This year Katie implemented a "secret ingredient" that had to be incorporated into the meal. Some went subtle (broccoli in the campfire beans) while some went full board (sour cream in the eggs, coffee cake, pancakes and syrup). Overall it was a great success. So much so that recipes were requested!! So here they are for your cooking pleasure.

This year Ken & Anna were in charge of activities. They brought quite a few new games to the reunion, as well as reinventing a couple old favorites.  The big change this year was the way the teams were handled; each game had a different family member configuration. It proved to be a popular change (especially with Jeff, who managed to be on all the winning teams!).

Thursday night three teams were configured and everyone was challenged to identify movies from a given movie quote (accompanied by Ken's wonderful impressions). Extra points were given for an identified character and actor.  In the end there was a tie and the winners got bags of popcorn to celebrate their movie knowledge.  (The game was cut a little short, however, by the uninvited guest - wind - that blew over Tomas & Keenan's tent - with them in it - and almost Krysten, Kaley & Emma's tent too!)

Friday's morning activity was an outing to the Dry Falls Visitor Center.  There a group of Stokers took in the awesome sights, walked through the visitor center and watched the movie. Everyone seemed to enjoy the movie time, either for the air conditioning, the comfortable seat, or the cool movie pictures. Or by the color commentary...ooh's and aah's could be heard from the middle of the room every so often...not by the little kids, but by Grandma!  A little bit of interpretive dance was also offered up at the front, by Lily.  (It was a good thing the theater was only filled with Stokers!)

 Friday morning also offered a special candy challenge for the kids, who were asked to unwrap their Hershey's Kisses with Daddy-size work gloves and spoons!  Afternoon boat rides, swimming, and card games were had by all. Late Friday night a group of family members headed to Grand Coulee Dam for their nightly laser-light show about the making of Grand Coulee and the Dam.

Saturday brought the annual Stoker Olympics. In the Team Relay teams were asked to pound in two nails, burn initials into that board, list all 50 states, tie 5 knots, and run a (kid) wheelbarrow through cones.  It was a hard fought battle and everyone got the opportunity to help out their team. A Watermelon Contest cooled everyone off and each team had their own tactics to eat a whole watermelon; one team cut it into chunks, another team used their secret weapon (Jeff), and the other dug in for dear life.  Everyone headed down to the lake for a couple more events.  Water guns always seem to find their way into a game and this year was no different. But this year they were put into action in a water gun relay; each team had to fill up the gun, run it to the shooter and fill up the bucket.  One player was allowed to use the bucket's lid to direct the water, but the catch was that each team chose to have their under-6 players fill the bucket (closer line) which meant their aim was all over the place. Keenan got sprayed close to the Family Jewels, JaiLynn got pelted in the chest, and Kayla got soaked from head to toe. Finally teams were shuffled one last time to play "Magical Boots", where the entire team had to travel over an imaginary river but could only be carried by the one wearing the boots.  The whole game went by very fast and as a result of little planning time the little kids didn't really understand what was going on, so a couple of them ran back to the start to either help the team (Camden carried Jacen across) or to get carried again (Afton ran back for a second ride)!  The consensus was that we all had fun, but the spectators probably had more fun watching us!

Saturday afternoon brought birthday presents and cake for everyone.  Mom and Dad again outdid themselves.  As the sun went down Chris & Amy set up their year-in-review slideshow on mom's camper. But first a quick game of Church Scripture Trivia was battled out. Jeff, Doug, Dad & Mom showed their scripture knowledge, but in the end there was no clear "winner", because as Ken said, we all win with the Lord by our side and through Him we can all progress towards greatness.  The movie was a hit and everyone enjoyed the quick look back at our history as a family.

Sunday was greeted with calmer weather, Biscuits & Gravy, camp breakdown and an impromptu family meeting.  It was another great reunion!

Reservations were made by JaiLynn at Sun Lakes State Park (7mi. SW of Coulee City) from July 30, 2009 to August 2, 2009.  Two campsites (their old 'group site') was reserved for the tent campers and a hookup site was reserved for Mom & Dad. The hookup site was right next to the bathroom and had lots of seating room behind it to accommodate our year-in-review slideshow.  This turned out to be a great choice. (It's just too bad mom made the weather Gods mad and wasn't able to control the heat index. It was over 100 degrees each day!)

The lake was beautiful and there was a great swimming area for all to enjoy. The preteens loved jumping off the ledge into the deep water and the little kids loved floating on the water. Thanks to everyone that helped watch the kids while others were on the boat or taking naps!

Links to the Sun Lakes State Park website: State Park  -  Park Maps  -  Site pictures