Anderson Family Reunion 2018

This weekend we got to travel up to Utah for a family reunion. This year's theme for the reunion was family history, so we got to learn some fun facts/stories about some of our ancestors.  We stayed at the Junction courthouse, which one of my ancestors helped build, and Junction is where my grandpa grew up.

Thursday
We arrived late Thursday night at around 11, so we missed the little introduction to the reunion.

Friday
Friday morning's activities consisted of a rotation of activities that represented each of our great-grandparents.  My great-grandpa Anderson liked carving wooden ducks, so we each got to paint our own wooden ducks.

My great-grandpa Adams had a target out in his backyard, so we tried to hit some wooden targets with axes and throwing knives.

Okay, I will probably get my great-grandmas' activities mixed up, but I'll try my best to remember. My great-grandma Anderson liked playing marbles, so we learned how to play marbles a few different ways.  My great-grandma Adams liked doing crosswords, so we did a crossword puzzle.

In the afternoon we had some down time and let the kids play, and we visited the Piute Reservoir.

Myla put herself in the time-out cage.

Aria and Myla with jiu jiu

Aria with granddude

It was freezing.  I didn't touch the water and I was freezing.

That evening we did four more rotations with each of our individual families.

Rotation 1: My great-grandpa Adams was a famous magician back in his day.  We each had to learn a magic trick and perform it.  You could see we were definitely all amateurs compared to my dad (he has done some magic shows).  I didn't get any on video since my cousin was filming all of the performances.

My cousin, Brittney, introducing the rotation by performing a magic trick.

Robert showed us how he could remove his thumb 😂

My mom performing the exact same trick that Brittney showed us 😂

Tanaya showing us she can guess what color side my mom chose.

Kajsia's magical disappearing dice.

Karson's rabbit family trick

Myla's trick (which was the same as Brittney's and my mom's)

The real magician showing us a disappearing rabbit on a stick.

Rotation 2: We played a matching game where we had to match facts/stories of our ancestors to their names.

Rotation 3: We learned about Braille because one of my ancestors lost her sight when she was a baby/toddler.  We stenciled/poked out our own names in Braille and wrote other messages to see if we could read Braille.

Rotation 4: We played a version of "Guess Who" using pictures of our ancestors.

After all of the rotations, we played another matching game where there were different plates of dessert, and we had flags of different countries of where our ancestors were from, and we had to match each dessert with the country it comes from.  Then of course we got to try each treat.

Saturday
We cleaned up, checked out, and headed over to a park to play and eat lunch. 

After lunch, my parents, siblings, Robert, the girls, and I headed up to the family cabin and went shooting.  Myla shot her first gun (unfortunately I didn't get to see because I was trying to keep Aria entertained)!

We headed up to Springville afterwards to see Robert's family.  We arrived to a couple of blow ups in the backyard that the girls got to play on.  It was a surprise, so we weren't prepared with swim suits, so here are a couple of nakies.

Aria and her cousin Ellie

Aria swinging with Auntie Em

It was a short, but fun trip.  Luckily we'll get to go back up in a couple of weeks, but that will be an even shorter trip 😞

Online Christmas Card

We've never been ones to send out Christmas cards because 1) #cheap (I am... not Robert hahaha) and 2) we figured no one would really want a card from us.  But we figured we'd better start sending some out now that we're not as close to family and friends.  For now, we'll just do our Christmas card online.

Another reason why I don't like doing these things is because I can never think of things we've done throughout the year, but Robert reminded me of a few things.

The biggest thing that has happened to our little family this year was moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico.  It was quite the adjustment moving away from family and friends to a place where we knew no one, but we're getting used to life here in New Mexico.

Robert: Robert graduated this past spring and landed a job with Precoa, where he helps people in funeral pre-planning.  He has really gotten into cycling in the past year, and just recently has been into grilling and smoking meats.

Brandi: Brandi has just been taking care of two girls that keep her busy.  For the past five years of being able to hide behind a piano for her calling at church, she has finally been shoved out of her comfort zone to teach the Beehives in Young Women's.  It was a real struggle at first, but things have slowly gotten better.

Myla: Myla started joy school and has had a lot of fun learning, socializing (sometimes), and crafting.  Myla has a sweet tooth, and without fail she has to have her "bajert" (dessert) every time after dinner.  She loves to paint and create things with Play-Doh (although it's not mom's favorite thing to clean up).  Her favorite song as of late has been "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from Mulan, and she knows pretty much every word.

Aria: Aria has grown up so fast! She has 10 teeth and is walking all over the place. She isn't really saying much besides a few words such as "bubbles", "meow" and "baa".  She is obsessed with dogs, and any time she sees one she sticks her tongue out and pants like a dog.  Aria is also the family vulture.  Any time someone has food, she hovers (or whines) until she gets a bite.  She also likes to get into things she isn't supposed to, but she is so sweet and loves to cuddle.

Aria's 1st Birthday

As I was looking through these photos, I just couldn't believe how much she has grown in just a year!  It feels like she was just a tiny bundle not that long ago.

The story behind the following pictures: I told Myla I had to take Aria's birthday pictures, and she said, "I didn't take my birthday pictures on my birthday!"  So she grabbed her quilt and wanted to sit on a chair like Aria and take pictures with her.  Also, I told myself I'd never be the mom to have my children wear matching clothes, but Myla has been in a matching phase where she wants to wear either what I'm wearing or what Aria is wearing.  So here they are in matching outfits.

Do they look like sisters? Hahahaha.  Look how white Myla is.

Laughing because "Aria's face is so big!" I guess she hasn't seen her face next to Aria's.

And of course she had to take a picture with the umbrella, and who knows why.