Family Reunions

This summer both my Mom and Dad’s families decided to have family reunions – a week apart from each other! We haven’t had a reunion on either side in 5+ years so it was funny how the timing worked out! So two weeks ago we had the DeLaMare family reunion. Thankfully it was here in Colorado so we didn’t have to go far! We had a luau at my Aunt Tanya’s house where we roasted a pig, rode ATVs, sat in the hot tubs, played Volleyball, horseshoes, bean bag toss and Rock Band and just had a great time together! The day before, most of the grandkids went to Elitchs together and it was a ton of fun to spend time together and ride the rides. I particularly enjoyed catching up with Stacia (my closest cousin who recently returned from her mission), talking with Phil and Jacob, and running around with Macy.

Last weekend we flew to the Portland Airport to attend the Andrus family reunion in Battle Ground, WA. We enjoyed time sitting by the river one day and by the lake the next talking and enjoying each other’s company. I got to hold my cousin, Jamie’s, baby, Sadie, (who has the same birthday as me!) for hours by the lake and that was a real treat for me. The only downside was that it presented lots of opportunity for comments about my lack of children…lol, but it was actually all pretty funny. My top three favorites parts of the river and lake activities were talking with my Uncle Mark and also my Uncle Danny about politics and public education, holding Sadie, and playing Frisbee with my cousins. We actually got a game of Ultimate Frisbee going and it was a BLAST! It was really fun to spend more time with Jamie’s husband, Patrick. He and Aaron have some fun business ideas going now after chatting for while. It was also fun to see Jamie being a mom and to see Camille as a beautiful teenager! It’s weird how time changes people’s roles from what you’re used to. The last night we had 50^th Anniversary party for my grandparents and it was a fiesta! It was actually a very special night and my grandparents shared some great insights as they spoke to us. The best part was that my grandma gave each granddaughter a piece of handpainted china from her mother’s collection, and my grandpa gave us each a copy of his published life history! I’ve been wanting to read it, but Aaron read over my shoulder as I read the first two chapters on the plane, and he got hooked and hasn’t given it back since! Haha, I’ll get my turn soon.

Both reunions were wonderful experiences, it’s always very special to me to have time with family. I’m extremely frustrated with myself for forgetting to bring my camera to the Andrus family reunion! We didn’t hear our alarms and nearly missed our plane, so it got forgotten in the hustle. Oh well, I’ll get pictures from everyone else soon. Also, I got to see one of my best friends, Caylene, while we were in Washington! It was a short visit but so awesome! I always love spending time with her. It was as if we’d never been apart! She’s like a sister to me and so it was fitting that I saw her on the weekend of a family reunion J

Sorry there are no pictures in this post, if you want to see my family reunion pictures, feel free to check out facebook.