We headed up to Idaho this year for the annual Willard Reunion. It was June 21st through the 23rd. Marla was in charge and did a fantastic job. The site was a beautiful one with lots to enjoy. It was about an hour North of Mountain Home, Idaho in the Boise National Forest, just outside Pine, Idaho. Larry and I took off Thursday morning after getting our two girls into the kennel. We actually met Roberta and Keith and Bonnie and Randy, along with 3 of their grandchildren (Kraig's kids) at the rest stop just south of Brigham City, UT. So we traveled together. Georgia and Richard, Jennie and John (Pace) were just behind us about an hour. We arrived about 3:00 on the 21st and got our tent set up. We then just enjoyed visiting and waited for the Milletts to arrive. After they got there and got their tents all set up we started dinner. We roasted hotdogs and had salads and made smores which was fun. Marla had assigned each sibling an animal, we were the Bears. We of course each had a family jingle that we shared and then posted our flags. The Kopps were the Racoons, the Stowes were Porcupines, the Hegerhorsts were the Skunks, Milletts were the Beaver, Cliff's family flag had the Moose (we missed them this year) My Uncle Lee Bird also came up to spend some time with us. He was, of course a bird, the Owl. I don't know why I missed Roberta's flag. I think it was just because she was first and it took me a minute to think "Oh yeah, how about taking some pictures...".
The remainder of the evening we just socialized, played games etc. After a good nights rest we arose to a delicious breakfast of pancakes and the works. The men all pitched in and helped with the cooking. I love that part!!
It was a bit of a cooler morning and the plan was to go down to the river and float on tubes or play....but it was decided to do the crafts first and let the day warm up. Marla had planned something for the kids, ladies and the men. Mark had everything ready for the men to make marshmallow blow guns and then after they finished they had a little war out in the trees..kinda like paint ball. I was busy doing my craft and didn't even think to take any pictures, which makes me mad, because it was so great and everyone of them were out hiding and shooting and having so much fun! The kids painted their own frisbee's and beach balls. They had a lot of fun doing that also. The ladies all made a journal with a composition book and scrapbook papers and some vinyl. We really enjoyed making that and I even brought some extra stuff home to make a few more for the girls in my family.
After having lunch we got ready to head down to the river. There were some hot pots along the river, I thought it would be fun to sit in them and we also took our tubes down in case we decided to float down the river. When we got there the hot pots were really just that, HOT! I couldn't believe how hot they were...and the river...it was COLD! I didn't take my camera down to take any pictures so again..nothing to show for it. Larry, Richard and Ben (Emily's fiance') decided to take the plunge and head down the river on some tubes. They were pretty successful, although Larry kinda got put on the side of the river where he didn't really have a place to get out. He ended up climbing up a pretty steep mountain side to get to a road to walk back. I found a spot to sit along the bank where it was sometimes warm and sometimes cold...it was weird. The kids all had fun playing in the water and Jennie and Emily also got brave enough to try tubing the river. The afternoon was very enjoyable.
That evening we had a yummy dutch oven dinner of chicken and potatos. And on the schedule that evening was a dutch oven dessert cook off from the men of our families. Each had brought their own recipe of a delicious dessert. (I'm sure the wives all helped, I know I helped Larry) While those were baking we had our annual raffle. This year I made 4 sets of 6 homemade cards. There were a lot of other fun things there too. I was fairly lucky and ended up with Bonnie's quilt, Roberta's table runner, a hair band that Becky had sent, a menu board made by Georgia and also a cool apron for Larry to use when he is grilling. After the raffle it was time to try out all the desserts....YUMMMY!
The rest of the night was spent around the fire, playing games, visiting ect. The next morning we had breakfast in a bag for breakfast. Fun to make and delicious to eat. We then had our family meeting and talked about our families and things that had happen over the past year. I love this time of hearing about my sisters families and my nieces and nephews and how they are doing. My family is so important to me and I want to know about how they are all doing and what is happening in their lives. After the meeting we had some down time until lunch so most of us finished up getting our camps cleaned up. We had all done some of that earlier in the morning when it was cooler. After lunch we helped Marla and Mark and the girls finish up cleaning up our area and then got packed up. Roberta and Keith and my Uncle Lee, who had left earlier that morning, headed home. The rest of us went on over to the Hegorhorst Farm and finished the weekend there. Thanks Hegerhorst and all your work. We had a great time at the reunion this year!!
The remainder of the evening we just socialized, played games etc. After a good nights rest we arose to a delicious breakfast of pancakes and the works. The men all pitched in and helped with the cooking. I love that part!! 
It was a bit of a cooler morning and the plan was to go down to the river and float on tubes or play....but it was decided to do the crafts first and let the day warm up. Marla had planned something for the kids, ladies and the men. Mark had everything ready for the men to make marshmallow blow guns and then after they finished they had a little war out in the trees..kinda like paint ball. I was busy doing my craft and didn't even think to take any pictures, which makes me mad, because it was so great and everyone of them were out hiding and shooting and having so much fun! The kids painted their own frisbee's and beach balls. They had a lot of fun doing that also. The ladies all made a journal with a composition book and scrapbook papers and some vinyl. We really enjoyed making that and I even brought some extra stuff home to make a few more for the girls in my family. 
After having lunch we got ready to head down to the river. There were some hot pots along the river, I thought it would be fun to sit in them and we also took our tubes down in case we decided to float down the river. When we got there the hot pots were really just that, HOT! I couldn't believe how hot they were...and the river...it was COLD! I didn't take my camera down to take any pictures so again..nothing to show for it. Larry, Richard and Ben (Emily's fiance') decided to take the plunge and head down the river on some tubes. They were pretty successful, although Larry kinda got put on the side of the river where he didn't really have a place to get out. He ended up climbing up a pretty steep mountain side to get to a road to walk back. I found a spot to sit along the bank where it was sometimes warm and sometimes cold...it was weird. The kids all had fun playing in the water and Jennie and Emily also got brave enough to try tubing the river. The afternoon was very enjoyable. 
That evening we had a yummy dutch oven dinner of chicken and potatos. And on the schedule that evening was a dutch oven dessert cook off from the men of our families. Each had brought their own recipe of a delicious dessert. (I'm sure the wives all helped, I know I helped Larry) While those were baking we had our annual raffle. This year I made 4 sets of 6 homemade cards. There were a lot of other fun things there too. I was fairly lucky and ended up with Bonnie's quilt, Roberta's table runner, a hair band that Becky had sent, a menu board made by Georgia and also a cool apron for Larry to use when he is grilling. After the raffle it was time to try out all the desserts....YUMMMY! 
The rest of the night was spent around the fire, playing games, visiting ect. The next morning we had breakfast in a bag for breakfast. Fun to make and delicious to eat. We then had our family meeting and talked about our families and things that had happen over the past year. I love this time of hearing about my sisters families and my nieces and nephews and how they are doing. My family is so important to me and I want to know about how they are all doing and what is happening in their lives. After the meeting we had some down time until lunch so most of us finished up getting our camps cleaned up. We had all done some of that earlier in the morning when it was cooler. After lunch we helped Marla and Mark and the girls finish up cleaning up our area and then got packed up. Roberta and Keith and my Uncle Lee, who had left earlier that morning, headed home. The rest of us went on over to the Hegorhorst Farm and finished the weekend there. Thanks Hegerhorst and all your work. We had a great time at the reunion this year!! 
