Christensen Reunion
We had so much fun at the reunion this summer. The days were structured and packed full, just the way I like. The first day was the 4th of July and we went to Ross Park swimming pool. We got to see Gerald and Cathy's family and Gerald Kay and Donita. I haven't seen most of them in ages, (and some of their kids I don't think I'd actually
ever met) so it was fun to catch up and get reacquainted. I also found out the great news that Gerald Kay and Donita are about to leave to Africa to serve a mission.
We went to Ann and Peter's new house (up by the fairgrounds) for the fireworks that night. Unfortunately, it was too windy to show them at the usual time, so the show was delayed until around 11:15 pm. I love the fireworks, so for me, it was worth the wait. Fighting traffic to get home after midnight after a
long day put a slight damper on the late show though.
The next day, Friday, we took family pictures,did lunch/games at the park, went to Randy's gym, got ice cream at Farrs, and then had a family home evening lesson on building up the 'Rock' that night. Every family took a turn doing a skit or sharing or teaching something about that topic. It turned out really well.
On Saturday we rented out a bounce slide, had a magic show, then projected a movie, OZ in the dance school. It was suppose to be outside, but it started to storm, so we did it inside instead. I actually really liked the movie.
Sunday those of us who were still around went to church together. James flew back to Phoenix this night in order to start his rotations the next day. I stayed in Pocatello for another week before leaving.
Newest addition into the family! Porter Stanford Shaw 2 weeks old
Yaya, Claire, Kailey
Ben at our park lunch. We were planning on going there for a soccer game, but all of the adults got lazy and just ate and talked instead of played.
Randy's Gym
This was my favorite part of the reunion. We rented out a local
gymnastics/tumbling studio and played on the equipment for a few hours.
We did relay games, trampoline tricks, jumped into the foam 'pit', etc.
The boys competed with each other to see who could jump onto the
highest ledge from the trampoline. Also, Jared Davis, our long lost cousin and his family were driving through town and happened to stop in. It was so fun to see him!
One thing that I did not enjoy was how much courage I had to gather in order to get myself to jump off of the ledge into the pit... especially when I landed on my back. My teeny tini nieces and nephews were making me look bad. It also made me feel really old and decrepit, because I got a little bit of whip lash from one of my landings. I am obviously way out of practice! It made me feel pretty pathetic and out of shape,
especially when I saw Jill and Katie literally doing back-handsprings
around me:)
We also rented a bounce toy for one of the days. The kids loved it! James played on the toy all day and even into the afternoon. Even if no one else had played on the slide, we still would have gotten our money's worth, because James was having so much fun. I may have to invest in one of these once we are out of debt:)
Isabelle, Sage, Granny Ginny & Maddy
Grandpa Larry
Jayce and Corbin warming up on the driveway (sorry, I couldn't get this pic to turn and finally gave up trying)
I love Tad's face in these
Kyrra is always reading
Another memorable thing that happened- in the late afternoon, once we were all done playing with the slide, the wind really picked up. And when I say picked up, I mean it... it literally picked up the whole bounce house and blew it across the lawn and into the tree before we realized what was going on. Luckily someone looked out the window and noticed it leaving. We were able to deflate it enough to get it down. It was pretty exciting, and Stephanie was the hero that climbed the tree to get it out. It must not have popped, because the company didn't charge us extra. I think the company was just glad we didn't want to sue them.
Our good friend is a chaplain in the army, and took us and the kids for a ride in his authentic hummer. It was so fun! To keep his anonymity, I won't write his name, (he didn't want to get in trouble) but it rhymes with Berik:)
Jayce, Corbin Benson, Yaya
Payden, Yaya, Benson
Eden and Cameron. Cameron loved Eden and was so helpful to me! Especially with James gone!
Benson got really good at riding his bike while we were there. The hill on the driveway helped a lot.
We got to see the Chows while we were there! We met up at McDonald's like old times. Dan, Tish, Jade and Chloe are our AZ friends that moved to Pocatello for a job at Portneuf. We miss them!
