The reality, one day at a time. . .

In preparation

Number of times weather forecast checked before hand--1--a big mistake on my part
Number of previous commitments missed because I was busy shopping for and planning this reunion--3
Number of fridges stuffed full--2
Number of boxes of food and supplies in my mom's storage room--8

Wednesday

Awnings borrowed--2
Awnings set up--3
Tables set up--4
Chairs set up--32
Tents set up in the back yard--3
Number of minutes it takes to get everything really wet in the rain--20
Number of minutes it takes to destroy two awnings in a high velocity wind storm*--20
Number of minutes it takes to take down all chairs and tables in said high velocity wind storm--10
Number of tents forced to be collapsed because of said high velocity wind storm--1--mine.
Number of power lines down across the street--4
Number of trees down next door--2
Number of large lasagnas made--2
Number of loaves of garlic bread made--5
Number of minutes late to baseball game--60
Number of innings in baseball game--9
Total cost to get 25 people in to said baseball game--$3.00
Number of runs by home team to win the game--8--the last one a base hit in the bottom of the ninth
Number of cookies eaten--0--I forgot about them
Number of loaves of garlic bread left--0
Number of hours without power--2--from about 10 pm to midnight
Number of cuss-words thought really loudly about the lack of power but never said--?

Thursday

Batches of waffles made by Faramir--3
Number of waffle irons--3
Number of working waffle irons--2
Cases of raspberries smashed for our waffles-1
Cases of fresh peaches for breakfast--1
Number of hours every activity was delayed by--2-ish
Number of hours spent in helping a few neighbors clean up after the previous days windstorm--3
Number of boxes and sacks of food and supplies gathered for local food bank--8
Number of snack sacks decorated and filled for local food bank--100
Number of hygiene kits assembled for humanitarian aid purposes--60
Number of sledgehammers available for bowling ball croquet--3
Number of bowling balls for said game--3
Number of pictures taken for photo scavenger hunt--?
Number of tacos eaten--?
Number of activities for the evening--4
Number of minutes per activity--20
Number of mnm's eaten--at least 12 each
Number of cookies eaten--2 each
Number of times weather forecast was checked for hiking purposes--4
Number of times the weather forecast changed--4
Number of people who slept inside because of aforementioned weather forecast--All but two**

Friday

Time breakfast was eaten--8:30
Time for leaving for the canyon--10:00
Time for arriving at the canyon--11:00
Cars that didn't make it up the canyon until 12:00--1***
People that hiked--30****
Number of sweatshirts handed out and put on at beginning of hike--40
Number of sweatshirts and coats ultimately shed during the hike--40
Parents that made the whole hike, to everyone's surprise--2
Number of snacks eaten--many
Hours it took to make a 2 1/2 hour hike--4
Number of wildflowers--thousands--it was breathtaking
Amount of time Eowyn had to carry Tyrone because he gave out and fell asleep--I have no idea
Number of cars waiting when we got to the bottom of the other side--0
Number of people thankful that we had cell phones and service--32
Number of cars on the other side of the hike that were waiting for some to come back down--1
Number of cars waiting on the other side that held all cooking utensils and buns--1
Number of camp stoves packed--0
Number of panicked minutes--30
Number of cousins who just happened to be camping across the way and who also just happened to have a stove we could use--1
Number of burgers cooked--40
Number of hot dogs cooked--30
Number of bags of pasta used for salad--2
Amount time taken to cook pasta--5 minutes less than necessary
Number of minutes it rained and sleeted on us--20
Number of children who didn't get s'mores because of said rain and sleet--1--Tyrone*****
Number of minutes it took us to get packed up and leave--20
Number of minutes Eowyn sat panicked in a car on the freeway because she wasn't exactly sure where her two youngest children were--20
Number of tears shed when Eowyn's sister drove past and communicated that she had Eowyn's two youngest--many
Number of water activities or fireside activities--0

(Here let it be said that at about this point I gave out. I buried myself in a book and pretty much let things go as they would from here on out. I was emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted.)

Saturday
Number of eggs for scrambled egg hash--36-48
Number of people who needed showers before entering the pool--32
Number of hours spent in the pool--2
Amount of leftovers eaten for lunch--most of them
Bread remaining in house after lunch--0
Number of pies consumed--6
Number of pinatas whacked--4--they were small and two contained clues to get to the rest
Time when Eowyn left to get house ready for adults--5:00
Time when everyone else showed up--6:30
Number of Cafe Rio dinners consumed--8
Number of parents who didn't come to adult dinner because they were getting exhausted--2--and because my dad wanted to watch Bed knobs and Broomsticks--don't let him fool you
Number of hours adults had a good time laughing and talking at adult dinner--2 1/2
Number of adults who stayed after to try on glasses frames--4
Number of frames tried on--lots
Number of frames ultimately purchased--2

Sunday was lovely. Church was long (they had three returned missionaries speak and went 20 minutes over). We had pot roast and potatoes for dinner and it was all divine. One of my brothers-in-law made a wonderful set of biscuits to go with our dinner. Yum! The talent show was fun. We had a saxophone duet, a violin duet, a sax solo, violin solo, vocal duet, 2 vocal solos, several skits by kids, and I can't remember what else. It was a fun evening.

One family reunion that will never be forgotten--Priceless

*One awning was mildly broken--borrowed from my sister. Another awning--the biggest one and the one borrowed from the neighbors--quite literally bent itself over backwards over my parents house. It was like a reverse awning with it's poles waving in the air like an upside down bug.

**Turned out there was nothing to worry about on the weather. They had a lovely night outside.

***Three quick stops that should only have taken 5 minutes each took 20.

****Some people came up the other side. Two people did not hike at all.

*****I'm pretty sure it didn't cause any lasting damage to his psyche.