Aspen Grove - Day Two (June 5, 2008)

Day Two started with the prospect of clearer weather, but Mt. Timpanogos was still shrouded in clouds.

Allyse, Sofia and Sabrina were gathering the troops to go horse around at the playground down the hill from the family cabin.

Once they had gathered, Joseph, Noah, Sophia, Allyse and Michael ran down to play on bars and slides.

After play time, the children went to their various groups. Sofia and Allyse practiced a song with their group, the Panthers, for the Friday night program.

Sabrina won the "Nanette of the North" award for the biggest and fluffiest parka.

Joseph seemed to enjoy his new friends in the Wildcats class.

Lauren wasn't so sure that she wanted to be in the Romper class.

Ella didn't look like she was much more enthused than Lauren to be in the Teen class . . .

that is until she noticed someone taking her picture!

Joshua and Michael were completely comfortable as Cougars as long as they remained submerged.

Even the little ones had their classes to attend. Nora made a new friend.

Things were getting a little crazy in Annie's class.

Eden had fun climbing on the playground equipment and posing for pictures.

Benjamin showed the younger babies how to do tummy time.

On the other side of the camp, Noah proudly displayed his basketry project . . .

while Joshua (center) and Michael (left) tested themselves against the climbing wall.

Joshua eventually made it to the top, and then he summited the other side of the climbing wall for good measure.

Meanwhile, the derelict teenager, preteen and wannabe teens were hanging out at the corner soda shop, looking for trouble.

They found it in the truant group at a nearby table. You can tell this group is bad just looking at them because they coordinated their colors.

The skies finally started to clear, and the clouds lifted from Mt. Timpanogos.

As the day grew sunnier, so did the expressions. Sofia and Allyse had some blindfold fun.

Stella managed a smile even though she was enduring the subarctic temperatures in June. So much for Al Gore's theory.

Even Lauren was smiling after six straight hours of swinging.

Even Benjamin was smiling . . . er . . . oops, that kid always smiles.

Following dinner, the evening activities focused on the Western Village, which featured numerous stores, a jail, a teepee, and various modes of wild west transportation, like . . .

the "train" that Eden enjoyed as it snaked around the field . . .

and the stagecoach, driven by Lilly and Isabel . . .

as Lauren rode alongside on a bucking bronco.

Isabel and Angelina (not visible because she was too short to see out the window) languished in jail.

So Darleen and Stella took to some fancy shooting outside the jail . . .

and aided Angelina in a jailbreak.

Meanwhile, the Waites (and Lucas Meier) were enthralled with the stories of the mountain man.

Down yonder from the camp of the mountain man was an authentic Native American teepee.

Josh, Angelina, Joseph and other children went inside the teepee to listen to stories by the dreaded Utes. We spent hours afterward deprogramming them so as to ensure that they never have a desire to wear red and sing a silly song by the name of "Utah Man."

Later, Joseph, Angelina, Benjamin and Julene found some candy corn at the general store.

Joseph was all smiles after getting a shave and a haircut at the Barbershop.

Benjamin was still smiling (behind his pacifier).

In keeping with Western tradition, Aaron explained the finer points of solving the Rubik's Cube while Jonathan and Camille took copious mental notes.

Joshua, Noah, Sabrina and Joseph lined up to take a turn at the shooting gallery.

The family finished the eventful day by gathering at the family cabin for a devotional by Grandma Kathleen that featured some of the grandchildren putting on the whole armor of God.

Aspen Grove - Day One (June 4, 2008)

The Odyssey was packed, prepped and ready for the six-hour drive to the Waite Family Reunion at Aspen Grove, Utah.

The whole family was stashed in the Odyssey and eager with anticipation for the trip. Actually, nobody was excited to be in the car for half of the day, but the kids were thrilled that we would soon be seeing their cousins. Joseph started with the "how much longer" before we stopped for breakfast in Mesquite, Nevada.

While they got to watch High School Musical 2 and National Treasure, I was privileged to watch sagebrush . . . and yucca . . . and more sagebrush . . . and, wow, a jackrabbit. To be truthful, I was okay with not seeing High School Musical 2 for the fifteenth time. However, it is pretty pathetic that I know most of the songs merely by osmosis. Alright, I'll admit it; I'm really like totally like a huge closet Zac Efron fan! I mean, like totally!

We ran into rain and a small amount of hail north of Beaver, Utah. As we got north of Fillmore, the rain got heavier, until we suddenly ran into a ton of hail on the road, and cars sliding off the road. It was like this for nearly thirty miles.

At times, the slush from the hail was so heavy that it was six inches deep on the road, which created deep ruts that made traction somewhat precarious. The surrounding area was white for as far as we could see. Utah State Police were busy trying taking care of cars that had slidden off the interstate. As we neared Nephi, we saw several snow plows that were starting to try to clear I-15.

Naturally, we had to slow down and take it easy, as road conditions were dicey. Without looking behind me, I took this photo, because I knew what Julene's expression would be. Nearly fifteen years of marriage lends to such expertise. She was so nervous about the road conditions that she didn't even see me turn the camera around on her.

Once she realized what I was doing, her expression changed immediately.

The rain continued all the way up to Aspen Grove. As we made our way from Sundance up the back of Mt. Timpanogos to Aspen Grove, we were treated with some incredible views of the mixture of clouds and mountain. The temperature was a balmy 57 degrees at the time we arrived.

We finally arrived at Aspen Grove, checked in, and got settled in Family Cabin C. We were joined in the cabin by Mom and Dad Waite, the Bezzants, Jonathan and Stephanie's family, Aaron and Carolyn's family, the Meiers and the Gunnersons, for a grand total of 35 people. Nathan and Katie's family, David and Stephen stayed in separate quarters.

For those in the family who had arrived, there was a family photo at the Aspen Lodge.

In keeping with the long and treasured Waite family tradition, the serious photo was followed by the crazy one.

To the best of my knowledge, the Bezzants were the only ones wise enough to request a photo of just their family.

At dinner, Ella volunteered to stay and hold Benjamin while Julene and I ate. She must have the magic touch, as Benjamin was comfortable enough to fall asleep while she held him.

Allyse, Joseph, Joshua, Angelina and Michael made their way to the Arts and Crafts Center to work on some projects after dinner.

In the afternoon, the Aspen Follies were held in the field below the family cabin, but our family had limited participation in those. For the most part, the afternoon was spent getting settled in the cabin. In the evening, there was a program that seemed to be a selection of the worst skits, jokes and stunts from every Scout camp that I have ever attended. Part of my problem was that I had started to come down with a cold the day before, and I was feeling lousy, achy and uncomfortable. I really just wanted to get back to the cabin and relax with the family. After about thirty minutes, I was looking for a baby, anybody's baby, to carry out of the program due to fussiness . . . mine, not the baby's.