Ok, I thought I would just give a short update without any pictures until I can get them (I'm hoping tonight, but obviously Scott's computer hates me). Thursday night started the reunion off at the Mingledorff's. All the Scotts, Reid and Susie, the Isenbergers and the Dorffers were all there to swim in the pool. It was quite the madhouse with all the children floating in between the water fights and avoiding those going down the pool. It was a blast! Of course the fun in the pool had to come to a climax after most of the people were out when Uncle Scott decided to throw Lena's Scott into the pool dressed (phone and all). Thankfully the phone was revived later that weekend. After all the swimming the food came out and there was enough for an army. Baked beans, hot dogs, chicken, hamburgers, tacos, pasta salad, fresh veggies from the garden, chips and salsa, more chips and awesome lemonade. Everyone found a place to sit around the pool or in the pavillion. After all that you would think we would be done but no! It was Daily's birthday so out came a cake accompanied by watermelon and cobbler. Awesomely amazing! We sat and talked until it was to dark to see who we were talking to and then we headed to our separate homes to rest up.
Friday dawned and the Scotts, Reids, Whighams and Bergers headed up to Helen to get on the river. The Craigs were met up there, more food eaten and on to the tubing. Let me tell you... that water was cold! Doyle had convinced me to get a tube with a bottom which was perfect so I didn't touch much water. We got split up but each group that ended up together had a blast (oh and for like the first time people were not tipping others because they didn't want to have to touch the water themselves... YES!!!). From there we went to the Winder ward building to meet up with the Dorffers and all their kin. There was still more food that was enjoyed by all including an amazing peach cake Jessie made (still waiting for that recipe). After we ate we played a family trivia game in which questions about members of the family were asked. It was great because instead of only learning about the "grown-ups" we had a chance to learn about our cousins and get to know them better as well. Did you know that there is almost an 11 pound difference between the largest and smallest babies in the family ?! Daily was 2 1/2 lbs and Brandon was almost 13 lbs! Bless your heart Nancy :) Uncle Scott talked to us about the importance of extended family and these reunions. We do them because we are all connected through our ancestors and it is important to know where we come from and who we can rely on.
Saturday was a Scavenger hunt. Clues were given about places in Athens that were important to the family as they grew up there in Athens and families travelled together to these points. At them, they were told stories by those who had experienced the place so that we could learn more about our roots a little more. In the Scavenger hunt there was the two main houses that the family lived in, Currie and Viann's first home, Craig and Doll's first home, where Grandpa worked, a barn they played in and much more. I actually heard some new stories as these places sparked memories. We all met at the Athens building and talked about the important role it has played in the whole family and talked some more about where we come from and the pride we should feel as a family. That night all the cousins went to Rachael and Brian's for Pizza and ice cream while the siblings took Grandma to dinner. It was decided that the next reunion would be in two years after Tyler gets home, out in Utah! We are hoping to be able to go to the Doyle Johnson reunion for one of the days and the others are yet to be decided. Some fun ideas were thrown out so I'm excited to see what we come up with in the next two years.
We missed those who weren't able to be there but those who were, I'm grateful for the time I got to spend with you and get to know you again. I hope we can get more there in 2 years so that I can get reaquainted with many more out there. Thanks you to everyone that helped and now I can slowly start getting pictures up! Love y'all!
