created over the course of the family reunion. We had family volleyball that didn't result in any fighting (honestly, that is a HUGE win), makeshift horseshoe pits so that the horseshoe tradition could live on, an auction with family treasures (like a map featuring the Whiting Bro. gas station, a ball cap with the Whiting Bro. gas station logo, a replica sign pointing the way to the Whiting Homestead in Arizona, a quilt tied by my grandma) and every meal together as a large, extended family. It was awesome.

Probably the memories I cherish the most of the ones with my brother's kids. Nate wasn't able to come to the reunion but he let us take 3 of his kids. Even though they were loud and crazy during the car ride, I'm so glad we were able to take them. We played on the rope swing, kayaked and canoed around the lake, took turns helping our cousin Melody with her special-needs twins. I hoped they enjoyed their time with us as much as enjoyed our time with them.

Now for a few pictures from the reunion:

A mountain bluebird that made its daily rounds around the reunion site.

Dave with Reagan and Madeleine

The girls convinced Dave to give the kayak a try. Too bad it was full of water from Friday night's rainstorm. Dave's bottom got soaked. The girls thought that was the funniest thing ever.

Travis quickly became a kayak champ and was ready for the kayaking he would be doing at scout camp the next week.