Jeppson Reunion, part one.

I think this might be a little glimpse of what heaven will be like. Beautiful mountains, trees, lake, people you love. . . . 160 people for 3 days of fun in the sun and lots of activities.
Rock climbing wall. Charchar gave it a try.

Pony rides. Can you believe Clara got on that horse?

Birthday party for Gramma Decker-88 years young. Tiffers Dad was the fire marshall.

Some singing to honor Gramma Decker.

Rope climbing--75 ft. high. The MOST difficult activity on the challenge course. Christine and Riley made it to the top.

Kevin and Ricky enjoying the "meat free" menu at this 7th Day Adventist camp.

Charlie with his "Chay Wagon" pinewood derby car.

There were lovelies on the lake.

And Liesl won the bid for her favorite auction item.

The tweens had sooooooo much fun together.

Note: Group shot of all 160 plus the Parks Family photos yet to come. Other cameras were in charge of those shots.

This reunion was super fun and came at an important time for me. Being with all my siblings, nieces and nephews and my mom was comforting and reminded me yet again about the eternal perspective. Laughing, loving, playing, watching---all wonderful. FYI--these people are some of the best in the world. My mom is responsible for it all Her conversion to the gospel at age 18, raising 7 children mostly by herself, her work ethic and integrity--produced all these great people. Thank you. . . . .thank you. Love you mom.

Looking forward. . . .

I'm starting this post with a teaser for Landee (and Beebs) and Kimmerz and other relatives who might be joining us at the Jeppson family reunion next week. Just a sampling of auction items.

Can't you just see a cute little princess in one of these?

The flowers on the headbands clip off---versatile.

It's a real auction people. I'm sure Landee will take phone bids . . .

This is an incredible picture of Christine atop Mt. McLoughlin. Isn't she something?!!!!

Here's our little Grahammy Bear. Can you stand him?

He barely fit in his blessing outfit. Owen's baptism. What a handsome boy.

Thanks to Memzy for this beautiful gift. Sunday was our anniversary-41 years!

I love you Cris. Hugs baby.Good time. . . good times.

When one door closes. . . it often opens another for someone else.

OK people--say goodbye to the conversion van. Wave--go ahead--wave....Not sad to see it go. VERY happy that it's going to a new and important home. Another family needs it, will love it, is happy to get it--wheelchair included! It felt good to take yet another step on the path of "adjustments". I'm sure Cris is clapping and smiling to see someone else benefit from this equipment. MmmmmBye-bye.
Well HELLO there beautiful. Not a great picture of my new Ford Escape--but isn't she so pretty?

And what's this? Rear view camera? When put in to reverse, the rear view mirror becomes a screen? How awesome is THAT!!!! And here's another fun tidbit--it has "sync". My iPhone is synced to the car for total hands free chatting. Sigh. . . . . .as Charlie says, "It's a beautiful day".

It's not really goodbye. . . . .

How do I post an appropriate blog about my sweetheart? Impossible. Let's just say. . .he was/is the most incredible husband, father and Papa anyone can imagine. He said goodbye on July 11th. He fought ALS with faith, dignity, grace, patience and kindness. I will try to follow his example as I go forward, one step at a time.

"Rise and Shout, the Cougar is out". . . . . .

He was loving this part. Be patient, it's a 4 min. video and gets going at 1.20. Enjoy!

Parks Family Gathering Part Two (don't forget to see part one)

It all started with these beauties arriving for "Eclipse" (Jespy's taking the picture). Soooo fun to see Tiffers and Kimmerz. Love them. We HAD to have our visors on when they arrived--required.

Hanging out at the Hotel pool. A bevvy of beauties.

These two cousins spent a lot of time on my bed watching Dora. After everyone left and I got in to bed---I found popcorn under the sheets. Sigh. . . .so much fun.

THIS is summer fun.

Memzy hosted dinner one night with Mexican delicacies. John, Cody and Tracey.

Can you believe this? The BEST idea ever. Rent a bouncy house water slide for a day and watch the fun. I honestly can't remember EVER watching so much fun. Cris was able to watch from the living room window and kept saying, "Best idea ever"!!!

We spent one afternoon out at Sherod's parents home enjoying their pool. We extend our thanks for your hospitality.

Mr America circa 1968.

Charlie and Seth taking a break from the water.

Lining up for the pinata.

And then we must mention the Grahammy Bear and his groupies. EVERYONE wants to hold him.

This blog is not the place to mention all the priceless things that happened last week but I will say this: Cris and I felt the loving arms of our children and grandchildren wrapped around us. Lifting us up, giving us courage and comfort. It was the perfect time. Perfect. We will always remember this gathering as one of the best we ever had.

Parks Family Gathering Part One

This is part one of our Family Gathering last week. It was something special for many reasons. My computer is not behaving well tonight so I will just give you a taste of the fun we had.

Christine taking care of her Papa. They have this Love/Love thing going between them. She loves him--he thinks she is the sun and moon.

We made pancakes and eggs with these little beauties. . . . .

We decorated flip flops. . . . .

And head bands. . . .

Aaaaaannnnddd. . .then we had the famous Trivial Pursuit game. Three teams--the brothers, the in laws, the uncle/cousin. Those hanging their heads lost--those smiling with thumbs up won--except for Nick--the brother team did not win yet again.

And then there was the geek version of the running man. . . .



Much more to come. . . . . . .