Back in 2019, Alisa and Jared unveiled their plans for our bi-annual Saville Reunion: Banff, Alberta, Canada! Everyone was so excited--well, I wasn't because I'd just gotten back from a camping trip where it had snowed, and Canada sounded FREEZING. After that, all anyone wanted to talk about when the out-of-town Savilles came into town was Banff--what were we going to do? There was national parks to see, hikes to take, river rafting, and so much more. We applied for passports for the kids in December. Excitement was building everywhere!
And then came Covid. Isn't that the theme of all our plans for 2020? And then came Covid?
We held out hope for Banff as long as we could, but in April, I suggested to Alisa that we come up with a back-up plan--maybe Bear Lake instead? The Canadian border was closed and didn't look like it would be opening anytime soon. There was a lot of debate. Should we just push it off a year? What if we all get together and give the Coronavirus to Kirt or Julie? What if? What if? Long story short (because nobody wants to relive all the back and forth conversations that consumed the Saville What'sApp group chat), we rented a place in Bear Lake even though in any other year, there wouldn't have been anything available. The festivities started on July 26 at a cabin just south of Garden City, and ended on the morning of August 1. We all did our best to quarantine before heading up there.
The first item of business was to explore and unpack. The kids did more exploring than unpacking.
And before sunburns set in, we took family pictures.
It was a little strange not to have any crying babies in the classic grandkid picture.
The originals.
There was also some silliness happening in the background.
After pictures, Ben and Jenny led us in an really cool Fireside, literally by the fire.
We talked about what we all learned from Covid, expressed gratitude, and heard Papa bear testimony. It was the highlight of the entire trip.
After the fireside, we had s'mores.
The next day, we had plans to go to the lake. Some of the adults had homework/class or work to take care of first thing in the morning, so the kids played until it was time to go.
We had access to a private beach, thanks to our rental. We got all set up on the beach
And enjoyed a water trampoline and two jet skis.
The beach was incredibly rocky, but the kids didn't seem to mind too much. Rachel loved spending time with Elise. They were practically inseparable the entire trip.
On Tuesday, July 28, Jenny and Ben led us in a Saville Family Olympics. (We asked Jenny to be in charge of the cabin activities. Next time, we'll remember to mention that she only needs to plan 1 or 2. We really stressed her out by not telling her a specific number. She thought we meant she needed to entertain us all the time we were there. All her activities were incredible; we just didn't want them to cause so much stress. We should have known better; she never does anything halfway because she's pretty darn amazing. Sorry for the stress, Jenny! We loved everything you did though!) She divided us up into teams and made it so each family was split up. Here we are getting put into teams.
This is my team. What we lacked in brute strength, we made up for in good looks and stellar personalities.
The games included a mummy wrap:
A balloon carry relay.
A tug of war tournament:
(Gabe's team decided to drop the rope after being told "Go", but either they didn't tell Gabe or he didn't understand. Everyone dropped the rope but Gabe and he held the other team single-handedly for a good 2 seconds. I was pretty proud of him.)
There was a water relay where we had to try to get water from one bucket to another using squirt gun things.
We took a break after a couple of hours, and the ladies all took Jenny out for her birthday to a crepe place in Gardner City.
We surprised her with this brunch, and we all had a gift for her. We decided to share with her some of our favorite things.
Jenny's love language is gift-giving, so she loved it, as we hoped she would. She's such an incredible person and so good at making everything special that we wanted to give a little back on her birthday.
Meanwhile, back at the cabin, the rest of the Savilles decorated the cabin with streamers and balloons for a surprise party. When we were heading back, I kept texting Ben about our ETA.
We hung back a little to let Jenny go in first, and boy was she surprised!
I think we even made her cry!
We all sang "Happy Birthday" in our loud, off-key Saville style, and Jenny encouraged the noise.
She blew out her candles Covid style--with a paper plate.
I got really girly paper plates, napkins, and a piñata because I figured she always has to do boy parties. Brian and I had baked the cakes the night before, and I think I left him in charge of frosting them while we ladies were at brunch.
After cake (and maybe after dinner too), we got back to our olympics. There was a shooting range
A bubble blowing contest (which I won for our team!)
And then a really funny ping pong toss game.
We lined everyone one up for the birthday piñata, and all the kids got a turn before Jenny got the final whacks.
Thank you goes to Lea for the awesome piñata filling!
After the piñata, it was time for the medal ceremony.
Jenny's team won! (There may have been some lighthearted accusations about her picking the teams, but nobody really cared. It was a lot of fun)
On Wednesday, we headed back to the lake, this time taking turns in the boat.
I got to live the high life of luxury on this mini-yacht.
We all took turns riding on the tube.
But mostly we just enjoyed seeing the gorgeous lake!
Meanwhile, back at the cabin...
On Thursday, we had a Christmas party with a White Elephant exchange. We all brought a used book or movie to exchange.
White elephant exchanges always give me anxiety, but I tried really hard to just laugh about the whole thing, and I was mostly successful.
Tucker and I were twinners!
Ben and Jenny treated us to lunch as a thank you for letting them use our car. We ate at Zipz, and it was a lot of fun to have a double date with them. We found this photo op there and couldn't resist taking advantage.
After lunch, we went out on ATVs. This was something Greg really wanted to do. Not everyone participated. There were two ATVs going. Ben and Jenny's crew took the first shift on ours, and then we finished it out. The kids didn't really love having to wear the heavy helmets.
It was really hot, but the views were amazing.
Greg's ATV got a flat at one point, and so they were stuck for awhile waiting to get help.
We really liked zooming over the smooth trails, but didn't love some of the tight, rocky trails.
The feedback was mixed for our group. We really wanted to love it, but felt pretty banged up after getting home.
One of the on-going cabin activities was putting together puzzles.
And screens. And books.
And screens.
and screens,
And screens.
Apparently, the kids did play a lot of interactive games on their devices that they're still playing together across all the miles that separate them.
On Friday, we decided to go back to the beach, but we convinced everyone to go to North Shore, even if it was more crowded. Since we were that close to Paris, I left for a little bit to go to the Paris Springs Campground. This was the last place I saw my Dad alive, the last place I talked to him, hugged him, laughed with him in person. There were people camping there, of course, but they were kind enough to let me walk around and cry some.
This sign is on the road right before the campground. It used to make me laugh. Now it just seems really fitting.
After my lone excursion, I headed back to the North Shore for more fun.
The kids said this was their favorite lake day.
After hanging out at the beach, we came back for food, and somehow managed to have a dinner with only the adults around the table!
After dinner, we went to a park for some good old fashioned games, including a watermelon eating contest
and kickball.
The puzzle finally got completed.
And the next morning, we had to pack up and leave.
But not before one last spiritual thought from Ben and Jenny, this time about how we're linked together and stronger that way.
On our way back to Utah County, we stopped in Smithfield to see the house where the originals lived when Brian was a baby. While we waited for the adults to all assemble, there was more cousin gathering.
and some shenanigans.
Here's the house where all seven of these people lived together. This is Brian's first home. This is where they lived when Kirt taught at Skyview High School, before the family moved to Topeka.
Here they are with the chains representing their new families.
We had an amazing reunion! (Just last week, Gabe was wishing he could go back and be with his cousins). It wasn't what we had originally planned on, but we were so grateful to just be together because that was the point all along. And we'll go to Banff in 2 years. (Well, 1 and a half now).
No comments:
Post a Comment