Reunion Recap

Well, we have been home for two days now so I thought I would post about our fun week. First of all, we weren't able to see all of our friends in Fort Collins, but we did get to stay with some old friends from Fort Collins who now live in Cortez, CO. The Yarbroughs. They now have four kids; which was a surprise to us. The newest is named Joshua and he is adorable and looks just like their other three, Trey mostly. It was so great to see them and catch up. We have missed you guys so much. It was also nice to have a half way place to stop. Since that trip took about 16+ hours to arrive.


The reunion itself was tons of fun, as always. This year was the 30th anniversary of these annual events; which in and of itself speaks volumes of this family. Out of about 120 Wilsons, there were around 85 there which is a great turn out. One of the best in years. There were activities for everyone including miniature golf, frisbee golf, obstacle course, four square, tether ball, swimming, roller skating, and volleyball just to name a few! The Fourth of July they had a mini-carnival for the kiddies so we all went to that. They had face painting which the kids loved and balloon animals and kite flying and fake tattoos and stick carving and relay games...etc. My girls both got butterflies painted on their faces and then Bronson decided he wanted a tiger to match his tiger balloon. While we were taking pics of him, he decided he wanted to show us his tummy and then his cousin, Logan, decided he should as well. Thanks guys, you look great! One of my favorite activities was the Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament. I was eliminated fast but Sharon took home the gold! She rocked! haha

We also saw much wildlife on this trip. Of course on the road, any time we saw anything Jeff wanted to pull over and watch it. I had to reign him in just to keep him focused on the reunion, you know the whole reason we were making the trip...Anyway, We saw some really good deer on the way up and had to stop for a few minutes. For the record I saw these first. The first night at the cabin, we came back from games and saw this racoon on the upper deck. Someone had left out some trash and he found it. He was pretty scared of us though. I bet my big ol' night flash didn't help that. Then after we left the reunion we saw this moose down in a valley. I also saw this first. Jeff only caught a glimpse so we had to turn around. Other wildlife we saw but not pictured here were a fox that kept wandering around the Ranch, elk in AZ and NM, alot of antelope in the plains, some more whitetail deer back in AZ and of course, prairie dogs everywhere. The score was Jeff-3, Monica-3. We always keep track of who sees stuff first so the other one owes you a shake, but this time we washed each other so-no shakes or both shakes?

One of the favorite annual activities at the reunion is the birthday party. We all exchange gifts to celebrate everyone's birthday together since we are all so spread out and it's hard to get together for everything. Though the Wilsons do try. The great-grandkids exchanged with each other. And the kids and grandkids and grandma exchanged together. Our kids came home pretty happy. Bronson got some cars, Madelyn got a pet shop toy and Kaitlyn got a bead kit. Woohoo! Jeff and I also got great gifts. I didn't get a picture of Jeff though b/c our camera was acting up so I left out my own pic to be diplomatic.
All in all, it was a wonderful vacation and wonderful to see the family again. We love the reunions and that the family is so close. Thanks for such an awesome tradition. Thanks especially to all who really planned and executed it. We do love this family. The best part...I can actually say this phrase, " I went to the 30th annual Wilson reunion and all I got was this commemorative T-shirt!" Well, plus a sunburn!

This is the family tree of Grandma and Grandpa Wilson from their wedding date to this year!