Leavitt Reunion in Manti, Utah

The week following the Palmer reunion we attended the Leavitt Reunion in Manti, Utah. We had such a great time and was very impressed with how organized it was. It was great to see Ann, Sophia and meet Madaline! There were lots of games to play and activities to participate in. Emma and Rachel are here wondering if they should attempt the stick pull or not.

Abby is trying to master the home-made bubble wand.

Hannah and Acoya doing the stick pull.

I love this picture of Alan and Glen. I guess holding your breath gives you more strength.

Issac loved the bubble wands.

That evening we had a wonderful flag presentation. There was a flag for every person that had served a mission and who is serving a mission. It was amazing to see how many flags there were. There were more people standing than sitting. This picture doesn't even capture all 69 of them!

Sophie was holding her daddy's flag since he couldn't attend.

They asked all who would like to serve a mission in the future and all the kids got up and grabbed a flag.

We sang "Armies of Helaman" while the kids and adults marched around. It gave me chills and about brought me to tears. It was very powerful and beautiful. Way to go Laurel & Melva - I think they are smiling from heaven at this sight!

Our hotel was clean but we quickly found out that not all hotels have a cartoon station or blow dryers.  Our was much better than Ann and Sophia's from what I understand. The big kids stayed in a tent the first night at a cousin's house and the little one's stayed with us. The kids had a blast jumping on the bed - something they can't do at home.

The next day was filled with all kinds of activities. The little kids went on a nature hunt while the older kids played games and built a water raft out of cardboard. Or should I say Leon and Alan built a cardboard raft with suggestions from Jonah, Melissa and Cannon. It looked like a canoe that Hiawatha would have used. They named their canoe Hagath #1. Here Leon and Alan are explaining the design before the big race.

 Unfortunately Hagath went down as soon as they stepped in the water.

Glen also tried his own version that didn't fair too well either. He had to hold it to keep it a float.

We also had fun taking a turn in a paddle boat.

 Acoya and Hannah were partners in a savenger hunt. They had trouble finding the caution sign.

Abigail and Allie played in the water with their cousins for a bit. 

Abby is holding a tadpole she had caught with her hands.

 Laura and Glen took a canoe ride and they tipped near the shore. The camera on Laura's lap went down with them and after 20 minutes of searching for it in the murky water Hannah came up with it. I wonder if it ever worked after that?

That evening we went to the Manti pageant. It was so beautiful. If we were to go again we would sit a little bit closer to see some faces. It took forever to get started and lasted quite a while but is was pretty cool. It took us forever to get back to the hotel a few miles down the road.  It was a long day.

Melissa had to had a picture with some Nephites!

What a great reunion! We are glad that they are not going to cancel them in the future! A big thank you to Aunt Linda and Uncle Keith's family for all their hard work! It is no easy task to entertain and feed that many people!