Crowds of Fun at the Eyrealm Reunion 2015

^{Thanks to Saydi, Shawni and Eli for these great pictures!}

We started the reunion off right with a Launch Meeting after a picnic on the Grandchildren’s Green. It’s one of the few times it was quiet enough to actually hear instructions and see the calendar of events for the coming three days;

Myriads of exciting and fun activities were introduced and brought to pass in the 3 1/2 days that we were all together. Pictures of the events are not necessarily in this order of appearance but all activities were exciting and well-executed under the direction of Charity and Ian, the diligent reunion co-chairs!

It was just so great to have everyone there except Jonah and Aja, Ana, Camden, Elsie, Po and Ezra who were gallivanting around Europe, sending pictures. Ana sent a stellar video of their adventures and made us all wish we were with them!

Here’s one of our intense and fun games! Kuddos to Ian and Charity who blew up all those balloons!

This nifty projector that Noah brought (middle below) provided a lot of entertainment…from showing the annual video based on our reunion theme this year Around the World  (here) to the fun and ingenious Eyrelam Jeopardy Game devised by Ian…. to Ashton’s wildly entertaining VLOGS of each of our days together. You can find them if you search for Ashton Loosli on youtube . It’s some pretty incredible 6-8 minute videos of our raucous fun from the mind of a 15-year-old! 

Here is Ian giving instructions for our wild and crazy Scavenger Hunt (detailed along with a lot of other reunion activities in Shawni’s blog here).

This scavenger hunt was so fun mostly because we were working in teams and for points!  Here is the team that came in last (overload of young kids) but who had the most fun because they stopped for Raspberry Shakes at the Bear Cave which was one of the stops on the hunt! !

The crowds continued as we had a panel of graduates one night after dinner. Four of our number have graduated since last year and it was fun to hear the questions that the adults and especially the kids had to ask them about their school experiences. Tal graduated from UPenn with a Masters in Positive Psychology, Noah from USC with a Masters in Business, Ian graduated with a PHD from Stanford in Economics and Max graduated from Highland High School. The questions and answers were terrific!

We had so much fun one night as we participated in the Eyrealm Jeopardy Game. Ian had painstakingly gathered information from Eyrealmers and it was fun to see how much everyone knew about the others! It was the Inlaws against The Outlaws!  I think the Inlaws won!

Inlaws:

Outlaws:

Such a fun night!!!

The family picture this year was a little less chaotic than usual! Our professional photographers were in charge so everybody went with that and the site was approved….sagebrush with the lake for a backdrop. We missed those European Eyres!  Seven more bodies would have made it perfect…even though we already look like little ants because there are so many of us.

 

Even though there were some mosquitoes nipping at everyone, the photographers took the time to thin out the crowed and do individual photos which we will treasure in years to come!

 

And here’s Josh who is always surrounded by kids and has influenced the lives of hundreds of them!

Even though there is a love/hate relationship with The Fear Factor each year, many of the kids look forward to it all year with a determination to be the winner! This is especially nice for parents who have kids who are picky eaters. Suddenly many of them become dare-devils.

I think the parents/grandparents have a lot more fun than the kids who are “bucking up” for this grueling feat!

The top five winners couldn’t be happier if they had won the lottery!

Of course, with crowds comes the need for food. With several “foodies” in the family, the food this year was “out of this country.” Given our theme this year of “Around the World” we enjoyed food from around the world too. From street tacos from Mexico to delectable food from Thailand to Japan and Switzerland to India and beyond. It was so yummy….and healthy!

Perfect T shirt for David!

Little Dean wants a bite! This was his normal perch. I think he liked the colors and the action!

Someone even grabbed this picture of…hands down…our favorite dessert. Those homemade chocolate chip cookies were literally pouring out that oven the entire month!  Yum!

Even the official family tennis tournament drew a crowd this year! The kids thought of a new place to view the fierce competition. This is our original old A frame that was built in 1979 and ‘added upon.” It’s old but we love it. We never dreamed that it would become a viewing gallery for a tennis final all those years ago!

I THINK YOU CAN TELL THE WINNERS AND THE LOSERS!  FUN MATCH! That traveling trophy says, “Tis better to serve that to receive”

The tournament ended with a little tennis lesson for the kids from their Nationally Ranked Tennis Crazy Grandfather!

We love the crowds and all the fun they brought with them this year. We are blessed beyond measure to have nine kids, seven of whom are now stellar parents and the 27 beauties they have produced! Heaven!