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.

Bryce Canyon Road Trip

 Did you know that other than Alaska (which is basically a block forest) and California (which is the size of two Utahs), Utah has the most national parks of any other state in the union?  It's true, a proud Utahn and the internet told me so.  Well, Dale and I are well on our way to having accomplished all of them. 

For your viewing pleasure, I present my husband, my brother-in-law, and my brother-in-law's girlfriend on the floor of a natural marvel.

This is what that natural marvel looks like from up above.  "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?" you may be asking yourself.  That is one of the many eroded valleys of Bryce Canyon in southern Utah.

Bryce Canyon is a geological marvel.  See those spires in that canyon?  That's what's left after the rain, thunderstorms, and wind have eroded the loose earth off of the land that you're standing on.  The first must-do activity is to see all of the outlooks on the totally great public transportation they have at this park, and then hike down in the canyons, among the spires.  That's what you see in the first picture.  All of the orange and red rock is so lovely.  I highly suggest it.

Next must-do: camping.  We chose to do so in a tipi.  No kidding.  We rented a campsite with one already set up for us.  This was our first Dale and I hosted camping trip and I got to use our new dutch oven.  Dale had to work hard to build fires and light coal.  I felt totally back-woodsy!  The accommodations there are pretty amazing.  All of it--hotels, camp sites, tipis, RV areas--are part of the same business.  The great part of that is, if you sign on to use the camp sites, you get access to all of the amenities of the ritzy hotel.  We slept in the tipi and ate at the tipi, but all of our other non-park time was spent in hot tubs, pools, comfy game rooms, and luxurious showers.

Last must-do, but DEFINATELY not least.  Go to the stargazing activity put on by the park lodge after sunset.  It starts with one of the park rangers telling campfire stories of how the local people explained constellations and used the sky to teach their children.  The park ranger has been doing this for a decade and is exceptionally good.  Then, after about an hour or so, you follow the group out after sunset, walk back to where there are 6 high powered telescopes.  You tell them the type of marvel you want to see and they show it to you.  I saw several globular clusters, a supernovaed star that was turning into a black hole, a galaxy, craters on the moon, mars, and --best of all-- Saturn, it's rings, and 5 of it's moons!  It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  I would go back JUST for this experience.  We want to find our local astronomical society to get access to more high powered telescopes again.

We managed to "do" Bryce Canyon in one three-day weekend.  And I would happily do it again.

Dance Recitals and Rugby Games

On Saturday Dale and I went to the Rio Tinto statium in Salt Lake City and watched our Alma Mater BYU tackle the national champoinship in Rugby!

Gwen is the one on the far right with her arms out.

We also went to my 4-year-old niece's dance recital.

Both were intensely fun for different reasons.

Rugby won me over from my luke warm interest in football after the first 15 mintues.  Why?  No time outs.  The ball is always live, the clock is always running.  If a guy gets tackled, he releases the ball strategically to one of his team mates who then keeps running to the goal until the other team steals the ball somehow.  Two 40-minute quarters and a 10 minute half time.  That is a game I can commit to.

The dance recital was for ages 3-18 and had almost 20 different performances of eight different age group teams.  I really liked picking a favorite among the dancers--usually the one with the most stage presence which to me usually means the most talent--and watching that one person through out the performance.  I especially liked it when this person ended up being a girl who was a little chubbier or not the prettiest girl.  This was perfectly entertaining until a 15 year old girl caught me watching and then it all of a sudden felt really creepy.

The BYU Rugby team has 30 players on both strings and represents 8 different countries on the team.  Our favorite player was a guy from South Africa who played the kicker position.  He was so intense to watch prepare and he didn't miss once.  The guy we came to support was a previous companion of Dale's from his LDS mission in Slovakia and is from England.  Lots of different Polynesian countries represented, as well as Europe and Africa.

The level of coordination among the young dance teams was awesome.  Our girl Gwen did two different dances and I think she was one of two best people on the team.  In the picture above, you can see how she is going full out on the choreography.  There are 3 other girls showing various representations of the arms out move.  If you can't see how this is adorably entertaining, I question your humanity.

Rugby people watching included education on the difference between a Euro mullet and a hick mullet.  There were plenty of samples of both varieties to provide in-depth analysis.

Dance Recital people watching reminded me of synchronized swimming meets as a little kid.  Elaborate costumes, schillacked hair dos, kids learning fine motor skills, and teens in the best shape that they are likely to be in for the rest of their life.  It made me want to start a synchro league around here!

My 3rd Anniversary

I don't know if you've noticed, but I just finished a lot of posts in a row.

6 months ago, my husband sent me and my two sisters an email guaging interest in a concert together and suggesting Disneyland as well.  From there it blossomed into the last 8 posts of this blog. They are the individual highlights of how my husband and I celebrated our third anniversary.

We danced the night away

We hiked Vasquez Rocks

We went to the beach and made stops on the way

We did 20 attractions in 10 hours at  Disneyland

We experienced Coldplay at the Hollywood Bowl

We touched a giant and climbed a mountain at Sequoia National Park

We experienced small town California.

