The reason we came here and the best thing about coming all
this way was to be with my FAMILY!
We had to wait a couple of days before my sister Nikki and
her family got there and when they did we had a Family Home Evening which was really cool. I haven't had a Family Home Evening with my sisters and parents since my oldest sister went off to college. It was really fun to all be together.
My sister, Nikki had the lesson and read a
story called “The Relatives Came” which is a story about a happy family coming
to visit and the happy times they have “hugging eating and breathing together”.
She changed a few words in the book to make it more applicable to our family. Then she gave each family a copy of the book. She compared our beach house family reunion to the happy family reunion we all hope to have when we meet again after this life and mentioned how my niece and nephew were going to be taking the first step towards that heavenly home right after our reunion by getting baptized.
She changed a few words in the book to make it more applicable to our family. Then she gave each family a copy of the book. She compared our beach house family reunion to the happy family reunion we all hope to have when we meet again after this life and mentioned how my niece and nephew were going to be taking the first step towards that heavenly home right after our reunion by getting baptized.
After her lesson we had the activity. Earlier my dad had
written questions out on strips of tape and placed them around the beach house.
Questions like “What was your favorite toy as a child?” and “Talk about a
family vacation” and “Tell me about your grandma or Grandpa” My dad told all
the grandkids to walk around and read the questions and discussion starters
while they started a bonfire in the fire bowl on the deck.
Then we all met on the deck at sunset and roasted marshmallows while the grandkids asked my parents questions about their growing up.
I was skeptical that the grandkids would be very interested in asking questions but in the end we had to stop because first there was the fire then it was getting too late. What was fun is that I learned things about my parents that I never knew and the grandkids asked them questions that I had never thought to ask them. For example I learned that my mom chose psychology and sociology to major and minor in for school because there was a boyfriend that she wanted to figure out. I also learned that my dad majored in art in school because when he was small he drew a picture and showed it to his maternal grandmother and she thought it was so great that she put it on the cupboard in her kitchen. My dad was impressed by that and thought to himself "Wow, I must be pretty good at that!" and since then considered himself an artist. They talked about the music they liked as teenagers and they talked about vacations they took, my dad told mission stories and they said what they remembered of their baptisms. We said that we'd try to continue it another night but we sadly never did.
What we did do another night was a Kobe ( my nephew ) organized board game night. Everyone brought games and he had them laid out in different areas for groups to play.
Hyrum was dying to play Mousetrap so that's where we spent most of our evening.
When there was a winner they were awarded with a certificate made by my nephew. I wanted to win just to get one of them. As it turned out I never got one but Hyrum did so that will just have to do. We also indulged in some gourmet popcorn.
Something that all of us seem to have inherited from my mom's side of the family is a passion for popcorn. It was fitting that we drained two containers of popcorn while we were there. They were useful for my "I spy" containers afterwards too. :)
If I've said it once I've said it a million times and I'll continue to say it a million more. The absolute BEST thing about my nieces and nephews is that it doesn't matter how old they are they all hang out.
They don't all hang out all together all the time but every one of them will play with any of the others regardless of age or gender and I love it! Maybe it's because my sisters seemed to have babies around the same time and always had opposite genders so they grew up playing with whoever or maybe it's just because they are AMAZING but regardless it made the week so much fun.
My boys of course seemed to be the shiny new toys because at least with Elijah he WAS the shiny new toy. This was the first time he was meeting some of my family. Almost as soon as we reached the beach house he began bonding with my sister Holly. They had a special bond the entire time we were in Michigan. All she had to do was scoop him up pop a binkie in his mouth and give him "bumpers"( patting his bum ) and he'd be putty in her hands.
Her daughter Saroya must have inherited her magic and she too was able to lull him to sleep.
What I was surprised by was my nephew Ethan's mission to endear Elijah to him. Ethan was in fact the person who first suggested his name, as he searched for names that would start with E so he could have another ( but tinier) "super cool e" The night of the game night he accomplished his goal.
We walked up the stairs after getting Hyrum down to see this
Melted. my. heart. right onto the floor. The other hand was holding his itouch. :)
Everyone got a chance for a one on one with Elijah though
I walked into my parents room one day to see he and my dad engaged in deep conversation.
They were probably at it for a half an hour.
Of course all of my boys loved being with their cousins
Jaliegh and Noah formed a special bond.
One day they were playing cars together when Noah suddenly said "Jaliegh, you're my best friend" then gave her the biggest hug.
After long lingering gazes into her eyes he'd say "I want to play cars again" And after a race the whole scenario would begin again. Jaliegh was for sure his favorite at the beach house.
