2010 Sandberg Reunion

Scott and I headed south for the weekend to go with my Grandma to the Sandberg family reunion.  It's been held every summer as far back as I can remember in beautiful Pine Valley. 

 We met up with this beautiful 86 year young lady and followed her up to the mountain.

 I absolutely adore my Grandma.  I know other people might think their Grandma is the best, but they're all wrong.

Fact: my Grandma is the best Grandma of all time.

 My cousin Krissy pulled up shortly after we arrived at the Sandberg's cabin... Her baby is due just 6 days after mine.  Our other cousin Jaesi is due a week or two before me!  Not sure how we worked that one out as we pretty much only see each other at weddings or reunions.  Some kind of crazy signal in our Sandberg DNA must have gone off around the same time, telling us to make the family some more babies.  Awesome.

We took a quick break from the reunion to stop by Hil's parent's place.  I love Hil's Mom!

 It was really great to see everyone.  Sadly, I think this is my first Sandberg reunion in years.  Hopefully we'll be able to make it next year.  See those red tickets in my hand?  Every year the family has a raffle for prizes.  It's a big deal.  The most coveted prizes are gorgeous handmade quilts.  I think our branch of the family has only won a quilt once, but I had a good feeling about our chances that day...

 This is Great Aunt Wanda.  You may not know her, but I bet you wish you did.  She is one sassy lady.  90 years old and still as sharp as a tack.  She taught me and some other family members how to make apple pie 5 or 6 years ago.  I bet you wish she would teach you to make apple pie.

This is my Grandma's big brother Ivin.  FYI, he's a 92 year old Marine WWII Vet.  Just a few years ago he chased down a burglar who stole his darling wife Marion's purse.  Marion is tough as nails too!  She held the thief's leg while he tried to get away.  They got the purse back!  I LOVE my gene pool!

 Notice:  Wanda has her raffle tickets ready to roll.  I'm telling you, this raffle is a big deal.

 Did I mention how much I adore my Grandma?  I also adore my little sister Karly.  It was so great to get to spend some time with these ladies.

Our cousins Scott and Jared were passing through town this weekend and popped by the reunion to say hi.  

Scott and their buddy rode their Harley's.  Sweet.

 All of Ora's grand kids adore her.  Like I said, she's the best.

 Baby boy had the hiccups during the entirety of the raffle.  He's now big enough to dig his darling little feet into my ribs, but still small enough that it doesn't hurt.  I couldn't stop laughing.  Poor little guy.

 The pre-wedding karma kicked in and Karly won a quilt!  (and 2 or 3 other things!)

 She has that bride-to-be glow!  Adorable!

The Debenham girls did an amazing job making the quilt.

 It's pretty hard to try to get everyone together in one photo.  Amazingly, this is probably only 1/4 of the whole crew!

 After the reunion we took a quick drive up the canyon.  It was like coming home!  I didn't realize how much I have missed Pine Valley.  We need to come back more often.

 I loved showing Scott my favorite childhood hangouts.  Especially the reservoir where I learned to fish.  I plan to bring our son here as soon as he's old enough to cast.  Would next summer be too soon?

A big thanks to Scotty for being a good sport and spending the whole day with a bunch of people he'd never really met before.

We came home from our lovely day in Pine Valley to this little one eyed wonder and her addiction to chew sticks.

-See this post on Karly's blog for a fantastic video of Koko jonesin' for a fix-

Dear Koko,

You are a chew stick junkie. We want to send you to rehab.

Love, Katie and Scott