My beautiful, talented, intelligent niece Maile came to town for a tennis tournament and we spent the last couple of days watching her play. She's really good and I was very impressed. It was so nice to get time with her, however short it was.
For our Malan Family reunion, my Aunt Janice asked me to help with invites, name tags, decorations, and centerpieces. So I've been busily preparing for the even for a while now and this weekend, it finally arrived. I decided to try the spray painted tin cans for the centerpieces. I got the idea off of Pinterest from this pin Spray Painted Cans. I ended up painting over 90 tin cans. {A big shout out to all my friends for helping track down 90+ cans!}
Jenna and I went up a couple days before so we could have a birthday dinner with my mom. Then we went the next morning to help set up the hall. While I was getting ready to go, I noticed Jenna singing to a baby doll. She let me video her (miracle!), but as you will see, was less enthusiastic about me helping her with the words.
My ancestors helped to settle Ogden's east bench, so there is a Malan Ave, a mountain Malan's Peak, etc. still bearing our family name there. It's kind of cool.
We mixed the cans with mason jars filled with rock salt and a candle, and then filled the cans with flowers and flags. I was pleased with how they turned out.
Someone had hiked Malan's Peak and brought water down from the family's spring to serve at the reunion, which I thought was an awesome touch.
My favorite part was getting a little time with my cousins. Aren't they beautiful?
We were able to grab a family picture with some of the descendants of my grandparents. The reunion was for all the descendants of my great-grandparents who at last count totaled well over 700. I would guess there were about 150 at todays reunion.
And we got a picture of my Dad and all four of his sisters. I am not sure the last time they were all together. I though it was pretty special, especially when three out of the five of them have had some pretty serious heath issues over the last few years.
Ruann, Emily, my Dad Randy, Janice, and Lisa
For the decorations, Aunt Janice and I put together these posters about my great-grandpa Alexis Bartholomew Malan and great-grandma LaVeta Elfreda Andreason Malan. As well as one of them as a couple. They seemed like great people, plus he was a democrat which made me proud!
The theme of the reunion was AB & Elfreda To The Rescue with a bit of a nautical feel. So the name tags included a life preserver with a picture of the 1 of the 13 children that you descended from. Here's mine:
We also made a bunting banner with the theme title hanging from life preservers we made using styrofoam circles wrapped in fabric and rope. I loved how this turned out.
After the reunion I got to see me niece, Maile for a little bit.
I don't get to see her very often and I miss her terribly. Love you Miles!
Jenna of course was an absolute champ on the flight home. She is just the best traveler and we could not be more grateful for that. I'm sure part of it is just that she has been doing it her whole life, but nonetheless.
I am missing my niece, Maile, so much lately. I don't really get to see her. This picture of her was in her local paper the other day. Isn't she beautiful? She's an amazing Polynesian dancer. Any way, throwing some love for her out into the universe, hope she feels it. Love you more, Maile!
My mom joined Jenna and me at Maile's hula performance in Layton last night. Maile did such a great job. She is an amazing and beautiful dancer. I miss her every day! Love you Miles, well done sweetheart!
On our way to the airport this morning we stopped by our niece, Maile's house so that she could get a little time with Jenna. As soon as Jenna got used to her, and Maile got used to Jenna, they had a grand ole' time! Love, love, love Maile! Wish we got more time with her.
This year I was lucky enough to have my niece Maile, and my cousin's daughter Brianna join me for camping at the beach. Maile and Bri joined me in St. George and then we drove to San Diego, stopping to do school shopping at all the outlet stores along the way. They got hats airbrushed with their names. My cousin Nathan and his friend Sal also came up to the beach for a couple of days...and all of a sudden I was in charge of 4 teenagers...yikes! It was a great time.
Our darling niece, Maile came down to visit us this month for a couple of weeks and brought along her best friend Kirstin. We had a lot of fun with them. Casey and I both still had to work so they spent some time down at my boss, Liisa Frei's pool. But we also got in a couple of St. George Roadrunners baseball games, hiking in Zion's, and a day trip to Las Vegas. Where the highlight was riding the elevator to the top of the Stratosphere and riding the ride on top. They're a couple of funny 14 year olds. Not too much drama, but lots of silliness. i.e. buying Pop Tarts as the only thing to eat for two weeks, texting each other while sitting next to each other, etc. Oh, to be a teenager again...pass!
For the past 20+ years of my life, my family has gone beach camping with some family friends, the Loughs. This year was no exception. It was a really fun week. Casey's niece, Maile, came with us and we had a lot of fun having her there. My niece, Kylie, also came with us while Megan was working all week. It was a ton of fun playing with her, she is quite the handful! She learned how to boogie board and that was the funniest thing ever. I also was able to feed my annual cravings for Pinochle. I only get to play once a year when we are at the beach and this year did not disappoint. I must have played 50 rounds of Pinochle. It was fabulous. Casey had to miss the first part of the week due to an HR conference in Tucson. It was hard being there without him. Glad to be home, but I could have done another week there.
Our darling niece, Maile came down to visit us this month for a couple of weeks and brought along her best friend Kirstin. We had a lot of fun with them. Casey and I both still had to work so they spent some time down at my boss, Liisa Frei's pool. But we also got in a couple of St. George Roadrunners baseball games, hiking in Zion's, and a day trip to Las Vegas. Where the highlight was riding the elevator to the top of the Stratosphere and riding the ride on top. They're a couple of funny 14 year olds. Not too much drama, but lots of silliness. i.e. buying Pop Tarts as the only thing to eat for two weeks, texting each other while sitting next to each other, etc. Oh, to be a teenager again...pass!