And Hyrum....well Hyrum was CONVINCED that he was one of the teenagers.
He ate with them, he played with them, he hunted rocks with them, he rode on the inflatable boat with them, he sang Disneyland ride songs with them and he commandeered their phones and other electronic devices to play angry birds.
He LOVED being with his cousins.
We of course had to get a Sisters picture.
This was the day we all wore our Lake Michigan "Unsalted" shirts my Dad had designed for the reunion. We also took advantage of the opportunity to take a family sunset picture.
And the formal family picture inside ( shown above ) and of course a silly face picture.
Noah had fallen asleep at the dinner table and was woken up to be in the picture, this was as silly as he could be. He went directly to bed after this and slept through the next day.
We had a birthday party for Jaliegh and Jackson at the beach house one night. I can't tell you how many birthdays they've shared over the years being born three days apart and in the summer they seemed to always have a joint party whenever they were together in the summer. It was fun to be a part of it this year especially with it being such an important birthday too.
Jackson had gotten a 'Cars' target game for his birthday and I saw the look in Noah's eyes when he did. I reminded Noah that it was Jackson's toy but when they were playing it together Noah grabbed it slipped it under his arm and took off running with it. He may have gotten away with it but he turned back to see where Jackson was, who was running after him, and ran into a wall. They made up and were friends by the end of the night.
The highlight of the week was Sunday when we saw both my niece Jaleigh and my nephew Jackson get baptized. I was asked to speak about baptism but I might as well have been talking about astrophysics because in their nervous excitement neither of them heard a word I said. :)
It was really cool to watch my niece get baptized by her dad with my nephew and brother in law looking on from the top of the stairs in the font and then my niece and brother in law watch as my nephew was baptized by his dad. So great.
Afterwards they showed a video of the pictures of them growing up together. So fun. And so great to share such an important day with a cousin.
What was even better was that we were ALL there together. My brother in law Greg got there JUST in time to do the baptism he was suppose to fly in the evening before but there was a problem with the flight so he flew in the next morning. But at least we were all together finally. But no one took a picture. Can you believe it? Sad.
But also at the baptism Elijah got to meet some more family.
One of the cool things about being here was to go to church with my family. The first Sunday was the day after we arrived at the beach house the church house was an hour away and church started at 9 am
and we had been up very late the night before. As you can see Noah completely melted on the stairs. Ludington was a branch and ours and another family who were also having a reunion made up probably 40% of the people there. It was a cute and unique building and it was fun to be in such a small branch. The previous week there had been 4 sisters in Relief Society and that week there were 18! :)
The next week we went to my sisters ward in Muskegon. We didn't outnumber the regular members as much as we had in the Ludington branch but we did fill two pews. Elijah had been fussy in Relief Society and so I took him out into the hall where my sister just happened to be. As soon as I appeared she scooped him out of my arms saying "He needs me!" and whisked him off happily with her. I guess he did need her.
I love these people!
Can't wait to do it all again!!
Then we all met on the deck at sunset and roasted marshmallows while the grandkids asked my parents questions about their growing up.
I was skeptical that the grandkids would be very interested in asking questions but in the end we had to stop because first there was the fire then it was getting too late. What was fun is that I learned things about my parents that I never knew and the grandkids asked them questions that I had never thought to ask them. For example I learned that my mom chose psychology and sociology to major and minor in for school because there was a boyfriend that she wanted to figure out. I also learned that my dad majored in art in school because when he was small he drew a picture and showed it to his maternal grandmother and she thought it was so great that she put it on the cupboard in her kitchen. My dad was impressed by that and thought to himself "Wow, I must be pretty good at that!" and since then considered himself an artist. They talked about the music they liked as teenagers and they talked about vacations they took, my dad told mission stories and they said what they remembered of their baptisms. We said that we'd try to continue it another night but we sadly never did.
What we did do another night was a Kobe ( my nephew ) organized board game night. Everyone brought games and he had them laid out in different areas for groups to play.
Hyrum was dying to play Mousetrap so that's where we spent most of our evening.
When there was a winner they were awarded with a certificate made by my nephew. I wanted to win just to get one of them. As it turned out I never got one but Hyrum did so that will just have to do. We also indulged in some gourmet popcorn.
Something that all of us seem to have inherited from my mom's side of the family is a passion for popcorn. It was fitting that we drained two containers of popcorn while we were there. They were useful for my "I spy" containers afterwards too. :)
If I've said it once I've said it a million times and I'll continue to say it a million more. The absolute BEST thing about my nieces and nephews is that it doesn't matter how old they are they all hang out.
