Tuckett Reunion in Utah

My mother was in charge of her reunion this year and we went to help. The reunion is always either the weekend of the 4th or just before so she decorated with stars and stripes. We all had to wear 4th of July shirts. It was really fun. She did a theme of 'My Favorite Things'. All the main food dishes were things that they had as a family growing up for picnics or outings (sloppy joe, potato salad, and some kind of fruit salad, rolls, homemade rootbeer). All the activities were games that she and her siblings grew up playing like cats and cradle (string game using fingers), relay races, some game I called stick through the hole--my uncle always played this. You take a stick and tie string to one end of the stick and the other end of the string is tied to a ring like a canning jar lid and you flip the lid up into the air and try to get the stick through the ring.

Rachel and her cousin Katelyn.

craft table to make bracelets

my mom teaching and cousin of mine cat's cradle. She also brought this game called rig saw or something like that. You lace a string through a button's holes and tie the string together to make a circle. Center the button in the middle and then wind the button up by holding the string in each hand and making the button play jump rope and then when the string is twisted on each end, you pull the string on each end fast and it makes this sound as the button unwinds and winds back up. yeah, I'm sure that wii is way cooler, but this is all they had growing up.

There is always relay races. This is Rachel running with the 7 yr. olds. They race by age up to 50+. Once you hit the 20+ ages, they race by gender too. I almost won the 20-30 yr. old race. They also do 3-legged races, and some races where you hold a quarter to your chest with your chin and a ball inbetween your knees, the life saver and toothpick team races, and baseball is always a must at these reunions. My mom and her siblings always grew up playing baseball or rather softball.

For the little kids up to 10 yrs., there is always a sawdust hunt. You dump a large pile of coins, candy, and cheap toys in a giant pile of sawdust and let the kids go. It's crazy and messy, but they love it. It's my favorite memory of the reunions I went to when I was growing up. (also--because the sawdust is finer than sand, it's really hard to find the coins and the kids spend a VERY long time looking through the pile to get it all!)

They are always silly at these reunions. This is my Uncle Arden.

And of course, there is ALWAYS singing! This is my favorite part! I have loved this since I was a kid. My uncles always sang barbershop and they were good too! My Uncle Arlan is no longer alive and the others are getting too old, so now the sons of my Uncle Arlan sing barbershop. They're really good too and sing all over. They even sang for Pres. Hinckley!

The group of old people. (left to right top row: John, Jolene, Dwayne, Ardan, Rubyann, Clive

Bottom row: Brenda, Thora, and Lois

This was my grandma's car. When my mom was in high school she drove this to school. My cousin Randy fixed it up and drives it now. He always brings the car to the reunions!

Me with my cousin Randy and his wife Carla. I love you!