It Happened in Sun Valley

Smith Family Reunion in Sun Valley Idaho

 

Well, this photo didn't scan too well but it's close enough to look at and say "we all look so young!"  Here is a challenge for you.  Can you put a name to every face?  I mostly can but I'm sorry (ashamed) to admit that I lost track of my cousins' children the year my life unraveled (which we won't go into right now)  So, if you can put a name to every face in the picture, please do.

Here are a few random memories.  My Grandma Anna instituted a yearly trip as a family reunion.  What an amazing blessing.  The first one, I think, was a houseboat on Lake Shasta.  Anyone remember that?  I  remember my mother, Marian Barnwell, going swimming.  Actually mom is really terrified of the water.  It took two uncles, a tube and a lifeboat to get her into the water.  I was SO excited and swam up to her to encourage her only to find the water she was in was just about waist deep!  Another year, I believe, there was a cruise (I was too pregnant to attend). 

One year the trip was set in Sun Valley Idaho and the growing group had found their summer getaway.  From then on we went there every year.  Each family group stayed in a separate condo but breakfast and dinner were combined affairs.  I don't remember just who was responsible for all that organization - I just knew it wasn't me.  There was something for everyone. Golf, bikes, roller blades, swimming, balloon rides, airplane rides, ice skating, food and shopping and the list goes on.  I have hundreds of memories of these trips.  I have lost track of how many years the family did this but it was AMAZING.

Just a few highlights.

I met Buzz Aldrin at a book signing and had lunch at a table next to Dorothy Hamill.  Ben Draper and a few companions met Arnold Schwarzenegger in a hot tub.  I threw up in a glider and I helped make my favorite breakfast (Eggs Benedict) for my entire extended family!