One of the things we always look forward to during the summer are going to family reunions. We realized one day that it had been over 3 years since we’d last attended an Egbert reunion because we had been in Costa Rica and Peru during the 2021 Egbert reunion, Covid hit in 2020 so all reunions that year were cancelled, and then Adam was in his Paragliding accident and in the hospital during the 2019 reunion. So going to this years family reunion was a MUST!
My brother and sister in law Parris and Lori were in charge and planned the reunion up at Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, which was so fun! Some of the family camped while others stayed in hotels and Airbnb’s but we met up each day and had a blast all weekend!
Thursday we all arrived and got settled in and then had a big Teriyaki chicken dinner. Afterwards we headed to the Lava Hot Springs “Hot Pools” that ranged from 102 degrees to 112! But it was so fun sitting in all the pools and catching up, and surprisingly it gets pretty chilly up there at night so it felt really nice!
Friday, we all met at a park and played pickleball, frisbee, & cornhole in the morning and then we headed to the Olympic Swimming Complex which had a bunch of slides, and really high diving boards, and kids areas, but for the Egbert boys the best part was the water basketball stands all over, which kept them entertained for hours! The ladies all just enjoyed floating in the pool near them catching up and cheering them on!
That night we all met up at Parris and Lori’s Airbnb for an Indian Butter Chicken dinner, and then we took some family pictures, and had our big family meeting where we go around the room and give updates on everyone’s families! It’s always fun to hear what everyone has been up to.
Saturday, we again met up to play pickleball, and then had lunch at Parris and Lori’s, and then did my favorite activity of the weekend…tubing down the Lava Hot Springs rapids! We almost decided to bag it because we were all tired and it was super windy, but my sister in law Erin talked us all into it, which I was SO glad about, because I absolutely loved it!
Most of us thought it would be this boring easy peaceful float down the river on tubes, but I ended up screaming almost the entire way down because it was so unbelievably fun! The rapids were much better than I expected and the perfect balance of adventure and risk! For the most part you felt safe, but the rapids were big enough to get your heart racing too! But I seriously loved every minute of our time on the water. Such a blast
We ended up renting mostly 4 man tubes because we’d heard from others that they were much safer and stable and that you didn’t get scratched up as much, That definitely was a good decision. We also got one two man tube, that some of our teen boys took and they did get a few more scratches and bruises, but still had fun. But such an awesome adventure!
After rafting we went back and did our traditional sister’s gift exchange where each sister in law brings seven $5 gifts for everyone else to celebrate everyone’s birthdays all together! It’s always fun to see what everyone brings, and there were several really thoughtful gifts this year that touched all our hearts.
Lori and Parris then had all sorts of relay games for the kids to do where including squirt guns, crab races, a 3 legged race, and a water balloon launch. The kids loved it and it was super entertaining for the adults too!
We then finished the night off with a tasty Korean BBQ dinner that Cam and Erin’s family made up. Super yum! Then we all headed back to our campsites and hotels to get kids to bed, but Adam and I stayed up late talking to our niece Ashley and her awesome husband Jordan who were camped right across from us. We just adore them and had fun talking about funny things our kids had done!
But such an awesome reunion! On the way home we also got a really special treat when we got invited to have dinner at one of my best friends home! She and I were mission companions for 8 months in Slovenia, and she and her family just moved to Utah from Reno so it was an absolutely JOYFUL reunion to see her again! Our kids also get along really well (she has mostly girls and I have mostly boys) so there may have been a few of them crushing on each other, but seriously such a fun night! We were having so much fun we didn’t end up leaving until 9:30 pm and still had 1.5 drive ahead of us!
But it was the perfect ending to a really great weekend! We sure have been blessed with an incredible family and the very best of friends!
