Hughes Reunion

The Hughes Family Reunion has been going on for around 30 years I think. Don's dad has 11 brothers and sisters. They have children and their children have children. So the family is really big! They own property up on Ceder City mountain. Each family has their own little area where they camp every year. Grandpa Hughes (Don's Grandpa) made a tire swing that all the kids love. Jaron feel asleep in it the first night.They have a lot of fun traditions such as . . .the goody grab box, the horse shoe tournament, and the sucker hunt.
This year it was really fun again, well until about 3 p.m on Saturday. There was a carnival for the kids, which was done in years past. Paint balling is also another tradition. I thought I would try my hand out at it this year, I had a really good time. I was new to the strategy and things, but there were a range of skill levels there so it was not a big deal that I was a learner. I had a little spill and riped my pants and cut my knee, nothing too serious. I was able to laugh it off because it was really funny. I didn't last long after my sneaky move and Aaron got his revenge from the game before by shooting me in the top of the head. I shot him in the side of the head the game before, so he was out to get me a little.
I also really enjoyed the slide show of Grandma and Grandpa Hughes growing up and all the kids growing up as well. The older kids told stories about how things were growing up since the younger ones don't remember much about life with the older kids around.
It was really fun to learn about the family history too. They told the stories of the first Washburns (Grandma Hughes' side) that were converted to the gospel; as well as the first Hughes.
So Saturday around 3 p.m. the skies opened up and marble size hail, and rain came pouring down. It was accompanied with thunder and lightning. This happened while most of our family was paint balling again. Lynnette was on a walk, so just Dave, Don, Me, Jaron, Bryson, Melynda, and Jessica (a cousins little girl) were left at our family camp. Jaron was frightened by the lightning that was extremely close! Bryson once again just watched in amazement. It lasted for a while and Jaron feel asleep to the sound of the rain. When we realized that it would be miserable to stay even if it did stop raining we decided to pack up. It was a mess but we managed and were out of there by around 5.





We ate at Aaron's apartment in Cedar City and then headed home. About 30 min. from Beaver our tire blew! Jared, Dani, & Lynnette were traveling together just behind us and stopped. They helped us change the tire and then we went on to Beaver at a speedy 50 miles an hour. There is a service station just off the first exit that is connected to a gas station that remains open until 11. Dani helped us find a place to go by calling her dad. We were really lucky to have some place open at 9p.m. that would change all four tires. The other tires were wore and another was due to blow any minute. It was really funny because the tire didn't blow really, the tread just came off. They were old tires not worn down as much as they could be, but old.
So we all survived and had a grand time, except the few hang-ups which really could have been worse.