Reunion Week- Beware Long Post!

Two weeks ago (July 11-14) we had Brad's family reunion at the Cub River Ranch right outside of Preston Idaho. It all started the week prior with all of his family coming into town. None of his siblings or his mom live here so it is always exciting when we are all in the same place. The Fosters (Mike, Karrin, Quinton, Triston, Kelton, Peyton) live in Arizona. The Richeys (Tyler, Julie, Michael, Jack, Bennett) live in Washington. The Harlines (Rich, Jamie, Abel) live in Cedar City. And Brad's mom (Grandma Sheeba) lives in Georgia. Every other year Brad's mom's side of the family (The Clarks) have a family reunion. It is a HUGE ordeal. It is only with his grandma, aunts and uncles, and then their kids. So immediate relatives. The family is huge. Brad's mom is from a family of 12 and then all of the 12 had a lot of kids and so on. We had over 140 people attend the reunion this year if that gives you an idea. They rotate with the location across the country since there is so much family and they are spread out everywhere. The last reunion was in Indiana and it was awesome because I got to see where Brad grew up.

Saturday started off with a feather extension party at my house. Brad's sister Julie sells feathers so she brought them all up and we had a party. It was a lot fun. I had a lot of neighbors and friends come and get feathers. I got some and so did Indiana.


While everyone was together we had 3 birthdays in the family. Michael (6)-July 9, Karrin-July 11, and Cooper (1)-July 15. After the feather party we were off to the park to celebrate Michael's birthday. Tyler (Michael's dad) had a ton of family in town too so both sides got together. It was fun seeing everyone and letting all the cousins from both sides play together.



The next adventure was hiking to the Mt. Timanogos caves. This was actually the thing I was most excited about. But just my luck I wasn't able to go. I woke up at 7 am with a horrible migraine. I was so sick. Brad took off and went hiking with all of his family. Normally if I sleep for a bit the migraine will go away. Not that day. I was so lucky and Cooper went down for a nap when Brad left so I could get more sleep in. I woke up at 11 and still had the migraine. I called my mom to come over because I was sure Cooper would be up soon and I was in no condition to get up with him. Cooper didn't wake up until 12:30 so it was a good thing Brad didn't take him because he needed rest. He was drained from getting to bed late the past few nights. Luckily my mom was able to come over and help. I ended up throwing up 6 times and finally got rid of the migraine at 1:30. I was so bummed I missed out on the caves but everyone else had a blast. This makes the 2nd failed attempt at taking Cooper hiking (the 1st being the Cedar City Trip disaster). So I missed out on the hike with Cooper and the Richey's left Bennett behind with Tyler's mom.

The whole gang that went on the hike minus 3 foster boys (Quinton, Kelton, Triston) and Jack
(not sure where they were). But this is the best picture we have.

Top:Karrin
2nd row: Grandma Sheeba, Julie, Peyton, Michael
3rd row:Rich, Abel, Jamie, Brad, Mike, Tyler

Hmmm.....I guess this is what happens with Brad when I am not around.

All of Cooper's Cousins:
(Yes, NINE boys and no girls)

Here are all the Foster boys and their side kicks the Richey boys.
Michael and Jack absolutely adore the Foster boys!

Monday was the day we were heading up to the reunion. But it was Karrin's birthday so the girls all went and got pedicures before we headed up. I forgot to take my camera so I didn't get any pictures. After the pedicures we all met up and went to Walmart and Costco to get all the groceries and things we needed for the week. Then we were off. The reunion was such a blast. It was so fun getting together with all of Brad's cousins and seeing ones I haven't seen in awhile and ones that I hadn't even met before. There were so many people that sleeping arrangements were difficult. The past 2 reunions all of Brad's siblings and mom have been in the same room. But since the family is so much bigger this year (Cooper, Bennett, Abel, Fosters (Mike, Quinton, Triston, Kelton, and Peyton) we had to split up. The first night we were in a tiny little cabin with Karrin and Mike. Cooper wouldn't sleep in there. He isn't used to sleeping with anyone else in his room. So Brad and I ended up in the car with Cooper. The next night we moved into the room with the Richeys and Cooper did amazing! We were able to plug the sound machine in this room and it was a lot quieter. The 3rd night Cooper woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep so I ended up back out in the car with him but I let Brad sleep this night since he was going to be driving home. Both times I took him to the car and put him in his car seat he was out. Other than the sleeping issues we had a blast. Cooper napped well during the day when no one else was in his room and we just had a fun time. Cooper loved being around so many kids! There was horseback riding, 4-wheelers, swimming, hot tubing, roasting marshmallows, the Wii, karaoke, talent shows, feather extensions, crafts, devotionals, family meetings, etc. You name it, it happens at a Clark reunion. The reunions are most infamous for the late game nights. Once all the kids are in bed the adults stay up and plays games until the wee hours of the morning. We didn't stay up as late this year however because of Cooper. But we still got in quite a few hours of games! Yes I kicked butt the first night and won Liars dice with 8 of my original 10 dice left!!!!


We got home from the reunion Thursday and we got busy getting ready for Cooper's birthday party that was on Friday. The details from that will be in a different post.

Friday morning we got up bright and early to make it to the Timanogos Temple by 8:30 am. Brad's cousin Erika was taking out her endowments so a lot of the family went to the temple.

Saturday was our last day all together. Brad and I went and saw Harry Potter with the Richeys and Foster boys. While Karrin and Grandma Sheeba stayed back at our house and watched Cooper and the Richey boys. After the movie we did sparklers as our last hoorah! Everyone headed back to where they were staying because they were all taking off to leave bright and early Sunday morning.

I love when we get together will all of Brad's family. It is a lot of fun. It seems like it takes forever to get here and then it passes so quickly. The cousins are all getting so big and growing so fast. I just wish we all lived closer together so that we could see each other more often. It will be amazing to see how much bigger the family grows by the next reunion in 2 years. Brad's mom is in charge of the next reunion so I am sure we are going to be involved heavily with the planning. So exciting!