It's Our Birthday!

Having a Family Birthday party was such a great idea, conceived and orchestrated beautifully by Laura. She brought all the decorations, the party favors for each child and the ice cream sundae fixings and she and Robert did all the games. The kids loved this! The most precious thing was Hazie was convinced it was her birthday party. I think she wore her birthday hat for two whole days and went to bed wearing it that night. She knows her birthday is coming and just figured this was it. No one tried to tell her any different either.

Here she is 24 hours later
still sporting her Birthday hat.
Hazie is everyone's birthday gift.
Every year!


First we played games.
Here Robert is heading up a game of Uno.

Jewels and Zachy working on their bingo card.

Then we played Fruit Basket, kind of like musical chairs. Then they had done a game of Birthday Bingo with fun facts for everyone's birth date. You had to go around and ask each other questions like, Did the UFO land in Roswell, New Mexico on your birth date? When you got five in a row you were the winner!

Guess who won the game? Yep, me!

Uncle Robert as Rapunzel!

The last game was a real winner. The moms had gathered some dress-up clothing accessories, etc. The kids got a chance to dress up Uncle Robert and Uncle Lowell and then Uncle Chris and Grampa. To say they loved this would be an understatement. I must admit I loved seeing them try to put a ladies bathing suit on Robert! It was a very noisy event, perhaps bordering on pandemonium so the photos were tough to get. With the all action most were very blurry.

The big foam orange hat got a lot
of use and notoriety for sure.

Grampa plays along!

Getting Jim in a black dress nearly did me in but it was so great. Only 10 grandkids could ever orchestrate this with him. Too hilarious! Lovin' the little muskrat hat or whatever it is!

Aunt Jen's "bride" Uncle Lowell!

He is quite charming in his tulle!

And he is looking very at home in his very own orange, form cowboy hat. The ten gallon hat and the gigantic comb are just right for him... standing there at 6'8" in all his glory. He has been known to wear this hat before on various occasions.

Sadly not a single picture of Uncle Chris came out. Here he is in the beginning stage of their job on him. With a matted brown wig and a pinafore?? But we can share his form of goofiness in a later post or two. He took a lot of photos at this party so he doesn't appear in many of them. ;-(

Time to sing and have the Birthday sundaes.
Although we're not known for our fantastic family singing...
this time was an exception. We shook the rafters!

Make a wish everyone!

Uncle Robert did the honors!
He's our ice cream man!

Very Yummy and no baking (time saver)!

The kids enjoyed opening their bag of
party favors specifically selected
for each one by Auntie Lou Lou.

Most of the kids can share birthdays because 8 of them live in the same town. But this was really a special treat for Spencer and Ross who are always too far away to participate. They all had a very fun party! Thanks Auntie Laura and Uncle Robert~what a wonderful memory for all of them and us too. And Hazie will be so surprised and happy when she gets another party on September 24! Aunt Jen, don't forget to get her another Birthday Hat!

Here is Zachary getting all relaxed and sleepy!
Oh how they did love this before bed each night!

Con and Hazie
Hazie does love her cousins
so much and vice versa!

Julia's big smile pretty much sums up

the first full day of the Reunion.

After this it was scripture reading, family prayer and off to bed for another sleep over for all the cousins. The adults were asleep long before the kids! Well, maybe not Jen and Lowell who shared a common wall with the kids! Where do they get all their energy?

Tons of Good Fun!

The Hikers

All of the activities that were planned had one main purpose. Family fun and togetherness. We wanted everyone to have time to do the things they enjoy with everyone else. Sometimes in our busy lives we just run too fast to stop and smell the roses. That was what this reunion was all about. Just stopping the clock, enjoying the hours and minutes of each day as a family.

We wanted the time to be spent doing old-fashioned, enjoyable things without it costing a small fortune, being overly dependent on electronics, or having to get in the car and go somewhere.

The natural out cropping of this resulted in the big media room being unused for TV or movies. This was neat as we never told the kids they couldn't, they just didn't because they were too busy with other things. That required them to be proactively engaged in something creative, active and imaginative. And we gave them plenty of time to entertain themselves.

