Reunion 2013

We had another Hatch Reunion this summer and it was decided to again have it in Leavitt, Alberta. It worked perfectly four years ago and it was perfect this time too!

 David and Mary-Anne flew in a day early so Lee Lee and I decided to make David some of his favorite foods.  Christmas morning cinnamon rolls for breakfast and fried chicken, our mother's famous potato salad and baked beans for lunch. He was pretty much in heaven!! We ended up sitting at the kitchen table for about 5 hours eating and playing a card game called Lucky Unders.
                                       
  

After sitting for so long we decided we needed some fresh air so we drove to Henderson Park and walked around the lake.


                
         It takes a long time to catch up when you only get to see your brother every couple of years!

          Kelly and Dallin showed up 2 days early and surprised me! They have a lot of fun together.

       It was Dallin's birthday on the official start of the reunion so I made him his favorite cake.....Red Velvet. First Canadian birthday calls for a Canadian looking cake! The hat was a gift from Kelly.

So here we all are together with me leading the discussion and David quieting everyone down with the scout sign. Ha ha! We talked about what everyone wanted to do and when and it was decided that just like the last reunion we would have a baseball game, go to the creek, have a wiener roast with smore's, have a rock skipping contest in Waterton and just for some extra fun, some skeet shooting.

After the baseball game. We aren't a large group but it's growing. We were missing Laurel who was on her mission in Argentina, Jake who was on his mission in the Philippines, Michelle and her husband Jordan, Stephanie's husband Ben, Kristen's husband Max and two of Mary-Anne's kids Jenni (and her family) and Jordan. But we added to this reunion Kelly's new husband Dallin and Brad's fiancé Kelly. See? We are growing slowly but surely!


                                                                         CREEK TIME!     

                                                                          David and Brad.

                                                            Jonny with Will in the background.

                                                                       Some group shots

                                                                       Kristen and Cher

                                                                         Kelly and Dallin
    

                                                                         David and Mary-Anne

                                                                        Will, Trinn and Seth

                                                                             Neal and Rio

                                                                      Luke with Noah and Jonny

                                                                             Emma and Ella

                                                                                  Sophie

                                                                    Gray and his Uncle Jon



                                                THE WIENER ROAST at Cahoon Crossing

                                                                            Cher and I

                                                                               Chris and I

     Skeet Shooting! Chris is throwing the clay pidgin and that is Clark shooting at it. If you look real close you can see it just above the trees.

Playing Lucky Unders  was the card game of the reunion. There was also a game of Scrabble going on but this is way more fun and not so serious!

                                             I'm telling you they NEVER take a bad picture!



                                                                     WATERTON

                                                         Skipping rocks. I forget who won.

Lee Lee and our nieces Steph, Cher and Kris. I'm in the white in case you couldn't tell Lee Lee and I apart. Ha ha!

                                                                Watching some rock skippers.

Mary-Anne was "interviewing" the newest members of the family. Dallin on the left and Kelly (Brad's fiancé on the right).

                                                                            The log shot!

                                Me with my nieces daughters Emma and Ella. Such sweet girls.

      Cooling off in the shade. You never really know what the weather is going to be like in Waterton so we were all a little over dressed.



                                                             DAVID'S SURPRISE PARTY

                          This was a big birthday for David and here he is opening daddy's gift to him.

   He turned the BIG 6-0 and as you can see from the reaction on his face he isn't to keen on the whole idea. His cake has a large sucker on it that says "60 sucks"! We decided not to put 60 candles on the cake. Why pour salt in the wound right?

Sophie and Gray were just about ready to head back home to Seattle but not before having fun on the saddle that great grandpa Hatch made. Emma and Luke (below) playing with my IPAD.

                                  


The reunion was a ton of fun and just so great to have everyone together. The Hatch family is spread out so it isn't very often we get together. We have all decided that we aren't going to wait another 4 years for the next reunion and hopefully those who weren't able to make it this time will be able to make it next time because you were missed!!

Bowron Lake Canoe Circut

Okay, so on July 13th-19th we canoed the Bowron Lake circuit. Meaning we canoed 116.4 kl and portaged 10.8 kl on 7 lakes and 3 rivers. The Bowron Lake Provincial Park is in northern British Columbia and was a 14 hour drive from our home in Lethbridge. Another couple joined us which made the experience more fun. The weather was great except for the second day but no worries because we had a nice shelter to keep us dry and warm (if there was wood available). We had very little wood but we were well prepared clothing wise. Always be prepared!

Here we are at the beginning of our adventure! Yes, the weather was a little rainy as we headed out but that's what hats and waterproof clothing is for!

All packed up and ready to go!

This is the first portage. Don't let the picture fool you. This was the nicest part of all the portages. Much of the portage trails were very rough with large holes from rain, large rocks and quite a bit of up and down which is not easy when the canoe is full.

Getting ready to head in to that water. I look pretty sporty don't I? I had to buy some legit clothing (zip off shorts, quick dry tops, canoe hat (not pictured) and the sunglass holder string thingy) which was all part of the fun in my books. Already had my KEENS waterproof sandles thanks to Kelly's keen eye at Value Village one day months ago.

On the Sunday we were stuck at one of the shelters because of the rain, we had time on our hands so Chris and I made fresh tortillas. They never tasted so good! We actually ate really well on this trip!

Another portage. We had some adventures on some of these trails but I decided to only show the good pictures.

Here is one of the few shelters that are available if you are lucky enough to get one that isn't already occupied. We were lucky enough to get two on our trip.  Near this shelter were Moose so that was very cool!

Just me peeking out of the tent to show you what we woke up to in the morning. Quite spectacular wouldn't you say?

This was an amazing trip as you can see from the scenery! Doesn't get any better than that! Side note: Chris made the cedar strip canoe and our paddles. That flower is a decal I got in Hawaii. I love my paddle.

Here is camp site that we stayed at the next night. Our tent is the one in the background and this campsite was on a point of land with a sandy beach.  We set up a tarp over the campfire and ate Bannock smothered in honey butter. I told you we ate well on this trip!

This picture is a little goofy but how do you know what you look like in the mornings unless you take a "selfie"? Ha ha!

Just doing our thing. On a lake. In British Columbia. With a snow covered mountain in the background. After just passing a Moose. No big deal.

At all of the shelters people would either carve their names on the walls/door or carve a paddle and hang it up. Here is our little paddle. On the other side is our names. If you ever venture on this adventure look for our paddle. This one is actually hanging on a tree in front of campsite #44 I believe.

We called this mountain "the volcano". It took us a couple of days to finally reach it. Maybe if I had canoed instead of enjoying myself so much we would have gotten there sooner. Lol!

Here are our friends who joined us. They had kayaks and this is our last snack break before the end of our adventure. Boo hoo. I didn't want it to end.

And just like that it's over. We took hundreds of pictures between us and our friends so this is just a snap shot of our trip. We are actually going to make a book because this was a trip of a lifetime and we want to remember every last detail!