Harry Potter Family Reunion

Every year, we have a Thatcher family reunion. Usually, I come away with one or two pictures (regretfully), and I post a little bit about it. Well, this year's reunion was another hit, and thankfully, we ended up with a lot of pictures! So, I'm going to give a lot of the details.

I admit, I was a little skeptical of the Harry Potter theme (since our kids are too young to even know who that is!), but in the end, it was SO MUCH FUN! Here are a few highlights:

About a month before the reunion, Grandma got us excited by having us dress up for a photo shoot

When we arrived at the reunion, first the children received their money pouches from Gringotts

Then they bought their official Hogwarts capes and school bags (handmade, with love, by grandma!)

 

They each received a "Magical Me" book for writing personal information, and a Thatcher family history book with little activities to help them get to know their family members better.  Lorraine made these--so cute!

Then they purchased their own animal companions and viewed strange, dead, animals in jars (It's a Harry Potter thing...I'm sure there's a word for them!)

and then they went to Ollivanders to receive a special wand from Uncle Kent (again, handmade by grandma!)

Next, they boarded the train to Hogwarts, equipped with a candy trolley where they could buy anything from chocolate frogs to Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans (all this, before dinner - they were in heaven!)

 

The adults were each assigned a character as well, and some of us dressed up. Here's Uncle Joe as "Hagrid."

Once at Hogwarts, they had a warm welcome from Dumbledore and Head Mistress, McGonagall

Soon, they each took turns wearing the sorting hat to find out which house they were in. Ours were all in "Slytherin"

We were so glad that Hannah was with us for the reunion. She is a big Harry Potter fan, so she loved it!

During most of the meals, we received "owl posts" with fun, personalized gifts

One of the gifts was a double-sided locket with our girls' pictures dressed up as witches

There were a lot of little wizards and witches-in-the-making there!

At night, we enjoyed ballroom dancing with Aunt Anna and her friend as our instructors. What a gentleman young Steven was to gladly dance with our dear Gracie! Every young princess' dream {b.t.w. she is always a princess, even when she is supposed to be a witch}!

Afterward, we enjoyed our annual family reunion slide show with pictures from last year, and then a beautiful and memorable fireworks show by uncle Joe. We were amazed by the huge fireworks that are now legal. We were all loving it until one of them fell over and shot out in many different directions, including toward all of us! One shot off the hill into the field to start a fire! Luckily some of the adults ran quickly down to stomp it out and pour water on it. We were VERY blessed to somehow not have anyone hurt. The only long-term affects are that some of us are a little paranoid of once-illegal, now-legal fireworks going off anywhere nearby!

Most the family slept out in tents around the yard. It was one of the better years as far as sleeping goes!

In the morning, one of Claire's owl posts was bubbles. They couldn't have picked a better gift for her! She LOVES blowing bubbles by herself. Look how good she is! She makes it look easy for an 18-month-old!

And during down time, Claire was sure to get some time with the bird. She just loved holding it! She is fascinated with animals!

The children went on a Scavenger Hunt with Mad-Eye Moody (uncle Kenny) in the Forbidden Forest

Next, they attended morning classes. We were Tonks and Lupin, and we taught a class titled "Defense against the Dark Arts". We taught about scripture study and prayer and how they give you power against the devil. We don't have any pictures of us, but here are some from the other classes...


Uncle Cody teaching about his favorite animals (this is Anna's horse, Philly)

Lorraine was quite the actress! She played "Trelawny" and helped them make paper fortune tellers that Millie loved using!

Uncle Aaron was "Gilderoy Lockheart" and did he ever play the part! We were all very entertained!

Mark acted as "Snape." He gave lessons on making potions, which ended up being homemade rootbeer. I wish the pictures did this justice! He had a great display! The kids were very into this one, and I think ours were even a little scared by him.

After classes, we did the annual slip-n-slide down the hill. This kept the children entertained for most of the afternoon. We ended with awards and clean-up and a few words from Grandma and Grandpa. It was another memorable reunion! Thanks so much to everyone who contributed! We love our family!

Simple Pleasures

Pony Ride on Daddy
I love this picture! We have so many simple, happy moments like this, but we don't often capture them on camera. Paul offered to give someone a ride into their bedroom for family prayer. Soon, the others were jealous. So they all climbed on and rode together! In such a short time, they will be too big for things like this. We need to treasure these moments with our young ones!




The Sugar Jar
The girls love getting a snitch from the sugar jar when we are baking. Usually mommy is there to keep things under control, but on this particular day, Millie took things into her own hands. All three girls were hiding behind the counter enjoying their treat. I caught on to what was happening, but I was still very surprised to see the damage that had been done in so short a time (you have to see the pictures bigger to see the sugar). Before I got upset, I had to remind myself to keep a sense of humor and enjoy it!

