Fam-dam-ly Allen Reunion

My Mom's side of the family never gets together. Even when I was a kid, it was rare that all of her siblings did anything together. Three of the four lived out of state for most of my childhood so we just never really hung out with them growing up. And truth be told, my Grandma Allen didn't really enjoy feeding a huge crowd... maybe that's were I get it from?

So when my Mom announced we were all going to Bear Lake I kind of brushed it aside thinking, yeah right. We had a bunch of scheduling problems and we weren't sure who was coming, if, and when. And then I thought, where are we all going to sleep? The "property" only holds one family at a time and it's basically camping style. Not really conducive for entertaining 40+ people let alone sleeping that many.

But my Grandpa rented the USU Training Center which is just three houses down from the "property" and it was AWESOME! Every family had their own room! With their own beds {bedding even supplied by USU}! And plenty of room to put our crap!

We had showers! Real, working showers! And more than one toilet! And sinks and mirrors! 

And a HUGE family room to watch movies in! Or a talent show... I will refrain from commenting. Let's just say I did not come up with the idea nor do I have any talents to share. But I did enjoy bonding with my cousin Natalee's husband Brock as we made fun of, er, I mean listened intently to our actually talented family members. It's jealously that I was a little distracted... I really do wish I had some talents to share. And couches! And a kitchen... which I didn't have to cook any meals in! 

And a huge deck! And a sand volleyball court! And horse shoes! 

And a fire pit to sit around and tell inappropriate scary ghost stories with my siblings! 

 

And a gorgeous view!

Despite all of the plush accommodations, I still walked back over to the property to sit on the beach. That's "home" to me at Bear Lake... plus it had the best beach access of the two spots. And when the evenings came, I felt lost being at the Training Center. I wanted to sit in my chair on the lawn and look at our beach.

I'm not sure what Jeff did for four days.... he sort of disappeared into our room {and I think showered multiple times a day just because he could} for hours on end while the kids and I went to the beach, went boating and tubing {Pearl did}, played with the big cousins, played beauty parlor with my cousin Jenny {we finally have a beautician in the family... fee hair cuts for all!}, played Zingo, painted our toenails {Blu's too}, and spent all of my money at the craft fair.

 

 

Oh, and while Jeff was napping the day away, I was enjoying a Famous Raspberry Milkshake from La Beau's. And it was free! Thanks to my awesome brother, Kurtis. Who fried himself in that picture above. Ouch!

I have to say, getting my Grandma to let me paint her toenails was a really big deal. My Grandma suffers from some pretty severe mental health issues and struggles to interact with us sometimes. I hate mental illness.... I feel like it stole my Grandma away from me. I want to just shake her and tell her come out Grandma, come out! She said it tickled and even smiled a bit when I finished. It made me happy.

Blu did fabulous! I was really nervous about taking her because I didn't know if my family would like having a big, floppy lab around. Plus, one of my cousins is allergic to dogs that shed and I was totally paranoid I'd send Lydia to the ER unable to breathe. But everyone was so impressed with Blu! She was so well behaved. She was calm and stayed right by us. She played nice with my cousin's dog and everyone had fun playing with her at the beach. Blu was such a good sport and boy was she wiped out after four days of heavenly dog bliss.

 

I'll admit, I had a bit of a bad attitude about this get together. I wasn't sure how it was going to work or if it would be any fun. But I'm glad we went. And I wouldn't mind getting the Training Center again next year. Showers at Bear Lake are a luxury item we need permanently!

I cried. I laughed. I whined. I remembered.

I took the kids {and the dog} up to Logan on Pioneer Day. My Dad needed help cleaning a few things at my Grandpa's house to get it ready to sell. I don't remember all the details now - and I'm sort of glad I didn't satisfy my urge to complain about this on my blog when it happened - but Jeff and I weren't exactly getting along at the time. 

So we went up without him.

My job was to clean out the "fruit room." Does anyone else call their food storage room the "fruit room?" I have no idea why I call it this, but I've always done so. It looked just like it did when I lived in the house. And pretty much like it did when I was a kid and playing hide-and-go-seek in there. Shelves of perfectly organized and stacked food. The Jell-O boxes lined up according to their proper order in a rainbow.... I started to cry. 

Then I found it. A Tupperware box with THE bear mold. 

The bear mold that my Grandma used every Christmas to make teddy bear rice krispie treats with chocolate Reese's peanut butter dot eyes and buttons and a red heart. They were always our favorite treat on Grandma's Christmas treat spread she kept out all month long on her laundry counter downstairs. No one knew the bear mold was. 

