Last week was the Champion Family reunion in Heber City, Utah. Every single member of the family, all 49, were in attendance for some portion of the four day event. Our shirts say, "Champion, it's in my blood!" Michael and Sam loved having the same shirt as everyone else and have wanted to wear it several times since we've been home.I was so proud of the way I prepared for the trip. I had been sick but still managed to pack every conceivably needed item and clean the house before we left, only 20 minutes after our goal departure time.
It was so exciting to see all of Josh's family. Since our last family picture four years ago there have been six new grand children born. Ben and Kristy's baby Rowyn was only 3 weeks old at the reunion. They were so tough to drive down from Rexburg, ID and be in a noisy place with a newborn but we were all so greatful they came to be with us.
This is how we spent our time in the van during the 10-hour drive there and back. Eating! 
. . . but not each other.
On Friday moring we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. I got Michael into the car by telling him, "Moroni's waiting for you!" He was so excited. We passed the Jordan River temple on the way there and he and Sam were upset when we didn't stop there. They couldn't understand having two temples so close together. When we left to drive down to Provo we passed two more temples. Michael then made up a new song called "Seven Temples." He was singing it to himself that whole afternoon. Inside, he found a nice chair, sat down in it, and refused to leave. He wanted to stay in there forever. He waved at all of the statues of Moroni on every temple we passed.
Sam was excited about the temple too. His favorite part were the "oxes" in the baptistry. There are twelve oxen statues underneath the baptisimal font, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. In the temple, faithful members of the Church can be baptised by proxy for relatives and others who have died without recieving this ordinance.
Here we are with Josh's sister Sarah and her family, Shawn, Rachel, Brooke, Kristina, and our cousin's daughter Elisa.
Hungry for lunch, we debated going up to the restaurant in Little America or down to Provo to Brick Oven. We called my nephew Andrew to see if he and his new wife Ericka could meet us for some pizza. The boys were so excited to see Andrew. They are in love with him, even though they don't see him very often. They both wanted to sit by him and talk his ear off.
Up at the cabin in Heber City, we spent the time visiting and keeping an eye on the boys. There were 11 kids under the age of three, so things were busy! The boys slept well in pack n' plays in our bedroom. We listened to them on the nursery monitor and heard adorable things like, "Don't get out, Michael! We're stuck in here!" One moring a crying baby woke us up and Michael shouted out, "Sam! Are you okay?" He thougt it was Sam crying and was worried about him. We have really seen their relationship blossoming lately. They've started ganging up on me and saying what THEY want to do. It's plural instead of singlar. "WE want to watch a movie," "WE don't want to go to bed, " "That's OURS!" they always tell me, one at a time.
Here's Michael with his great Grandpa Gail. They both performed on the harmonica at the talent show!
Outside on the rocks. Little boys were meant to live in places like this. They were up on the hillside with sticks "hunting." Sam got poked just under his eye, but hey, hunting wolves is dangerous business.
Josh and his dad had a great, long talk on the front porch one afternoon. A thunderstorm came and went and they watched the whole thing and visited. We really miss living near them and the time difference even makes phone calls difficult.Here's Michael's harmonica solo in the talent show. Sam sang a family folk song, but he sang so softly the camera didn't really pick it up.
All of you Oscarson's will appreciate this. I practised it while pushing the boys in swings at the playground and they picked it up.
More togetherness.
Michael with his cousin "Baby Kristina." The first couple of days I was thrown off hearing "Kristina!" in warning and baby-tones, but I got used to hearing people call for this little cutie pie who shares my name and Michael's cheeks. Josh's Aunt Brenda made I don't know how many of those stuffed frogs and had her grandchildren put on a puppet show about the princess and the frog.
Shifting gears, we went to spend Sunday night with my sister Becky. Sam and Michael found action figure knights in the toyroom and soon Uncle Brent surprised them with their very own helmets! They segwayed into Star Wars and spent a good hour and a half wearing these ski helmets that made them a little top heavy and chasing Uncle Brent, a.k.a. Chewbaka.
John and Katharine stopped by and played for a minute and we ate a refreshing dinner of roasted chicken and vegetables with peach cobbler for dessert!
The next morning, Becky and Brent entertained the boys outside while Josh and I packed up the van. They picked strawberries in the garden and jumped on the trampoline until we thought they would fall over with exhaustion. At home the next morning, Michael was disappointed when we couldn't pick fresh strawberries in OUR backyard. Maybe next year, or next house, Michael.
Our drive through Nevada was long but beautiful. I wanted to watch a Western movie when we got home. That will have to wait until I catch up on my sleep and chores, though.
The state line between California and Nevada is where the green stops abrubtly and the stone and dust begin. Somebody was thinkin' when they drew that line! 
The boys did pretty well without naps and going to bed later than usual. Here is the only meltdown on the way home, just to give you a little taste. We hope to be making the drive again in August to welcome Matt Lowe home from his mission and we want to plan a GR Oscarson reunion somewhere similar for next summer. Bring on the family!
4 comments:
Kristina, that dress you're wearing in the pic in front of the temple is DARLING!!!! SOOOOOO cute!
What a great vacation! I love family reunions! Your boys are growing up so fast. I can't believe how big they are! Thank you for sharing a fabulous trip.
What a wonderful vacation. I love how much your boys love the temple. I'm glad you were able to take them to the open house while you were here. We took our boys and they loved it.
What a fun trip! I would have picked the Brick Oven too! That's great that you got to spend so much time with Josh's family and still some of your family too.
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