The Family Bond of the Year

Life goes quickly by.  As I look back on my 76 years, I remember my girlhood dreams looking forward, and what I hoped to accomplish with my life.  Now, as I review what has actually taken place, my greatest joy and accomplishment is producing a family.  I think of them every day and pray for them every night.  I want, more than anything, to be able to report to Heaven that we are all ready to return.  Is this an unreasonable dream?  Perhaps. 

One of the ways we hope to keep family connected is with regular Family Reunions.  We have been good at holding them every year for awhile now.  Our children and we take turns being in charge.  This year Layne and I planned it, and rented a lodge in Island Park, Idaho. 

Here is a view of the South View Lodge, in Island Park.

The morning of July 9th we left for Island Park.  Chris and Jessica; Reed and Dorothy followed.  Its pretty nice having Reed and his family now living very close to us.  I'm still getting used to having some family in Idaho.  I love it!

We were the first to arrive at the Lodge and were pleasantly surprised at all it had to offer.  The inside was beautiful and full of amenities, including lots of sleeping space and fun stuff for the kids to do.  We loved it right away.  The outside was also a happy surprise.  There was a zip line and train for the kids.  Wow.  We were pretty sure the family would love it.  And they did. All agreed that this place deserves a return visit.  The only downside:  no internet.  Wait, as it turns out, it was not a downside at all; it increased the family bonding without the usual distraction.  Sweet.

We had a wonderful time, visiting Yellowstone, attending the musical, Joseph and His Technicolor Coat at the local theater in West Yellowstone, touring some of the local sights, floating down a local shallow river and generally hanging out at the lodge.  It was all such fun, with a loving spirit attending us throughout our stay.  I believe it was our best reunion yet.  Everyone except Gerald and his family were there.  My heart is full.

Here are some of us, gathered in the main room at the Lodge.

Meal time at the Lodge kitchen.  Buffet style works well with our crowd.

We visited the Galbraith cabin, built by Layne and his family when he was young.  His twin, Lynn, and family has worked to improve it.  It is too small for own crowd of some 30 but we enjoyed visiting it and getting reacquainted with Lynn and Camille's youngest son, Curtis, and his family, who were staying there for the week.

 Here's Reed and our Jessica, in front of John Sach's cabin in Island Park.  It is a fun place to tour.

Here is the train, located near the Lodge, which the kids loved.  

Three days passes pretty quickly.  Soon we were on our way back home.  Ben and family followed and spent the weekend with us, along with Chris and Jessica.  We had lots of fun with the BJ kids for a few days.  

Here's Abigail, Alexis and Jacqueline (on the grass), in our back yard.

After Jessica (Ben's) left with the kids, they spent some time with Reed and Dorothy, and I drove to Utah (in the new jeep!), where I've been enjoying the company of Bob and Maryanne. Guess what we have spent our time on?  Family History, naturally!

Family.  What a blessing to have some in Heaven, and some on earth.