Part one is HERE (bonfire music kick-off, real-life-relay, fear factor) and part two is HERE (minute-to-win-it and family pictures).  
Here’s the wrap-up…
Food
We eat well at Bear Lake.  I know food at reunions can be done much more simply than we do it up there, but for some reason or another we happen to have people in our family who thrive on trying out new recipes.
Really good recipes.
And people who like cutting and prepping and cooking together, which works out perfectly for us.
Each family is assigned a meal at the reunion and they put their hearts into it.  We get to eat stuff like this:

And this:
Yes, that is watermelon in there with green beans and grilled cheese…sooooo good.

And this:

And this:
Which sure makes my measly honey-lime enchiladas I whipped up with everyone’s help for my meal seem plain-jane (of course, no one had any problems cleaning their plates with those things either though:)

Here’s a pizza night these guys whipped up after the reunion (the wives and kids stay longer).


I wish I had pictures of some more of the main meals, but back by popular demand, my sister-in-law made her delicious fish tacos again (recipe back here), and my brother Jonah didn’t disappoint with his traditional secret-burger-rub-seasoning on his burgers:

For most dinners everyone gathers here to serve up the food and then it’s sheer chaos while everyone eats it up.

We eat most lunches here:

My brother, who lives in NYC, whipped up these Vietnamese sandwiches trying to copy some he had found there that he loved.  Boy howdy those things were soooooo good.  I wish I had a picture of the prep work cutting up and pickling all those carrots and cucumbers.  

Food is so pretty.

I think the kids’ favorite food was after the reunion when my brother-in-law’s brother came bearing all his goodies from his own Cold Stone franchise.  

Let’s talk about kids eyes lighting up…wow.

My favorite thing about eating at Bear Lake isn’t the food though.  It’s the discussions during the prep and while eating.  And the commotion.  And the togetherness.

I’m a sucker but I love that.

Clean-up
Once again we did the “star chart” for the “grandchildren groups” for clean-up.

And they actually fought over who got to do the cleaning.  I guess those stars are pretty hot commodities!  I guess that prize for a trip to the Bear Cave (below) was pretty appealing to all those kids of ours!

I love it when kids are motivated to clean.
The “Tutor/Tutee” idea was put into action this year as well (click HERE to see what I mean by that).
  
I loved watching the older kids make sure their younger cousins got fed first at mealtimes and were cleaned up after and looked after at the beach.  

I love watching kids not feel entitled to things too…and this helps.

The Talent Show

This is for sure the kids favorite part of the reunion (aside from scrubbing and cleaning..ha!).

They practice up their little numbers like nobody’s business and are so excited to perform.

 (They just make up whatever…sometimes some pretty funny stuff.)

I’m a little biased by my favorite was Lu’s rendition of “The Monster at the End of This Book.”

I sure wish I had more video of that…she did the whole thing with a few reminders when she got stuck from her siblings.

 These guys sang so beautifully together…

 Gotta love the piano-holder…

 We wrapped it up with a good headstand contest…

…a “trick” from cute Zara:
And by popular demand, a re-show of the great video my brother and his wife (the reunion chairs this year) put together before the reunion began….watched on the ceiling because it was too bright.

Here’s the video…it was awesome except for the parts with me in it…
You have to click here to watch it:  https://vimeo.com/71948406

Tennis Tournament

I hardly got any pictures of the big traditional mixed-doubles tennis tournament this year.  But this was my fav. year for playing tennis because we played so much of it and I loved playing with my girl Elle…even though she creams me every time.

This was when my brother and Elle knocked Dave and I out of the tournament.

She and Josh went on to the finals that ended in a dead tie because it started pouring rain right at that moment.

Josh had to leave after that so for the first year we left it at a tie.  But the tennis went on.  My heart nearly bursts to watch Elle play with all these guys.  What a treat for a mother, I tell you!

Waterskiing/boating

Our little twenty-year-old boat is still holding on (thanks to my brother for fixing it every year) and sure made for some fun times out on the water.

 Loved watching these sisters help their little sister do the wakeboard.

 Lu loved this for about ten seconds flat.

 Six of my seven little siblings.  Love them.

The End
We wrapped up the reunion with church and our own testimony meeting followed by dinner up at the Lighthouse.  My mom presented Max with the “Eagle” award some of my brothers had because he got his Eagle this year.  It was fun to watch all those little boy cousins look up to him since he’s the oldest cousin by a long shot and will be the first to do most things like that.

How grateful I am for these brothers of mine to be the big brothers he never had.

My brother Tal handed out his “Spiritual Creator” award like he does every year.  This year Josh was the lucky winner…he has changed schools (he’s a teacher) and changed so many children’s and family lives for the better.

I say “The End” but this wasn’t really the end because we can’t help but linger at the lake after the reunion a little longer.

But this post is long and I must run.

So grateful for my family and the lake….and wide-open beauty to spend time with in the summer.

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14 Comments

  1. Oh man! If your goal in this is to make us all wish we were Eryes, you're succeeding!! 😀 It looks like such a great time! I'm hoping that once all my siblings are grown we can get together and do something similar!

    Reply

  5. Looks amazing!! 2 questions – last name is eyre, what does the alm stand for? in the cooking picture everyone is holding their ear, looks like saydi was doing a game or something?

    Reply

  7. I fed my 5-10 people over Labor Day and thought I had cooked a lot. I don't hold a candle next to the horde your reunion feeds! Looks like a great time.

    Reply

  12. What an extraordinary family and reunion! So glad you could all enjoy each other. Can you pass along some of those recipes? I would love to try the watermelon and green bean salad.

    Reply

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