D-e-t-a-i-l-s

June 28, 2008

            Often my e-mails to the kids plead, “Details.  Don’t forget to send the d-e-t-a-i-l-s.”  Last week Ty, who is serving an LDS mission to the people of Taipei, Taiwan wrote that he had complimented a man on his “pale, pasty, yellow, plaid, short sleeve, really smooth material, button-up shirt” (and added, “How is that for details Mom?”).  Ty said that after he had complimented the man with the pale, pasty, yellow shirt, the gentleman took it off and, even though there was no shirt underneath it, gave it to Ty.  Ty said it reminded him of the scripture that says if any man gives you a coat you should take your old one and happily give it to the poor and go your way “rejoicing”.  Ty concluded, “So now for the next while I will carry around one of my shirts and eventually give it to somebody.”

            The past two-three weeks I feel like I’ve been given the boost of a new shirt that is bright, comfortable and fun to wear and I want to share the d-e-t-a-i-l-s of it with you.  The time has been filled with a family reunion, a scrapbook retreat and an at-home vacation.

              First the reunion.  Twenty years ago we had a family fissure and many of my extended family lost contact.  Two weeks ago my sister, Marcia, conducted an incredibly organized family reunion for my remaining aunt and uncle and all of us first cousins and second cousins and third cousins thrice removed and fourth cousins that didn’t know we were cousins.

My sister, Chris and my niece, Charlie.  Chris hoped Charlie would reach 5 feet tall

by the time she graduated from high school this spring.  Didn’t happen.

As you will see, my family comes in all shapes and sizes.

            I flew down to Utah to attend the reunion.  My sister, Chris, and her daughter, Charlie, picked me up at the airport and we joined our sister, Rachel, and her seven children at the motel.  Let the fun begin.

My nephew Calder at the penguin display

—amazing how such a little bird can make such an aroma

            The next morning we got up and went to the Hogle Zoo.  I hadn’t been there in fifteen years and there were some wonderful improvements—the bird show being one of them.  Chris, who always carries a stash of sugar, brought fudge and suckers.  You rarely need to plan ahead if Chris is with you.

            After the zoo it was time to head to Logan where the reunion was taking place.

 self- portrait with my cousin, Becky, who at 6’3”

graciously stooped so my head could be in the picture

            It was great seeing my cousins again and meeting their spouses and children.  Six highlights for me were

Ed and David

1.                  Becky and her husband, Ed, recently adopted six children from Russia and it was intriguing watching their family dynamics and how they had pulled everyone in as a vital member of their family.  One obstacle was that many of the kids had the same first name when they joined the family.  Becky and Ed gave each child a list of five English names and let them choose their new first name while keeping their common Russian names as middle names.

2.                  George and his wife, Lisa, and their six children (who were all in their assigned red shirts) played an impressive five page piano duet.  There were always two on the piano bench at a time, but you never knew which two it would be.  Sometimes it was the six-year-old with George, sometimes it was Lisa with the seventeen year old, sometimes it was the fourteen with the eleven-year-old.  They were always trading places and sliding over on the piano bench and yet the notes never stopped or got simpler.

3.                   Aunt Pat is a musician and consequently all of their children play the violin.  Uncle Duane’s contribution over the years has been to play the saw with a violin bow.  If you can keep from being distracted by the chairs in the corner and the chips on the table, you can see my 80+ year old aunt on the piano accompanying my 80 ++ Uncle Duane on the vibrating saw.

4.                  This little train kept going around and around and kept lots of little people occupied so the adults could visit easier.

Emerson liked the safety of this bush

5.                  Uncle Duane has some property in the hills behind Logan and he was concerned about a spreading vine that kills trees.  Friday morning everyone went to help dig up the roots of the vines.  Uncle Duane happily figured we dug up 2000 roots and since he’s a mathematician, I’ll not argue, but I will doubt.  I really enjoyed visiting with my cousins’ children and hearing about their lives as we dug.  For example, Fourteen-year-old John hoed mint in Oregon for his summer job last year.  He said he didn’t enjoy it at all, however his dad said, “But he sure was happy every night when I picked him up, he just smiled and smiled.”  Evidently there is aroma therapy in mint or at least excessive joy in not hoeing it. 

            After digging roots, some of the kids stayed behind to play sling-shot paintball.

Jesse, Maddie and Hydn feeling much better

6.                  And the thing that will make this reunion truly unforgettable is that in the three days we were together over 30 people got very, very sick.  On night one, several of my nieces and nephews were lying around me.  They were groaning and feeling awful.  In the dark, Maddie, who was still healthy, whispered, “You know what the worst thing is, Aunt Jane?”

      “What Maddie?”

      “Knowing you’re gonna be next.”

            There are at least thirty theories as to what caused everyone’s demise, but there is nothing like an illness to make you feel like family again.

Maddie picking wildflowers in the meadow

            After the official reunion, some of us drove to Idaho to my sister’s home for a day.  Chris and her family are wonderful hosts.  They have a large, beautiful dormitory-style room with several comfortable beds and they are willing to visit until late in the night and still have sausage, hashbrowns, eggs and toast ready early the next morning for breakfast.  The day we spent with Chris and her family we drove up in the hills to their summer grazing range and had a picnic.  It was a warm afternoon and the purple flowers were in bloom.  It has been a long time since I have spent a whole day on a picnic and it was peaceful under the quakies and smelling the sagebrush.  Some of Bruce and Chris’ summer range is the summer range where we ran our cows when I was growing up and first married.  It brought back a lot of memories being back in those pastures—good ones where you felt like you knew what you were doing and you knew you wouldn’t get lost in the gullies and draws, and bad ones where you were certain you were going to get bucked off or lost and no one would come find you. 

            We finished the day--and the reunion weekend--at the hot springs swimming pool.   

  __________________________________________________________________________________________

-- Jane,  I'm going to include this in the letter I send out!  Wonderful.  Thanks,  Marcia

--I have missed you! You know how I feel about details so I was pleased to read all about yours to catch up. Of course I hope you left a couple out so that we can chat next time I see you :)  I'm so glad you showed up in at least one self portrait. You look happy! Anyway, I could go on and on because of how much you were missed but I'll just say, I'M SO GLAD YOU ARE BACK!!! (for my sake of course) Love, Melanie

--Welcome back!  Sounds like wonderful times visiting and catching up!  Summer = Family and it is nice to get to spend time with them.  Kim Sue

--Houston We Have a Problem.     Hi Jane,  I'm glad you're getting some downtime, but I wanted to let you know that I miss your blog and your comments (not just on my blog, but on all the blogs we share). I hope you're doing well and having fun wherever you are. Happy Summer! Love, Jill

--Missing your blog.   Lynn