The year of Family Reunions

In 2012, we had a lot of family reunions.

In June, there was a reunion for the Wendt family--my parents, siblings and their kids.

In July, there was a reunion for the Richards family--my great aunts and uncles on my Mom's side.

And in Late July, there was a reunion of the Tolley family--my father-in-law's siblings and Dale's cousins.

We went up to Canada for this one, Fort Macleod, where Dale's great great something family settled as Mormon pioneers and his parents met and expected to settle as farmers for the rest of their lives.  Business carried them away to far away places, but we went back for a long weekend of camping.  Some of my favorite memories of visiting included:

 picking quarts of berries from Dale's uncle's farm-like garden.  Dale managed to get his three nieces to take turns feeding him berries by acting silly.  I get the feeling he often does the same thing to get me to do things for him.

We "camped" four households in two 5th wheel trailers.  Each of the other families who came camped similarly and joined around the campfire each night.  There were a lot of mosquitoes and Dale got what I can only describe as an electrified tennis racket to kill thousands of them.  The guys played with that thing for hours.

 My first trip to Canada was soon after Dale and I were married.  Spending a summer in Montana, the nearest LDS temple is in Cardston, Alberta, CA.  I've learned more about being a rural family and the wealth that comes from land and food from visiting these places.  Both literal and figurative wealth.  Thanks for the continuing experience, honey. 

Like mother like daughter

I surely do like when my mom comes to visit.  Now that Dale and I are fully fledged adults and don't get the luxurious long vacations of pseudo-adult student life, she has been VERY generous in coming to visit us in Salt Lake.  One such occasion was this last summer when she came for a family reunion of her cousins on her mom's side. 

I didn't go to the reunion, but I have a healthy pride for my Mormon Pioneer roots with the Wiley Hand Cart Company who are now settled in Magna, Utah.  I'll have to write more on that one at a later time.

I did get to take my mom to the Zoo, though.  The Salt Lake Hogle Zoo is a pretty fantastic visit.  Dale and I have been there at least three times since moving to Utah and every time I go, I think about how much my mom would love it.  My mom taught me how to love and SAVOR a new experience as sensational in the full meaning of the word.  One side effect of savoring a new experience is an extensive amount of time spent in a place.  This is one previous event I've shared with you that resulted in 6+ hours at a Dinosaur museum. 

 At the Zoo this year, I learned that my Mom can speak the language of this parakeet thing,

Yes, that is a tiger roughly 14 inches away from my mother's foot and we stared at it in wonder for a good 15 minutes.  We also saw these guys:

 and this lady!  (She was so playful!)

 I first recognized how my mother especially enjoys a LONG visit to museums and such when I was 9 and the Ghetty Museum opened in Los Angeles.  5 hours and 6 very tired kids later, we finally dragged her away.  I remember teasing her often about her time consuming passion for these things... until I started going to museums as an adult and always wanting to stay longer than the people who came with me.  I had a great time with my mom and I'm proud to be like her. 

I'm grateful to my husband for being patient with us and hope that he'll get accustomed to my longer than usual visits to exciting places.  Especially since I want to go back to the zoo with my mom again and get to know all of the little and big critters there a little better. (Muahahahahaha!)

"I want more blog from wifey!"

I got this email from my husband yesterday.

"Hi baby.  I thought it would be nice to read more blog posts from you again.  I know we are busy, but I'd be happy to give you some time and space if you'd like on a Saturday/Sunday and you could write about how cool your life is!"

I think this email is a perfect depiction of how cool my life is.  I have a husband who is crazy about me.  I am a lucky woman.