This past weekend we traveled to Eden Utah for a family reunion. This was the Park family reunion, which is my mom's side of the family. We had so much fun and made lots of memories. Growing up, going to these reunions was so much fun. Now that we are all grown up and have kids of our own, they are still just as fun We almost didn't make it though! On Thursday morning we got up early and were on the road at 5 am. About an hour and a half into the trip our Durango made a loud banging sound. Brandon knew something was wrong right away and so he immediately pulled over to the side of the highway. Once there, we quickly realized that something was terribly wrong, because although the engine was still running, the car would not drive. We sat there for a few minutes not really knowing what to think. Brandon then called his dad, who without thinking twice said 'I'm on my way' (We later found out he was on his way to a job site where he had a big deadline on a job) While we were sitting there, we decided that today was as good of a day as any to join AAA. After searching on Brandon's phone we found the number. After a brief phone call, we were signed up and a tow truck was on the way. Once we saw the tow truck we thought we were out of the woods. But after successfully loading our car up on top (with us inside) the tow truck proceeded to get stuck in the mud while trying to drive back onto the road. Our kids were happily squealing in the back, while Brandon and I feared for our lives as it felt like our car would tip at any second! The driver informed us that he had just called a second tow truck to pull us out. About that time Brandon's dad arrived, and we unloaded all of our stuff and ourselves into his truck. We drove off leaving our car and the stuck tow truck behind. ( Our car did thankfully make it back home to our house) We debated whether we should even still go on the trip, but after lot's of tears from the kiddos, we decided we would rent a car for the rest of the trip. We found an Enterprise about 30 minutes away, and were able to rent a Dodge Journey to take us the rest of the way. So after a 3 hour delay we were finally on our way! We were hoping to arrive around one, but because of our car troubles we pulled into the reunion around 4:30.
We had such a fun filled few days with our family. It went by way to fast, but we were able to squeeze in quite a bit.
That first day was spent catching up with everyone, and having a yummy taco salad dinner. After dinner we all gathered together to play "the name game" and of course Mafia. It's amazing after not seeing each other for so long how we can all pick up right where we left off.
Friday, we competed in "The Amazing Race" which my cousin Annie and her husband Russ spent a lot of time putting together. We were divided into 4 teams, and then sent on various missions all over Ogden. We visited a train museum, ice cream shop, cometary, high school, Downtown Ogden, the library, MTC Park, and maybe some more places that I can't seem to remember off the top of my head. We probably looked pretty silly madly dashing to complete our tasks, but we had a lot of fun. I ended up running barefoot most of the time, due to a poor shoe decision on my part. After the race we spent to rest of the day swimming and relaxing in the pool. That night we had a yummy dutch oven dinner, visited some more and then headed back to the pool. We called it a night around 11:30 or so.
Saturday after breakfast we had the tradition family picture session, and were able to get quite a few great shots. After pictures, the kids all played for hours in a fun tree house and tunnel that was on the property, while the rest of us hung out. That afternoon we had the traditional golf contest, then it was back to the pool until dinner. We had a yummy pasta bar for dinner, then after dinner we played a fun jeopardy game that Vince and Meagan put together. On the first day they had us all fill out a sheet of questions, and then used all of the answers for the game. We had quite a few laughs. We had a few more contests and then the girls talked me into taking them back to the pool, where they swam until it closed. About 20 minutes before closing, the girls noticed poop in the pool! After quickly clearing them from the pool, we learned that they had seen it earlier in the day when we had been swimming, and they had failed to tell us! Needless to say we were totally grossed out! We finished out the night by playing Mafia, and visiting until around 2:30 in the morning.
That was our trip in a nutshell. We had such a good time and were sad to see it end! It was so much fun to see my kids play with my cousins kids. It reminded me so much of when we were younger and used to have so much fun playing at the family reunions. Our family is in charge of the next one, but this one will be tough to top!
Here are some pictures that we took throughout the week. I wish I took more. There's really no rhyme or reason to the order they are in
