Family Reunion

I have a big family- BIG, I tell you, big! Remember that. But onto the story of how the reunion came to be. I had to put a picture of Livvy and the Cheese Puffs here. I loved her with the gigantic thing of puffs.

My mom has been talking of retiring for some time now. She has thought she would retire soon, but was worried about the economy, etc. But all of the sudden she decided she wanted to spend her good years with family and doing different things. My siblings and I had already discussed getting together in Utah this Summer. It would be difficult to get every one's schedules to work out and other things but we wanted to make it happen. Without getting into the details of that we knew that 7 out of the 8 kids would be there, with all of their children. We didn't know if my brother in Oregon would come but he did last minute and drove out.

I have 2 brothers that live here and one sister- so that's 1/2 of my mom's kids but the others came from Tokyo, Portland, Baltimore and Houston. 37 people all together at times.

My sisters and I planned a Surprise Retirement Party for the last day of my mom's work. She was so surprised and it was a lot of fun. I was the one in charge of inviting people since I know her co-workers and friends the best. One of my sisters makes cakes for a living and does catering so she put together a beautiful arrangement of refreshments for guests. It was an Open House and people stopped in all night to congratulate her on all of her achievements and next steps in life. The hardest thing was keeping it a secret from her. She and I talk everyday several times and share so much.

A couple days after that event, we all got together at my brother's house in Ogden. Hyrum and I stayed till Saturday but everyone else stayed till Sunday. We ate and played and ate some more. We went to a nearby lake and swam and boated a little. It was good.

Not everyone stayed with my mom in her house but most did. It was a madhouse! I honestly think my mom got tired of having people underfoot the entire time and would have rather had one family at a time. I don't blame her. She will appreciate going to just one home in the future and spending time with one of her kids' families. She already has a trip planned in September and one in November. She plans on working in the temple and maybe even doing a medical mission in the future- but not for another year, probably. As for the rest of "free" time- she doesn't quite know yet. I plan on keeping her busy in the very near future, as we are expecting baby girl #2 to come to our home this week.

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I am grateful that my family made so many efforts to come and celebrate my mom and all she has done throughout the years- providing herself with a higher education and great occupation. She has been self-sufficient in and independent for years and has taught all of her kids about the importance of an education and hard work.

I only got a few pictures of our "reunion".

This is a morning that we went to the temple together. It was so nice to go with my sisters and mom.

**I didn't get many pictures of the last 2 weeks that my family has been around. I am relying upon a couple siblings to share. So, until then, this is all I can add to my post.