When I started planning this reunion, I was thinking of Mom and her health. I figured having the reunion in Cedar City would be easy on her travel-wise and if she needed to get back to SG for a Dr. appointment, she could. It was so incredibly odd to be doing a family trip without her. Everything felt off, but we knew that she would want us to be together!
Our trip started off with a bang. G&G Garner were worried about our old van making the trip, so they lent us their van. That van ended up blowing a tire on the freeway just outside of SLC! That was a fun adventure. We limped it to Ian and Makenna's house on the spare, and were able to get things figured out.
We stopped at Cove Fort on our way down to make sure that Hinckley heritage sinks deep into these kid's veins. I felt Mom very close at the fort.
We rented a large house on the outskirts of Cedar. It was perfect for our large family! Of course, no reunion would be complete without some trivia from Grandpa and the wheel of fortune game, complete with prizes!
Gorgeous view on our hike! Matching shirts in honor of Mom: Making our Lives Masterpieces! Crafts, preparing for the talent show. Grandpa gathering all kids and spouses in for a financial meeting.
We visited a nearby art museum, went to a play at the Shakespeare festival and watched the green show, had lots of pool time at the air bnb, and had a lake day at a nearby reservoir. So much fun!
The last night,
The best part for me though, was one night Dad brought up a time capsule Mom had orchestrated 25 years ago. I think she was wanting to do a family time capsule in honor of the millennium. I remember being a young teen and adding in some piano sheet music I had been working on. She had all the grandkids at the time trace their hands on the outside of the box. Someone even put in a limited edition millennium Beanie Baby inside. :) Unfortunately, it wasn't worth the big bucks we thought it would be. :) It was hilarious and thought provoking to see what everyone put in and share. But the coolest thing was that 25 years ago, without anyone knowing, after everyone had put their things in the capsule, Mom in her infinite wisdom and endless creativity, put her own little gift inside. She made paper boxes for each child and inside was a few acorns and a note about our potential and our family's potential. We already knew that Mom would be with us on spirit on this trip, but this little gift made it obvious that she was also physically there in her own way. I sobbed as I took it downstairs to my room, and I swear I could physically feel Mom's hand on my shoulder. She was there!
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