Although this is the end of September, I'm still stuck in July trying to wrap up our annual family reunion...yes, this is a very long post, but we packed in a lot of fun that I don't want to forget!
Our theme for this year's reunion was inspired by one of Paul's favorite sayings, "Every Second Counts."
He sent the family this letter on his 59th birthday back in January to introduce the theme to the kids...I am posting it here for posterity...
Every
Second Counts:
After
much harassment from my wife and children regarding my now infamous and oft
repeated original quote "Every Second Counts," I still hold faith in
those three emphatic words. Even Lance
Armstrong (recently debunked superhero) wrote a book where he borrowed (with
permission) my quote, "Every Second Counts". My children will still mock me as they
remember my attempt to motivate them to fold newspapers faster, that our
customers might have them delivered on time, with those words "Every
Second Counts."
After all
that, today more than ever, I firmly believe, "Every Second Counts."
Time,
overused joints, wrinkled skin, graying hair, and a morning "run"
turned to a "slow jog", reminds me of my mortality and how little
time we have to accomplish and experience all we would like to do. As sitting
in the hot tub to ease aching muscles has become, a before the workout, or even
to get out of bed routine, I have no
regrets for cramming every minute into every day.
As I
enter my 60th year of life, I feel gratitude for trying to ink out every bit of
the best that life has to offer.
Although at an age where many have retired to the hum drum of life,
trying to get through another day, counting the days to retirement, sitting on
the couch and watching reality shows, I
look forward, with excitement, every day to going to work, seeing my children
and grandchildren, serving where possible, my next adventure, and all the
myriad of things left I want to do, and accomplish and experience. You know what? More than ever, "Every Second
Counts."
If I look
back just on the last 18 months of my life, it tells me (1) I am very blessed, (2) opportunities are
there for those who will take advantage of them, (3) opportunities are for now
and not, maybe the next time they show up (because they don't), (4) grab a hold
of what life has to offer, (5) stay motivated in all that you do, (6) don't be
afraid, and if you are, fight through that fear, (7) do your best, always, (8)
love always, love everyone, and love your family most of all, (9) stand by your
faith in The Almighty, with everything you have and (10) cram every minute of
every day with some portion of the above, because our time on this earth is
limited and we don't know how many seconds we have been given. Make them count.
Quite
frankly, I am feeling OK with being a bit on the older side and now reflect on
how my life has been very , very full in spite of it. Going back just those 18 months:
I have
been so blessed in my personal life to have had the opportunity to spend time
with each of my children, all of my grandchildren and welcoming three more into
the family. I'm grateful to be able to take time off to visit and stay and
enjoy. I have been able to experience
baby blessings, baptisms, and Priesthood ordinations. We have joined our family at parks, zoos,
festivals, Disneyland, and family reunions in our home.
In my
business life, in 2012 qualified at a level of travel with State Farm I have
only achieved two other times. In 2013 I qualified at 3 times the 2012 level,
which I have NEVER come close to doing and less than 200 agents in the country
(19,000 agents) qualify for. I have qualified for MDRT, an international Life
Insurance Award that less than 50 State Farm Agents in the country will qualify
for, and achieved Presidents Club with State Farm Life landing in the top 25
life insurance agents in the whole country. I achieved Crystal Excellence which
is an award that puts me #1 in Northern California in Quality Business by doing it
for 31 years. Plus I have been fortunate
enough to qualify in California Senior Vice Presidents Club as a 5 way
qualifier, which should land me in the top 5 in California in another overall
category. I realize all that stuff means
little to you, but it means a heck of a lot to me. I celebrated my 35th year as
an agent and while most of my friends have retired, I am looking forward to
another 15 years. Why not when I only
work 3 days a week.
In my
adventurous life, I have taken the opportunity to raft two weeks down the Grand
Canyon with my family, dive the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Bungee Jump
from The Auckland Bridge in New Zealand, Climb Mount St Helens with Kiff, rode
ATVs, snorkeled, paddle-boarded and took a Helicopter trip in Kauai, help sail an America's Cup racing yacht in
Sydney Harbor, hiked the outback in
Australia, climbed to Machu Picchu, and kayaked and snorkeled in the Galapagos.
In my
travels I was blessed to visit Ecuador, Galapagos, Peru, Australia, New
Zealand, Grand Canyon, Kauai, Las Vegas, New York, Bermuda,
and all the places my children live.
In California I've been able to travel to and stay in very nice places
in Sonoma, Costa Mesa, Disneyland, Monterey, Carmel, Sausalito, Newport, Laguna
Niguel, and Pasadena.
At home I
have loved landscaping and maintaining our four acres, rafting, kayaking and
hiking with mom, keeping everything organized, writing and cataloguing my
history, and studying for another insurance degree.
At church
I have done my best to keep the principles I have been taught, study, pray,
serve and fulfill my calling as a counselor in the bishopric and as you know,
recently been called as the bishop.
Now if
this sounded like a "look at me" I apologize. I am very happy with my life and recognize
that the last 18 months are not all that different than most of my life. What I am trying to portray is that, even
with age, our life can be filled with what we want and what we desire. Of course, we should want and desire good
things. There are no limits, except the ones we set for ourselves.