They don't all hang out all together all the time but every one of them will play with any of the others regardless of age or gender and I love it! Maybe it's because my sisters seemed to have babies around the same time and always had opposite genders so they grew up playing with whoever or maybe it's just because they are AMAZING but regardless it made the week so much fun.
My boys of course seemed to be the shiny new toys because at least with Elijah he WAS the shiny new toy. This was the first time he was meeting some of my family. Almost as soon as we reached the beach house he began bonding with my sister Holly. They had a special bond the entire time we were in Michigan. All she had to do was scoop him up pop a binkie in his mouth and give him "bumpers"( patting his bum ) and he'd be putty in her hands.
Her daughter Saroya must have inherited her magic and she too was able to lull him to sleep.
What I was surprised by was my nephew Ethan's mission to endear Elijah to him. Ethan was in fact the person who first suggested his name, as he searched for names that would start with E so he could have another ( but tinier) "super cool e" The night of the game night he accomplished his goal.
We walked up the stairs after getting Hyrum down to see this
Melted. my. heart. right onto the floor. The other hand was holding his itouch. :)
Everyone got a chance for a one on one with Elijah though
I walked into my parents room one day to see he and my dad engaged in deep conversation.
They were probably at it for a half an hour.
Of course all of my boys loved being with their cousins
Jaliegh and Noah formed a special bond.
One day they were playing cars together when Noah suddenly said "Jaliegh, you're my best friend" then gave her the biggest hug.
After long lingering gazes into her eyes he'd say "I want to play cars again" And after a race the whole scenario would begin again. Jaliegh was for sure his favorite at the beach house.
And Hyrum....well Hyrum was CONVINCED that he was one of the teenagers.
He ate with them, he played with them, he hunted rocks with them, he rode on the inflatable boat with them, he sang Disneyland ride songs with them and he commandeered their phones and other electronic devices to play angry birds.
He LOVED being with his cousins.
We of course had to get a Sisters picture.
This was the day we all wore our Lake Michigan "Unsalted" shirts my Dad had designed for the reunion. We also took advantage of the opportunity to take a family sunset picture.
And the formal family picture inside ( shown above ) and of course a silly face picture.
Noah had fallen asleep at the dinner table and was woken up to be in the picture, this was as silly as he could be. He went directly to bed after this and slept through the next day.
We had a birthday party for Jaliegh and Jackson at the beach house one night. I can't tell you how many birthdays they've shared over the years being born three days apart and in the summer they seemed to always have a joint party whenever they were together in the summer. It was fun to be a part of it this year especially with it being such an important birthday too.
Jackson had gotten a 'Cars' target game for his birthday and I saw the look in Noah's eyes when he did. I reminded Noah that it was Jackson's toy but when they were playing it together Noah grabbed it slipped it under his arm and took off running with it. He may have gotten away with it but he turned back to see where Jackson was, who was running after him, and ran into a wall. They made up and were friends by the end of the night.
The highlight of the week was Sunday when we saw both my niece Jaleigh and my nephew Jackson get baptized. I was asked to speak about baptism but I might as well have been talking about astrophysics because in their nervous excitement neither of them heard a word I said. :)
It was really cool to watch my niece get baptized by her dad with my nephew and brother in law looking on from the top of the stairs in the font and then my niece and brother in law watch as my nephew was baptized by his dad. So great.
Afterwards they showed a video of the pictures of them growing up together. So fun. And so great to share such an important day with a cousin.
What was even better was that we were ALL there together. My brother in law Greg got there JUST in time to do the baptism he was suppose to fly in the evening before but there was a problem with the flight so he flew in the next morning. But at least we were all together finally. But no one took a picture. Can you believe it? Sad.
But also at the baptism Elijah got to meet some more family.
One of the cool things about being here was to go to church with my family. The first Sunday was the day after we arrived at the beach house the church house was an hour away and church started at 9 am
and we had been up very late the night before. As you can see Noah completely melted on the stairs. Ludington was a branch and ours and another family who were also having a reunion made up probably 40% of the people there. It was a cute and unique building and it was fun to be in such a small branch. The previous week there had been 4 sisters in Relief Society and that week there were 18! :)
The next week we went to my sisters ward in Muskegon. We didn't outnumber the regular members as much as we had in the Ludington branch but we did fill two pews. Elijah had been fussy in Relief Society and so I took him out into the hall where my sister just happened to be. As soon as I appeared she scooped him out of my arms saying "He needs me!" and whisked him off happily with her. I guess he did need her.
I love these people!
Can't wait to do it all again!!
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