The first reunion was in Ogden with my mom and her siblings and their kids and grand kids. It was great and almost everyone was there (minus two that live out of town and one on a mission and one due with a baby any day) were there. We started the day off in the park with a pancake breakfast. My dad and Uncle Rich flipped the pancakes and we had some good stuff to go with it. My mom has been working on this reunion for months and the theme was the great family race. I helped her put together a few of the envelopes for it. She put together a stack of envelopes for each family (so my mom, her kids and grandkids on a team) with a code of some sort on the outside. There was the x code, Morse code, Popsicle stick code, pinhole code, and a few others. We each had to crack the codes on the outside with our team. We all had different colors we were wearing, we were the white team and all dressed in white.The codes would tell us the location to go to in Ogden and have a challenge to do at each one. We first ended up my mom's grandmother's house and I remember going there around Christmas time to go visit our great Aunt Adele. We learned about our great Grandma Ruby Rebecca Pearse and great Grandpa Hyrum Bristow Wheelwright. There was a picture of their house from years ago and a picture of Ruby knitting. She used to knit a lot and make clothes and put on fashion shows. So our challenge was to do some finger knitting with yarn. Next stop was the Ogden cemetery to find some graves of loved ones and find certain dates. We also had to memorize a poem that was written by Catherine Emma Farrar, my third great grandmother. The kids did really great at that and memorized it pretty quickly and have been reciting it ever since.
"Love is planted, there it grows. It buds and blossoms like a rose. It has such a sweet and pleasant smell, no flower on earth can it excel."
Next, we went to the Daughters of Utah pioneers museum. We had a list of 6-8 pictures of our ancestors to find and then a list of artifacts that were donated. I had been there when Emma was about 4 and Cal just about 2, and was surprised to see how many items they had from my ancestors. Then it was off to go to Weber State University and stop at the archives section at the library. We got to see a first copy edition of the Book of Mormon, Book of Mormons in many other languages including one in Deseret, which was cool! We got to see many other neat church books. And we got to see some currency from the Bank of Deseret which was signed by the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry, and some pictures of some little houses that Hyrum made that were in the parade back in the 50s or 60s and then were in my mom's uncles backyard that she played in. All of these were donated by my mom's grandparents. It was so neat to see it all! Then we hit up a park and had to count up the number of pavilions. Next, we stopped at lunch at Wendys. . We went to the dollar store to get something that might have been sold at the Wheelwright dry goods or Wheelwright Lumber. Amber, Cal and Emma found an old looking bottle, which was fun. Finally, our last top was Farr's Ice Cream. My Grandpa Roland's favorite flavor was black licorice, so I had to get that in honor of him. I think this was a favorite stop, and even Sydnie couldn't get enough of the cold sweet stuff everyone was sharing with her and she'd get fiesty when anyone stopped feeding her. We ended up back at the park where we turned in our packets. We helped count up points and David & Cheryl's team won! Then we had a dinner at the park and got to talk again. It was a great catching up and a great day! I am thankful for my ancestors and their examples of faith, hard work, dedication, loyalty, thrift, and love.
The next weekend, we had our Stoddard family reunion in Driggs, ID. Mark and Mayela were in charge of planning it. Dave flew down and we picked him up from the airport and headed straight there. It was a great time! We stayed at an air B&B and got there just in time for a hearty greeting with lots of hugs and Mexican street tacos, yay! That night, we played around the house and in the beautiful English style garden backyard, talked, tried out the hot tub, ate all the snacks and stayed up late. Friday morning, we woke up to my moms cinnamon and strawberry rolls and mini quiches, got ready to go. We went hiking a bit and visited Hidden Falls. Breathtaking! Then we stopped and had a picnic lunch and played at a park. We drove around and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Then it was to Jackson Hole. We played at the Town square and chased some prairie dogs, took pictures by the antler arches, and walked through the town and went shopping. Our family decided to do Jackson hole's Old Time Photos. I've always wanted to do this, and now that our family is complete, it was a perfect time. We all had a blast picking out our outfits and props, I was surprised how into it our kids got! They loved it! I love how they turned out! We browsed at some other stores, played at the toy store, window shopped, got some candy at the candy store, got our pressed penny, saw the old west shoot out, and then went to dinner at Bubbas. It was a fun outing! The drive back was amazing, we saw some wildlife, including a moose! That night, the kids watched a movie, they were pooped, hot tubbing again, and after bed, the adults played telestrations, Lots of smiles and laughs with our loved ones!
The next weekend, we had our Stoddard family reunion in Driggs, ID. Mark and Mayela were in charge of planning it. Dave flew down and we picked him up from the airport and headed straight there. It was a great time! We stayed at an air B&B and got there just in time for a hearty greeting with lots of hugs and Mexican street tacos, yay! That night, we played around the house and in the beautiful English style garden backyard, talked, tried out the hot tub, ate all the snacks and stayed up late. Friday morning, we woke up to my moms cinnamon and strawberry rolls and mini quiches, got ready to go. We went hiking a bit and visited Hidden Falls. Breathtaking! Then we stopped and had a picnic lunch and played at a park. We drove around and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Then it was to Jackson Hole. We played at the Town square and chased some prairie dogs, took pictures by the antler arches, and walked through the town and went shopping. Our family decided to do Jackson hole's Old Time Photos. I've always wanted to do this, and now that our family is complete, it was a perfect time. We all had a blast picking out our outfits and props, I was surprised how into it our kids got! They loved it! I love how they turned out! We browsed at some other stores, played at the toy store, window shopped, got some candy at the candy store, got our pressed penny, saw the old west shoot out, and then went to dinner at Bubbas. It was a fun outing! The drive back was amazing, we saw some wildlife, including a moose! That night, the kids watched a movie, they were pooped, hot tubbing again, and after bed, the adults played telestrations, Lots of smiles and laughs with our loved ones!
Saturday, we woke up and ate and then we did activities at the house. We played big foot, horse shoes, capture the flag, 3 legged races, did bubbles, and then a balloon dunk tank. It was an absolute riot! No one could get dad, so we all cracked up about that! Everyone was a good sport, and the adults, as well as the kids had a blast. All that gaming made us hungry so we had Chilean hot dogs for lunch. After that, time for family Jeopardy. Meghan put that together and it was fun. Our team dominated! We also did the saran wrap game where there are lots of prizes wrapped in a big saran wrap ball. You take turns rolling dice and if you get doubles, you get to unwrap it to get a prize and then pass it along to the next person who gets doubles. We had a barbecue with shishkabobs, salads, and the drinks we got at the grocery store like the strawberry rhubarb soda and Jackson Hole cream soda.Then we got a scripture story and had to make cakes based on that. The boys had the stripling warriors and we had the story of Ammon. Everyone did great! Then we had a big fire in the back yard and a testimony meeting. I am so thankful for the strength of our family and for their faith! We finished off the night with s'mores and then more hot tubbing.
Sunday morning, we packed up, cleaned up, ate some breakfast burritos, and went to church. After that, we gave hugs and headed out. It was so nice to all be together! We are so thankful for our families - truly, the love of a family nothing on earth can excel!
