Chiddix Family Reunion 2019

      You could call it a "Chiddix Family Reunion", or you could call it a "Live-In-Your-Swimsuit-Crazy-Cousin-Palooza-2019".  (I think the latter is the more accurate title, although it would have been difficult to fit such a long name on the t-shirts Lisa made.)

Sean and I in the official Chiddix Reunion 2019 t-shirts!

     We all gathered at the Daniel's lake house in Rexburg, Idaho.  He generously reserved the house Labor Day weekend for our entire family (along with a cabin and an yurt).   It was the perfect place to gather our large group: my mom and dad, their seven kids and spouses, and 27 out of 29 grandchildren. Only my Noel and Mattias were missing!

    Friday and Saturday, everyone lived in swimsuits and went from one water activity to another.  Daniel was amazing, rounding up dozens of child-sized lifejackets, so everyone could be on the water together.  He also offered stand-up-paddlebording, jet skiing, kayaking, swimming, and fishing.  There was always something fun to do if you wanted to be in the water.

Me, getting instructions on how to drive a jet-ski.

Me, being WAY AWESOME on a jet ski, loving the speed!

Uncle Daniel giving Sylv a ride. She wasn't a fan.

Speed-demon Ephraim, loving the jet ski.  No surprise there.

Ephraim, trying to follow the older cousins example,
and climb up onto the railing to jump in the lake.

Ephraim flinging himself off the railing with reckless abandon.
Honestly, that should be his name:
 Ephraim "Reckless-Abandon" McMullin!

Asher on a stand up paddleboard.
 He was royally sunburnt the next day!

This floating mat was the BEST... THING... EVER.
Hours of fun for the kids.
Here is Ephraim dancing back and forth along it, singing?

Sylvia and the older cousins loved taking the mat to the
 middle of the lake, having their own world to rule.

Ephraim spent hours in his little kayak.
He paddled all over the lake, solo, loving his freedom.

 Saturday morning, our family and Cheri's family went with Daniel and Addie to hike the "R Mountain", a dormant volcano that rises up out of the deseret by Rexburg.

     I used to run up and down this mountain weekly as a high school cross-country runner.  Thirty years later, it was really tough!  I think going up 5,000 feet from what we were used to was a bit shocking to our lungs... along with simply being out of shape!

Super hikers!  Non-whiners! Girl cousin power!

 
It was fun to look around at the volacanic scenery.  With the river running through the desert below, and some wildflowers blooming,  it was actually pretty.

Everyone at the top, still breathing.
 (Sean is breathing behind the camera).

      Despite warning Ephraim (several times!)  about not looking under rocks for bugs -- there are scorpions and rattlesnakes here --  he started digging around in some rocks under a sagebrush at the top.
    I heard a scream of "OW!" and he shakes his hand, flinging something large into the air away from him.  Somehow he got away with just a pinch from the scorpion instead of a sting.
   
     It was a rough hike for Ephraim in general.  He ran down the trail, falling and scraping his knee and hand.  The band-aids wouldn't stick on because of all the dust and dirt. Uncle Daniel saved the day, packing Ephraim out the last bit of the trail on his shoulders. We were glad to be off the dusty mountain and heading back to the land of brownies and kayaks. Yes!

   Back at the lake house, Ephraim's life got better.  Grandpa had rented a bouncy house and climbing wall for Saturday afternoon. Dozens of cousins went between the lake and the lawn, in their own private wonderland.

Very tall rock wall and bouncy house.

Ephraim spent a lot of time on the wall.

Both Spencer and Ephraim, making it to the top to ring the bell.

Aunt Becca, mom and dad, watching the kids climb.

    Ephraim learned to play chess this winter, and has been doing a chess app as we drove across the country.  He was VERY excited to see a really nice chess board on a table at the lake house.  He played games against himself and Sean all weekend.
         He tried to play his cousin Felicia, but got trounced. She was a good sport about it, and it was good for Ephraim to practice being a gracious loser. (He may need more practice in that area.)

Felicia and Ephraim showing their skills.

   Sylvia has beat several people at chess this summer, mostly on scout camp-outs.  She was feeling pretty confident going into a game with Darci, another of Dave's kids.

     Little did she know, she had met her match.  The game went on into dinner time, and the younger cousins gathered around to watch the big match with their paper plates.

     Darci won, but dinner was delicious.   We will have to demand some rematches next year.  I always loved playing Dave chess. I'm glad to see his kids know how to play well.

     In between activities and meals, there was plenty of time for the cousins to all get to know each other.   Time around the campfire at night. Eating more s'mores than their parents would ever approve of if they had been outside watching...

Ryder and Eli, the younger generations pyro-maniacs.

     Time in the pool table room, making up their own games.  Coming dangerously close to chipped teeth and pinched fingers from flying pool balls...

