redneck reunion

There are a lot of pictures in this post. If you have no interest in bennion reunions i would stop now. (But there are some real cuties captured below if you decide to scroll on.)

Chris and I knew that there was going to be a family reunion all year, but it wasn't until two days before that we knew we were going. We had always wanted to go, we just couldn't afford to fly out there when we were already flying to Virginia and back for the summer. All of a sudden out of nowhere my parents decide they wanted us there and were willing to pay for our flights. Whaaa? Awesome. I hadn't been to an official t-shirt reunion in 8 years. I was stoked. My Dad's family is very large, so family reunions are more like ward activities (ward is a mormon term for congregation) the exception being that there is a limited gene pool. And if you know anything about Bennion family history...it is a very limited gene pool.

We flew into the airport just after my parents did. My brothers had no idea we were coming, so it was a pleasant surprise to see how excited they were to see us. We weren't in the city for long, we headed three hours south to the middle of nowhere. (Whitney, if you are reading this, we wish we could have stopped to see you in Kansas City!)

Kansas City

headed to the reunion

we rode in style

We were told that there was going to be a lake day. When we mentioned this to one of our local cousins he laughed and said, 'that's like being told you get to have an ice cream sundae and then being given a jawbreaker.' It turns out that we were really going to a creek to look for crawdads. It actually was a lot of fun. There was a little river right by it that Chris and I took a canoe in for a bit. (We also tipped over Owen and Joe's canoe -- sorry about that.)

'lake day'

ever wondered where you can find Lucky Charms with only
marshmallows? Stark City, Missouri

We had 'Redneck Olympics.' I don't have any pictures of the teenagers because Chris and I were playing along with them. But I was able to snap these treasures of the kiddos during their last activity (putting cheese puffs on their heads with shaving cream).

james, toshi, lily & gwenny, shin

renata and hunter attack

haydn and jeddie were having fun with the cheese puffs

ain't a redneck reunion w/o someone passed out on the
merry-go-round

For one of the games the kids swung sling shots at pictures of the three bennion uncles that were at the reunion: howard, sam, and johnny. Below is a picture of their sons, proud of the holes that they made. (I wanted to get a photo of Shin in front of Sam's picture, but I couldn't find him!)

james and haydn

When Bennions get together you know that there will be a lot of kids. I don't know an exact count, but it had to be close to 50. (Can you imagine if every family was there??) Naturally, I didn't get shots of every baby, but I did get some of these three cuties. Aren't they luscious?

gavin, isla, and houston

porter (5) vs hunter (10) -- hunter couldn't get down

Lots and lots of games were played. Card games, soccer games, olympic games, life-size jenga...

Grandma and the aunties even played a little werewolf/mafia with the tweens (see bottom left picture)

we snuck owen and george away after the reunion
to go swimming at the city pool

One of the benefits of staying an extra day was all of the treats that Aunt Lucy made: fried green tomatoes, homemade peach pies, and homemade ice cream. We were in heaven.

aunt lucy's fried green tomatoes

uncle johnny taught the young ones how to shoot a gun

hunter was a natural

By the time we were headed back to the airport we were worn out.  Especially Haydn, who had been running around catching bugs and makin mud holes all day. He arrived as hyper as can be and left snoring like an old man.

haydn: arrival & departure

I'm really glad I got to see so much family and that Chris got to meet them. I'm sad that a lot of the older cousins couldn't make it, but it was great to catch up with the ones that did. It was nice to see my sweet Grandma Lenore and all of my Dad's sisters: Kathie, Annie, Jeannie, Mary, Eileen, Lillian, and Lucy. It had been awhile. It's always fun to see his goofy brothers: Sam and Johnny, but we sure missed Joe and Glynn! (I told you it was a big family.)

Until next time,

The (not so) Redneck Redferns