Quist Family Reunion

The weekend after the Smunt Reunion was the Quist/Watson family reunion for my Dad’s side of the family.  The extended Quist and Watson family gathered at Camp Lo Mia to celebrate Erva and Eva’s 100^th birthday.
Erva was my Dad’s mom and Eva her twin sister. When my Dad was seven his Mom, Erva passed away.  My Grandpa married Eva whose husband had also passed away.  My Dad’s aunt and cousins became his step-mother and step-siblings.  I could write pages and pages about these two wonderful ladies, Erva and Eva.  They helped each other get through nursing school and were nurses during World War II.  They were both amazing, strong women and I can’t wait to meet them someday.
 
The old family 8mm films were rescued and put on DVD’s. They covered from the 40’s to the 70’s and were great fun to watch. Here is a little snippet of the videos.  I cry every time I watch this. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CVRRW5OWpY

My Dad’s brothers and sisters took turns telling stories. We had a testimony meeting, talent show, games, and activities, and a very successful auction. Many of the auction items were family “treasures” that were passed down to many of the younger generation, including Grandma Erva’s WWII nursing uniform, some medals, and her scriptures.The crystal bead necklace that Grandma Erva wore on her wedding day and other special days, sold for more than $700. The proceeds from the auction will go toward funding the next reunion in 5 years.

Aaron, Rebecca and children drove over, and Chery flew down from Utah to join us as well. The only stress involved was feeding all the people. Two families were assigned to each meal. It was a bit stressful helping my Mom cook for 200 people. Rebecca came up with our menu: Yoshida’s chicken.  It was a very popular meal.









At night we slept in “addys.”  (cabin-like structures with a canvas flap to cover the front.)  Stephen and Boston LOVED EVERY MINUTE of this reunion!  It was so nice to be up in the cool mountains and we enjoyed rainstorms every afternoon.  It was nice to reconnect with my extended family and I loved learning more about my Grandma Erva and Grandma Eva. 
The boys’ favorite past time:  Climbing on rocks.




Scott took the boys on a mini hike up the big hill.

First self portrait attempt:

My new favorite picture of all time!

They also found “Pride Rock.”


Boston’s lion roar!




Their other favorite part was this tire swing:











One of the most amazing moment of this trip was when Stephen went on the zip line.  He was a little below the age requirement but he is big for his age, right?  We felt good about it and so up he went - 30 feet high, a harness, helmet, and the works.  He was a little nervous when he got up there but they gave him a little shove and off he went!  He said once he was going he wasn’t scared anymore and it was just really fun!

Smunt Reunion

The last weekend in July we attended Scott’s dad’s family reunion.  They call it the “Smunt” reunion since Scott’s grandpa remarried after his grandma died, some of his brothers are Smiths and some are Lunts!

 

Since the reunion was not too far away we were able to stay at home each night.  (There is nothing like sleeping in your own bed!) But we had fun visiting with cousins during the day.  We spent most of our time there in the pool and then this super swanky shaved ice truck drove by and Scott’s uncle Charlie waved them down and treated everyone to shaved ice.  My boys were ecstatic since they are always begging to buy something from the (ghetto) ice cream truck in our neighborhood. 

There is uncle Charlie in the white t-shirt…  Thanks Uncle Charlie!

The hot hot day ended nicely with a large monsoon dust and rainstorm and cooled things off quite well. 

Covered Wagons

On Pioneer Day Courtney shared one her family’s traditions with us.  We had a fun Family Home Evening where she taught us how to make tasty, edible covered wagons in honor of Pioneer Day.

We decided to make a wagon train before we started to eat the wagons.  Stephen and Boston had a hard time waiting to eat theirs.

Stephen really wanted his wagon. Now.

 

Finally we sang “Pioneer Children” but as it turns out we only knew the “walked and walked and walked” part.  The rest of the song was a bit muddled. 

The boys are excited to have Courtney for a new aunt.  She is lots of fun!

Doggy sitting, big bug, beautiful day, and wedding planning

We doggy sat our friend’s dog, Jazz for a week.  He was a very sweet boy and Stephen and Boston loved having him around.  He was so loving that each time I crouched down and tried to take a picture of him he would get too close to the camera in an effort to be close to me!

 

I have no idea what me and Scott’s mom are so shocked about but this picture cracks me up. 

 

Maybe we were shocked about the size of this bug Scott and I found on our front porch.

 

This was a BEAUTIFUL Sunday evening.  The temperature was in the 70’s and the sky was unbelievable.  We decided to go for a walk around the park near the new Gilbert Temple with my family.

 

Boston was FILTHY one day and I asked him to wash his hands.  He was sweetly obedient and came back and said “all clean Mommy!”  It is lost somewhat in the pictures but he was still completely dirty head to toe except for his hands.  He he!

 

We went out for dinner on Scott’s birthday and Boston was apparently not having a good time.  It turns out that he was getting sick but we didn’t realize it yet.  Poor guy!

 

A lot of time in July was spent helping my mom plan for Allen and Courtney’s wedding and Chery and Stephen Ross’s wedding.    One day as I picked Stephen up from school and told him that we were going shopping with Grandma, Chery, and Celsea again he asked, “why do we go shopping so much now?”  As I began to answer him he cut me off and said in a resigned voice, “I know, I know…it’s for the wedding.”  Poor kid!  He was really cute one day and drew a picture of “Mommy and Daddy’s wedding.”  He gave several suggestions for how he thinks that the backyard should be laid out for Chery’s reception.

  

That is the bride and groom standing between the trees in my parent’s yard.  There is a string of lights across the yard and the hanging down things on the side are “poof balls.”  He thinks that the tables should have vases with flowers on them.  Most of these ideas were things we have talked about doing, I just didn’t know that he was paying that close of attention and that he could visualize it!

 

Independence Day and the Piano

July 4th in Arizona is not typically known for being a pleasantly cool day.  This year was an exception to that rule!  We went to a movie as a family in the morning and when we came out it was pouring rain!  We all got completely soaked as we ran through it to get to the car.  We (especially the boys) thought this was so much fun.

 

Soaking wet Boston

 

Soaking wet Stephen…

 

When we got home Stephen and Boston got to play in the puddles.  Boston was concerned that he would be in trouble for getting all wet and he kept saying “it’s okay, right Mommy?”

 

While the boys napped the afternoon away, Scott and I reassembled the piano in the living room.  We bought this piano on Valentine’s Day and I had been working on refinishing it since then.  It didn’t turn out perfect but compared to what it looked like when we bought it…well it is a vast improvement.  Of course I see all the flaws and imperfections but hopefully, most other people won’t notice them.  I can not even begin to guess at the number of hours I spent working on this piano.  I started out using chemical strippers which was unbelievably time consuming and eventually Scott convinced me to sand the rest of of it.  He did help me finish with the sanding but I did everything else on my own. Now it just needs tuned!

 

Here are some before pictures:

Yeah Kloie, it smells bad.

 

Aaaand, after!

 

In the evening we picked up Celsea, ate at Red Robin and then met up with Scott’s family to watch fireworks.  Stephen plugged his ears and Boston lay his head on my lap the whole time.  Of course, no 4th of July celebration is complete without glow sticks.  The weather was so lovely that evening.  It was perfect!

 

Sorry about the blurry, dark car picture, but there are some happy people there!