8*10 Part 3: S Family Reunion in Bear Lake, UT

Bear Lake, UT as seen through the lens of our camera.

The 2010 reunion for the S family (J-rod's mom's side) was held at a home near beautiful Bear Lake, UT.  Good thing the house we stayed at was HUGE because over the next three days about 60 relatives gathered together and got real cozy enjoying one an other's company.  Approximately 13 family groups made great use of the 10 bedrooms, hallways, walk-in closets, numerous couches...pretty much every available space when it came to bunking down for the night. : )  Check out the website for the house HERE.

Photo courtesy of Uncle D. Check out his website HERE.

All the food the aunts and uncles prepared for each meal was so plentiful (can't have it any other way when you're feeding a smallish army!) and oh-so-tasty.  We hadn't had sloppy joes in forever; since the reunion it has now a few appearances on our menu calendar--it's good to be reminded of yummy recipes. : )

Photo courtesy of Uncle D.

Everyday of the reunion there were many fun activities for us to choose from.  Day 2 we all gathered for family photos, crafts, and then while some went to the lake others enjoyed relaxing at the house.

Almost every S family member.

Photo courtesy of Uncle D.

J-rod's family.

Photo courtesy of Uncle D.

Pictures I took of our kiddos: M (9), Li'l J (5), and C-sta (almost 2).

Fun with beads.

Photo courtesy of Uncle D.

The kids have a splashin' good time!

M spent most of the reunion enjoying his time playing in the game room with his Uncle N and all the cousins.

Photos courtesy of Uncle D.

Once Cousin A started braiding hair lots of us lined up for one of her fabulous do's.  Even C-sta sat still long enough for Cousin A to braid her hair too!

Thanks Cousin A for the awesome double-braid.

Day 3 we had lots of fun at the lake and then enjoyed Bear Lake's famous Raspberry Shakes = YUM-O.

Such cute kiddos--we sure do LOVE them!!!

The BEST shakes...E-V-E-R!

Every night during the reunion we had an FHE where Grandpa and Grandma S took us all on a FUN stroll down memory lane.  These night were complete with games, singing, and talent performances (M played a piano piece one night) which would then be capped off by Grandpa and Grandma telling us many stories about their life.

It's all fun and games at FHE.

Photo courtesy of Uncle D.

M plays us a tune.

G'ma and G'pa S walk down memory lane.

The first night we learned about what life was like for each of them while growing up during the Great Depression and about the families they came from.  The second night we heard stories about how they met, their courtship, and their early years of marriage.  The night they told us about their life while raising their five wonderful children.

Above photos courtesy of G'pa & G'ma S.

After the story telling on the last night, we watched a great slide show presentation filled with many great pictures of all that Grandpa and Grandma had been telling us about.  Uncle D, who put together the slide show, gave each family at the reunion a DVD with a collection of all this AMAZING stuff on it--a perfect addition to our family history!!  Among Uncle D's many talents is a photography, so he kept his camera clicking throughout the reunion documenting all that we did.  As you may have noticed, many of the pictures I included above were taken by Uncle D and it is thanks to his gift of the DVD that we have access to all those nicely preserved memories.  Thank you Uncle D for all of the wonderful pictures!  If there are any members of the S family that still haven't received one of those fabulous DVDs from Uncle D, please let him know so he can get one to you!! And last but certainly not least, a BIG thank you to Uncle G and Aunt J for organizing this wonderful reunion!