We have been so busy trying to juggle our big melon patch, and all of the activities that summertime brings. Jerusha did a basketball camp, Jams and Sags were also at girls camp last week, and the week before last was the Bundy reunion. I love the Bundy reunion. I am so glad that we went. I had a twenty year class reunion that was scheduled at the same time as the Bundy reunion, and Ryan and I considered skipping the Bundy reunion to attend. Of course, the kids would not hear of it. It was so hot, and Ryan had the horse trailer filled with all sorts of odds and ends from our garage in Cedar. I seriously did not know what half of that stuff even was, but it had to be unloaded before we could load up and go out to the strip. It was between 115-120 degrees that week, and wow. It was hard to come up with the motivation to clean out the horse trailer, and pack up for the reunion. Finally, we got up at like 4am on the day before the reunion, and just got stuff done. It was hot, but there were some clouds and a breeze. That gave me the boost that I needed to get things done. I always forget how much work the reunion is.
Last year the reunion was kind of a fiasco because it rained and rained. We were not prepared with a proper tent or trailer for the kind of weather we dealt with. Because of that, we had to scramble to try to dry everything by a campfire. Kind of a scary situation. Anyhow, on the way out there, I asked Ryan what he had brought to keep us dry. In the extreme heat, it seemed like such a ridiculous question. There was no rain in the forecast according to Carol., but, we always get the whole family fasting for rain out there, and I have seen huge storms out there because of the faith of the family members. He kind of shrugged which told me that he hadn't done much to prepare for the rain. When we all have to sleep in the horse trailer, it reminds me of a can of sardines. We are crammed in there like little fish. I was hoping for some beautiful nights out under the stars uninhibited by little squirming bodies. When we finally arrived at the school house, the sun was setting in the west. The air was cool and fresh, and the sun set was beautiful and pink. I had not felt so alive for awhile. It felt great! I was so glad that the kids had made us go. We have so much riding on our melon patch, that Ryan and I almost didn't dare leave it. I am so glad we did.
A few funny things of note....Ryan and Jams love sardines. Yeah, really gross. Anyhow, Ryan decided to crank open a can on the way to the reunion. The smell was something awful. Sags just couldn't handle it. She stuck her nose out the window and was still whining and bawling about the awful smell. She complained that it smelled like pee. I chuckled at her behavior. We ended up passing a pasture that was heavily manured, and it kinda cleared out the fishy smell. Thank goodness for cattle.
About two miles before we arrived at the camp, we ran into a regular traffic jam. A Bundy jam of trucks and cars trying to get to the Bundy property. A big cloud burst had left the roads almost impassible. People were sinking up to their axles in muck. I was nervous, but Ryan seemed chill as always. All of the kids were eager to get out, and they all started walking. All except Mo and Dilly. Mo had fallen asleep. Ryan got out just as someone in a rhino arrived and began jerking the stuck vehicles out of the mud. Another Bundy arrived and pulled enough people out that he ruined his own transmission. This is so typical of the Bundy family. They always help each other out no matter what the cost. I love the family I married into. When the bottleneck was cleared, we sloshed and slid our way to the reunion grounds. Luckily the reunion grounds have plenty of gravel, and I was no longer scared of getting stuck. Ryan backed the horse trailer into a spot, and we began the task of making beds for the night.
I hate arriving at camp late at night to try to make beds in the dark. Mo was asleep, and Dill had fallen asleep on Aunt Bailey's lap, and I had to try to grope and sift through all of our camping gear to try to make beds in the horse trailer. The sky was threatening again. I once again asked Ryan if he had at least thrown in a tarp of some sort to cover up the horse trailer. He started dragging out a cover to an old real estate billboard sign. Yep...this would have been the kind of solution he would have come up with at the last minute. I am not sure where we acquired the old sign, but it is heavy, and tarp like. I was fine with it, as long as it covered the horse trailer completely. Last year, our tarp didn't cover the trailer completely, and we got rain in from the sides. Luckily, some of the cousins were excited to see my kids, and invited them to sleep in some of their tents. Molly had a pitched a tent for Alice and her friends, this was great, because Jazz and Rooshkie both ended up in there. This saved us a little room in our sardine can. Ryan and Sags covered the horse trailer with the billboard, I made beds, Dilly and Mo woke up in the process, and it was a little bit of a fiasco to try to get them back to sleep. Mo finally gave up his fight, but Dill, was so completely excited. I would try to get her to settle down, and nurse her, and she would get all excited and squeal in delight. This happened for a good hour, before she finally gave up her excitement and fell asleep. Cute and silly Dilly. It had rained enough that the still campground was filled with the sounds of bullfrogs....something I had never before heard out there.
