The Lughesworth Family Reunion
For at least 8 years we have met the Hainsworths and Hughes at the Hainsworth family cabin for a weekend of complete indulgence. Because we think alike on daily activities, food, discipline and most importantly, skiing, the whole weekend flows like a slalom ski through the mirror reflection of a still lake. Every morning we had everyone on the lake by 10:00, breakfasted and sun-screened. Everyone took their turn skiing or wakeboarding and had some great success. Eliza was very nervous but got up on two. Max made good attempts and "cursed his fear" by repeating, "our family does hard things, our family does hard things," through broken sobs. Cooper and Wilson, thanks to the barefoot boom, both got up on one ski and really had fun trying. We'd break for lunch then fit the adults in.
My highlight was the adult-only ski on the river to celebrate Andrea's birthday. The water was glass, the ski was stable and the boat had NO WAKE. While the guys skied, Betsy and I swam across the river and back and nearly died of hypothermia. The next night the adults slipped away again and indulged in the desserts at Gooeys. We already had about a million pictures and spent the evening enjoying the day all over again. The next day we skied, cleaned up and ended our wonderful weekend with pizza and a session at Laser Quest. The kids loved it and won't let me live down the fact that I got dead last. I always end the same way: can't wait for the Beach.
Rippy Family Cousin Ski Camp
The second annual Cousin Ski Camp was hosted this year by Cam and Jill. We camped at Camp Nay-bor-lee on the Spokane River and despite it's really corny name, it was awesome; kithen, bathrooms, showers, awesome. We had a few setbacks that might have discouraged whimpier people, but not us. Dustin's boat had a faulty impeller so we lost a boat before we ever started. The Lundberg boat was working but ended up on a strange journey down the wrong river for several hours. Poor Jeff and Wilson saw more river views than they care to remember.
The water was so warm and still that all the adults took turns skiing, with the exception of Kimberly who is as beautifully pregnant as anyone I've ever seen. Our second night, a group of us went out rather late to ski and got disoriented (lost). We were on Cam's boat which does not have lights so we spent a long time driving up and down the river trying to figure out which side our camp was on. Finally we asked some people on a house boat with a map and they pointed the way. We were fully prepared to stay the night on the river and did a fair amount of praying. It was still worth the awesome ski.
Jill did such a great job on the food, the weather was perfect and the cousins were completely compatible. It was so nice to have Tyler and Chelsea here and to get a Beck fix. His sweetness cannot be exaggerated. Another highlight for me was getting a glimpse of Evan's great spunk. He got up his first time on two skies and showed great spunk when he told his mom to "do it yourself, you lazy butt" when she asked him to take a diaper to the trash. Mean Tyler and Chelsea gave him a time out but I enjoyed his sass immensely.
A highlight of cousin ski camp was the shower Evalie hosted for Kimberly's baby. We manicured our toes, drew pictures of the baby and decorated cupcakes with all things pink. Eliza has suggested Rose Diamond as a possible name for the baby, but I still prefer Opal.
Cameron, the inventor of games, organized dock frisbee, wherein there was a lot of leaping off the dock to catch the frisbee mid-air. Wilson got to play with the grownups and felt like the cat's pajamas.
Mom and Dad enjoyed seeing their posterity get along so well and their posterity enjoyed seeing Mom and Dad get along so well. It was really a wonderful weekend. Next year we are aiming for t-shirts.
The Lundberg Family Reunion
What looked to all passengers on the plane like a traveling circus was just the Lundbergs headed to Utah for their reunion. Despite my grumbling over the cost, The straight flight from Spokane to Salt Lake was a great blessing. It allowed us to spend a whole evening catching with our friends the Footes whom we met in Medical School. Our family size, houses, incomes and friendship have increased with time. We found Steve and Rita to be as warm and humble as ever and we loved getting to know their kids. It was a great way to begin a vacation.
We stayed the night with Deb and Rand (we never miss a chance for Debbie's famous granola). Tony, Rand and the kids spent the morning touring the BYU football mecca and came home pumped up for the 09 season. We caravanned down to Duck Creek just in time for dinner and an outdoor movie. Thursday we hiked and fished and four wheeled. Eliza couldn't have been happier surrounded by all her girl cousins. Our family Kareoke was hilarious and to everyone's surprise, Cooper beat Grandma for the gold medal in the pool tournament. No Lundberg reunion is complete without card games, but I had to stifle a laugh when I came downstairs at midnight to discover Wilson and Cooper and their cousins playing glow-in- the-dark poker for piles of goldfish. It was a good conversation starter about the prophet's views on games of chance.
A lot of sharing and listening went on this weekend as we spent time together and it was a blessing to see Russ and Pam so strong in the face of adversity. They are living testimonies of the fruits of The Atonement.
We ended our vacation by causing bleeding ulcers for Dad, Lori, Russ and Debbie. It was a close shave getting on the flight back home, but on the plus side, we didn't have to wait in the airport at all. For the record, it is possible to get from Lori and Blake's cabin to Salt Lake City in 4 hours, including a pit stop. It was a perfect ending to our family reunion marathon.
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