However,
there is no way I could have filled my life this way, except I believe that
"EVERY SECOND COUNTS".
Fast forward a few months to July...
Managing 10 kids (plus 8 spouses) & 26 grandchildren is a bit of a challenge but, thanks to Paul's type-A personality, he makes it happen. The kids all chuckled when he turned the gym into a pantry full of the weeks' groceries...
...and I'm pretty sure a few eyes rolled when they saw the itinerary posted on the windows in the main area of the house. Let them roll! It certainly helps everyone know what is going on & how to plan accordingly!
I also posted the menu in the kitchen & we hired a couple of Young Women from our ward to help set up & clean up meals. BEST. IDEA. EVER! Elizabeth & Alice were such a big help! I didn't get a picture of them this year, but I do have this one from one of our recent activities with their older sister, Donna, who is about to take off to serve a mission for our church in Oaxaca, Mexico...I love these girls!
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After breakfast we started out with a Cousin Challenge obstacle course. Uncle Ty & Aunt Christi set up the course. The older kids went first. Aunt Christi timed them to see who could complete the course the fastest.
They had to run & kick the soccer ball into the goal...
Run over to loop one bar on the Laddreball...
Run over to serve the volleyball over the net (which we failed to get any pictures of)...then run over & hop on a scooter to the basket ball rim & make a basket...
Hopscotch through a mine field...
Then, my personal favorite, run & give Grandma a kiss on the cheek! (It wasn't even MY idea!) I know it looks like Christi is playing on her phone, but she was really timing everyone as they came across the finish line!
Trevor was the winner & we failed to make him take a victory lap (nor did we get a photo of his touchdown dance!)
We didn't time the little cousins, but everyone participated - they were so cute! They especially loved everyone cheering for them as they ran the course. I love how some of them were super intense while others were all smiles!
After the Cousin Challenge, we set up different activities where the kids could earn tickets for trying the different activity stations. Aunt Amy had put together some prize boxes for them to redeem their tickets for candy, trinkets, & toys. They actually loved collecting the tickets more than playing the activities!
We had a Bean Bag Toss & a Washer Toss...
Ladder Ball & Cup Stacking...
Water Balloon Volleyball...
And always a favorite, Hoola Hooping!
We had some bubbles for the littles & a little shenanigans here & there!
There was lots of Spectating & happy smiles everywhere! (Don't you love Aunt Terri's camera shelf?)
These little guys weren't sure about all the craziness going on, but I'm sure they'll join in next year!
Poor Cassandra crashed on Aunt Cindi in the middle of all of the noise...
Everyone was ready to cash in their tickets. Aunt Amy was pretty popular with those prizes!
The fun continued after lunch...we had a lot going on! I might have been a little ambitious with this, but everyone was a good sport - ESPECIALLY Aunt Christi & Aunt Dara who agreed to help everyone with this project! The idea was to have each grandkid make a plaster of paris stepping stone for my garden. I had no idea what I was asking...it was a hot mess! I didn't test it out ahead of time & it was soooooo messy, it dried too quickly, & it was difficult to make each one consistent - some seemed too wet while others too dry. It seemed like such a great idea, but it was super stressful...
The kids personalized their stepping stones with their own design, a handprint, or a face print? Yes, Kenyon decided that he wanted to make a "face" print on his. I'm pretty sure it was Uncle Ty's suggestion, but with his Mom's encouragement...that's exactly what he did! Awesome!
To say that these were A LOT of work is understated! Thanks to everyone for their help & patience with this project! They did turn out pretty cute...now let's see if they withstand the winter in my garden!
While all of that was going on, I drug my parachute out to try & keep the kids occupied while waiting for a turn at the craft table & when they got bored with that, Aunt Amy jumped in to play games with them...
Meanwhile, Aunt Cindi taught the big cousins the Cup Song Game from the movie Pitch Perfect...they were pretty good!
By mid-afternoon, the adults were all exhausted so we all sat on the patio & watched the kids "run amuck" on the waterslides. BEST. PURCHASE. EVER! We set one slide on one end of the yard & the other on the other end with the Slip-n-slide in the middle! They had a blast running from one to the other!
Uncle Ty jumped in to play with the littles. He's gonna be a good dad some day...
After dinner we held a little family talent share. This was very informal & the kids came up with their own talents to share - a few adults shared their talents, too. Aunt Amy organized the acts & Luke was our MC for the event. He did a fantastic job announcing & encouraging each act. There were skits, dances, & tricks of all kinds!
S'mores for dessert to wrap up a fun-filled day...
Once the little kids got to bed, the BIG kids gathered for fun & games, lots of laughter & sibling bonding. This is one of my favorite times during the reunion when they tell all their "remember when stories." My sides hurt from laughing & my heart swells with love for these knuckleheads.
And this is just Day 1!
1 comment:
That was just day one.? Hmmm, I think you have more seconds in a day than I do or maybe they are just more stretchy than mine. I thought that was the whole reunion. So much fun.
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