The Meeker Family!: Meeker Family Reunion

We just got back on Friday from 4 fun filled days of our Meeker Reunion. We stayed up at a big cabin in Heber. We had so much fun. I really do love Chuck's family. The kids had a blast playing with all their cousins. This was the first time that we had all of the cousins together at once.

Meeker Family 2008

The boys

Meeker 2nd generation!

We arrived at the cabin tuesday night and we unpacked and the boys rode 4 wheelers while the kids got reacquainted with each other. For some, this was the first time we saw each other. We had never met our niece Chloe, Ken and Faith's little girl. It was super fun to watch the kids play, read them stories and make up games. After the kids went to bed (after lots of jumping on the bed) we sat around and visited with Mike, Amy, Rick and Heather until Bill and Marilyn arrived with Ken and Faith at about 1 am. Ron and Steve didn't come up until the next morning.

In the morning the boys all went shooting. Chuck bought a couple cases of bottled water and they used those as targets. Mike said it was cool because they erupted when hit and the sun made the exploding water look like an actual explosion. Sort of. I figure boys are easy to please when a gun is in their hand and they are exploding something. While they were gone, we did an art project with the kids. We made crowns with stickers and coloring all over. Then, Amy and I took Cayden, Nora, Katie, Jessica and Emma for a walk. The kids collected fist fulls of wild flowers for their Grandma. There were yellow and white wild flowers and beautiful columbine in the classic blue/purple. The kids trudged up a big hill up to their waists in wild flowers with no fear. We all ate lunch and then the kids all took naps. Bill had prepared a short lesson for us while the kids were napping, then Rick went over a couple safety tips for us. My sisters Becca and Rachel came up and took our family pictures, they did a great job. We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner, I made cupcakes and we all sang happy birthday to Emma. Then we had our family talent show. This part of the night was so much fun! Cayden did his first 2 articles of faith, and Emma did a summersault. Mike, Amy, Katie and Jess's talent was a WonderPets skit. Mike, Jessica and Katie came out in their WonderPet capes and did a skit called "The WonderPets Save The Chick Fil-A Moo Cows". It was super cute and the girls had a blast. Chuck, me, Cayden and Emma did a super cute skit where Emma was a princess and got kidnapped by a monster (chuck) and Cayden the Prince had to come kill the monster and save Emma. It was so cute and Cayden loved getting to stab his Dad with a dagger. Bill played the jewharp for the kids and they thought the music it made was funny. Steve did two magic tricks and the kids thought the fact that his quarter went into his skin and up his arm was really cool. Sariah sang "Keep The Commandments" with the help of Ken. She is two and it was so cute. She knows lots of sign language so she signed some of it too. Marilyn told the story of Tommy Harper and the cabbage patch. Ron did the funniest talent of all. He did the Night Before Christmas - Around the World. Each sentence of the traditional Night Before Christmas was done with a different accent. From a Bronx New York accent, to Irish, German, Vietnamese, Middle Eastern, Russian, Australian, Surfer etc. It was hilarious!!! We all laughed so hard. Then, the kids sang the Birdie song and a SUPER LOUD version of I Am A Child Of God. It was really loud. And funny. But mostly cute. That night we hung out and talked about finance and investments and just joking around ton. Mike, Chuck and Ron made Bill laugh so hard at one point that he literally curled into a little ball on the couch and couldn't breathe. It was just one of those fun nights, hanging out in jammies, laughing and talking and eating chocolate chip cookies.

The next morning, everyone but Heather and Amy went to a park and had a Meeker Olympics. We played games, three legged race, relay races etc. We all ate a picnic lunch, and went to Granny's for shakes, then returned to the cabin. The kids went down for naps and the adults had the family meeting. We decided to have the next family reunion in the summer of 2010 in upstate New York. After naptime the boys took the kids on a nature walk. They had to collect specific things and put them in their bags. That night, Amy (with the help of all the girls) served a Hawaiian dinner to everyone. We had leis, decorations, island music and for the meal had roast pig, rice, sweet potatoes, oriental salad and fresh fruit with dip. We had lilikoi (passion fruit) chiffon pie for dessert. It was a fun night. We played a game Steve taught us which was basically charades & password all combined. It was so funny. Amy, Faith and I stayed up late into the night talking and getting to know each other better. Ron told us funny story about his friend who is a Navy SEAL and we all just sat around telling stories and laughing.

The next morning, Ken, Faith, Ron, Steve, Marilyn and Bill had to leave early so Rick, Heather, Mike, Amy, Chuck and I cleaned up and packed up the cabin and headed down the mountain to the Huntsman Family Reunion. The Huntsman family is Marilyn's (Chuck's mom) side of the family. We had a family picture taken, had a family meeting that ended up being super fun and funny, had a big BBQ (it was 4th of July) and another talent show. (I guess we think we are pretty talented) Then, we went back to our hotel in Salt Lake City and got up the next day and went to the park with Mike's cousins and their kids and went out to Mexican food for lunch. Then, we hugged and kissed everyone goodbye and hit the road for home.

Highlights of the week for me were... Watching how well the kids got along. Cayden loved his cousins and they had so much fun together. They all played so well together. Emma loved Jessica especially, but was in Heaven with all the girls around her. It was also so nice for me to see my sister in laws. I am super close to Amy and Heather and I had so much fun just visiting with them. They are two of my best friends. I was so happy that everyone was there. Usually when we get together someone is missing, it was so great to see everyone at once, and get to spend 2 days of uniterupted time together. Chuck loved going shooting with his brothers, and going four wheeling. It was so great to just stay up till 2 in the morning and talk. I was so sad when everyone had to leave. I don't think we will all be together again until the next reunion again in 2 years. Wednesday during our kids naps chuck and I went on a walk and got to spend some time along. we found a huge rope swind and he pushed me on the swing. I felt like a kid again. It was so great to spend some care free time together. I also really enjoyed seeing Chuck's cousins. They are so fun and sweet. I have really grown to love them. I think for the most part it was a great reunion, and everyone has a lot of fun.

Katie, Nora, Cayden, Emma and Jessica