Crockett Family Reunion 2014

I need to write about this before it vanishes from my memory.... It was such a fun week, I want to be sure to remember it.
Like I said, we arrived at The Crockett Household late after Disneyland and, first things first, got to see Tadd! It was so great! Giving him big hugs, chatting a bit between exhausted children and getting our stuff up to our room (Will's room, thank you Will). It is so evident that his mission blessed his life so much. He has such a light about him. Glad he is back and that we get to see him a lot while he is up at school in Provo.
Anyway, the next morning the family reunion officially started. There was a pancake breakfast and Zane LOVED that! He downed a lot of pancake and was a happy boy (/he wasn't very happy before the pancakes, however. thank goodness for the pancakes.) The first activity was a hike in Towsley Canyon. Everyone packed lunches and we headed out. It was a bit hot. And really sunny. And Zane didn't feel like hiking much so Rob got stuck with carrying both boys most of the way (Link in the BabyBjorn and Zane in his arms or on his shoulders. good exercise at least). But everyone made it! And chillin' and chattin' at our picnic lunch afterwards was really nice. Somehow it turned into an impromptu yoga session (Your Body Is A Gym) with all the grandkids striking poses, Zane right in the center of it.
We were in charge of dinner that night at the campfire at Castaic Lake so after the hike I got busy getting ready for that. I ran to the store (my first time out and about in Santa Clarita without Rob! and I made it back to the house without a problem. yay!) and got everything organized. The menu was hot dogs, chips, watermelon, tomato-corn-arugula salad, limeade and s'mores. I made the salad and dressing, with a lot of help from Carly and Debbie, and cut the watermelon (all the while taking care of kids' naps and feedings with Rob's help) and got everything packed just in time to head to the lake. It was a really fun night. The food was great, the salad and the limeade were hits, the weather was perfect and everyone had fun. The night was finished off with Carly and Lindsay serenading us with a girls camp song duet. Very nice.
I have to mention that the sleeping arrangements actually worked out really well. We were a little worried about how the boys were going to do having to be in a room together and also with us... But it worked. Link was in the pack-n-play and Debbie got a great little mattress for Zane to sleep on. When Link would wake up in the night, if it woke Zane up Rob would jump down and lay with him and he would go right back to sleep. Mostly Link just woke up once a night and they slept in pretty good... always past 7am. They were so tired from all the activities everyday that they napped well too, either in the room or in the car when were driving. So it was great. That was a blessing.
The next morning, the Severts made awesome muffins and egg casserole for breakfast. And then Lindsay, Kelli and I met Cindy to get manicures and pedicures. (Debbie had already gotten hers so she could stay and help with grandkids and Carly ended up getting her later that day.) It always feels great to do that, but it was even funner since it was for the wedding and we were with the bride! That afternoon Rob went rock climbing with everyone at an indoor climbing arena while I stayed home with the boys. It was nice to be able to be at the house without too many people there and craziness going on and just relax with the kids. Rob came back and swam with the boys for a while. Kelli had done crock-pot burritos for dinner that night and they were so yummy! Cookies were also made that night, a Crockett Family Must-do, and all the grandkids and men watched "A Lego Movie" in the guesthouse. The women mostly visited over in the main house. Zane stayed over in the guesthouse with Rob the whole time. That was great!
The next day was Beach Day at Ventura Beach. Aside from a bit of drama about where we were supposed to be on the beach, everything went over really well. We were joined by some of the Clarene Hansen family and Tamara and James and Grandma Townsend. They had been over at the house a bit the day before too when they came to drop off Grandma. But the beach was great. I even got to go play in the waves with Kelli a bit. The kids were good an tolerated the sunscreen and sand, but Zane wouldn't get in the water because it was so cold. Rob got in the water a bunch and played frisbee with all the guys. We sat and chatted with Grandma under the canopy for a while and ate a packed lunch. It was nice. And about all the beach I need for the whole year :)
We headed back early afternoon and got all cleaned up. We had family pictures in our reunion shirts, which were really cool I thought, and then the kids did some pinatas. That was funny.
That night, Alan's family put on the pre-wedding dinner. It was held at the Crockett Household. They had some really delicious food brought in and everyone introduced themselves and visited. Some fun stories were shared about Cindy and Alan and we watched their wedding slideshow. It was so crazy to me that it was night before Cindy was getting married!!!
The next day, their wedding day, was wonderful. I loved being at the sealing and Alan's grandpa, who sealed them, did a wonderful job. Cindy looked absolutely gorgeous! The rest of the day was actually pretty relaxing as everything for the reception was being set up by other people. We got all spiffed up for pictures at 4:30. The boys looked so cute in their wedding attire! Zane was in suspenders and a bow tie! Link was in a cute green jumper! Such cute boys! All the grandkids looked great! So many little boys! The reception started at 7pm. It was so nice. The weather could not have been more perfect. The food was yummy, the IBC rootbeer was awesome, everyone loved the ice cream bar. The DJ did a good job and the dancing ended up being one of the funnest things of the night. Link went to bed pretty early and Zane went to bed before the night was over too, so Rob and I had a little alone time and were able to dance without kids! After it was all over, some of the family sat out at some of the tables together a talked. It was great. A really good wedding day!
The next day Casey whipped up pancakes again for breakfast and Zane was thrilled! And then we all went over to church to hear Tadd speak. Really awesome. He loved his mission. His testimony is so strong. He is awesome. We all ate leftovers from the wedding after church and then we packed up to head back to Utah. We were heading to Vegas that night and left at about 5pm. We'll stop there, and not talk about how Zane got the stomach flu in the car about a hour after we left and I got it the next day and the car ride was horrible, and Rob got it that night once we made it home.... Oh, it was bad. But the reunion was perfect!