Family Reunions

One of the things I admire most about Matt's extended family, is how close they are.  I remember I used to be so perplexed that Matt could talk about his first-cousin-once-removed, or his 2nd cousin, or his grandpa's sister like he knew them and what was going on in their lives.  I have a hard time just keeping up with my first cousins.  (Granted I currently have about 65 first cousins, some of whom are just weeks old.  I actually am somewhat proud that I even know all of their names!)  Anyway, I love that Matt's extended family has reunions, and I attribute their closeness to getting together often. The Page side of the family usually gets together twice a year, and the Watkins family once a year.  I'm talking Matt's grandparents, their siblings, and all of their posterity.  I have enjoyed getting to know Matt's extended family through these reunions.  The Watkins family held their reunion a couple of weeks ago.  It was fun, as always.

                           

 I think the highlight was the pie eating contest!

A week later, we had a Page Family Reunion, that was not quite as extended- the Ron and Sandy Page family.  (Matt's grandparents, their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren)  We all gathered together for a week long reunion in Park City.  We had a blast hanging out with everyone, especially family we don't get to see as often.  Nana and Papa found a perfect balance of having things planned to do, and letting everyone relax and chill with no schedule. 

We did lots of hanging out...

Fort Building...

Basketball games, Mountain Biking, Ping Pong Tournaments and card games-"Nickel, Nickel"

Plus a fun competition of Minute-to-Win-it Games...

And Swimming...

We also sewed and serged holiday placemats for our families (and yes I did mine all by myself!), waxed our hands, enjoyed family dinners each night, and listened to in-law family histories.  Sydney and Cooper had a blast with so much family around.  They loved learning everyone's names who aren't familiar to them, and by the end they could pretty much name everyone.  The rooms were so nice, and it was great to have our own space, which made naps much easier.  The kids' favorite part of the rooms was the huge bathtub!  They took several baths in it, since it was pretty much another swimming pool for them.

Cooper is a little less social than Sydney, took longer to warm up to others, and could often be found asking Cadie or me to "hold you?" He has a special bond and love with Cadie.  But I think he slowly warmed up to everyone.  Still, when I show him pictures he likes to point out everyone and say their names.  He was so cute to watch at the ping pong tournament, because he kept finding puddles and splashing in them.  I have been amazed at how much he likes getting into things like that, and dirt!

Sydney couldn't get enough of bouncing from one person to another.  She absolutely loved having so many people around, and learned that they would give her anything she wanted- candy, chocolate milk, you name it.   She absolutely adores Mason and playing with him.  It has been fun that they have been able to interact more as he's gotten older.

 

Our last night there, we had time scheduled to take family pictures.  Our photographer and Corie were both stuck in Parley's Canyon, because the road was closed from a car that caught on fire.  Needless to say, our photo session was delayed (a lot) so we took pictures with our own cameras.  These are those pictures, which actually turned out really nice.  It was funny to watch us amateurs taking pictures with sunny/shady spots all over.  At one point Chris put a t-shirt on our umbrella stroller and held it up to block some sun that was on someone's face.  Too funny!  It's fun to have pictures of us all dressed up nice though.

One thing I have realized in my "old age" is that it is hard to get a big group of people together, who all have different schedules, live in different states, and have differing interests.    But just because something is hard, doesn't mean it's not worth doing.  Just the opposite can be true.  Usually hard things are the most rewarding.  I think this is the case with family reunions.  After all, families are forever, so we should keep working on our relationships even while our families grow and change.  

With that being said, thank you so much to Nana and Papa for always putting so much effort into getting the family together.  I can tell you that coming from what I thought was a close family, it is amazing to see your family interact with one another.  Even though they all have different interests, they still care about each other and enjoy being together.  You have an amazing ability to treat everyone special, to love everyone, and to take anyone into your family, and I have been lucky enough to be a recipient of it.  I have the same goal for my family as it grows.