Spencer and Connor
Strengthening their friendship!

Each morning Grampa had a short walk planned. Most of the time they had returned to the house within an hour. It was just enough to give them some fresh air, exercise and time to enjoy the great outdoors in such a beautiful place.

You can see from this photo how close we
were too the big mountains and how
much snow was still up there.

Uncle Chris was taking the photos
as everyone walked along the lane.

Gramma's Heart Warmers!

Taming the wild Indians
with Hot Tubbing everyday
worked wonders!
They all loved that!

Time for one on one together~
Connor and Grandma Gloria

Hide and Go Seek~
The big house was perfect for this.
And yet they all crammed into this closet!

Look who Uncle Chris found in there!!

Grandma Gloria and Aynslee

The moms relaxing with the birthday banner craft!

Still lots of embellishing and
glittering to do on my banner.

Ayns and Jewels
The kids decorated their time capsules.
Just plastic shakers for them to put their little
reunion treasures in to take home.

Chloe painting her present for Dad.
His BBQing apron!

Aunt Jen had the kids covered. The littler kids did hand print aprons for the Dads and Grandpa to wear while they do their grilling outside. The bigger kids made Duct Tape wallets for them! They landed up making some for themselves too. And of course she helped us moms too.

Jen is amazing in the crafting department, very artistic and just flows with this kind of stuff. Missy and Laura ...the same. Not me...but I did it and it was fun making the banners. The best part was just sitting around gabbing and it was reminiscent of an old-fashioned quilting circle (with glitter of course.)

Piper with her finished product!

The boys working on theirs.

Just on the other side of the railing on the deck...
you could climb the bolder retaining wall
if you got a little restless.
Spencer enjoying the climbing wall here.

Lowell and Chris working on their movie.
No idea what they were doing on a ladder
with a hair dryer until the following night
when it all came to light.

Time for a little computing with our master
software engineer tutoring the kids at something.

There was time for reading and relaxing

Time by yourself and napping too.

And lots of time for snuggling too.
And all this before dinner
and our big family birthday party that night.

Life is good on a family reunion!

Flower Power!

Our Special Flower Power

When Jim and I began to plan the meeting with our children and grandchildren we realized what a touching opportunity it would be. It had been since Christmas 2006 that we'd all been together under one roof. Owen and Hazie were not even born then. It was kind of one of those moments when someone asks you, "If you only had a few minutes what would you tell your posterity?" We felt the weight of it and prayed what we said would make a difference and would set the tone for our time together at Sundance.

On Monday morning after breakfast we gathered everyone around the living room and Laura led us in a song "I Am A Child Of God" and then we began our meeting with a prayer. This is the way Family Home Evening always starts with an opening song and prayer. Then there is a short lesson. Our topic was The Importance of Our Family.

Grampa began by talking to the parents about how important marriage is and how your spouse should be your first priority, even in times when you feel you are pulled in forty directions at once. In essence your family is you and your spouse forever. The kids will grow up and create little families of their own.

He told them to love and honor each other and even though they may be very different in many things their bond is their love and their commitment and their foundation, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With that common bond and foundation, everything else will work together for their good. He commended them on the excellent job they are doing. He shared our deep love for each of them as families and individuals.


I talked to the children primarily, but the lesson was for everyone. I used the large, fancy flower you see at the top of this post on its long, green, leafy stem as my visual aid. It is very glittery and has a ruby red, jeweled center that I attached to it to emphasize the center. I had developed this lesson a few years ago for a presentation I was asked to give and I felt it would convey my thoughts well to a large age range of kids.

Holding the flower up for all of them to see I told them that this flower represents our family. When you came to earth you were the beautiful gem in the center of the flower. Heavenly Father loved you so much He sent you to a chosen family that would love and protect you all of your life.

That family, your mom and dad, your brothers and sisters, your grandparents, your aunts, uncles and cousins are all represented by the petals that surround the center or you. Also there are your ancestors, your further husband or wife and your own children and grandchildren in that flower. It grows and changes as you do. Some petals fall off but are never forgotten, and new ones are formed~all are extremely important in your life.

