Blessed, Baptized, and Reunited

Last weekend was a wonderfully busy one! Friday we kicked off a family reunion for my dad's extended family. We get together every other year, and we always have a blast. We ate at a park, got reacquainted, tossed water balloons, ate some more, then headed over to Veteran's Pool in the evening (I didn't have my camera with me).

Saturday morning we got dressed in Sunday clothes and headed up to the Stake Center for Brigham's blessing and Sean's baptism. First was Brig's turn. We had a very informal, yet very sweet meeting. We had an opening prayer, the girl cousins sang "A Child's Prayer", Darin gave the blessing, then we had a closing prayer. Brig looked so peaceful and he slept soundly through the whole thing.

Next was Sean's turn. The family headed into the chapel while we helped to get Sean ready. He was so excited! (How cute is that smile?)


Sean got to share his special day with his good friend Ryan.
My two boys in white:

It was so neat to have so much family support, especially with all that was going on. (I apologize to Darin's family that didn't get the memo. We were indecisive about the time and whether or not we were going to do the blessing until the day before, and we knew it would be crazy trying to hurry right over to the reunion so we didn't spread the word as well as one would have hoped. My family got the memo because we made the reunion start an hour late.)

As soon as the baptism was over we all changed and headed back to the reunion. My cousin brought his rock climbing wall. It was amazing!

The bounce house:
Bubbles:
Friendship bracelets:

Playing in the sand:

There was also lots of visiting, lots of eating, and the traditional water fight.

My cousin Steve organized a family history activity where we learned more about our ancestors and were reminded of our great heritage. I learned that one of my ancestors was responsible for bringing the first cat into Utah. Love us or hate us for it!

I got a little teary thinking about my loved ones that have passed away. I am so grateful for my family.

Uncle Jack (Dad's brother), Aunt June (Jack's wife) , Aunt Bonnie (Dad's sister), Mom, Dad

We missed Aunt Carol, Aunt Marie and their families.

My family

My family with spouses (We missed Heidi and Whitney who had family get togethers that conflicted with the reunion. I miss Todd even more at these big family get togethers. It's hard to believe he's been gone for almost three years.)

Add the kids: (There are 40 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Not everyone is pictured)

Everyone that was at the reunion (minus a few that had to leave). One thing I love at these reunions is seeing in real life the relatives I normally only get to see on blogs.

I think we are still recovering from our eventful weekend, but it was well worth it!