Jake and I planned the reunion together. It was fun to be able to do so much living far away. I'm so grateful I had the girls help with décor and everything else. They were a life saver! I made the name tags. They were the hit! I loved them. I photocopied our senior pictures from the year book, cut them out, glued them to cute cardstock and added a stick-on pin to the back. It was a bit time consuming, but cheap!
I rounded up Alecia and Aubri to help at the front desk handing out the name tags and collecting money. (I'm sure they wouldn't have gone if I didn't give them a job with me;) ) This was my favorite part of the night, sitting at the table with my good friends and getting to meet everyone coming in.
Oh my! Let me just tell ya now. I had planned on playing a couple of games (everyone stand up individually and say something they've never done before, if some people have, they take a drink, water, soda, whatever). Yeah... I should have known better. I realized at the end of the night, the only "official" thing said was, "Ok we can eat!" Oh my!
The reason being, everyone was having a good time walking around and chatting with each other. And the other reason, half the groups would be gone at different times. It would have been super expensive to have alcohol in the room we were renting, so what we didn't know till about an hour into the reunion was they were also having a "parking lot party" outside as well. Groups would migrate out, drink a ton from the back of trucks, and go back inside. And really I'm sure a lot of people came already buzzed.
The whole point of this: Man I forgot what it was like to live in Kentucky. I had talked to Annie about her reunion here in St George just a few weeks before mine. They blessed their food, played fun get to know you games and tried to figure out who had the most kids (of course Annie). I was thinking, that is so great, I'm excited for mine. Nope, not at all similar. Jake and I talked after and he made the comment, "I guess I thought we would have a nice evening together and reminisce about high school a bit; I didn't realize it would BE high school." I was reminded just how different Utah's culture is than the South. Regardless, I had a great time, different than expected, but great! :)
Let's see if I can remember names:/
Brooke and boyfriend
Um, I should know
Two are Sarah
I think since Jake and I planned it, we had a bunch of my friends of different groups, and Jake's friends. Very different range. ROTC to cheer to sports
Daniel, wife, Joe
I should know, Josh (seriously one of the nicest and religious guys), and Davin (all my friends were in love with him at one point)
Cute couple
Oh Aubri. I just love this girl. She is kind, a wonderful patient mother, Christ-like, the works. Even when she talks about her ex-husband, she is not hateful. I was so happy to get to spend time with my Aubri Raquel:)
Megan and husband, super cute.
The parking lot party, and yep, that's the bestie right there in the middle.
Emily is so beautiful! Licia, Michael, Elrita, girl and boy
The quiet group
Sarah and Jake
Still the same old girls:)
Erica, Aaron, Alecia, me and Aubri
The dance floor
Oh Michelle. She is still just as perfect and teeny as ever. She is such a sweet heart.
Me and Chera
Aw... my favorite picture of the night. Steph sent this to me while I was at the country club. It made my whole night!
It was a good evening, I guess a bit wild and crazy for some though. It looked like everyone had a good time. We cleaned up as much as we could for the night, then went home. Nope, I'm not cool anymore. My baby was waiting for me and I had to run. I guess Aubri and I still stopped at Walmart on the way home for the picnic the next day, then crashed.
I got up early and went to church with my Madisonville ward. It was wonderful to get to see so many familiar faces. The Gunns, Angie Long, Sarah's mom, Teri?, Bishop Duke's family, the Wiles, so many. Well worth the time (out in the hall for half of it with Auri) staying all three blocks.
After church I went to a picnic at the park with our classmates. It wasn't a big turnout, but it was nice to get some yummy food:)
So happy I got to bring my sweet little baby:)
We went to Licia's daddy's to say goodbye. Oh I just loved watching her kids run around playing, and watching them play with my own baby. I can't believe time has gone by this quickly. I just love Alecia and always will. I cherished our time together. We went out for Chinese and drove around for a bit chatting, then said goodbye. Hopefully not forever!!
Mommy! By the end of our trip, Auri wasn't the biggest fan of Noah;)
Haha, love your face girl!:)
This girl was EXHAUSTED!!
Aubri was so sweet to drive us to Evansville, Indiana Monday morning. We stopped and got some breakfast, then she dropped us off at the airport.
My Beautiful Gerber Baby!
(This is my favorite picture of her)
This trip was good for me at this moment in life. It reminded me of the millions of blessings I've been given. I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to live in Kentucky during my high school years and to have met so many good people. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful that I made the choice at such a young age to follow the teachings of the prophets, centuries ago and present day. Of course not all my choices were perfect. I've made so many mistakes along the way (and continue to do so!), but I've been able to see first hand that when I follow the things that are taught by the Savior and his prophets, my life is almost easier. I am happier with myself, my family surrounding me, and with life. I'm grateful for the rough trials I've had in my life. Some days I'm excited to see what the next hard thing will be in life and see how I can handle it. Bring it:)
