The Wheeler Family Reunion 2013

They came from there

They came from here

They came from far

They came from near

The Wheelergroopers grooped

They trooped and they pooped

They jumped and they danced

They did loop-dee-loops

Yes, it was a reunion to remember! And the BIGGEST one the cabin has EVER seen! There were 63, count ‘em, 63 Richard and Sherry Wheeler family members. And with a few extra folks there were 68! Woohoo – it can only get Bigglier and Bettlier.

The Wheeler ensemble for the weekend included: Sherry Wheeler; Brett, Gayle, Andrew and Emma Wheeler; Matt, D, Kaden, Asher and Silas Wheeler; DJ, Anissa, Ethan, Addison and Austin Wheeler; Josh Wheeler; Paul and Kathy Wheeler; Mark, Lisa, Spencer, DJ and James Astling; Ryan, Wendy, Sam, Mason, Wade and Miles Wheeler; Matt, Loni, Devin, Tessa, Chase and Chloe Watson; Jed, Jara and Jack Wheeler; Jan, McKade, Teighlor and Elliot Gray; Dell, Steph, Sabryna, Mychigan, Daisy, Ryver, Sawyer and Wyllow Mead; Kelly and Rachel Wheeler; Jacob and Bekah Hubler; Riley, Kaye, Jason, Brandy, Artemis and Andrea Nelson and Jordan Christopher; and Todd and Amy Smith.

Our noted guests and sometimes victims were Arkansas friend Cassandra Perales; good friends Paul and Kaylene Ashton; and uncle Kent and cousin Rondo Wheeler. It was great to have them hang out with us.

Lovely Lisa Wheeler Astling took charge of planning the Seussical-themed craziness, with much thanks, gratitude, heartfelt love and admiration from many. Her mom Kathy helped come up with names for sign posts for traveling Wheelergroopers to find the Cutter Hutter (Sawmill), the Wubbly Bubbly (the spring), the Llama Drama Pooper Pile (not sure why we needed to know that …) and even the main bathroom was labeled the Tinkle Winkle. It was a rhyming, miming, sliming weekend fo sho.

Lisa welcomed us all with proclamations of fun funnery, hip hippery, schedule edulry, and skit ittery. She was begifted a Dr. Seuss shirt for her role in pulling the whole fam damily together from near and far.

Dinner on Friday was provided by the Jan Gray/Dell and Steph Mead Sneetches and all enjoyed delicious pulled pork sandwiches, fruit and veggies, chips galore and more. This was a great time to relax after traveling, chat with Whovillians being at Grandpa Wheeler’s Whoville below Mt. Crumpet, or Missionary Peak, as we know it.

Kelly and Rachel kicked off the first Seuss game asking each participant to come up with a Seussical name. Then, one by one, characters were asked their names. If one got it right, they created a team who then tried to plow through the rest of the folks, snagging and snitching people leftly and righteroo. Names of “Horton,” “Little Cindy Lou Who,” and “Work” were heard called and wouldn’t you know it, twins Kaye and Kelly even picked the same name – MAX!! Once a twin, always a twin.

Someone remembers who won – maybe McKade and Andrew’s team? Whoever won, it doesn’t matter, because everyone had fun trying to outguess and name the last people sitting to claim them for teammates.

An impromptu pee-pee party took place in the Tinkle Winkle. You know that bathroom is big enough for a party so why not? Grandma, Jan, Steph and Kaye made a pee-pee party memory. Sorry for the rest of you.

Sleeping, peeping, peeing, teepeeing, campering, bedding, couching, flooring – whatever it took – people warpled their sleepy noggins, some earlier and some later after a crazy game of nertz.

Kelly’s bunch made a trek up to Missionary Point to put a T-shirt for Nephi who is serving a mission in Peru. This tradition started back when Michael Wheeler put a T-shirt up there before his mission and many family and friends have climbed the mountain to put shirts there to last the duration of their missions. Or until wind or vultures or snow eat them away.

Oh the Things You will Eat for Breakfast!! Riley made his Frip Flappleous Slap Jacks with several slicky snooker slyrups and monkeylicious monkeybrains. Other items were waw-lumph-a-loo watermelon and marjumbolous mangos and positively pernicious-lush pineapple.

More people joined in the fun on Saturday and all took a turn fishing for One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish at grandma’s fish pond several times throughout the day but instead of fish they got eyeball glasses, bubba teeth and crazy hats which adorned many a face and head. It looked like a parade of characters straight out of Mulberry Street!

Mom’s grandkids and great-grandkids happily wandered the hillsides with Riley’s bug nets and caught bugs, lizards and even a snake!

Paul and Kaylene Ashton and Kent and Rondo Wheeler all came for a visit and the Wheeler siblings – Brett, Paul, Jan, Kelly and Kaye, mom and others sat in the shade on the lawn chatting.

One of the best parts of every reunion is just talking – catching up, reminiscing, laughing and crying. We did all that and more. Paul sneakily set up a computer and started a recording playing. It stopped all of us as we listened to Dick Wheeler tell stories. Paul had taken all the mini-tapes dad had made during about five years of his life and digitized them. Tears were shed as dad talked just as if he were part of the circle of family and friends there on the lawn at the cabin.

