My sisters and I wanted to have a family reunion before Jacob left on his mission. Since we didn't know when he would leave we decided to get together at the beginning of January when everyone was still out of school. We chose to meet up near San Diego so that those in cold climates could unthaw a little bit. We ended up renting a house that was able to fit us all. Amy and Jeff flew into Las Vegas several days before the reunion and then drove out to California.
First, we met up at the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center in San Diego. The last time I had been there (in high school) it was pretty much one room with a few things to look at. It is WAY cooler now. It is so interactive and fun! It was a fun way to start the reunion--especially since we have several ancestors who marched in the Mormon Battalion.
Henry played the washboard.
He also got to dress up as a Battalion member!
It was really neat to see the musket of James Allred's displayed.
The kids had a great time panning for gold.
Lydia thought it was super fun to wash the clothes.
These 3 little boys were all born within months of each other.
The two babies of the family!
We got most of the cousins with the Mormon Battalion statue.
Afterward, we wandered around Old Town San Diego.
We met up at Cafe Rio for dinner. Lydia zonked out pretty quickly.
After dinner we drove to the house we were staying at, got everyone settled, and ran to Costco for food.
The house had so much to do! The kids had fun playing outside on the jungle gym, trampoline, in the hot tub, the freezing pool, mini golfing, ping pong and inside on the pool table.
We were able to hire a photographer to take family pictures. There were so many good ones that I'll have to put them in another post. We did snap a few pictures of just our family.
My parents did a little family home evening and told us some family history stories.
They told us the story of this ring belonging to my great-great grandfather, James Edwin Fisher.
We designed some shirts for our family reunion. Every family had their own color and the front was the same for everyone.
However, on the back was a number which represented when you entered the family.
Even though it was cold, some of us headed down to the beach one afternoon.
We had fun playing in the sand.
James and Alex love getting buried in the sand. The uncles were all happy to help in the effort.
Digging holes til you hit water is always a fun endeavor.
We tossed a football around.
We all got our feet wet in the ocean.
But the very bravest went boogie boarding in the icy cold water.
The last night my siblings and I stayed up way too late talking around the fire pit. (We missed Elise who was taking care of sick kids and coming down with something herself.)
I'm so glad that we pulled this together and that everyone was able to make it!
I have the best family! It was so much fun to be together with them and hard to say goodbye!
