The first Wendt family reunion!

What do you write for all the world to see about your first sibling level family reunion?  First time where  because Christmas and Thanksgivings are no longer a given that we all attend, and where we can't wait for one of us to get married to have an excuse to spend all of the money to travel, we had to plan to get together for no reason at all other than to see each other.  What I can say is: it. was. awesome.

Alana, Dale, Nanette, Eric, Jeremy, Heather, John, Liam, Noelle, Nathan, Brooke, Jonah, Ellie, Amber, Scott, Annabelle, Jack, Madlyn, Ian, Alex, Naomi, Andrew, Joseph, Alanna, Mari, Felicity, Xavier, Pamela, Carter, Rita.

Check out that impressive list.  Breathe it in.  Thirty of us have grown from the original 2 adults and 6 children.  The last time all of us siblings were in the same room was at my wedding 3 years ago.  With all of the kids married now, it took Jeremy saying "hey, lets get together!" and over 6 months of planning to pick a weekend where everyone was free (possibly the most difficult part), choose a location (second most difficult) then lodging, entertainment, transportation and food all more or less fell into place.

For those of you who don't know my family, I understand that that may be the end of your interest in this post.  For those of you who are long lost friends, enjoy the photos!

We swam (at the Lehi Legacy Center.  It's basically a mini water park that is actually a public pool.  We spent TWO of our 5 precious afternoons there)

We had the traditional reunion barbecue complete with spontaneous baseball game (what you see here is my nephew with a broken leg being helped to run around the bases by his dad while my brother in law narrowly "misses" him with the tagging ball.  It was really great to help the kids learn the sport and then for the all adult game (boys v girls, of course) where it was equally as non-competitive and awesome).

We hiked (also two of our 5 afternoons) all through little cottonwood canyon and up a mountain.  Ian and Alex were troopers taking 7 kids ages 12-2 on a two mile hike up a mountain! 

We also played games every night, went to the new City Creek Center and Temple Square, played in parks, had a talent show, and cooked great meals together.  (I know what you're thinking--a talent show?  But it was actually really awesome.  Every family had something to contribute and with a supportive crowd who share a base of inside jokes, it was epic).

When I was a teenager in LA I used to love having guests so I had an excuse to be a tourist in my own town.  I had no doubt that LA was a world class and amazing place.  I still carry that knowledge with the kind of confidence that borders on snobbery in it's fullness.  Having to find activities for a family of 30 to enjoy and then doing them helped me own an idea I had only noticed before.  My home, where I've lived for 2 years in the city and 5 years before that in the suburbs, where I began and nourished my budding marriage, is pretty dang great!  We've got mountains, temple square, nature, and a lot of really great family friendly public areas that welcome children and adults alike.

I think it also finally feels like home for me because now I have memories in it with all of these great people.  I love each of them so much.

For those of you who notice that only Johnny is representing the Jeremy Wendt family: Jeremy, Heather, Liam, and Noelle couldn't attend.  Jeremy's baby girl is seriously ill and could use all the prayers you have to offer.