I just had to add in that we went to Tommy Burger.
The taste of my childhood in burger form

All of that in 8 days in So. Cal.  We got to spend two days visiting the homes of 4 members of my family and go on adventures together.

And there's still so much more.  

Thank you, honey, for planning such a fantastic trip for us, and for coming with me to celebrate 3 years, and ring in the 4th of many more years together.

Small Town Central California

My sister and her family recently uprooted from Los Angeles and moved to Three Rivers, California, population 2,600.  Visiting that town was just as fun as any day at the beach with my Dad.  Why was it so great, you might ask?


Well, let's start with roadside stands of freshly picked strawberries.  6 baskets for $10.00.  We ate them ALL that day.

How about the next fact: when you live in a small town, you can afford to buy and keep a HORSE!  My sister has a horse.  We got to groom, feed, ride, and play with her. (the horse, as well as my sister)

Next is also produce related, but many of you know what I'm talking about: Avocado stands.  6 avocados from an avacado farmer's front step.  You leave $4 in a can and take a bag of double fist sized avocados.  Yes, we ate all of those that night too.

Lastly, my sister's new home has a river in the back yard.  Guests sleep in a luxuriously made air mattress on the deck under the stars with the sound of the river all night long.

It's also 2 miles out of Sequoia National Park.  We stayed for 3 days and could have stayed another week enjoying new and exciting things each day.  Rafting, exploring the National Park, playing in the river in the back yard... 

I've experienced small town Montana, small town Wyoming, small town Idaho, small town Kansas, small town New York, even small town Oregon.  Small town California has the charm of the others, but all on it's own.

Sequoia National Park

Yup.  That is a grove of some of the largest organisms on the earth.  If you look close at the base of the tree on the right, you'll notice my mom and myself posing together.  Mice: normal tree as I am: that sequoia.  Yup.  I did just pull out the SAT lingo in this post.  That is the only way I have to express the feeling of standing in that grove.  Let it blow your mind.

Sequoia National Park has all of the wonders of other national parks (Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, etc) like wildlife, rivers, rock formations, mountains covered in pine trees... but it also has these redwoods.  There is way more to do and see than we could do in an afternoon, but it was well worth the trouble to go.

Dale and I also climbed the last 400 feet to stand at the top of a mountian the size of Mt. Whitney.

That was exhilarating.

We also saw a mother bear and two cubs playing in a tree and unbelievably huge boulders forming the path of a river. 

My first REAL rock concert

This is how excited we were.  The people in the picture from--right to left--are Dale, me, and my oldest sister. 

This is why we were excited:

This, my friends, is the Hollywood Bowl.  (I'd like to take a moment to highlight that we are seated only 6 rows behind the people who pay for private family booths).  A natural amphitheater, it began hosting musical performances in the 1940s.  My dedicated parents took me and my 5 siblings to performances at the Hollywood Bowl to hear such greats as John Williams, Julie Andrews, and anything patriotic on the 4th of July.  They also have lesser known classical/jazz performers like Kristen Chenoweth and lots of other people whose names I don't remember, but their symphony performances and fire work shows never fail to incite wonder.

Dale found out early that while I have been to tons of musicals and classical performances, I the extent of my experience with live rock is limited to dark basements and crowds of no more than 50 people.  This concert is what started my Husband's planning our whole 3rd anniversary trip.  It was awesome.

We saw Coldplay perform live.

WE SAW COLDPLAY PERFORM LIVE!!!!

COLDPLAY!!! Chris Martin!  In Hollywood!  We were there!  He walked 30 feet away from me!  I don't even have the words!  Or I have the words, but they babble so much that you would be annoyed by how much my mind was blown by Chris Martin's energy and the songs I've only ever half appreciated on the radio.

The show started with a really awkward man-hating 70's chick duet.  Then a good group came on, techno-ish, but they played at least one song that I would purchase if I could remember their name.  Then... the true rock stars appeared.

I wouldn't have been able to explain to myself before this experience how a musical performance can be choreographed to have such energy.  The words "animal magnetism" come to mind for the gutteral enjoyment of this event.  It delighted so many of my senses at once that I am immediately a die hard Chris Martin fan.  Do not speak ill of him around me. 

The Hollywood Bowl encourages people to come with a picnic before hand (to make waiting for the show more fun).  We went classy and brought hummus and pitas with chocolate chip cookies (taste).  The above picture shows one moment of the constantly changing laser show, as well as 2 of the 4 jumbo screens showing close ups of the performers (sight).  The music was suprizingly familiar so that I knew all of the words--Coldplay has a huge amount of successful singles (sound). I could feel the beat in my chest as well as the mass of bodies dancing around me (touch).  I don't remember any distinct smell, and that perhaps is the best thing I can say of a rock concert with 15,000 dancing bodies in such close quarters.  I credit it to the outside arena.

When it's all said and done, my husband gets me to try things that I otherwise would never try.  I'm lucky that he is such an adventurous, indulgent man.  I love you, baby.  Thanks for the memory of this night.