Aspen Grove

Aspen Grove 06, Provo Canyon, Utah - May 2007
Originally uploaded by Mr_Stein

I just arrived home from a family reunion Aspen Grove (a family camp in the mountains). All of my siblings and their children were there as well as their spouses (off and on) reaching a grand total 57 people.

I got a sense of what a Stewart-ville would be like because our cabins we clustered together. I even started naming areas as Browning Blvd., Whiting’s Way, Rust Road, Shelley Street etc. Every night, when the little ones were all in bed, we congregated under the starry skies, eating bags of candy generously supplied by my sister Anna, and talked late into the night while we searched the sky for satellites. It was lovely.

One of the most interesting daytime activities was put together by my sister Martha. She had us all try to guess each other's love languages, then set up a competition where we were supposed to actively communicate with each other in the way that person felt loved.

Like learning a spoken language, it took effort and produced some awkward moments, but it was amazing to see how a person would light up when you did an act of service or melted when you gave them a hug if their love language was physical touch. My love languages are quality time (spending time doing things I want to do) and words of affirmation (but only if they feel sincere!) so of course a reunion is a perfect place for me to “feel the love.”

When I was small, I remember a primary leader asking all the children who had pioneer ancestors to raise their hands. I slumped in my seat thinking “I wish I had pioneer ancestors.” As an adult I discovered that I did have them and they are fascinating. One great-great grandfather helped build the Nauvoo temple and another one was a sea captain who was the leader of the first group Saints to come to Salt Lake from Holland.

So, I did a “Meet the Ancestors” session and told the life-stories of those two pioneer ancestors. My siblings and especially my in-laws got major “quality time” points for letting me do that, and afterwards my brother Mark did an internet training on genealogy.

Other highlights were doing Dance Dance Revolution, hiking to Stewart Falls, taking a quiz on dad for Father’s Day, sharing a cabin with my sister Becky and her kids, making earrings with Martha and watching all the cousins interact with each other. I didn’t even mind the bug infested bathrooms; it was so wonderful to be in nature with my favorite people!