After the funeral in Washington, we piled into a rental car with Ethan and Ella and started the 11-hour trip (which turned into a 13-hour trip) through the mountains from Washington to Utah for the funeral there as well as all the other activities that would be taking place in Utah.
At first, we were marveling at how beautiful the mountains and snow covered valleys were. The roads were completely clear. Ethan and Ella were singing along in the back, and we were all having such a great time.
Soon, however, the roads started getting more snow covered, and the later it got, the icier it became with very little visibility.
This was right before dark. So much snow and ice! Creeping along. The trip became a nightmare with the last forty miles taking two hours and us seeing eight wrecks! Throughout it all, we couldn't have asked Ethan and Ella to be any better. They were great little travelers--such great sports. Thirteen hours later at 1:00 in the morning, we arrived at Kevin and Angie's house in Utah. My nerves were completely shot, and I wasn't even driving! I don't know how George managed it!
The next day was Cannon's funeral in American Fork, Utah. I have already blogged about this and hope to have more pictures from it soon from Natalie. The day following was Saturday and the Christmas event of the year that has been taking place for probably twenty years--The Rigby Family Christmas Party! My dad and mother started this as a tradition that many years ago where we have all of my brothers and sisters and their families get together for a wonderful Christmas dinner, followed by Bingo games where my dad (along with help from some of my sisters) purchase gifts for every age group to choose from. It is always so much fun and anticipated by everyone in the family!
This year, we had a fantastic meal catered by Costa Vida, after which we had wonderful desserts. With seven children that my parents had, each year the number increases through marriages and new babies. This year there were 128 people in attendance.
George and Me
Our grandson, Taylor and his wife Ellie
Our grand daughters, Lauren and Jenna
Our grand daughters, Hannah and Ella
Our grandsons, Carter and Kade
My sister Natalie, and her husband Mark.
Natalie and Mark's son Corbin, and his wife Britany
My brother-in-law Larry, with George
Our son Kyle, and my dad--90 years old!
Our son-in-law John, and our daughter Alison
My sister-in-law Shelly, and brother Jerry
Our daughter-in-law Anne, and son Cameron
My brother-in-law Doug, and sister Joyce
Our son Kent and his wife Natalie
Our son Craig, our grandson Riley, and our daughter-in-law Cassie
Me with three of my sisters--Beverly, Natalie, (Me), Joyce and our dad. Our other sister had surgery the day before and was unable to attend.
Our sister Joyce had done had done a most fantastic thing--she had two of my dad's shirts that he wore during World War II framed along with his picture at that time and gave them to our two brothers. What a treasure that will for them!
It made our dad so proud and happy that they will have these precious remembrances for all to see.
My dad always loves to show his Eagle Scout plaque. There are 35 names on the plaque of Eagle Scouts starting with his children, then on to his grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. There is only one spot left on this plaque, then we will have to start another one!
After the dinner, program, and socializing, we clear the tables and the Bingo games begin! My dad and our son Kevin called out the numbers.
When someone gets a Bingo, it is always so exciting! Then they get to go into the present room!
My dad and two sisters, Joyce and Natalie, literally work for weeks to gather enough presents for over a hundred people to go back in three times. That's a lot of presents--and a lot of money which my dad foots the bill for. But he loves doing it--this is the biggest event of the year to him!
With all the smiles, I think everyone was getting exactly what they wanted!
Afterwards, we like to take lots of pictures. Here are just a few of the girl cousins and cousins-in-law in attendance. It's always so much fun to catch up on all of their lives with this yearly party.
My dad always loves to show his Eagle Scout plaque. There are 35 names on the plaque of Eagle Scouts starting with his children, then on to his grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. There is only one spot left on this plaque, then we will have to start another one!
After the dinner, program, and socializing, we clear the tables and the Bingo games begin! My dad and our son Kevin called out the numbers.
When someone gets a Bingo, it is always so exciting! Then they get to go into the present room!
My dad and two sisters, Joyce and Natalie, literally work for weeks to gather enough presents for over a hundred people to go back in three times. That's a lot of presents--and a lot of money which my dad foots the bill for. But he loves doing it--this is the biggest event of the year to him!
With all the smiles, I think everyone was getting exactly what they wanted!
Afterwards, we like to take lots of pictures. Here are just a few of the girl cousins and cousins-in-law in attendance. It's always so much fun to catch up on all of their lives with this yearly party.
We got to meet my nephew's finance (Jerry's son). They were going to be married in a week and we would be unable to go to their wedding because of our tickets to San Francisco, but it was so great meeting her. They look like they are going to be very happy!
Here is a picture of four of my sister Beverly's six children and their spouses.
Here Joyce is with my dad along with six of her seven children. The seventh child and her husband couldn't get through the pass from Washington that we had gone through a couple of days before. The weather had been so bad by now that they had shut it down.
A cute picture of Joyce's "girls" having a laugh together.
After the party, the kids had almost as much fun during the clean-up. George took Hannah and Ella on a little ride on the big vacuum.
Then we head over to Temple Square right across the street. If you haven't ever been there at Christmas time, it is a must-see!
George and me inside the Tabernacle
We had met up with Mark and Natalie (my sister) and their family on Temple Square, so we had fun seeing all the lights with them. After touring the grounds, we went back to City Creek and had some much-welcomed hot chocolate! Boy, did it taste good when we were absolutely frozen!
Such a fantastic day with family and remembering the true meaning of Christmas--the birth of our Savior! We all loved it!
Such a fantastic day with family and remembering the true meaning of Christmas--the birth of our Savior! We all loved it!
3 comments:
Great remembrance of such a wonderful day. We were so grateful to be in attendance. How lucky we are to have Grandpa in our life still!
Thanks for taking all of those pictures and documenting the bingo party so well! Each year we don't know if there will be another one...! That was amazing that both you and I had all seven of our children (Ashley and her family did get there for the last half hour), except for one son-in-law. So glad that Kent, Natalie and their children came!!!
This Christmas was a "little bit of Heaven" for your family just like you mentioned in this post. So many stars aliened to finally get your family together at the Bingo party but you did it and we all enjoyed seeing each one of your family members again.
How grateful I am that you are my sister and we have enjoyed so many wonderful years doing these great traditions together. Thank you for your photos and words. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post which brought back many wonderful memories from that evening.
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