Paul explained how he spent many hours listening and grouping stories together – dad told memories of his childhood, parents and grandparents, of the cars he’d owned, fishing trips and the cabin. Paul gave mom CDs she can play and listen to and he gave each sibling a USB jump drive with all the stories on them. Many tears were shed and hugs given over this labor of love. What a spectacular family!!

Brett’s family provided a variety of deliciousable sandwiches and fabutitious fruit and cookies that mysteriously disappeared before dessert was served (I might have eaten one …), then the fun continued with their family’s game – Horton hatches an egg. Teams of two had to toss raw eggs to each other, seeing who could get the farthest apart before Horton hatched on the ground. Anissa and Jed (I think) held the record and were challenged several times but held their egg splattered ground. And their egg record. Some eggs fell on the first throw, some were stomped into the ground (break on me, will you) and some ended up on people’s pants and shirts. Thank you Josh for the dried egg on my sandals. It was there for about a week. Such a loving memento.

Steph’s family provided a colorful game of dodgeball – dodging and smodging, hurling and whurling, diving and spiving all over the lawn for quite some time.

Many budding and trained artists participated in the traditional coloring contest of Seuss-themed pictures. The winners each received a Dr. Seuss book: Spencer, Asher, McKade, Elliot, Bekah and Kelly all took home prizes for their fabulous coloring efforts.

Jason set up a tub of water so the little kids could play with water toys. The adults refrained from attacking each other this year with water bombs, hoses, forkles, buckets, smeedgeums, knives and squirt guns and just enjoyed watching the little people have at it.

Jason also helped swing a piñata for all the little people (and a few bigs) to whack, smack, thwack and sack. Candy galore hit the floor, some got less, some got more.

We took wonderful family photos – the whole, gigantic, fabulous group of nearly 70 but also mom and her kids and one of the four sets of twins at the reunion – a first time ever for all the Wheeler twins to be together! Kaye and Kelly (the originals), Ethan and Addison, Miles and Wade and Chase and Chloe (who had to be thrown in the picture at the last minute as an unhappy participant)! She’ll laugh about it later, I’m sure.

Paul and Kathy’s family had a dinner of green eggs (really, they were) and ham, salads, and some more cookies that were interestingly frosted by a few creative/warped people. Good thing they were delicious, they went fast.

The family skits were something to behold, consider, witness, regard and guffaw at. There were people not named Dave, places we went, Sneetches sneetching, Hortons hatching and wockets in Jacob’s pocket, among 70 other things the poor guy had to grasp/balance/wear/hold/tote. The highlight, of course, was grandma as the Cat in the Hat! What do you think about that?! And she sang her favorite song to her adoring fans – I’ll be loving you – ALWAYS!! Definitely a highlight to have our dear mother still participate in a wild, wacky entertaining way!

Brett had a giant egg o’candy that each egg toss participant got to pick from and sign that will now remain at the cabin as a memento of this reunion. He also presented Lisa with a beautiful glass egg for taking on the planning of the reunion and she shed a few tears as she proclaimed her love for the family and of the love she witnessed throughout the reunion. Even though most of us spend weeks, months and sometimes years apart from each other, we come together and pick up right where we left off with hugs, laughter, tears and fun. Such a wonderful family to be a part of.

Kelly took the floor, or hearth, and proclaimed his family would be in charge of the next reunion in 2015. We’ve had past reunions the last weekend of July but it was cooler to have it this year in June so we’ll have to discuss and pick a weekend that works for all. Or many. Or most. By then we might have 100 Yertles and Turtles, Hortons and Sneetches, Loraxes and Grinches and Wocketeers!

One more event of the century took place – Paul and Kathy were seated on chairs in the center of the room. Matt Watson, wearing a faux cheetah-skin hat and feather boa, got the whole group started singing the “A-weem-a-way” song and we serenaded them “in the jungle, the quiet jungle, the Wheelers sleep tonight” to herald their upcoming mission to Africa. Lots of laughs, more tears and hugs as we started the process of bidding them farewell even though they don’t leave until October.

More evening games ensued, the moon and stars were time lapse photographed by Riley producing cool slide shows of each. Walkers walked, hikers hiked, talkers talked, gamers gamed, laughers laughed, players played, eggers egged, fishers fished, sleepers sleeped, eaters eated, and huggers hugged. What a weekend!

Each Wheeler sibling also received a blast from the past – large envelopes with letters, cards, childhood artwork and important certificates from long ago - it was a walk down memory lane to see such memorabilia!

The Kelly Wheeler family provided a last meal – breakfast on Sunday before all departed or stayed, depending on travel plans. Hugs were given one last time – we do love to hang on each other before parting!

We know WHO (Kelly and Rachel) is planning the next reunion and WHEN (2015) and WHERE (the cabin, of course). Now you all just need to set your spectramometers, iPhones, time gallivanters, digital calendars, Google Earth/Yahoo directionsettings, Garmins, USB ports and functional reminderererers to get you there. Come ready to play!!

Here are a few more pics from a fabulous, schmabulous weekend!