Torrey, Utah

We had our annual Family Reunion in Torrey, Utah this past weekend. Everyone else went up on Wednesday 8/13, and we went the following day. It turned out to be a good thing that we were home an extra night.

(There are pictures to go along with this narrative, but they wont upload right now for some reason. So pictures to come ASAP)

While at camp about45 minutes Gracie was bitten in the face by a dog. Joe and Heather rushed her to the closest medical clinic and were told to get Gracie to a Plastic Surgeon ASAP. So they high tailed it back to SLC to take her to Primary Children's Hospital. We met up with them at a gas station just off the freeway and took Janie. We were also able to bring a friend (huge thanks to Joe Robinson!!) to help give Gracie a blessing before heading to the hospital. I took Janie home and got her to bed (the poor thing just kept looking at me with this look like "why have I been driving ALL day if I was just coming back home?!?") Joe, Heather and Grace waited in the ER for 4 hours before seeing the surgeon. But they finally got to her and did beautiful work stitching up her wounds. She ended up having to be put completely under and got 12 stitches!!!!! She shouldn't have any permanent scaring, whew! She has had swelling and a little infection, but is doing fabulous considering. We visited with them Sunday evening and Gracie was her spunky darling self :)

We took Dusty and Michelle (my nephew and niece) with us to the reunion. I knew the kids would have more fun if all their cousins were there. Overall the kids did really well. We had the normal bickering, but nothing too dramatic. Myles and Dusty shared a bed and one morning it did turn into a pillow fight / wrestling match. (Myles was antagonizing the hell out of Dusty, so when Dusty fought back and gave him a whooping we were all tickled to watch and laugh!!)

We took a 4 mile hike on Friday to the Golden Throne (by we, I mean Myles, Shakierra, Dusty, Michelle, Sierra and myself). It was a nice steady hike. The kids brought their nets and bug holders and spent most of the hike trying to capture lizards. They captured two really pretty lizards. We did take our new cold-blooded friends back to camp to show to the little kids and then let them loose (so any tree-huggers out there, no worries, no harm done).

On Saturday Myles insisted on a kids Olympics. The kids got together and planned the events and competed throughout most of the day. They even had an Awards Ceremony where candy bars were the medals :) They competed in the following; Swimming 2-lap and 4-lap race, Running 50M and 400 M, the Long Jump, Tennis (sorta), and string ball. After all of this and the kids were still fighting going to bed at 10pm!! Sheesh, to be young again :)

We had a great time visiting, cooking, doing crafts... We already have our cabin booked for next years reunion. We really missed having Brad, the Alexanders, and the Gentrys there this year.

Everyone that was there this year:
Jolley, April and Shakierra
Schumacher, Myles
Gentry, Dusty and Michelle
Gentry, Albert and Lisa (Dad and Mom)
Kline, Dennis
Hill, Tawny
Kline, Rob and Sri and McKenna and Sierra and Eli and Micah
Conner, Rikki
Christensen, Steve and Nan
Christensen, Ryan and Val and Stewy and Hayden
Christensen ??, Marni and Josh and Riley and Marky

"The lack of emotional security of our American young people is due, I believe, to their isolation from the larger family unit. No two people - no mere father and mother - as I have often said, are enough to provide emotional security for a child. He needs to feel himself one in a world of kinfolk, persons of variety in age and temperament, and yet allied to himself by an indissoluble bond which he cannot break if he could, for nature has welded him into it before he was born." ~Pearl S. Buck