A Mammoth Family Reunion

Here I am with my brothers and sisters.

A few more family members came out of this six-pack of siblings.

131 of us - and a birth or two since then.

I launched the reunion idea and 126 of the 131 family members readily came on board.
(My son was taking finals at Oxford so his family couldn't come and there was a missionary gal stuck in Ireland.)


We had a representative from each of my siblings' clans to help with the planning.

It was fun skyping with the planning committee. What a terrific bunch!

Here's the Master Schedule of Events -
Kelty's handiwork.

Wish you could see a clear copy of the colored version which was made into a flyer.

The location of our mammoth reunion was Reid Ranch, located in the High Uintas.

Here's an aerial shot of the ranch & surrounding areas. Can you tell that it's remote???

There was a lake for boating and fishing.

There were cowpokes and horseback riding.
There was even a swimming pool . . . at 8,000 ft altitude!

My nieces and nephews providing a Pool Party for my three of my grandkids.

The kids had a blast!

Organized activities included Uncle Mark putting on his fire fighter uniform
and pantomiming his heroic day job.

The newest of the newly-wed crowd whipped up some really cool field games.

A lot of the younger gang took a liking to archery.

 
Even the BIG KIDS got out there and played hard.

Yep. there was a great big ole soccer field near the lodge.

Throughout the day, there were optional classes. We tapped on the expertise of our family members.

I couldn't believe the collective brilliance of our presenters!

(I can say that since I didn't present, although I nudged each of my siblings to stand up and WOW us.)

The first evening, there was a rousing talent show, with Kelty as the emcee.

The audience watched the performers with RAPT ATTENTION . . .

. . . and there was a hearty applause for all the participants, including my granddaughters with their Irish dancing:

The second evening was Skit Night and family stories were recreated LIVE before our eyes.

Again, the audience truly appreciated the various vinettes, even when they were a bit corny.

As the evening descended, my sister Tricia (and Ken helping) led us in singing beloved family songs.


Then, most of the children were tucked into bed and we moved into the lodge for the Adult Portion of the Program.

The first night, we held the Six Pack Panel:

The young adults and teens were able to ask us questions about our childhoods.

Here are some of our devotees, although the photo is missing much of the room.



The second night, the older generation narrated a slide show of family history photos,
including some choice shots of grandparents, great grandparents and some great-great grandparents.

I spent months scanning and cleaning family photos. Then I struggled connecting the gizmos to display them!

A troop of techies (including my dear son-in-law in this shot) came to my rescue.

Energizer bunnies stayed up chatting and 'making merry' until the wee hours of the morning.

It's good to be able to say . . .

 we LIKE our tribe.

Hands down.