Thus summer, at the beginning of August, we had our bi-annual family reunion on my Sargent side. We've done this now for 3 consecutive times....and I'm oh-so proud of the family for making an effort to come!
This year, my Aunt Kathy was in charge. And since she lives in Colorado, we held the reunion there. She chose a place up in the mountains, Jellystone of Estes Park. It was so beautiful there! The cool weather, the scenery!
The crazy kids so excited to spend time together again! It's always been my hope that my kids and their cousins would grow up as close as my cousin's and I. I had a very blessed childhood in that respect...we spent alot of time together at Grandma & Grandpa Sargent's house. I think from that beginning we have all felt the importance of keeping the reunion tradition going!
One of my cousins had gotten back from his mission the day before the reunion! So my aunt picked him up, packed his clothes and then they drove up the next day! He served in Brazil, which is where James served his mission. Different areas, but they both can speak Portuguese.....or porkageeze, as Aube would say it. James was a little rusty, but it was cool to see them sitting and chatting all about Brazil.
Being up in the mountains, the nights cooled off very nicely. We were able to have a campfire, s'mores and hot chocolate each night.
After the kids would go to bed, some of us adults would sit around the campfire talking story. We have some great memories!
One of the activities was horseback riding.
I couldn't go because I was pregnant at the time, Bella didn't get to go bc she and James had gotten back from the dr too late (turned out Bella had strep, poor girl!!) Jax was too small to ridentify the big horses with Aubree and the rest of tears group, so we took him on a fun little pony ride.
I think his pony's name was Pedro?
They gave us the reigns and said 'just don't let him wander or eat anything' and off we went. They were right to warn us, Pedro had a mind of his own....he knew where he wanted and did not want to go....so we had to show him who was boss a time or two.
Such a cute little cowboy.
Aubree had a blast on the hour long trail ride with Gramma, Grampa, John, Emily, Laura and a few others.
I took this picture as we were waiting to show the reunion tshirt. I copied the design from my friend Stacie, she had just had her family reunion the month before. I switched it up a bit, but I loved the saying! The mustache was added to remember Grampa Sargent and his very well-groomed handlebar 'stache.
Each family got their own color. The big family picture we took later in the day was just awesome.
The weather in Colorado was fantastic. Mainly because it wasn't blazing hot! It's so nice to get away from the heat of Texas!
Friday was a little overcast and chilly, but that didn't keep the kids from swimming and playing outside. Jellystone was a cool place to have a reunion...they offer a ton of stuff to keep the kiddos occupied.
Hannah wasn't with us at the reunion, unfortunately! She was touring the country with her drum and buglet corp, the Crossmen.
We missed her immensely! But this was such a great opportunity for her to stretch her talent in color guard. She's so extremely talented.
So, since she couldn't make it...dad printed off a couple pictures of her and we made sure to include 'her' in all our activities.
Thru out the reunion, I kept thinking about how one day my sisters and I would be 'older' and we would be having our own reunion with our kids and grandkids. How cool will that be?
Hannah....you got to eat s'mores, go swimming, horseback riding, hiking....what an adventure ;) we take care of you!!!
I'm so glad we make the effort to go to every reunion...it's totally worth it. I love that my kids get to be around cousins and forge life-long bonds. I love that I get to be around my cousins and start up where we left off.
And then there's this awesome couple...
The ones who have raised us to love family and to make time with family important.
Who aren't perfect, but they've done their best to love us ea chance unconditionally, no matter how exhausting we may have been!!
My dad grew up with 4 sisters....then he had 5 girls before he had a son. Can you imagine living your life around that much estrogen?? Poor fella! No wonder he treats my mother so well...and he always expected us kids to treat her well, too.
I love my aunts and their great examples...3 are nurses, one worked in special education. But not only that, but their love for their children and their love for their Savior. Truly women to respect and model a life after.
On out last day in Estes Park, we took some time to do some of the things Jellystone offered...like minature golf and panning for gold. We also took a trip into the town of Estes Park. They have a bunch of cute shops and places to eat. That will take a whole other post!
The one thing that was hard about Jellystone (for me and others like me with limited lung capacity) was that it's set on a hill/mountain/incline. Our cabin was at the bottom of the hill and the campsites were halfway up! We did most of our congregating at the campsites...so if you forgot something in the cabin you were SOL....outta luck, kid.
We started getting creative....thanks to dad and his Texas truck!
I didn't want to do one long post to cover our trip to Colorado...this one just covers the main reunion. I think we've decided to make it a 4 day reunion instead of 3 next time...it's just to short! Especially in these gorgeous places where there's so much to see.
There's talk of the next reunion being on Current River in Arkansas....a place we visited alot as youth. My Aunt Michele is in charge in 2017!
1 comment:
this looks like so much fun!!
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