Wilkinson Family Reunion-Ensign Ranch 2014

This post has been sitting in our drafts for just over two years! We went to the Wilkinson family reunion right before we moved out to South Carolina.

Apparently Michelle has a mini-meltdown in the days leading up to the trip, as evidenced by this note :)

Wednesday

Drive, Drive, Drive...

Before the hike later that afternoon, we played a game called Allhambra with Ila, Glinda and Sabine and not to brag, but Michelle and I took first and second place (beginners luck, I think not; a little cheating?...ask Michelle :) ). So far day one of the reunion had gone perfect and reminded me much of my Stone family reunions...playing games, going on hikes, eating good food. By Friday night we realized the sub theme to Finding Joy in the Journey must have been: To have joy you must eat tacos; because just about every meal involved tortillas and variations of taco/burrito fillings. Despite the fact that the meals where similar, they all had their own unique, tasty spin and there was plenty to go around.

Thursday

The theme for the reunion this year was "Finding Joy in the Journey." This mantra came after sifting through a variety of other themes including its sister with a negative connotation "Endure to the End." I think we all agreed a family reunion was doomed to fail if we all felt we'd have to "endure" each other's presence for the few short days we were together. 

Michelle and I (one of the newer members of the family) got to share the opening message and introduce the theme. We shared a few thoughts from the scriptures and from President Monson's last conference message aptly titled "Finding Joy in the Journey." We focused on the idea that we were meant to have Joy in this life (see 2 Nephi 2:25) and that we could choose to be happy despite our circumstances (see Alma 62: 41; 3 Nephi 6:13). It was Abraham Lincoln who said "I reckon most people are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be." And, President Monson who said "choose to find joy in the journey now" (emphasis added). 

Michelle highlighted some key points from the Monson talk. First, that we need to focus on the most important things in our lives--people--letting go of the past and prioritizing the present people in our lives. Secondly, she reminded us of the need to be grateful, to focus on what we have and not on what we are missing in our lives. As Elder Uchtdorf reminds us, we ought to be grateful in our circumstances not for things. 

After the thought, we tried to sort out the climbing wall and realized the communication and scheduling at ensign ranch had much to be desired (along with the good qualities of course--don't want to sound too whiny and cynical).  Climbing would be postponed until Friday so we could go on the hike to Franklin Falls. 

No matter how much I love the natural and unique beauty of Utah, the lush, green forests of Washington never cease to amaze me. The rich, clear pools of water, grandiose, cascading waterfalls and thick, exotic looking growth remind me of my time in the Australian rainforest or New Zealand back country. 

The hike, like most others I have done in Washington was gorgeous and Michelle and I took some time to explore off trail, to rock hop, and to jog along the dirt paths. We especially enjoyed the chatter in the car on the way to and from the falls with Mom Spencer and cousin Kara.

Here's our confession--Thursday night we definitely snuck away to our cabin to finish watching season one of the Legend of Korra series on our portable DVD player. Thank goodness for technology in the wilderness--bring on season 2.

Friday

Today we took advantage of the canoes on the lake. Although Michelle hates lake scum and we both quickly realized we'd need to communicate better to joyfully and successfully direct a canoe, we had fun. The lake was pretty nasty nast, but we enjoyed our jaunt and then watched the little cousins (and some of the big ones) slide down the slip n slide while enjoying our ice cream bars on the side lines. 

That afternoon we got to spearhead the climbing activity on the Ensign Ranch rock wall. Michelle was my bouncer and helped so much with preparing participants and managing the group while I trained belayers and supervised safety and climbing. We make a good team. Thanks again to Ethan, Uncle Kevin, and Cousin Rebecca for being my belayers and helping cleanup. 

We almost had a major problem about thirty minutes into our climbing when Larry (that name was thrown out like a title--commander in chief) showed up in a panic and said he didn't have any record of my climbing certification. I had an email that said I was good to go and got the go ahead from the front desk but somehow Larry hadn't received confirmation and was going to shut us down. We troubleshot for a minute or two and then thanks to borrowed smart phone technology (it slaps us in the face every day and reminds us we need to upgrade)  I was able to show him my credentials.  We belayed the whole family and had a blast watching the tiny tikes bravely climb the wall. 

Some of the kids had total trust, no fear or inhibitions and would have climbed a wall twice as high if we had told them they could do so safely. I sometimes wish I still had that kind of trust and courage and wasn't so paralyzed by fear, doubt, etc. All in all it was a really fun experience and I was able to confirm that I wasn't a certified fraud. Haha. 

That night we decided that rather than staying over one more night at the ranch we would pack up and scoot out early. We said our goodbyes and got on the road (after a few stops to pet horses and get gas---thankfully so considering what happened on our drive). On the way to Maple Valley we saw what looked like a terrible accident. At first I didn't notice it, we just drove over a spot in the road that had odd and unexpected splotches of red. These, we later discovered, or rather realized, were blood stains from the wreckage we had just passed. Michelle, as the passenger was able to see that a car was on its side and another overturned on the roadside. Though many others had stopped to see to this tragic accidents' victims, we quickly called those we loved who were travelling ahead of us and behind us to ensure they weren't involved in the accident and remained so (this was Michelle's quick thinking--I'll be glad to have her at my side in intense situations--second coming included). In addition to the cars, she saw what looked like smaller bodies or figures strewn across the edge of the road so we also offered a prayer in behalf of the victims. 

Our belief is the blood and bodies we saw were actually remnants of a deer that had been hit, causing the accident, and hope that there were no fatalities but the truth is yet to be uncovered.  After that, we were just anxious to get home as safely as possible. A little shaken despite having seen and been in fairly intense accidents prior to this one.  Again, though I sometimes roll my eyes when Michelle want to stop and pet a milk cow or coo at a horse, I was grateful to be a few minutes back on the road and to have avoided a potentially fatal and sorrowful night. 

Upon returning home we were able to laugh away our worries with Danny, Mom, and Ethan and fall fast asleep.

Saturday

Today the house turned into a construction zone. Michelle was patching holes and prepping for paint while I sanded railings and the hearth for staining. In the afternoon we wanted to go for a swim and decided to check out Ethan's place of employ "Angle Lake Park." Turns out the people of Washington like to go to the lake, and the city management of Washington does not like to provide parking. Rather than drive in circles competing for parking spots we took off early and ran some errands.

In the evening we decided that between the work and the heat we needed a good ole fashioned movie and the lot for choosing the movie fell with me. I of course made the obvious choice and picked a movie that would appeal to all (or not)--the magnificent seven, starring Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, and a host of their famous contemporaries. Needless to say, the movie is longer than I remember and by the end of the flick I was the only one still awake in the room to watch. Oops. 

Sunday
We had a picnic in the park after church with Annie's family, and one of Annie's friends and her family. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon, especially since the next day was spent sleeping and driving.