A few weekends ago, my little brother Jon and his entire family (Except his daughter Erin) traveled up from Nevada so he could show them the ranch we grew up on. It was a perfect opportunity for all of us to meet at Mom’s house. The only one that couldn’t make it was my big brother Curt. I was really looking forward to this because it had been a long time since I had seen them.
Jon said he told his grandsons about the Bear River that runs through the ranch. They were so excited to see it, because there are not many rivers for them to see where they live in Nevada. Every time they drove past a canal or irrigation ditch, the grandsons asked, “Is that the river Bumpa” (That’s Jon nickname for Grandpa. It’s not near as cool as G-Pa if you ask me!) Jon had to keep telling them it wasn’t. They all got a good laugh out of that.
Whenever we get together at Mom’s, it’s an unspoken rule that we play basketball. This time, we decided not to play the full contact basketball we normally play. Instead, we played PIG. (A shorter version of HORSE) Jon’s grandson Timothy won, but that’s only because I wasn’t allowed to foul the children! (C’mon people, they’ve got to learn sometime) After that, we went to Soda Springs to see the geyser and then out to Hooper Springs. The kids loved the taste of the Hooper water. (If you haven’t tried Hooper water, it’s a lot like Perrier, only free!) We had a wonderful time playing at the park at Hooper. It was so fun watching their family play together.
Out of all the fun things we did on the ranch, the biggest hit by far was the Sand Pit. The kids had so much fun starting at the top and rolling down. They couldn’t get enough of it. After that, the best thing was watching their Uncle Tanner blow the sand off of them with the leaf blower. Let me tell you, on the Wilker Ranch, this is high quality entertainment.
Our family is spread out, so whenever I get the chance, I appreciate spending time with my siblings and their families. These are times we build great memories together. I am very blessed to have such a great family. But let’s be honest here, they must admit their kids are always happy to see the favorite Uncle. (That’s me, by the way!)
I hope everyone has a great family reunion this summer, and you build some great memories together. I am available as the “Favorite Uncle” so long as there is food involved.
I always enjoyed going to family reunions with Shannon. I will always LOVE AND MISS YOU sweetheart.
Next week: Fourth of July