Families are Forever

After waiting for many months the time finally arrived for our first Family Reunion at Pacific Beach. It was fun waiting for the arrival of each family as we anticipated the fun times we'd have at the beach. It was the hottest week in history in WA. and with out air conditioning we were all ready to head for the beach Monday morning. It was great having all our children and grandchildern with us in church. As I walked into the chapel, Bro. Shumaker (a counslor in the Bishopric), said he had reserved the whole one side of the chapel for us. We didn't need quite that much space but took up several benches. It's such a blessing in our lives to have all our children active in the gospel and there with us. It's times like this when we are all together that makes me realize how special families are and how each member adds their special touches to make us complete.
Monday night Dad gave a FHE on how we are all in different circumstances in our lives but we all belong to the family and are loved by Heavenly Father. We love each of you and appreciate the differences each bring to our family. The challenge is to learn to accept and respect these differences. As we become better in doing that our family will become closer and closer at becoming a celestrial family. After FHE we played BINGO and Mother May I. I have to say, Joel your cartwheels were pretty impressive.
The rest of the time was spent playing in the sand, flying kites, bowling, playing at the play ground, walking down town, playing games and just spending time together.
The food the was cooked each night was superb and was nice that everyone pitched in with meal preparation and clean up. It was good to see everyone working together having a good time.
It was sad to end the time at the beach and head home. Especially since we knew the weather at home was going to be over 100 degrees. Some chose to go for a tour of the ship at Bangor, others chose to stay home and look for some fans (no luck) to help cool things down. Since we couldn't find any, we cooled down the only way we could think of. An old fashioned water fight! I have to admit, it felt pretty darn good. I hope we can all remember the good times and forget the times when maybe feelings were hurt for one reason or another and vow that the next reunion will bring more and more good times. Families are Forever and we are grateful for ours!