Eves family reunion

The last three days have been spent in varying degrees of debauchery and abandon at our family reunion. I'm exaggerating, of course--but I will say that the Eves' family does know how to enjoy itself (especially if food and cards are involved). This particular reunion is a small one, involving Dan's grandparent's descendents. So pretty much everyone there was an aunt, uncle, cousin, etc. Or married to one of the previous.

Sarah was this year's planner extraordinaire (although I think Bubby and Poppy helped some). We started the festivities on Friday at a local park. After a fabulous breakfast involving egg casserole, muffins, fruit and OJ, the kids spent the morning playing on the playground, making crafts (that was my assignment--let's just say they had a little too much fun with the puffy paint and t-shirts. I forgot to tell Katie and Andrew not to squeeze too much out at once), and the adults chatted and played cards.

That afternoon, we went to the aquatic center--always a favorite for my kids. Andrew finally got up the courage to go down the slide with his dad, and then went down 3-4 more times. Evelyn even went down with me. (Actually, I had to go down first and catch her at the bottom). The slide tunnel is long, dark, and pretty quick. Evelyn came out the bottom on her stomach, with her feet towards the pool. She seemed a little shocked when I caught her. I asked if it was fun, she said yes. I asked if it was scary, and she said yes. I asked if she wanted to go again, and she said no. It's amazing how much more fun the pool is when the cousins are all there.

We had dinner at the clubhouse behind Bubby and Poppy's house--Bubby ordered takeout from Cafe Rio, so the adults were all thrilled. Andrew took some convincing to realize that the food was actually good. Andrew also commandeered a group of younger kids and taught them how to play one of our recent game purchase, a fun little game called "Sleeping Queens." Leo wrecked havoc on the group, though, by periodically running off with cards. I had to laugh at the glimpses I caught of Leo, scampering delightedly by a doorway with a fistful of cards, and Andrew following behind in enraged pursuit.

Saturday morning, the boys (of the grown-up sort) competed in their annual orange ball golf tournament. This meant I got to take the kids to bountiful baskets to pick up our weekly fruits and vegetables. We spent the rest of the morning home, waiting for someone from DirectTV to come install a new antenna (we just switched from Dish Network--not that anyone cares, but that's what we did).

In the afternoon, we went up the canyon where we had lunch (leftovers from Friday), played cards, blew bubbles, and talked. Evelyn was so worn out that about 3 o'clock she climbed on my lap and fell asleep while I talked to Dan's aunt Carolyn. She stayed asleep on my lap all through dinner preparations (needless to say, I didn't help much). Everyone pulled out all the stops for dinner: we had hotdogs roasted in bacon and brown sugar, pork loin, rice with chicken and mushrooms, sweet potato salad, stuffed jalapenos, and a fancy sort of bean/avocado/corn salad that Matt made. Everything was cooked either in a Dutch oven or grilled--even the dessert (monkey bread and a coconut bread pudding with chocolate sauce).

Afterward, we had a short talent show: Andrew drew a picture and read everyone a book (by himself--he picked the book without consulting either of us and did a pretty good job); Evelyn sang "popcorn" and did an interpretive dance while she sang; Leo sang "It's a Grand Old Flag" with Jake (who also did some yo-you tricks); Katie and Lydia modelled some school fashions by Bubby and sang a song. The Alton family (Dan's cousin's family) also sang "When I'm 64." It's pretty apparent that they actually have a few real singers in their family--the harmonies were pretty impressive. Jasper and Ted also sang--well, Jasper sang and Ted watched, then when Jasper finished, Ted launched into "I had a tiny turtle . . . " (Ted's maybe 3 months older than Evelyn). It was pretty cute.

When we finally got home, it was late (for us), but I think everyone enjoyed it. Today was the final day of the reunion. We went to sacrament meeting at Uncle Phil's ward, then retired to Phil and Karen's house for an amazing lunch spread: funeral potatoes (I think that's what they were), grilled chicken, London Broil, melons, salad, frog-eye salad, fresh bread, and, for dessert, cheesecake and red velvet cheesecake (which is just what it sounds like: red velvet cake with layers of cheesecake in between).

As you can tell, we had a great weekend punctuated by food. Now, I'm tired.