The next morning arrived, and Ryan and I were in charge of breakfast. Ryan made rice and raisins, and I made a batch of pancakes. The reunion was being run on Utah time, which made everything an hour earlier. Opening ceremonies began before we were even done with breakfast. None of my kids seemed interested in joining the roping contest except Rooshkie, which kind of surprised me. I have seen Jams practice roping, and Oak, and Mo, but never Rooshkie. She ended up tying for first in her division too. They had a rope off and she was beat out by one. So she came in second in her division. Wow....Rooshkie the roper girl. Maybe she needs to go out with cowboys more often.
We also had the .bb gun shoot that day. Rooshkie, and Oak both wanted to compete. Ryan and I ran the .bb gun shoot a few years back, and I was floored at the stiff competition. The Bundy's are shooters, even when they are small. This was Rooshkie's last year to be able to compete in the event. I noticed that she had manipulated her Uncle John to wait in line for her with all of her stuff. I also decided to check on her camera and the pictures she had been taking. I have ruined several cameras at the reunion because of the dust. When she was determined to take hers I asked her to take the pictures for our family with her camera so that I didn't ruin my expensive phone and camera. She readily agreed, but at this point in the game, there was nothing but a series of selfies with her cousin Emma. When she sauntered back over to shoot, I kind of got after her for making John hold her stuff, and for not getting pictures of anyone but herself. She apologized, and then asked me to get a picture of her shooting, because she could not figure out how to do a selfie with her gun....whew...nothing changes with that gal!
Rooshkie shot a good cluster and so did Oak. He seems especially disappointed because he had not hit the bulls eye at all. He came up with some excuse that he was using the wrong eye???? I thought his shooting was quite good though. He hit the target in all the same area which was close to the bulls eye, but not quite on it. I know how stiff the competition is though, so I figured we weren't good enough for a win. I was kinda mad at Ryan, because he should have been instructing Oak a little better, but he had gotten lost in some book about the history of Orderville of all places. It was such an exciting read, that he couldn't put it down for the .bb gun shoot.
I had packed up a cooler with just drinks for the kids to have and share with their cousins. I had not packed very many snacks though, because Ryan complains that it is a waste of money. I did pack a few though, so that the kids didn't beg off of everyone else. I had put in a pack of Oreos because one of my cousins had introduced me to S'moreos at the Huntington reunion the year before. Basically you add a toasted shmallow to the center of the cookie. I had also packed some chips and crackers etc. Well, Chlo was feeling way generous during the festivities. Don't get me wrong...I plan on the kids sharing and all, but Chlo was dispensing drinks and treats to people that were not even hanging out with her. One little gal was sitting on a chair getting her hair fixed when generous Chlo saunters up and just hands her a pop. She seemed a little bit confused, but grateful. I would look up at the horse trailer, and Chlo would have ten kids gathered around the cooler dispensing goods. At one point I finally got after her because they got into the Oreos and ate a whole package of just the frosting out of the Oreos. When I did get after Chlo...she ran to the loving arms of Cliven and told him how heart broken she was. This was on Friday, and we were out of drinks for the rest of the reunion. Poor Chlo....I was more or less getting after her because some of the rest of my kids were upset.
We had the best time at the dance that evening. Steve Gifford knows how to get us all out there dancing. I love dancing with the family and with my kids. Because the reunion was being run on Utah time, it ended at like 11 which was great. I put my kids to bed in the horse trailer because it had rained off and on all day, and I would go up and periodically check on them. Mo and Dilly didn't sleep good though. They were up a lot bawling for whatever reason.
The next morning was the races. The sky was a dark gray, and the air was fresh. It was so nice. It rained a little just to keep the dust down. All of my kids raced, and Jamie came in third, and Rooshkie came in third in her race. Mo didn't do so hot, but kept wanting more and more candy from the reward committee. I refused to let him have any more though. One piece of candy for all runners was plenty. The kids also took a trip to the ice caves that day. Richard took Oak and Kaden out, and Savhanna and Ammon Seely took my older kids out. We had also invited some of the Kerr girls out. They have been helping us with the melon patch because their Dad is our business partner. Ryan went out there to try to scare some of the kids in the caves. It turns out that he didn't have to scare them because they ran into some rattle snakes. I am glad he was there to deal with them. Ammon Seely almost jumped on one. Luckily it's head was down a crack, but Ryan knew that they couldn't leave it there for someone else to step on. He ended up grabbing it by the tail, and throwing it with a lot of force against the cave wall. They also killed another one outside the cave. Once again, the Bundy angels were working overtime to keep our family safe.
