Ballantyne Reunion 2008

I hosted the 2008 Ballantyne Family Reunion. My mom's maiden name is Ballantyne, and the reunion was held for her, and her brother & sister. We had a pretty good attendence. Aunt Mary and Yvonne's family represented the Berry's. My parents, Jeff's family, as well as my own were here from Edwardsville. Uncle Jack didn't join us, but Auntie Ann and all of their children's families were here. It was really fun! Thursday night Aunt Mary, Yvonne, and Yvonne's kids: David, Gracie, and Ruby came to my house to visit. My parents stayed with us that night, as did Jeff's 3 oldest kids. Jeff and Marci had Ari and Arthur sleep in their hotel room with the two of them. Friday morning we all met in Provo for the 4th of July parade and festivities.
I had a tough time holding spots for my entire family, and I unintentionally made a few people see fireworks in their own minds due to rising frustration levels. The last group to give me trouble was a family of hispanic decent. Before the parade was over I asked some of the teenagers to help me carry blankets to the park so we could find an area large enough to accomodate our group.
Upon arrival we placed blankets, chairs, and bags in the area of two city placed umbrellas. There were not many people around, and there had to be a dozen umbrellas available. A couple of cousins were laying in the grass, I was reading, some were sitting in chairs, and a few were playing catch with a football. My niece said, "Lyndee, they're moving our stuff!" I sat up, and said, "Hey, excuse me, that is our stuff." The man in charge replied, "Well, we're moving it." I then walked toward them saying, "Come on, I left the parade early to get a big enough place for my family."
I pointed to other available umbrellas and continued, "There are other umbrellas, and there is a lot of free space."
The same man who spoke crystal clear English just 30 seconds earlier looked straight at me and said, "We don't speak English."
Trying very hard to keep my composure, I replied,
"Well, it's the 4th of July in America, and I think everyone should speak English here today!" They quickly gathered their things and found an unoccupied umbrella on the opposite end of the park. That night Redge and I were privileged with the opportunity of hosting 16, yep that's right, SIXTEEN KIDS! Scott 18, Kara 15, Katie 15, Alyssa 15, Laura 13, Reece 13, April 13 (almost), Karlee 12, Michael 11, Jacob 10, Alyssa the 2nd 10, Seth 9, Makenzie 8, Taite 8, Ari 6, and Arthur 6. Saturday Night we had the same group sleep at our home minus Ari, Jacob, and Michael. The kids were great, and it was so fun to watch all the cousins just playing rockband and having so much fun together. Saturday we spent the entire day at my community's clubhouse, pavilion, lake, and pool. Jeff brought his lake trampoline, and it was definitely put to good use. Jeff and my parents also brought their dutch ovens and cooked for us!
Marci and my mom worked really hard right along side their husbands, cooking over the coals so we could have the famous Edwards dutch oven chicken and potatoes! It was fabulous!
It was fun to watch Taite and her girl cousins laying out and playing games on the deck of the clubhouse.
Sadly everything had to come to an end. My parents and Jeff's family had to go back to Vegas. Carl, Lisa, and their boys drove home to Modesto, CA, early Sunday morning, and his girls flew out yesterday.
Johnny and his family headed back to California with Auntie Ann.
Connie's ballerinas had to get back to their dance studios, and Scott is preparing for Utah State.