Hinton Sibling Retreat

 Every fall, the Hinton siblings gather for a retreat.  Jim was president this year.  He planned the reunion.  It was held in Prescott, Arizona.

Clark, Mark, Ken, Lorene, David, Rick, Jim, and Don

Front:  Lorene, Kay, Leslie, Nan, Kathy, Gerri, Sherrie, Ada
Back:  Ken, Jim, Clark, Mark, Dave, Rick, Don

Jim rented an airbnb where four of the couples stayed. Lorene and Don and Ada stayed with Jim and Leslie and we stayed with their daughter, our niece, Sonya and Clark.

We spent most of the time at the rented home.

We each took a turn planning and preparing a meal.  We ate well.

We watched movies

And had wonderful getting to know you activities and games, sharing and learning more about each other.  One morning, we went to the seminary building.  Jim brought all of Mom and Dad's journals.  Each of us took a journal and read in it and recorded things to share.  After about an hour, we gathered and each of us shared what we had discovered.  Everyone agreed it was one of the best activities of the weekend.  At that meeting, Jim gave us each a notebook with a beautiful write up about each of the sibling retreats we have held.  Jim is an amazing record keeper and writer.  Ken gave each couple a copy of his "Grandpa Stories"- a book he spent many hours writing to give one to each of our precious grandchildren.

For many years, as our children were growing up, we held our big family reunions at a camp in the mountains above Prescott called Kamp Kenyon.  We shared bath houses and each family had their own cabin.  There was a big lodge with a big kitchen to meet and to prepare and serve meals.
Jim arranged with the current owners of the camp for us go up and explore the camp now.  Most of the group did that.

Nan, Clark, Ken, Mark

Bryson, Clark and Nan's oldest son rode his motorcycle from Mesa to join the group at Kamp Kenyon.  He loved that place and wanted to come see it now.

Each cabin had six bunk beds on each wall.

The lodge

The updated kitchen

Many a happy time was spent in this huge lodge.  Ah, the memories!

We didn't take a picture, but Dave and Gerri, Sherrie, Kathy, and I stayed behind and played games and visited.

We watched the BYU football game that ended in a disappointing loss.  But even when they lose, it is fun to watch BYU football games with this crowd.

On Sunday, we attended Jim and Leslie's church, then gathered at their home for pictures and lunch.  Ken's six brothers gave him a priesthood blessing as he was going in for back surgery the next day.

Since our last retreat, we lost Lorene's husband, Mark.  He is our first loss among us. It made our feelings more poignant, realizing how tenuous life is.  It was wonderful to be together with these good people.  We always come home determined to be better and do better.  A special thanks to Jim and Leslie who planned and hosted a wonderful reunion!