The dance with the live band was a lot of fun too. They started up some square dancing which they have never done before. We did the Virginia Reel, and the Waltz....so much fun. At one point, I ran up to the horse trailer to check on my sleeping kids. Dilly was sitting up in bed just crying. She had never been left alone before and she didn't even know how to deal with it. It was so sad to see her there sobbing with her cute little pig tails on both sides of her little head. So sad! I laid by her and fell asleep myself. The older girls stayed out long after the dance so that they could play night games with the Hughes camp. Once again, we ended up with Mo and Dill wallering our bed all night. I don't know why they wouldn't sleep soundly, but they didn't. What was a great surprise at the next dance, was that they announced the winners of the .bb gun shoot, and Oak took first in his division. He was rewarded with a .bb gun and some .bb's. This has been great for Oak. He has shot that dumb gun non stop and is getting really good. It is so fun to see him take his gun out and shoot for awhile just like his Dad. He is learning gun safety, and how to aim and hit a target. This has boosted his confidence a ton.
I love the Sunday meetings at the reunion. I enjoy hearing about all of the stories about the Bundy ancestors. The lady that they discussed this year was named Edna, and she had dealt with some trauma with the birth of her last child. She pushed so hard that a blood vessel was broken in her brain, and she was never quite right in the head after that. Life on the strip would have been so tough. I admire those brave family members who lived and dealt with such a harsh reality. I also enjoyed testimony meeting. There are so many Bundy youth going on missions, and returning from missions. I hope my kids hear all of the wonderful stories, and join them someday. They had their melon bust, which on one from our camp was interested in, because they had brought seedless melons, and in a flash, it was over. People began packing up and heading home. We had decided to stay one more night. I always love the reunion grounds that last night. It was quiet, and usually the few people left sing hymns. The girls ended up with Hughes camp again playing night games.
Ryan, and I crashed pretty early with the remaining kids. I was really hoping for some decent sleep because we really had not gotten any at all. We were all sleeping soundly when the kids arrived back from playing games. Sags wasn't being the quietest as she tried to settle in for the night. There was some stuff on her bed, she needed her scriptures, the lights went on and she began banging the trailer around so she could sleep. She was not being very quiet. Jams kept telling her to shhh, which really angers her, and she would loudly proclaim that she hated being shh'ed. In the process she woke up Mo, who bawled and woke up everyone. I had Mo crying, Dilly crying, and Chloee upset. In the process, I had gone out to try and meet Mo's needs ( he needed a drink maybe?) and I ended up stepping on Jerusha ( seriously picture a can of sardines) this had her bawling. I was ready to fly the coop for sure. Mo seriously bawled for two hours. He had hurt his wrist on the monkey bars. We had done our best to wrap it, and I had Booda look at it. He figured it was not broken, but it was obviously still sore because he was complaining about it. I went out again to get him some ibuprofen. I finally ended up in the truck with Mo and Dilly. Ryan's truck is the most uncomfortable truck ever made I swear. I finally ended up crashing back on my bed after tripping on Rooshkie again. I was just getting back to sleep when the wind started up.
At this point I guess I need to go back to our lovely horse trailer shelter with the billboard sign. Ryan had draped this big sign over the trailer. What we didn't realize was that it had some little holes on it in various places. Ryan's solution to this problem? He propped some pieces of wood on the bars of the trailer that peaked the roof. When it rained, the water ran off of the heavy tarp instead of dripping in the trailer. Sage mentioned that we were the most rattletrap family ever with our odd solutions. All was fine if the weather was still, but in the wind, we ran the risk of the logs falling off onto people's sleeping heads. When the wind started up, we had to get up and remove the logs so that they didn't end up in anyone's face. Seriously one of the longest, and worst nights in all of my years of momhood....that is saying a lot.
The next day Ryan and I went out wandering, and visiting with the family that remained. We ran into another family that had their horse trailer wrapped in an old billboard sign....I have mentioned it before, and I will say it again, I love the Bundy's.
The trip home was a little bit scary. We were inching down the mountain in the scariest place with sheer ledges on the bumpy road. It was pouring rain and slick. Some guy was trying to come up. Anyone who has been out there knows how scary this hill is in the best of conditions. The other guy should have backed up to a spot so we could get around him. We were coming down hill with a heavy horsetrailer. Well, he didn't and still wanted to run us off the cliff or something so that he could get up the hill. We got right on the ledge....I was seriously freaking out because we were so close to the edge....and he pulled up beside us. Ryan asked if he thought he could get around us, and he said no. He pressed on anyway, inching along so close I was about screaming. What a weirdo. Anyhow, we finally were able to get back on the road and get off the hill. After the school house, the rain stopped. The roads get so slick out there its kinda scary. The kids got pretty cranky and crabby on the way home, but it was great to be home and get cleaned up. I always come home grateful and inspired by the Bundy family, and their awesome heritage. I hope they never quit putting on the reunion.
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