When the Sampson's get together...

I had some pictures of the Sampson reunion.They deserve a post.
This is my Mom's side of the family. Her 8 brothers and sisters and their kids...and now their kids. This is a big group. For a long time we have been holding the reunions with the Sampson's here in South Jordan  and surrounding sites - thanks to the organizers this get together has been perfected into a formula. Some highlights:

Day one spent splash-bouncing on 2 of these huge inflatable water slides, making giant bubbles with rope wands, air rockets, eating, chatting...and eating. 

Noble's birthday fell during the reunion. Here are Abner and "Peach" Hoffman trying out Noble's new birthday long board.

That night Casey, Helen, Holly, Emory and Casey's kids (calling themselves the Soggy Bottom Boys) opened up for the dance with their rendition of "Boil That Cabbage Down."  I told them after in my best Mississippi drawl, "That was some miiiighty fine a-pickin' and a-singin'! (If you haven't seen that Coen brothers' film, "O Brother Where Art Thou", then you probably didn't get any of those references.)

Then we brought on the big guns - my dad's little brother, Bruce, and his band added a little bit of "Sullivan flare" to the Sampson family reunion. You see, the Sullivan side of the family ALWAYS jam and dance when they get together. And for the past many reunions, the Sampson's have invited Uncle Bruce to play for them too.  Sadly, this may be the last time for a while. Uncle Bruce and Aunt Vivienne are leaving on a mission in September and the band is breaking up. What will we do without them?
Sully was pretty excited for them to get started - as you will see in this video. Here they are doing "Johnny Be Good".

MVI 5681 from Angie Melton on Vimeo.

Day two up Big Cottonwood Canyon - hiking, kid crafts (LOTS of them - including these trash can lid shields and PVC/foam/duct tape swords), food, family stories, tears, music and loving good byes.
This was actually a tough day for me. I had been stressed out running kids around to all their multitude of activities, appointments, and the reunion, managing solo for days with Mike there hit-and-miss (I would stink at being a single mom).  Sometimes you need a little melt-down and then you can get back in the saddle. Other than a little high blood pressure on my part, this day was a wonderful day.

I love seeing my cousins and aunts and uncles. They are an amazing example of how families should be united. I am grateful for them all. I am grateful to belong to them.