Utah - The Middle

Day 5 - Sunday, July 26

After church and a scrumptious dinner made by Becky, we packed up the van and headed to Bear Lake (Garden City) for the Berbert Family Reunion - the MAIN reason we had jetted to Utah.

We had never been to Bear Lake, and really had no idea what to expect. After a 2 1/2 hr. drive, through Logan and up a VERY curvy road we made it to Bear Lake. It was BEAUTIFUL. Seriously, the most beautiful lake I've ever seen and probably will ever see.
Onward to the rental houses, again we didn't know what to expect. All we knew is that 2 houses had been rented, a "big" loud house and a "smaller" quiet house.

This is what we came upon.



The "big" house.



The "smaller" house.



They were right next door to each other, sharing a yard and an owner - the big house was called "The Inn at Snow Meadows". These houses were AMAZING. The big noisy party house is where we were to stay, as per our request. Miss out on any action? Never!
I've stayed in a bunch of rentals in my life, these topped them all and then some. There were 10 bedrooms in the big house, each with it's own bathroom and large flat screen tv. Our room was the "Bohemian" and was really the BEST room. Seriously, I don't know how we got so lucky. I wish I'd gotten a picture when we first got there, but I didn't. Then at the end of our stay, instead of getting a picture - I just used the Flip. I can't quite explain that one.

We spent the rest of Sunday hanging around the house and greeting new arrivals. It became quickly apparent that I was not going to see too much of my littles during the reunion. The houses were too big, and there was too much fun to be had.

Other shots of the house, I really got such poor pictures of the place. My nirvana was the mudroom that held 8 pack and play cribs, booster seats, high chairs, step stools, kids blankets and sheets. It was truly a place that welcomed and expected kids - so hard to come by. Did I get a pic? Nope - I'm an idiot.









Day 6 - Monday, July 27

Each day of the reunion, a group of families were in charge of one meal. This day, it was a Mexican Fiesta Lunch put on by Alan's family (one of Cathy's brothers - Cathy is Jeff's mom and this was her family's reunion).

It was delicious, so fun, and a great way to get the reunion started.



The pinata, TJ delivered the death blow.



Sable got hit by some candy shrapnel, not on that final blow - a couple before. But as you can see, she's able to eat through her tears.




Ahhh, cousins.



Later that day the entire group headed to the Pickleville Playhouse for a western feast and the show "Annie Get Your Gun". The food was good, and the location couldn't be beat.





There were over a dozen kids at the play and 3 babies all not quite two. EVERY single kid made it through the entire show, and had a GREAT time. Those Pickleville Playhousers sure put on a good show. None of us had seen "Annie Get Your Gun" before and we were so surprised how many great Broadway hits come from that one show. We were all singing "There's No Business Like Show Business" for days.





Aubrey & Sable - these two spent nearly the entire reunion side by side.



Cathy & Larry



Capri with members of the cast. The gal on the far left played Annie, she was VERY good and I'd be shocked if she didn't go far. I'd also be shocked if Capri didn't end up in the theater herself, it seems to already be her true home.



Day 7 - Tuesday, July 28th

This was the day to actually go to Bear Lake. It wasn't as sunny as we would have loved, and for the first little while there were shivers all around. But we all got in the swing of things and had a blast swimming, jet skiing, canoeing, and playing in the sand.










Oh, and sleeping.















That's me and Rome on the Jet Ski. Rome didn't want to go over 5 mph, and that was pushing it. That was fine by me, the last thing I wanted was to somehow get thrown from the darn thing and have to swim back to shore with a terrified 4 year old.



That night was Cathy's family's turn to make the dinner, an Italian feast. A bunch of miscommunications led to us not having the exact things we wanted to make. But a rescue mission to Walmart by Jeff's sister Karen saved the day. Jeff said the prayer in Italian, it was really beautiful. Ask him some mission stories someday, he's got some amazing tales to tell.
Again, I dropped the ball and neglected to get pics. At least I manage to get gorgeous shots of the littles right?