Time doing random things like shooting a BB gun.  This was a real "Red Rider" BB gun, and nobody "shot their eye out"!

Ephraim, hunting pop cans and water botles with Uncle Daniel.

Time lounging on the floor of the TV room, watching movies...

Exhausted kids after a full day of sun, in front of a movie.

And bedtime together... which always seem to be very loud and giggley for Sylvia and her "tweener" cousins.

Addie, Joel, Darci and Sylvia  "sleeping".

   I loved how the older cousins helped out! Here's Braxton and "Blue" giving Ephraim a ride around the lake on a 4 wheeler .

 
      Sunday, we went to church with my parents, taking up three rows, and looking mighty fine if I might say so myself!  It was great to see the youth leaders that helped shaped me decades ago, and tell them how much I appreciated their love and patience.

      After church, we had a baby shower for the FIRST Chiddix Great-Grandbaby!  Braxton and his wife, MiKayla are having a baby girl next month, "Livia Boyle".

     Tammy had a bunch of plain "onesies" that she handed out to all the cousins to decorate with sharpies.

The results were surprisingly good!  We have some very clever and creative kids in this family!

My favorite was done by Nicole and Hannah Boyle. (#BoyleBooty 🍑 right across the rear end of the onesie!)   Those girls are funny as adults.

     After the shower, we all gathered for some "family history" games and activities.

      Each family had a set of cards with photos of grandparents going back three generations.  We had to match up the couples and put them in chronological order. Then, mom (Grandma Chiddix) pulled out a big box of items she had gathered over the past few weeks.  Each item related to a story that went along with each ancestor.

   It was a engaging, simple way for the kids to learn one thing about those people in the black and white photos they had just matched up on the floor.  There were lots of great stories for each person relating to each object (honey, a cow, trains, a baseball, etc.)  My mom did a fabulous job keeping it interesting and short.

     Dad told how an antique canvas watering bag for a car radiator kept cool by hanging on the car's mirror as it drove. He also told about his grandfather's blacksmith hammers.

    Then each sibling family put on a family history skit.  In advance, everyone read up on some ancestor and decided how to present a story from their life.

   Cheri and her kids did "Uncle Billy and the Confederates".  Carly was amazing in her role as the wife, saying plaintively (and in a southern drawl) "Don't go Billy, you'll get shot!"  as Ryder went off to steal back his horse.  Both she and Ryder could be on stage!

  Brandon was a hoot, as always.  He played Santa Clause.  Braxton played a great grandpa (as a litle boy) who just wanted a new pair of shoes for Christmas.

Michael was a convincing "peg-leg" great-grandpa.   He hobbled around with his wooden leg, doing funny tricks like kicking his leg off, and nailing his sock to it.

    After the skits, adults sat and visited, while the kids timed each other on the "Chiddix Cousin Challenge board".

   The game was a  beautiful poster board Sean made, with photo slot for all the cousins and aunts and uncles. It was tricky for the kids to match eveyone into their correct families.   They would stand around and cheer for each other, and crack up laughing as some people assigned the wrong children to families.  This was a hotspot for the kids for a couple of hours as we waited for Lisa to arrive with her family for the mega-family photo shoot.
 
     I think Darci completed the game in the fastest time, but Carly was close behind. She did it over and over again.  She is a very determined little lady.

Carly and her finished product of cousin perfection.

   Once Lisa arrived, and we all grouped ourselves onto the back lawn just as the sun was beginning to set.   I got lots of photos of people all cleaned up, looking beautiful.  As I looked through the lens of the camera, taking random shots of people standing around, I thought "These are the people I love!"

     We finally organized ourselves and got the large group photo of the entire family taken, with only minimal tears and drama.  (I'll post a picture of it here when I get it from Lisa.)  After that, we laughed and cried together, and did smaller group shots.

Brandon doing a "sexy lips" pose for photos, cracking us all up.

Five sisters.  Five buddies.  Five moms, doing the best they can.

Becca and I with sexy lips and our hair blowing in the breeze!

Mom and dad with all the grandkids, except Noel and Mattias.  A good looking group.

     Lots of good relationships were formed this weekend.  I appreciate Uncle Brandon helping Ephraim catch several bass.  He was a very patient fishing guide.

     Ephraim was soooo happy, and I was very grateful.  The next day I helped Rebecca's little ones (Caleb and Michael) fish, paying forward Uncle B's kindness.

   This was an amazing weekend.  The activites were great -- building blocks for a stronger family.  Once we cooked dinner, hiked, sang, or caught fish together, we had a common story.  It was well worth the cross-country drive.  I'd even say it was the best spent three days of this year.  It helped me value family members I didn't know as well, and see how rich we are in this family. I am going to love watching these little neices and nephews grow into themselves at future reuinions! There is a lot of potential bundled up in those chubby little bodies.