Saturday, July 30th we met up with as many of the Walker clan as could come for an informal reunion. We met up at a park near the Utah/Nevada border, or at least it felt that far away. 🙂 Copperton was a cute little town that was hard to find if you weren’t from the area and didn’t know the secret, hidden names of the streets. But thanks to Dan and Uncle Randy I finally found it, and the party could start. haha
I loved growing up and spending every summer in San Diego with all my cousins and aunt and uncles. And then we moved back there and time with the whole family became the usual. Birthdays, holidays, Saturdays, General Conference were often spent at Grandma’s with all the aunts, uncles and cousins in attendance as well. My favorite activity was to sit at the table while the adults played “Oh Heck” chatting and laughing the entire time. I would just sit and listen. I remember nobody could make my mom laugh like her big sister, Aunt Sandy.
So now that I have moved my children to the other side of the world, far away from aunts, uncles and cousins, I feel bad denying them the same opportunities I had. I was hoping to recreate some of that on this trip, and this reunion was one of those ways. It wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely memorable. 🙂
This post is going to be very pic heavy, so my mom can see relatives she has hasn’t seen for years. And so my kids can remember who helped make their mom who she is. Just warning you.
It was a very hot summer day. So lots of liquids were key to staying happy. Unfortunately, the water ran out towards the end, but we managed to survive anyway. 
Aunt Becky and Uncle Randy and all their kids and grandkids, Bryce, Eileen and their boys, Lance and his kids, Danny, Joe and his boys, Pete, Colleen and their kids, and Dusty and his wife Charice with their two girls were there. Uncle Brian fell and hurt his shoulder at work and was unable to come. That was sad. I was really looking forward to seeing him and Aunt Wilma again.
Sophie was so happy when cute, fat George showed up. James had stayed home with Aunt Somer, since Johnathon was sick, and that had made her very sad. But this was a good consolation. 🙂
Hilary was also a good distraction. Aren’t those pigtails just adorable? Apparently Halea is responsible for that.
Dusty and his family flew up Thursday night and stayed until Tuesday. Charice, his wife, has a sister that lives in Salt Lake, so they stayed with her. It was sooo nice to see him. He is a good guy and I really like his wife, too.
I cannot believe I have reached the ripe old age of 41, having spent every.single.summer with this man and never realized that his left hand is missing something.
My kids were equally fascinated and creeped out. Seriously, how did I not know this?
This is Dusty’s oldest girl, Sydney. She is the cutest little thing, and totally looks like her dad, at least from this angle.
Charice is on the left, holding Reagan. And those are Bryce and Eileen’s boys on either side of her. They are so tall!
Sweet Riley using Dad as a pillow for a little nap. He fell, scraped his knees, cried, and that wore him out. Plus I am sure the heat sucked the energy out of him as well. At least there was plenty of shade.
Becky brought this croquet-like game to play, but it didn’t last the whole afternoon. Unfortunately one of the ball sets ended up in the tree, effectively ending the game, but giving everyone another diversion: how to get it down! 
The Lasko table. 🙂 Everyone else was sitting at one big table together, and here are these guys off talking amongst themselves. I went back and forth between both tables, as all good Swiss would do. 🙂
I am so glad I bought those bubbles. They were a hit no matter where we went. The playground was directly in the sun, so the kids weren’t too interested in hanging out there for too long. But there were enough things to do in the shade that they didn’t get TOO bored. They did miss the nice river at Sugarhouse Park, though.
I gave the girls both a chance to take pictures with the camera, and I ended up with about 50 pictures of all the babies present at the picnic. This is one of my favorites. Isn’t he just so cute? And Colleen looks great, too.
The Lasko table didn’t last for too long. Dan is too social for that. (I mean that in a good way.) And don’t you just love Min’s cute skirt? She is such a good girl.
Silly Noah and Audra’s two girls in the background.
Kids will always find a way to entertain themselves, if given enough time. Including dirt graffiti. 🙂
She was so precious in her little pink glasses. And she never tried to take them off. Her mom said she cries when they are off, because she can’t see then. Awww!
More bubble blowing. Best 2 bucks I ever spent!
The boys are standing around trying to figure out how to best get the croquet balls down from the tree. It was Nick’s favorite part of the whole day. He loves a good challenge and watching how it gets taken care of.
First they tried connecting the other game pieces to make a long stick to knock them out of the tree. But they were wrapped around the branch pretty tightly, so no go.
Then Jackson (I think that’s who it is) tried climbing up the tree to get it. But the balls were at the end of a very thin branch, with only other thin branches around them, and he couldn’t get close enough to knock it out without risking his own neck.
It was this man’s birthday and he said that watching the boys trying to get those balls out of the tree was the best entertainment he could have asked for. They stayed longer than intended, just to see the outcome. 🙂
I am not clear on the details, but eventually they broke off the whole branch, with the balls still wrapped around it. Nick was very relieved. He felt very bad that Aunt Becky was going to go home with part of her game missing. Even though it was not him that tossed the balls up there originally.
The girls kept thinking Eileen was me! 🙂
Travis and his wife stopped by for a bit, and brought their twin boys along. I only have a picture of one of them, but since they look exactly the same, it doesn’t really matter. ha!
We stayed there for pretty much the entire day, so there was plenty of time to laze around and catch up.
And play with cousins, naturally.
I never talked to Audra much, growing up. She was just too young. 🙂 But I really enjoyed talking to her on this trip. And that is Laura in the background. They are still very close, which I think is nice. Hope my girls can stay that way, too.
Eventually, it was time to get home. A former missionary who had served in our ward for 9 months, was coming over for dinner, and I had to get back to cook!