The Taylor Reunion

On July 27-29, 2012, we participated in the Gail and Jean Taylor family reunion at the Third Creek campground near Malad, Idaho. Gail and Jean were my mom's parents, so the reunion included my first cousins, aunts and uncles and their families. In addition, my whole family was there except my brother Mike (who arrived in Utah in the week following the reunion.) 

We arrived in the evening on the Friday and left in the morning on Sunday so the main part of the reunion was Saturday. The weather was hot (by my standards), about 38 Celsius or 100+ fahrenheit each of the days. The focus of the reunion was on Grandma Jean Taylor. We got a cookbook with her recipes and ate food that she used to make. We also learned a little about her. 

On Saturday afternoon a bunch of kids and a few adults of the Prete gang were all sitting lethargically trying to find shade under Liz and Christian's canopy. I proposed a water fight. The campround had running...or should I say dripping...water. After some effort I filled up some dish tubs with water and gave the kids each a dixie cup and that started an afternoon of water fighting, which made most people more comfortable. There are a few exceptions, however....Liz was good natured, but didn't seem to like getting water dumped down her back. Likewise, when I threw water at Austin, he responded by swinging his wooden sword at me. He might have hit me too, if Rob hadn't intervened. Rob offered to pay Alyssa and Anna and anyone else $20 to throw water at Emma, but no one would do it. 

Notice in these pictures that we are all wearing matching t-shirts. My cousin Matt paid for them with his business. On the back is a sideways T--the lazy T which was Grandpa Taylor's brand. 

My sister Liz with her baby Ashley. I tried to hold Ashley, but at first, everything I tried made her cry. I later learned that she likes being held facing out with my one arm holding on to her. How could I be so stupid. Every seventh child probably is used to being held in one arm while mom tends to the other 6!

Austin with his cousins, James and Paul Bryner and Sam Walsh-Prete. Those four were practically unseparable for  over a week together.

My brother John is playing "disc golf" (i.e. frisbee golf) with Derek Tucker. Derek boasts having played all the disc golf courses in Utah!

My Aunt Joyce's husband Randy worked with all the kids to make homemade ice cream.

My Aunt Janet is talking to my sister-in-law, Emma. Emma is holding the  Grandma Taylor cookbook which is hiding her baby bump. She is due in October.

Caleb is only Joe and Haylee's 6th child, but notice how she holds him....Do you think I am on to something? He is a sweet baby with a very mild disposition. 

This is Hyrum, John and Emma's son. He is my personal favorite right now. Though he is just  two, he knows all the alphabet letters and their sounds. For the longest time, I played a game with him where I pointed to  letters in a word search puzzle and he told me what letter it was and what sound it makes. In the testimony meeting at the Prete reunion, Hyrum was scribbling on a piece of paper to keep quiet. I wrote his name on his paper. That was a bad choice, because when he saw it he yelled. "Look! There's an H. For Me.  Heu Heu Heu.   Look there's a Y . For me. yeu yeu yeu  ..." I didn't hear the rest of the letters because John had to carry him off at that moment.