Tribe of Grant

Hacking Cousins

This weekend I attended the Tribe of Grant Family Reunion in Vernal. Two of my cousins organized the event and they did a wonderful job. I know this is a bold statement but it was the best family reunion I have ever been to. Let me explain the reasons why I believe this family reunion was such a success.
1. I knew everyone. The family reunion consisted of my aunts, uncles, cousins and their kids. (There are 104 descendants of Grant and Mildred Hacking.) Whenever I stopped to talk to someone I knew who I was talking too. I didn’t have to pretend to know who my grandma’s, sister’s son-in-law was or who my mom’s great aunt twice removed was because I know the people in my family. When I talked to people I knew who they were because I grew up with them.

2. Fun activities. My cousins mixed the right amount of activities with the right amount of relaxing and sitting around. The first night we arrived, after we had been welcomed and ate a delicious dinner, we did some square dancing. My Grandpa Hacking, who is Grant, used to be a great square dance caller and I heard he was pretty good at it. My aunt said that she used to bring her friends over to the house and they would have my Grandpa come out and they would dance the night away. We danced the Waltz, the Teddy Bear and my favorite, the Virginia Reel. I do-si-doed with the best of them. It was so tons of fun.

Rebecca and I Square Dancing

The next day after a yummy breakfast (yes, this will be point number 3, lots of good food) we had the Hacking Family Olympics. The events were as follows: a 25 foot dash (even at this short of distance I came in dead last.) A three legged race. A bean spitting contest, which Mike placed 4th. (I was so proud of him.) A water balloon throwing contest and finally a kaber toss.

Mike at the Kaber Toss

After the Olympic Games we all went to cool off in the highline where we went swimming and splashed around.

Rebecca, Mariah, Nick and Kathryn swimming in the highline

Recently my Grandpa passed away, so my aunts and uncles are in the process of distributing his estate. That evening after another tasty dinner we were able to pick out items of my Grandpa and Grandma’s that we wanted to have. I choose some old toys that I remembered playing with as a kid; pick up sticks, a marble game, a puzzle and an old piano thingy (yes that is a technical word.) I hope one day my kids will enjoy the toys as much as I did. We ended the reunion by telling stories about Grandpa and the farm.
3. Lots of yummy food. No explanation needed.
It was the people and simple, yet fun activities that were planned that made this reunion such a success. So…When are we going to do it again? :-)