Eric's Wedding and Nufer Family Reunion 2016

Friday afternoon, most of the family was gathered at the reunion house.  We were in charge of pizza and salad that night, and I was so excited by these grocery prices that I took pictures.  Then posted them here.  It was a highlight.

I was so excited about these cucumbers, I took a picture and then forgot to buy some.  I spent $7.50 on 3 cucumbers a week before.

Cilantro is $2.29 a bunch for me typically, but I will always, always pay to have that fresh taste in my salad.

We spent the afternoon and evening relaxing and chatting.  The highlight of the night was going jogging with Scott and Kevin.  I felt like a little kid running between their 6'3" and 6'4" frames, but I loved every minute talking to them while working up a sweat.

We got back to the hotel late and put the kids to bed.  Owen thought going to bed meant sleeping 90 minutes or less the entire trip, and I promise this is the last time I really whine about that.  But really, the kid forgot how to sleep and we were so, so tired from our flight and the time difference, and then a baby who refused to stay down.  On this particular night, though, Owen was only a distraction from the real issue.  Kate started throwing up at 2am and continued all night long and until noon the next day for a grand total of 20 rounds.  We were so worried about all the people we had exposed.  It never fails that we pick up something vicious on the mainland and hated that we were going to be the cause of every cousin getting the pukes during the reunion!  (After a full week of no one else puking, we were safe to assume it was her Chick-fil-A nuggets from the day before.)

My mom graciously changed plans and picked me up for the wedding, and this sweet bridesmaid watched Baby Owen for the 30 minute ceremony (fastest wedding EVER!).

Brady drove Kate and Zac to the temple to be in pictures, and then missed out on some of the pictures while Kate continued to throw up.  This picture makes you really want to rethink using the ice bucket at a hotel, huh?

The day before and after the wedding were beautiful and sunny, but when we came out of the temple it was freezing and rainy.  Eric and Rebecca handled it perfectly, though.  Since my photographer was in the car and my baby was shivering in my arms, I don't have pictures of the event.  

After the wedding, we went back to the reunion house for lunch, taking turns sitting in the car with our sad, desperately ill girl.  She slept most of the afternoon and was such a good sport.  She hardly even cried during the whole fiasco.  The picture below from the reception makes me a little teary, with Kate putting on her brave face smile when she's so weak and tired.  The reception was in the evening and we kept her away while she slept in Brady's arms.

Some wedding cake shots of my handsome brother and his new bride.

Kristen and Brandon:

The highlight of the night for me was dancing with my dad.  He'd already danced with my mom and sisters but made a point to get me moving, too.  While my siblings are in their element dancing, I feel insecure and rusty, but Dad made me feel like gold.  I learned that dancing is like riding a bike, and I get dizzy much easier than I did 20 years ago.

I love that Brady took way too many pictures and I have these treasures of such a happy moment.

I also love that Dad's shirt came untucked.

Kelsey begged everyone to spin her.  I was so sad Kate couldn't join her on the dance floor.

Mom made corsages and the girls treasured them.  Kate brought hers home in her already overstuffed suitcase and has it displayed in her room.

My youngest three sisters looking a lot older than last time we visited in person.  Mindy got home from her mission a week before, Janece (right) graduated high school this year, and Anna is 16.

Zac could not stand any time we were at the hotel.  All he cared about was getting to the next place and seeing his cousins.  They found plenty of ways to entertain themselves at the reception, most of them involving balloons and sliding in sock feet (behind partitions on the other side of the room).

Oh, you sweet little girl with your sweet daddy.

Julianna (Emily's daughter) and Ella (Scott's daughter) were inseparable.

And photogenic.

I love this picture of Mom and Baby O.

Mindy is stunning here.

Farewell to the bride and groom!

The next day, we were fortunate to be together on Mother's Day.  We gave Mom a book put together by all the siblings with pictures and our favorite things about her.

She got teary so we clearly scored.

Grandma and Grandpa Nufer were with us for the day, too.

We spent a solid chunk of time watching slideshows we each put together of our family's previous three years.

In the afternoon, Kristen and I led the kids in a bunch of "Minute to Win It" games.

We told the kids to break open the Oreo without using their hands.  Josh abruptly slammed his forehead against the Oreo and shattered it.  Most of the other kids followed suit.  Hilarious!  The younger group did their round after the older kids and most of them slammed their heads into the Oreos, too, which of course resulted in sniffles and tears.

I learned that Emily's son Colin is very skilled at these activities.

The hammocks were used constantly.

Dad led the kids in making giant bubbles.

I walked around with the camera, determined not to leave without some pictures.

Mindy assisting G&G Nufer with Facebook.

The boys were guaranteed to be downstairs playing Foosball for 90% of the day.  Zac recently earned money for a reading and writing challenge we gave him about 6 months ago.  When we left the reunion he told us he finally decided how to spend his money.  "A foosball table!" he said.  We asked him where in the world he'd put it.  "Between my bed and Kate's" was his quick reply.  Huh.

Napping Jason.

4 generation shot, except I forgot generation 2 even though he was standing right by during the photo.

The adults were anxious to compete, so we did puzzle races and the kids' games from earlier that day.

These were my favorite moments from the day--watching spouses and in particular my parents and grandparents face off in the M&M challenge.

Grandma was really good.

Final round:

Brady takes it all, at least this year.

Kate wanted to play the games so badly, but kept crying when they involved food.  We finally understood that she was afraid she had to eat the M&Ms from the games, and her tummy still wasn't 100%.  She was a happy camper when we told her she could just throw them away.

No one was successful with the Oreo game the first time, but we were all intent on being the first victor.  It left Oreo on our faces the rest of the night.

Dad read Dr. Suess books to the kids (and adults), including the "Fox in Socks" book I remember him reading to us as kids.

Mindy told stories from her mission.  She is so poised and confident.

This is the most fun I've had with my family since we became adults.  It's so sweet to see our kids interact.  I'm so glad we have Zoom session where we can all chat and catch up regularly, but there is something magical about being together in person.  Nufer Family Reunion 2016=success.