Hinton Reunion- Thursday

 We all arrived on Wednesday evening.  Ken and I were in charge of breakfast on Thursday morning.  We served green eggs and ham with blueberry muffins and strawberries.

The swing on the front porch was a popular spot. These kids are having an early morning swing.

After breakfast, Kristen presented the theme for our reunion "He Knows."  She used this video from Elder Holland.

Then Ken and I presented a short devotional and we sang our theme song.

Most of our grandchildren- lined up by age.  Littlest to biggest: Lissi, William (missing- he was sick), Sammy, Gabe, Kenny, Hannah, Audrey, Jaron, Lily, Jake, Caleb, Gabbi, Nathan, Brielle (still inside)

One of the teams plotting their Capture the Flag strategy.

After Capture the flag, they did the Human Pinata,

The kids had so much fun chasing for candy.

Lily displaying her spoils

The kids caught a horny toad.

After everyone had a chance to hold it, they let it go.

William started throwing up just as they arrived at the reunion on Wednesday night, so he didn't feel too well on Thursday.  Later, Shonna and Lily came down with it.  Luckily, it was just a 24-hour bug.

The cabin we stayed in was very well equipped with toys and games.  There was plenty of free time for the kids to play and play.

In the afternoon, we had our annual talent show.  Lily, Audrey, and Hannah planning their gymnastics number.

Sammy was SO cute showing his talents.  He had made fossils and all kinds of things and he knew all about each one.  He is such an inquistive kid and loves to learn.

He is also a good artist.

See his fossils made in salt dough

William played the bells and sang.

Brielle bore her testimony in Spanish.  She has learned Spanish this year and figured out how to bear her testimony.

Jared taught Nathan how to tie his own flies for fishing and Nathan showed us some he has made.  The next couple of days he caught fish using his own flies.

They don't teach cursive any more in Audrey's school, but she has been determined to learn it and has taught herself (with Kristen's help.)

Gabbi and Jaron spent hours learning all about bows and arrows and how to make them.  They made a power point presentation all about it.  Then they presented the kids that would be interested each with a bow and arrow they had made.

In this picture, you can see one of the bow and arrows that they made.

I can't believe this is the only picture we got of those bows and arrows.  The kids had so much fun with them. They were a big part of our reunion.

Lissi presented a lovely dance

The grand finale.

Jacob is a very fine artist.  He brought some of his work to show.

Since there was no piano in the cabin, Lily brought a pre-recorded video of her playing a solo, then a duet with her mom.  She is getting so good!

Caleb, inspired by Nathan last year, did Rubiks cube in a very fast time.

Gabe did some magnificent tricks on the floor.

Michelle and Gabbi did a tap dance to "Singing in the Rain."

I was so sad that two of the numbers that I videoed were too long to post.  I have worked and worked with them, but I couldn't get them to post. Kenny sang "Gethsemane" It was so precious as he sang with so much feeling.  Here is a picture I took as I watched the video:

Kristen Shonna and Michelle surprised us with a song they wrote about us.  It touched us deeply.  They each sang a solo about an incident from their lives, then all sang the choruses together. It made us cry. Here are pictures I took as I watched the video:

After the talent show, more play time:

I was impressed with how many of our grandkids knew how to play chess.  That chess set was being used constantly.

That evening they built a fire and roasted marshmallows for s'mores.

Thursday was a very fun day.