I explained that each of us has one of these flowers and we are not only the center on our own flower but we are a petal on each family member's flower as well. Our relationship to the person in the middle determines our position or stewardship in the life of the person. The two petals that are always side by side, working the hardest in their behalf, represent their Mom and Dad.

I explained that every petal has a job to do and each is very important for loving and protecting the person in the middle. I added that everyone else in the room was a petal on their own flower and were always there for them to help and guide and love them. I told them they never need to feel alone, because they aren't.

Even though we live far apart we can remain close but this requires an effort on everyone's part. It is like tilling and preparing the garden for some beautiful flowers to grow there. It is one reason why I write the Gramma and You Blog @ http://grammaandyou.blogspot.com for them. Its purpose is to help them to know and appreciate each other more and stay connected.

I explained that we are each other's "People." Others will come and go in our lives, but family is forever and will always be our very own, "Special People," handpicked just for us by God himself.

Grampa added that just like every flower has roots from which it gets its strength and nourishment through rich soil, the sun and living water...we all receive that same beneficial kind of growth and life from the son of God, Jesus Christ, and His gospel.

He told them that the gospel and their family are the best way to find protection and refuge from the harmful things of the world. Those two things are also the things that will bring them the most love and happiness in life. We asked them to remember these things whenever they see a beautiful flower from now on.


The kids seemed to like this lesson and relate to it. At the end we asked them to form a circle in the middle of the floor. Hazie was then placed in the middle of the circle. Then Grampa asked them to imagine that someone was approached the circle wanting to do Hazie harm, to hurt her or tease her. He then stood up and came aggressively towards the group like he was this "bad guy."

The kids all understood that it was their job to protect her so they all surrounded her to shield her from the impending danger. Some moved closer to her, encircling her and placing their own bodies between her and the danger, others attacked the danger directly in her behalf.

It was very sweet and they all got the point.

After this we sang another song and closed with prayer. We put out some 3x5 cards for everyone to write love notes to family members because it is important to verbally share the love we feel for each other. Everyone got into this...we ran out of cards! Every night there was a collection of these precious gems under our pillows.

Auntie Lou Lou (Laura) also made them some special ringed note cards to write something to each cousin that was fun that they'll remember they did together at the reunion. They could then put them in their time capsules that we made for them to put mementos and pictures in of the reunion.

Our feelings were that it went very well and that it helped them bond to each other more and to have a very good time together during the reunion. If there was any problem between any of them during the Reunion we never did see evidence of it. They all got along beautifully and played and shared and enjoyed each other. It was our dream come true. Here are a few photos of some serious togetherness. Nothing could have made their grandparents happier. It was priceless.

Ayns and Julia

Chloe and Owen

All the kids but Ross

Zach, Ross, Spence, Julia and Aynslee

Connor and Chloe making sure that Hazie
felt included in the hike.
We saw this repeatedly in all the kids!

Owie and Chloe
Sweet cousin bonding

No Ross in this photo
He was taking a little break
@ the house during this hike.
The kids always had choices about the events
which made them all happy!

Chlo Jo & O-Mo (Owen Monroe)

Spencie taking a turn
at jumping off a tree stump.

The brotherhood of the cousins

Spencer and Hazie having a heart to heart chat.
We love how they get right down to her level
instead of talking down to her in her wheelchair.
Kids are so intuitive about that sort of thing.

Ayns and Jewel hanging out in the rainbow bathtub!

Connor and Hazie hot tubbin'!!

The film makers, Piper, Con and Zachy

Rossie and Owie sharing a cuddly moment

Gramma edited OUT of this
(Yikes, I scared myself!)
morning pile up on our bed.
One of our favorite traditions!

Jewels and Ayns
Writing love notes to family members
on three by fives to tuck under pillows!

Ross and Zach in deep rapture
over something on the iPad.

Grampa and I had to pinch ourselves,
who could ask for anything more?
Neither of us that is for sure!

P.S. The previous installments of this series of posts on our family reunion can be found by clicking on "older posts" at the bottom of the last post on the page or by looking in the archives on the sidebar and clicking on the one you are interested in viewing.