(Half of our group at This Is The Place)
Since none of my siblings live in Utah County where we can see them often, I wanted to create a fun experience for the cousins to come together with activities that will build lasting relationships and close bonds with each other. This past week, we had our 2nd annual Cousins' Retreat. It was another fun, bonding 2 days of activities.
We started at This Is The Place in Salt Lake City. It was a wonderful experience for the kids. They got to learn about and gently experience little aspects of the pioneer life. Here are some of the kids next to one of the most heart-felt stories of tragedy: Boada, who was holding sticks she had gathered one cold morning, froze to death next to the wagon wheel. I shared this story last year for a primary singing time and cried.
We took the train ride around the pioneer village twice. The kids loved it.
These darling pioneer actresses and actor played for us. We clapped and sang with them. Cute little Madison jumped up and started to dance with Taylor and her brother, Kaden, while they sang and danced. I videoed that and can't wait to share it.
We went to the Blacksmith and told him our great-grandfather had been a blacksmith from Denmark. The kids were mesmerized by what they learned and saw.
OFF TO LUNCH! We brought picnic lunches and ate under a stick covering.
It seemed like a great time to take pictures of the cousins! Here we are in different groups, beginning with the teenage cousins.
Here are my one-year-old twins. I took this picture for my other cousin, Charonne, and sent it to her saying, "This is what your life will look like in 1 year from now!)
Back at home, we had our cousins' craft which was making duct tape items, like flower pens, wallets and purses! The kids LOVED the creativity factor and the cool designs on the duct tape.
Later that evening, we ate pizza, played games, watched an outdoor movie and ate homemade ice cream. It was the best evening!
The next morning, we arose around 8:00am and made Ebelskivers in honor of our Danish roots. The older cousins went to the temple to do baptisms. Aunt Jenny brought the name of a relative for Taylor to perform the baptism. It made that experience all the more real for her.
While the older children were at the temple, the younger kids went on a hike up Battle Creek. Pregnant Jenny was a trooper!
(Alyssa wouldn't wear her cute socks all winter, but suddenly, on a day with the high of 91 degrees, the socks seemed appropriate?)
(It was so much fun having Jenny's family here! They live far away and we don't get to see them but once or twice a year!)
On our way down from the hike, cute little Pierce fell and sliced open his head. Jenny and Dan had to make an emergency trip to the Insta Care for stitches for him. BOO HOO!
Later in the afternoon, we rented a water slide for the kids to use for a few hours. It was a huge hit. They played on it for two hours straight!
Perhaps the highlight of the day was that we skyped with mom and dad for the first time since they left for the Canary Islands! When mom saw us all, she started to cry. We ended up skyping for over 1 1/2 hours. Each one of the grandkids got to talk to mom and dad for a while. It was awesome!
One of the sweet twins, Lydia.
Duct tape wallet and purse from the two cousins hooked at the hip!
Our 2014 Cousins' Retreat was a special experience for all. The cousins played without fighting or tattling, just like we used to in Gunnison, Utah with our cousins when we were younger. The older kids kept thanking me for the work. They were gracious and helpful.
I love my family. I really do. These two days will go down in the books as some of my favorites for our family.
