Roger Call Reunion

We had the rare opportunity this summer to have all of Danny's siblings in town at the same time. It was time for a Roger Call Reunion! With everyone's busy schedules, we were only able to secure about 24 hours before Uncle Kenny had to head back to Chicago, but we packed that 24 hours full of fun and memories.

We started with a yummy dinner at the school. Danny smoked a brisket for sandwiches, and it turned out amazing! Millie brought her beloved Frito salad, and the rest of our sides came fresh from the garden. With the new kitchen, it was super convenient to cook at the school. :) We enjoyed the delicious food and the fantastic company.

After dinner, everyone got ready for family pictures. Our friend Angela Ellsworth was coming to do a big family picture for Lori and Roger, as well as individual family shots and some fun ones of the grandkids working in the garden with Grandma and Papa. We were a bit rushed doing the pictures as we raced against the sun, but Ange got some really great shots and everyone had a good time.

Before the sun was completely down, those of us that were spending the night at the school got tents set up and air mattresses inflated. It's so awesome to have the property at the school and the room to do all of this in one convenient location!

Once it got dark, and before everyone went to bed, we had our own family fireworks show. The kids loved it! And with us all lined up on the driveway, it was crazy to see just how big our family has gotten in the few short years since we all started our families.

Having ended the day with a bang (literally), we all retired to our tents. I'm not going to lie, it wasn't the most restful of nights. But we're going for memories here...not a good night's rest, right? :) We had some excitement in our tent that morning when Claire lost a tooth! Never a dull moment with these kids. :)

The first thing on the agenda for the day was a service project at Great Grandma Call's. She wanted some help getting her yard whipped into shape, and we figured with all of us together we could get some serious work done in a couple of hours. Everyone pitched in...even the littles!

As you can see, we had quite the summer storm brewing to the west of us. Something just seemed ironic about washing the outside windows of Great Grandma's house right before the rain came. :)

Ever since Danny was a kid, cousins have been assembled on Great Grandma's porch for pictures. And Grandma wanted to make sure we got those pictures again! It is a pretty cool porch for cousin pics. It's crazy how grown up everyone is getting...

...especially the big kids. :)

We got the pictures right in time for the storm to blow in. It was such a delightful summer rain, and all the work was done. So it was a perfect time to play in the rain!!

It was great to work together as a family and serve a woman who we love so much, and to whom we all owe a great deal! I love that my children have such a great relationship with their great grandmothers, and for the memories they are able to make with them. What a treasure!

But that wasn't the only treasure of the day! Uncle Robbie had just gotten home from some time in Hong Kong, and he brought souvenirs back for all the kids. So cool!

Well, we had planned to swim for the rest of the afternoon after our service project at Grandma's, but the rain had cooled things down significantly. We decided to see what the weather would do, and in the meantime enjoyed some lunch inside the school and rested from our labors for a bit. I didn't think it got terribly warm once the sun came out, but that didn't matter to the kids. They had their hearts set on swimming, and so swim they did! It didn't take long before everyone was in their suits and in the pool having fun. Except for Danny, who had to tune into his three hour class for his masters program. Lame! But aside from that, how cool is it that we can eat, camp, swim, and shower all at the same place?!

While we were in Provo for Stadium of Fire, Danny and I came across the water balloon filler thing that the kids had been seeing on TV, and we just HAD to get it! :) We held on to it specifically for the reunion, so once everyone was out of the pool for a break we decided it was time for a water fight. The filler worked really well...but it didn't make very big balloons...which made them harder to burst. Which meant the big boys had to throw them harder at each other. And that left some pretty gnarly welts! Honestly, we should have bought two fillers. The big boys used almost all the balloons, and the little kids were rather disappointed when they were all gone! 

After the water fight, things started to wind down. Between the service project at Great Grandma's, swimming, and the water fight we were all started to get a little tired. So we settled into some treats and games in the school. We cracked open the watermelon, and Papa made pina coladas. The big kids played a game (the name escapes me now), but because the boys were all in their swimming suits I think it looks like they're playing strip poker or something! 

It was getting close to the time when Uncle Kenny and his family would have to leave to get him ready to head back to Chicago, which would mark the official end of the reunion. With the few minutes we had left, the kids unanimously decided on pony rides. Papa was happy to oblige!

And with that, the reunion came to an end. And just in time, since the littles were dropping like flies... :)

What a wonderful, crazy, hectic, fantastic 24 hours! It's definitely getting harder to get everyone's schedules to match up, but the effort is well worth the memories. We're grateful for all the work that Grandma and Papa did to make this happen, and we're so grateful for our eternal family. I am particularly grateful for the relationships my children are cultivating with their great grandmothers, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. That's something I didn't have much of, if any of, during my childhood, and I can see how much it means to my children already. Family really is everything!