Reunion Part: End

Friday night I got together with all of my besties.  Amber, Laura, Missy and Tiff.  We were all in town accidentally.  I can't believe we were all there at the same time.  We haven't all seen each other since Feb. of 2009.  We went to Shari's at 9:00 once I was finished with reunion stuff.  It was SOOOO good to see them (I was so tired).  I can't believe we didn't get a picture.  We sat talking at Shari's for hours, then we drove around the town and screamed a little in the car.  I love those girls...with everything.


On Saturday at the reunion the boys woke up at 7:00 am to play golf.  We were all exhausted at this point.  I don't know how they got up to do it.  I could barely move.   The girls got together around 9 I think at peggy's to do a craft.  We made necklaces, and hair bows.  Man on earth.  It really made me feel like a mother of boys.  Most crafty things like that are really made for girls.  However, Rob and I crafted anyways.  He glued rhinestones on washers for a good hour.  It was pretty cute.

I got this one picture from craft time. 

We our looking at a picture of our Distinguished Woman Kendall. 

At noon we headed over to Grandma's house for pool time, vollyball, and lunch (pizza, and sno cones).

We also had swimming races.  I mostly sat around trying not to die of heat exhaustion.  Eventually I got in the pool because I was so hot. 

Me, Kristy, Asher, Robbie, and Hens

Vollyball  Kacey, Jared, Cortney, Aaron, Kyler, Corbin

I don't know how I managed to get in a swimsuit picture with the skinniest people ever.  hahaa. 

Peggy, Trevor, Me and Theodore, Kristy and Cortney (my cousin not my husband...ahhahaa)

I love sitting around with my family!  Mandy, Gail, Tom, Liam, Sam and Josie. 

Around 4 we ventured home to get changed for the AMAZING RACE.  Boy was it amazing!!! The David Earl family did such a great job planning it.

I now present the winning team to you....

Yup! My team won.

Brandon, Myca, Brad, Michael, Kim, Grandma, and Me!

I know this team came in second.  

Back row...Cortney, Dad Doug, Kyle, 

Alysha, Angie, Daishan 

I know this team came in DEAD LAST.  

Brandon, Mom Connie, Lindsay, Pat, KaeLynn and Cortney

McKayla, Aaron, Collin, Jeff, Kelsey (soon to be married to Brandon), Allie, and Cali

Joey, Samantha, Gail, Jordan, Mandy, Kendal, Corbin

Kylie, Tom, Britney, Jared, Julianna, Justin and Angelique

One of the Challenges was to answer FAMILY trivia questions.  If you got it right you got 5 sprays with the spray gun and you had to dissolve the alka seltzer on someone's forehead. 

Another challenge they had you hook in to the yellow rope and go over and under unraveling yourself. It was actually really hard and I scraped my knee up.  I was out of breath but so were the boys that were in shape.  

(I know it looks like I was playing on my phone but I was probably getting pictures or locations or something)

We also had an eating challenge.  You drew out a marble...if you got a red you had to eat.  If you got white you were safe. (I got white....pheeeww)  They had Sardines, Seaweed, Jalapeños, mollasses, LIVE FISH, Marshmallows, and saltines.  All without water.  

Then at Earl and Earl they had a million little tiny dixie cups filled with plain M&M's...you had to eat the m&Ms and see if you got a cup with and X on the bottom.  You couldn't spit them out.  OUR TEAM DIDN'T SPIT THEM OUT AT ALL...EVERYONE ELSE DID. It was brutal.  Every time in I would take 2 or 3 cups full.  The boys would all take 4...we all went in at least 4 times.  It was a lot of m&Ms and it was REALLY hard.  Grandma went in and was taking her time.  We were knocking on the window trying to rush her but sure enough she found the X. 

They also had a challenge where there were tons of old family pictures from the 40's to the 80's.  We had to guess the dates and then add them up.  We had grandma with us so we were pretty good at the dates. 

Then we went to the church and had to make 30 baskets (different parts of the court for different points)

Then over to the dance studio and we had to make up 10 8 counts I think.  We had to have a leap and a lift.  It was funny. 

Then we went over to the Amphitheater and we had to guess which babies belonged to which families using pictures from our blogs.  

They were really creative and fun.  I LOVED IT.  Of course winning always helps. 

 Love this of my dad. 

We ended back at Peggy's house and had dinner.  Flank steak and hotdogs and a million yummy sides.  

LOVE.  I love seeing my kids play with my cousin's kids. 

Henry is always wet. 

Dinner

I love Moses Lake.  I could sit on the lake all night. 

(my house is DIRECTLY across from my uncles.  In fact it is way faster by jet ski then by car....my uncle picked me up by jet ski a couple of times to babysit.  hahaa)

After dinner we had some musical numbers.  I know this makes any other person that isn't an EARL...say What???  We are performers what can I say.  

There was quite a bit of grumbling about the songs but they turned out awesome.  We had to make a parody of a popular song from the year our Earl parent graduated from highschool.  Honestly I loved this....so much.  All of the songs were funny...sentimental....awesome.  

Tom's family (gotta love their iphones....so Tom's family)

The Bates.  Of course they had props.  They sang a mix up of popular tv shows in honor of their mother. 

Jeff and Becky's family. 

Pat and Lori's group.  They did theirs acapella and it was awesome.  Hit me with your best shot. 

We sang California Girls by the Beach boys.  But instead of we wish they all could be california girls we sang, You wish you all could be kids of Douglas Earl.  Then of course we added in a verse of Katy Perry's California Girls and Justin did a rap during the snoop dog rap.  THANKFULLY Mike is young and knew how to make the music for us on the computer. hahaa. 

For some reason there was no picture of David and Peggy's fam. It was funny though.

Afterwards my dad got up and told us a little about our heritage and how awesome we are.  Then Pat got up and gave a heartfelt testimony of his tribute trip to my grandpa Earl....they RV'd across the united states going to church history sites.  Then my grandma got up and bore her testimony.  Then it was over.  Oliver came up to me and looked sad.  I asked him if he needed a hug...he said yes...then he laid on me and sobbed...he was really touched and had a great time.

At the very end they handed out Why I believe books.  Inside the books were written testimonies by almost everyone in our family.  They are spectacular.  I think it was a brilliant idea and I know I will cherish mine always.  

It was a fun reunion.  EXHAUSTING...I thought it was too packed with things to do....but I wouldn't change one thing.  EVERY second was totally wonderful. My kids were really convinced how awesome being an EARL really is.  

The shirts say

You might be an Earl if...

you always assume you are in charge

you have ever hidden pie under your bed (my personal fave)

you have a rational fear of pool basketball

You are over competitive despite your mediocrity

you seek a cash reward for family fun

you think you can dance

you consider scones a complete meal

you shush people at parties to make announcements

your last name got you out of a speeding ticket

you blame your questionable behavior on the "color code"

you know the difference between a horse and a mule

you've argued over the outcome of a game of candyland

you play by "cherry creek" rules

you are pretty sure that you know more than the teacher

Hahaa. 

Thanks for the memories peeps!