The tears were coming so hard that I couldn't see. Pearl, who was helping me dump expired cans of food and bottles into garbage bags, looked at me with the most concerned face and asked why I was crying. I could only tell her, "I miss my Grandma." I haven't cried over her like that in a long time. But the memories came spilling back as I opened all the cupboards and closest and drawers filled with spools of thread and knitting needles, Nabisco tins and vases, books like Gone With the Wind, even her makeup and lipstick, untouched and unmoved by Grandpa even ten years later. 

And Grandpa's cowboy boots sitting in his closet. All of his papers and reminder notes on his desk. His photo collage wall, handmade toy guns, cars, and hundreds of pictures he took and printed out. Boxing up things in my Grandpa's office was really hard. My Dad seemed lost... he didn't want to be in there but he couldn't stop coming back to check on us. I hurt for him. I could see in his eyes how sad he was that his Dad wasn't there anymore... that this was real. It was really surreal and sad and happy and empty and confusing all at the same time and just plain weird. 

Grief is an amazing emotion and process. 

Anyway...

After working at Grandpa's house for several hours, the kids were near meltdown from boredom and hunger. We headed back to my parent's house for a BBQ and a few hours of laughter. Shockingly, all of my siblings were there. We talked and giggled, watched the dogs chase each other and fight over a rock, and let the kids run wild until it was dark and well past the time I needed to head home. 

And I learned that rubbing alcohol is "not four people uses." Yes, spelled that way.

With the kids crying that they didn't want to leave, I decided to head over to my in-laws to say hi. We watched Logan's 24th of July fireworks show from their front yard. Blu chewed through her leash because I wouldn't let her sit close enough to Jeff's Dad.... guess I'll be spending all my money on dog food and a new leash and collar. When Pearl fell asleep waiting for me to get done talking with Jeff's Mom, I figured the inevitable had come and it was time to really head home.

The late, late drive was worth it. I cried. I laughed. I whined. I remembered. And I had a lot of fun.

I'm so grateful....

I'm so grateful that eight years ago {or so} Jeff and I decided to go down to my Peacock Family reunion in the little tiny town of Orangeville, Utah. We'd never been before but my Dad and Aunts were in charge of the festivities that year and my Mom couldn't go. So we were enlisted to help out. 

I'm so grateful I didn't run back home when my Great Uncle Paul opened the door and scared the beejeebers out of me when he asked, "Who the Hell are you?" .... you see, Jeff and I are typically the first ones to arrive to most family gatherings and my Dad, Aunts, and Grandpa hadn't made it yet. 

I'm so grateful my Aunt Karen yelled back to Paul, "It's Kenny's daughter. Let them in!!!"

I'm so grateful we still have our Peacock reunion at the Lazy P Ranch. Truly "God's Country" as a coworker told me when I said we were headed down to "Coal Country" or "Castle Country" as some call it in Emery County. The scenery from the ranch is some of the most beautiful landscape on this earth.

I'm so grateful the trip is the highlight of my kids' summer. Redneck water park on the side-by-side, what beats that? {Note to self though, take the 4 wheelers next year even if we don't think they will get used much.}

I'm so grateful Jeff and my Uncle Delroy try to keep the spirit of my Grandpa, Uncle Paul, and Uncle Jim alive by outbidding each other on various auction items. Even outbidding themselves at times.

I'm so grateful my Dad was there to help me consume 500 gazillion calories of our family's ooey-gooey popcorn.

I'm so grateful my cousin made everyone the coolest reunion shirts. Seriously, none of those lame bright yellow shirts. Each age and gender had a custom design. If you need an awesome print screen job, give him a call!

I'm so grateful my Aunt Denise knows to bring hundreds of glow sticks to entertain the kids. And the adults once the kids go to bed. Too bad Cole wasn't amused that we hung every glow stick he'd been playing with from the ceiling of our tent. It was pretty late though.

I'm so grateful Jeff made a comment about how delicious the cream puffs were to my Aunt Beulah eight years ago. Aunt Karen told us he's the only reason she still makes about 15 gallons of cream and about 300 puffs every year. And oh, do we enjoy those. 

I'm so grateful - extremely grateful - we don't own guns. Um, seeing my brother and Jeff with an assault rifle? Then a target? Scary. And yes, I did fire that bad boy myself... sort of forced to by my Uncles and cousins. I'm not a fan of firearms.

I'm so grateful my Aunt Beulah makes homemade suckers. It reminds me of my Great Grandma Peacock. 

I'm so grateful for a quiet evening at the reservoir {Joe's Valley}. 

I'm so grateful for one crazy, comedic, loving, always happy to see me family.