John Beck Reunion - part 2

 On the second day we started out by heading to Manilla Park in Pleasant Grove for some water and beach fun.  This park is really a cool place to get some reprieve from the heat and it has a really nice sandy area.  The only down fall was that the previous day a girl had died at this park so I was very nervous most of the time.  We had the younger kids wear life jackets which was a little less stressful.  Bradley really is my only child I was really nervous about as he doesn't know how to swim yet.

Camille had a fun Encore retreat so she was able to stay a couple of hours at the park before heading out to American Fork Canyon.  She had hurt her foot during the night by some how stepping down wrong and her ankle hurt to apply pressure to it.  She had to hobble around and was in quite a bit of pain.  She was a little embarrassed at the retreat as some of the boys would carry her around or they helped her more than she wanted to be helped normally.  She did have a great time at it and was gone until late that night. 

Emily had some fun activities planned during the day which the kids all loved.  We filled balloons with beans and made some really cool balls.  We also learned how to make bracelets out of paracord.  We had a talent show in the evening.  It is always fun to see what the kids come up with for their talents.  Alyssa, Ashlyn and Cadan did chinigans and it was hilarious to watch.

Byron was asked to talk about Stephen Jensen Jacobsen Beck and did a fabulous job coming in and acting like him.  All of the kids were totally listening to every word.  I was really touched - telling it in first person was so much more powerful than 3rd person and Byron is great at telling stories.  I was sad that Camille missed it.  I should have recorded him. 

The wind started to pick up while the games came out.  It got pretty crazy for a short time.

Bradley, Cadan and Britta playing in the sand - above Camille also joined them.

 Johnathan, Jeff, Byron, Eric, Tanner and Ashlyn

 Carter, Bradley, Johnathan and Parker making balls.

 The men playing a game of rook with Tanner and Johnathan watching.

 Parker and Tanner making paracord bracelets with Emily's help.

 The kids having fun playing on this cool kids play area.

 A game of soccer with most of the boys and men.

 Cousins playing games together.

Byron acting out Stephen Jensen Jacobsen Beck's life.

This is the whole crew minus Camille who went to another Encore practice Saturday morning.  It was a great reunion - so glad we started our own immediate reunion every year to spend time together.  With Michael & Genevieve living out of state it makes it even more important to keep this tradition alive.