Dear Family,
Our family’s mission statement, from long ago and far away, says, “Our family’s mission is to support, love, and encourage each other as we work together to build ‘a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God”...and strive to have hearts knit together in unity and love as we serve each other and our fellow beings.” Remember that? I think now we just need to change “house” to “houses” or “homes”....:) I think, as a family, we have done pretty well as we have tried to live up to that standard.
Now that our family has become a family spread across the continent, it seems very important to me to work towards having a yearly family get-together (aka, reunion) to cement family relationships and to keep us strong and in touch as an extended family. I was so impressed when I heard Devennie Lander talk about her daughter-in-law’s family holding yearly reunions and rotating them each year to a different family member’s location; Devennie at the time was amazed that Jacob and Deborah, as a young couple with a small child or two, would spend the amount of money it took to attend that year’s reunion. Later, as I though about it, it reflected to me a deep commitment to something that had become an important family tradition for Deborah’s family.
It seemed to me a tradition worth emulating and I have talked to at least some of you about it. My original idea was to start here and then rotate to each of your locations over the next 7 years; starting here kind of got overruled, and instead became the plan to meet in July at the campground in Heber. And, the Bullingers volunteered to spearhead the reunion for 2010 and have suggested Yellowstone Park as the location.
Since this is our “first” year, we can’t exactly say it is an important family tradition yet... But, with all my heart, I am hoping it will become one:)! Also... since it is our “first” - it has kind of caught us off-guard on the financial front; making it a struggle or even a hardship for some to attend.
I would like to propose that (1) the Bullingers come this year prepared with facts, figures and information about next year... and (2) that each of us commits to putting a little money aside in an “untouchable” place each month towards being able to come next year. We should be able to come up with an estimated amount as to how much will be needed, divide it by 12 and try to set as close to that aside each month as each of us is able. Obviously, if you only have money for rent and food, then you can’t set anything aside, but hopefully looking at it a year ahead will help us to make it happen.
Knowing that everyone is working towards that goal will soften the sadness and disappointment of not having everyone with us this year:) And, hopefully, the economy as a whole will be in better shape... but of course we can’t necessarily count on that one:)!
NOW... about this year.
Jim and Jeanie and family will not be able to come because of the work situation at Caterpillar with multiple layoffs. Jim is saddened by the loss of 111 people from his department so far and more layoffs to come, concerned for their welfare, and not in a position to be taking off at this time.
Charlotte and Seth are planning to come, but may not be able to as Seth’s work schedule is subject to change at any time and some last-minute change might make it impossible for them to come.
Chris and Christine & Family need to leave by noon on Sunday.
Adam and Emily need to leave Sunday evening.
Stephen and Holly may need to spend their nights at home for financial reasons.
I am not sure how Mary is doing; have not heard from her or Sara. It is quite possible they would want to be home Sunday night, or even that they would want to spend all of their nights at home.
So, with the above being shared, here is the scoop on the campground:
We were quoted a charge of $1909.56 for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Jim and Jeanie had asked for a cabin for themselves, which, looking at the website, should have been $129/night or $387. I will cancel that cabin which should take about that amount off. I am not entirely sure if our quoted amount included taxes or not; the lady that did the reservations is not there and the person I really need to talk to was not in today.
It seems to me that we need to cancel Sunday night from the reservations and I plan to do that tomorrow (and talk to today’s missing person). Online, the cost of the family compound is $480 per night, but the lady I talked to said there were taxes in addition to that of $50.52 per night. So, if that is all correct, that would make the cost for 2 nights $1061.04. Just for information’s sake, check in time is 3 p.m. and check-out time is 11:00 am. (Just in time for church on Sunday:)
The compound includes a main cabin (non-sleeping cabin) with a living room, kitchen and gathering area plus a loft that children can sleep in in sleeping bags, plus 3 sleeping cabins with 2 bedrooms each. One sleeps 4 with a bunk bed in each BR; the other two each sleep 4 with a King bed in one BR and a bunk bed in the other. That means 12 total with beds; without Jim’s family that would take care of the adults except for Mary, who could sleep in the main cabin with the kids. My thoughts were to give the families with little ones (Sara and Christi) the bedrooms with the King beds and the rest of us to use the bunk beds. It is possible that the “bunk beds” are actually the kind with a full bed on the bottom and a bunk on top - that would be nice, but I have to confirm that with the person who was not there today.
Given this information, I need to know who can afford to spend the 2 nights at the campground. Divided 7 ways that would be about $152, roughly $76 each night. If you can not afford that amount, please let me know how much you think you really can afford; if it is within our means we might be able to help, but maybe not. Please let me know right away what is possible for you; you do not need to do it on the blog; you can e-mail me.
Then, I had another possible thought. Dad and I are coming earlier in the week and will have to get a motel room anyway. We could cancel the cabins entirely, those coming from out-of-state could just get motel rooms and we can just hang out together as much as possible in Provo or ???; we could even still do the Heber Creeper Hay Train on Saturday night; Dad and I have budgeted the money for that. I am completely open to other suggestions; our primary goal would be to be together....
Guess that is enough for now... we look forward to hearing from you very soon. If I am canceling things I need to do it as soon as possible.
Love you,
Mom O.
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