After dinner we all marched over to the smaller house and had a family night/talent show. Capri had spent a great deal of time over the last couple days working on a play with "her girls". It's a bit long so I can't post the video, but it was very cute.

The cast, Cathy snuck in there too.



And then, Jeff did this (against all pleadings from me) and nearly gave me and everybody else there a heart attack.



We were able to fix the railing later. Also broken, not by us, during the reunion: a large candle, part of the air hockey table, a couch leg, and Anders. He got his two teeth knocked out by a frisbee, LUCKILLY they were both baby teeth. Also quite luckilly, somehow the security deposit on the houses was not lost.



Day 8 - Wednesday, July 29

Nature hike. This was one of my personal favorite parts of the reunion. It was a gorgeous, the Pine Ridge Trail. It would have been perfect if I hadn't worn the ugliest outfit around, oh well - it was a hike.










A big group of us headed back to town for lunch and to try Garden City's famous raspberry shakes. They tasted a lot like, raspberry shakes to me.





And then we did this.



Back left to front: Aby, Dale, Aimee, Jeff, Arwen, Marc, Sable, Capri & Rome.

We peddled this contraption over two miles to the big house, and then over two miles back to the rental place. It was. . .I can't even put into words. . .one of the most crazy fun experiences ever. And no, Sable's not dead - she fell asleep on the way back. Amazing since Jon paced us on his bike and said we got up to 14 mph. We were trying to beat the clock and get the darn thing back on time. Note, there were only 4 sets of pedals so there were 5 "passengers" at all times. Also note, our smiles are fakes in this picture - we all were exhausted but we had an AWESOME time.

After we turned in the peddle car, I ran Rome to the bathroom. On the way back I heard honking and "Aby, ABY!!". Then I saw this gal waving frantically from a car. It's Erin, one of my bestest friends at BYU. Surreal, we had no idea that we were both going to be there. She actually recognized Rome first, even though she'd never met him - she knew him from my blog. I got to meet her kids for the first time too, but it was like I already knew them as well, since I see them so much on her blog! The LDS world REALLY is a small one.



That night was a Hawaiian Luau, provided by Todd and Ken's families. Delicious food, hawaiian names, hula dancing - it was my favorite of the three dinners
















"The Warriors". When Rome wasn't doing a structured activity, eating, or playing air hockey, he was playing "warriors" with the boys and these same exact mish-mosh of "toys".







That night there was a ping pong tournament. I beat Jeff's cousin Anna (one of the sweetest gals ever by the way) but was then swiftly beaten by another cousin, Chad.



The tournament came down to Jeff vs. Jon (Jeff's brother). Jeff lost, but as he said "I've never beaten Jon [at ping pong]. . . EVER." So it wasn't a real shocker.

Sable liked air hockey too - she'd cheer whenever she was scored on, "Yaaaaay!"



Day 9 - Thursday, July 30

Goodbyes and bad news.

We had to be out of the house early, and while we were packing I got a call from my Mom. Our family dog, Mac, died. Mac, a Jack Russell Terrier, was over 16 years old and was truly a member of the family. He died after being bit twice by a rattlesnake on my parents property in California. My parents are living in DC for the summer and so my brother Spencer has been caring for their house and for Mac. When he realized what had happened he drove over 100 mph to the emergency vet clinic. They gave Mac anti-venom and kept him there all day. However, due to his age they said he only had a 50/50 chance of survival. Nearly 24 hours after being bit, Mac's breathing became more and more labored till it eventually stopped. He died at home, with Spencer by his side.



MacLeod, we all love and miss you. Rest in peace until we meet again.

I decided to not tell the kids right then, but wait till we would be at Temple Square later in the day.

After we were all packed and loaded up, we said our final goodbyes to the house and relatives we wouldn't be seeing again for quite a while. We all agreed it was the BEST Berbert family reunion ever.

More to come. . . I'll finish this days events in my next post.