Whiting Family Reunion...

Finally wrapping up my record of the Whiting Family Reunion.  Thankfully, the happy times were memorable, or I might not be able to recall much by now. :)  My mom helped organize some fun times. 

My cousin Scott brought his "Commander Corn Dog" food truck to serve us all lunch.  That was fun, especially for my kids.  They would love that to be a regular thing.

And no reunion would be complete without a watermelon bust...

Or a fish pond for the kids...

or a ping-pong and tennis tournament...

An art lesson and crafts...

A round of two of Marbles...

And lots of cousin time!!!

We even wrapped it all up with a summer snowball fight.

Love these good people and glad we got to get together.

Reflecting on My Heritage...

My mind has been reflecting a great deal lately on my good heritage.  I come from such incredible line of pioneer stock on every side.  I feel proud of and grateful for the legacy they have left me.  It strengthens me daily.  It seems appropriate that in my attempts to catch up my little family record, it is time to record the Whiting Family Reunion from this last summer.  

(This is only about half of this amazingly large family!)

We met at this happy place with a Mapleton Mountain backdrop.  

After some precious songs about family and a flag ceremony, Uncle Paul shared some neat missionary experiences from his family's time in D.C. working at the Pentagon.  Then we gathered at the cemetery.

Meeting here gave us a neat opportunity to take a moment to remember those in the family cheering for us on the other side of the veil.  I miss my Uncle Mark.  I can hear his voice in my mind.  He would have said, "Lyd-Snort!  How ya doin'?!" and he would have listened attentively while I up-dated him on the comings and goings of my life.  He left a void to be filled with good memories and and his faithful example.

We also visited the graves of Mark and Judy's children that passed away as babies.  Christopher would have been my age, and I look forward to meeting him.  I think we will be good friends.  I miss my Grandpa Juan-- I miss little things like hearing him hum and whistle old jazz tunes or just walking past his room and seeing him stretching on the bed, pouring over a crossword puzzle.  I never met my Uncle David, who passed away at age 19, but I am excited to meet him too, because I have heard he was very kind and slow to judge.

How much sweeter our reunion will be on the other side someday.

Trying to Stop and Smell the Flowers...

We thought once we moved, that life would slow down a little bit, but it did quite the opposite.  Doug and I worked hard cleaning, unpacking, and getting things settled.  We did manage to squeeze in a bike ride and were delighted to find the river bike path so close.  We stopped by the beautiful botanical gardens along the way, because... sometimes you've just got to stop and smell the flowers. :)

Momma Kaye delivered our kids back safe and sounds just in time for the Pioneer Day Parade.  We had the hottest seats in the house... literally. :)  And poor Seth and Brig weren't feeling well. 

But clearly that didn't stop the rest of us from watching fireworks with Ken and Liz's crew.  

How lucky are we that we could see them from our front porch?!  That was pretty fun.

We were blessed to go on a VIP tour of the temple for Doug's work.  It was very special-- wish poor Seth had been feeling better... and wish I had cleaned my camera lens, but if wishes were fishes.  It was still very special, and we just feel blessed to be so near this beautiful temple that has really changed our lives for the better.

Doug worked on a little project fixing his old drafting table.  He picked it up for a song when they were throwing them out during his masters, and he really did a great job of giving it some new life.

The kids took some time just getting use to the idea that we had so much space... that we actually had our own backyard.

Then we braced ourselves for many more adventures to pack in.

On the Move...

Yes-- this picture might make you think that this next chapter was all fun and games, but let me assure you, that the popcorn and movie were well earned!  Doug and I worked our tails off for the next few days, packing, scrubbing walls, making arrangements and scrubbing some more.  It was hard work, but I had THE ALL TIME BEST MOVING BUDDY.  He is a power house and so amazing to work with.

This move was full of tender mercies.  Doug had ordered a smaller truck, but we soon realize it would be too small.  He had asked the rental company if they had anything bigger trucks, but they didn't, and we were feeling quite worried.  Just as we were loading the storage unit, they called and said a larger truck had just come in.  They gave it too us for no extra charge.  It was such a blessing!

Thank goodness for the Elders helping us move!  It was in the middle of the work week, early in the morning, so with a strange time, we were grateful to get any help.

Goodbye to our very clean little apartment.  I took pictures so the kids would remember what it looked like. (And didn't look like... because it was never this clean. :)

One last shot and we were on our way, with Doug driving the big truck and me following behind with a loaded van.

We pulled into Doug's sweet cousins, Ken and Liz.  They fed us and we had a nice relaxing visit.  We were really blessed to find a home to rent-- my Aunt Laurie's brother-in-law was trying to sell his home after losing his wife (her sister) to cancer earlier that year, and it worked out well for both of us to find a place.  It was quite a miracle that we even heard about it.  We got the keys late that night, and we were so exhausted and felt a little discouraged because quite a bit of cleaning and fixing needed to be done, but it was good looking at things with fresh eyes the next morning.  It was exciting to have so much space for things and we just felt grateful that things had worked out so well for us.

We had a great moving crew and welcoming committee.

 

Liz was my moving angel!  She is such a special person and such an example to me of generosity.  She helped scrub down a filthy kitchen, bought liners for all the drawers and cupboards, bought cleaners and air-fresheners, then fed us all lunch and bought some groceries for us to have breakfast.

We were particularly excited about our beautiful view of the mountains.  Doug and I just sat on the porch eating breakfast and soaking it in.  It was a nice, quiet little neighborhood, and quite close to Doug's work.

We made it! 

(Now to unpack.)