Pingel Family Reunion and Independence Day

All because 2 People Fell In Love


Our little family with Grandma and Grandpa

Everyone!

Original Pings

Ping kids

This year was the 1st annual Pingel Family Reunion. My parents, their children and their spouses, and all their grandchildren. The whole family hasn't been together since Brett and Shendi got married over a year ago.
What a fun time. The festivities started on Wednesday (July 2nd) with some of the family hiking up the Y above BYU and the others going to the Bean Museum on campus. Then lunch at the Provo Mall food court and lots of sun and water in Salem. Justin and his family brought this huge thing called the Sidewinder. It was a massive inflatable waterslide that had two slides (one big and one little) going into a small pool. I'm not joking when I say that the kids played on this for HOURS. Christopher and Xander probably went up and down that thing 200+ times. With it being inflated Christopher would launch himself from the top; jumping all the way to the middle of the slide and then racing down to the bottom.
Thursday was Cafe Rio and the movie Wall-E. Then family pictures at Salem Pond and a pizza dinner. Of course it was Xander and Darci that screamed and resisted the entirety of pictures. So, you will see that they are crying and I don't look all that happy and smiley.
Friday was the 4th and Karen (my mom), Scott(brother), Lindsey(Scott's wife), and Carrie(another sister-in-law) all ran the Freedom 5k and finished with great times. My mother astounds me. Since last August she has lost 30+ lbs and has gone from barely being able to walk 3 miles to running 6 miles a day. She didn't do it for vanity, she did it for her health and to keep her diabetes in check. She's my hero. Anyway, we all gathered after lunch back in Salem and the kids got to dig through sand for treasure. We also took pictures of everyone with their faces on a "Wanted Sign". Then we had a relay race that Lindsey thought up and it included EVERYONE. Bear with me.... OK, so, my mom, dad, and youngest brother Brett had to run around the island in the yard with Darci, Grady, and Luke (youngest grandchildren) on their shoulders. When they got back then Xander, Rachel, and Easton (all 3 years old) had to throw a ball in a bucket. Then Christopher, Jackson, and Stella (6,6, and 9) had to run and put on a bandana, cowboy hat and cowboy boots. Then Me, Carrie, and Shendi (9 months pregnant and just had to sit at her post) had to shoot 3 cups off a table with a water gun. THEN Bret, Scott, and Justin had to run around the island with a water pitcher clutched between their knees. IT WAS HILARIOUS AND PERFECT!!! Oh, and my family won :) !
On to more water sliding and tunes and talking. Then a big BBQ and s'mores and what fireworks we could do in the wind.
Saturday night we had an adults only dinner at Winger's and said good-bye to my out-of-state brothers and sisters-in-law.
WHEW!! I ended the week with too much sun and allergens and a cold. But it was fun.

**** again, no camera; need to get pics off of my mom's.




Luke, Grady, and Darci... the "babies"


The Wii Boxing championship