 
 



Our Very First Lemonade Stand
This was such a great learning experience for Millie and Grace. Even though it felt like we (the parents) were doing most of the work, we were really glad they learned how to market, and then sell something. We tried to have them do most of the talking, but it was hard to watch the confusion and sometimes deadly silence...so we pitched in to help out. We were surprised that they made over $10! We were hoping for a lesson in money afterward (counting it up, setting aside savings and tithing, and spending), but they could care less about the money. The next day, they were playing with all the quarters and somehow misplaced most of them...and they don't seem to mind! Oh well, that just won't last long.

Millie's Frog

Paul is always talking about catching a frog, and he even stops our car near swamps to listen for "ribbits" and look for any frogs to catch. So, we were all pretty excited when Millie happened to spot a frog on the grass at a park in Hyrum. Daddy caught it and we had it for a pet for a few days. Catching bugs was fun for Millie, Josh, and Ben. But after awhile, Millie decided it was time to let the poor frog go. Good choice, Mills!

New Bunk Beds

How long can you keep a child in a toddler bed? Millie lasted until age 5. We knew it was really time to upgrade when she ended up sleeping on the floor most nights. So you can imagine just how happy these girls have been with our new purchase. For the first couple of days, they would just hang out in their beds, and even say they just wanted to sleep (in the middle of the day!). Problem is, they all like being on the top bunk. It's the party place! Millie's finally adjusted to the idea of sharing it...as long as they make sure their feet are clean!

Homemade Fruit Leather
We got some free apricots, so I decided to make some dried fruit and fruit leather. Last year, I added sugar to make it taste good enough for the kids to eat. This year, I got brave and sweetened it with pineapple juice, and grape juice concentrate. I'm happy to say that the girls LOVE it! Free and healthy fruit roll-ups...I'm happy about that! 

Our New Addition: Tessa
We made a switch in bunnies so that we could breed. Ashley (who was really a male) is gone to new owners, and now we have Tessa (the female and future mother of our baby bunnies)! She is SO beautiful and so cute! She still hasn't learned how to get away, so even Claire can pick her up at will. 

Bathtime with Cousins
Addie and Millie got a bath together at G & G Yorgason's. I loved watching them so young and naive - no problem at all to be naked around their cousins.

The Putnam's Baptism

We have come to love this family in our ward and it was a really neat day when the son and father were baptized together! Their faces just glowed, and it was apparent that they had received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. What a blessing to come to know such good people and to see how living the gospel changes their lives for the better!  

What have we been doing this summer?

Swimming A LOT!
Enough to have two little green-haired girls, for Millie to learn how to swim the length of the pool, for Grace to feel completely comfortable in a floaty at the deep end, and for Claire to do decide she really does like swimming. 

 

A Visit to the ER
Gracie's 5-day long fever started to worry us, especially when she complained of a headache and neck pain. Of course, it occurred over the weekend when the Dr. office was closed, so we ended up in the ER in the middle of the night. Luckily, it ended up being a UTI. Grace and mommy were both so brave at the hospital!   :)

Matt Returned From Honduras
We had such a fun late-night at the airport! Our girls were home in bed, but much of the Thatcher family came to welcome Matt home. He looks even taller and thinner, and had a permanent smile. We're grateful for his wonderful mission and glad to have him back home with us again.

Murphy & Andrea Were Married
July 2nd was another happy wedding day in Cache Valley! Murph and Andrea were sealed in the Logan Temple by Uncle Paul. It was beautiful! A week or so before their wedding, Gracie said, "Uncle Murph and Aunt Andrea have been not married for a LONG time!"

During the reception, there were fun activities for the kids to do, like filling up a bag with candy from a candy buffet, searching for toys in buckets of rice, & making cards for the newlyweds. They played with cousins, swung, and ate way too much candy!

 

When it got dark, the kids waved good-bye to the newlyweds with glow sticks. So fun!

Yorgason Family Reunion
We had our first annual Yorgason family reunion headed up by Ang and Joseph! It was so fun to have most of our family here from out of town! We played games at the park, went swimming at the clubhouse, had a BBQ, a family slide show, and more. It was fun to get closer to family. We especially loved seeing Millie and Addie become such close friends (see the last picture). We've never lived near each other, but those two would be inseparable if we did!

Dance, Dance, Dance!
Millie and Gracie have performed with their dance group at Lagoon and Raging Waters, and then were in the Farmington Parade. They are so cute when they perform! They both have big smiles and seem so natural up on the stage. I love how Grace gets so into it with her hips--she doesn't hold back a bit! And Millie tries hard to do it perfectly, even the toe touches!

Park Playdates
We've spent a lot of time at the local parks this summer. Claire has little inhibition! She thinks she can do everything her big sisters are doing, and it's a bit dangerous!

Claire's Keeps Getting Cuter and Cuter
This little one just keeps us laughing. It's fun when there is so much personality bottled up in such a little body. She has a good sense of humor, and she has a lot of determination.

She knew that this corn eating game was funny

She loves being like the big girls

And she gets a lot of satisfaction doing other big kid things, like cleaning. But she doesn't understand when we try to tell her that she doesn't need water all over the rag. Let's just say we have to re-clean the whole area that she cleans and change her clothes afterward!