Ebbert Reunion Days 4 and 5

The Thursday of our Reunion was Thanksgiving day. I cannot remember the last time we were all together for Thanksgiving, maybe not since before we were little kids and our parents weren't divorced yet. It probably won't happen again for a very long time. Everyone shared the load of cooking. I think things turned out really good and it was fun to see what the other families have as must haves at their Thanksgiving. We played lots of games. The kids played outside. We rested. The boys all went to play football in the morning. It was a good day. Sadly, not one of us took a picture that day:(

Friday was our last day before going home. We decided to have the cousins buy a gift for one other cousin. The siblings draw names every year. We thought it would be fun to have everyone open their gifts when we were together instead of waiting for Christmas. Sarah even set up the tree the night before so the gifts could be wrapped and under the tree for the next morning. Everybody was happy. Then we went to the Elementary school to play some frisbee and just enjoy being outside. That night we had movie night with all the junk food. When the kids were in bed it was our last glorious night of games. Did I mention that our family loves to play games? It was a great low key day to end our fun reunion.

Jacob opening his cousin gift.

Lizzy opening her cousin gift.

Anna very happy with her cousin gift.

Ben opening his.

Adam getting some new BYU gear.

Dad and Nancy happy with their new Kindle.

I couldn't resist throwing in a cute picture of Elijah holding his new gift from Anna.

Ebbert Reunion Day 3

Day 3 of the Excellent Ebbert Reunion was spent in the car. Sounds boring, huh? Nope! I think it was the favorite day for most of the kids. We drove a little ways outside Fort Worth to a drive thru Safari Park. We wanted to maximize how many people got to be by an open window so we opened the Suburban hatch and had four kids back there: Ben, Lawson, Lizzy and Jacob. Adam and April had the middle row, with Greg and I up front. Anna went with Grandma and Grandpa and her cousin Alia. Both my brothers had some in their cars too. We had food we could throw out to the animals. The brave ones tried to get the animals to eat out of their hands. Todd's car suffered a swift hoofing from a Zebra and an ostrich attacked ours. I really don't like Ostriches. They scare me. Luckily all people got out unscathed. A big thanks to Todd and Deanna. Their car was behind ours so they took lots of pictures of the kids in the back. The kids seriously LOVED this day.

Sometimes the animals would just stick their head right into your window. This is not even the best picture to depict that. They got really close.

When Jake wasn't in the back he would hang out up front with me.

Adam trying to feed the Zebras.

I love this picture because of Lizzy's face in the back of the suburban as the Zebra was sticking his head in.

The crew managed to have a great time even when there were no animals right there. Ben, Lawson, Lizzy, and Jacob.

Look at Ben's face in this one. There were several times when Ben and Jacob would bolt over the back seat as an animal got too close for comfort. Lawson had no fear. Lizzy was somewhere in between.

Oops! Over the seat, a little too close!

Adam again.

Here you can see how the animals get their heads right in there. Also notice how the kids all climb over the seats to get as close as possible.

The giraffes were a favorite of everyone. Here is the giraffe enjoying a piece of Shane's car. He was in front of us.

Lizzy feeding the giraffe.

Jacob feeding the giraffe.

Another great pic from Todd and Deanna.

Here are all the cousins at the end of a long day in the car still with smiles on their faces. Grandpa bought them all a little something at the gift shop.

Here's a funny one. What a great group of kids. It is so fun to get together.

Adam's Reunion Past Time

Adam is the oldest grandchild on my side of the family. He doesn't have cousins his age so sometimes he has to look for things to do by himself or with the grownups, or else play with the littler kids. He spent a lot of time at our reunion playing games with the grown ups, but he also spent a lot of time messing around with the I-pad. Below are some of our favorite pictures that Adam took. They are pretty silly.

Adam

Grandpa

Jacob

Grandma

Ben

Uncle Shane and baby Elijah

Tammy

Greg

Anna

Baby Elijah

Sadie

Lizzy

Adam

Ebbert Reunion Day 2

Day two of our reunion began with most of the grown-ups heading to the Dallas Temple. (Thanks to Grandpa and Sarah for watching the kids). I think it is so awesome that all of my siblings can go to the temple together. I often think of our mother when we are all together, especially when we are in the temple. I can't help but think she is smiling down on us. I welcome the day when we will be with her again.

Thanks to a tripod there is a picture of all of us who went to the temple. Greg, Me, Shane, April, Deanna, and Todd. April's husband couldn't come to the reunion and Sarah, Shane's wife, stayed home to wrangle kids.

Greg and I

Just the siblings

Todd took this awesome picture.

After the temple we loaded up the whole crew and headed to do something very un-Texas. There is a huge hotel here, the Gaylord Texan, that has this huge ICE exhibit every year. They bring in artists from China (where apparently there is an ice amusement park) who build these incredible displays out of blocks of ice. This year the theme was Shrek's Christmas. They keep it at a frigid 10 degrees. Since Texans don't need winter gear they provide these big blue Parkas for everyone. It was unique and fun to try.

Here is a view from the elevator of the Gaylord Texan. This hotel had a very Vegas feel. Family Vegas.

The cousins waiting while the dads purchased tickets.

It is rare to get Adam caught in a photo. I love this one of him waiting in line.

Chillin' in the blue parkas (pun intended. Groan if you want).

One glimpse of ICE!

Some of the family with Shrek.

Beautiful Anna.

Lizzy and Donkey.

The dragon was so big. It was awesome. You can see it better in one of the pictures above.

I think of all the ice displays this last one was my favorite. I thought it was great that it ended with a beautiful portrayal of the nativity. I love that they used clear ice instead of the colored.

It proved to be a long day and the kids went home and crashed. Jacob couldn't always be relied upon to stay in his own bed. Why use a pillow, when a sister will do? What did the grown-ups do while the kids slept? Why, play games of course! Dominion was the game of the week (thanks, April!)