Raining with Cats and Dogs: The Reunion of all Reunions!

At the end of July Jason, me and Coda drove back to Oregon (seems like we have spent a good amount of our summer going to and from there) for the MASSIVE Lumsden Family Reunion in Sun River, Oregon. It's about a 7.5 hr. drive from our house in Everett, and we for sure weren't used to driving that far in a long time! The unexpected desert that popped out from the thick forest was a surprise as well! We were beginning to wonder where the heck we were going as we watched the trees go away and the temps rise!!

This was the biggest of the reunions they have had topping out at about 86 people (some family, some friends...I just know of them as all being part of the family somehow), which totaled 16 houses. I believe the last "real" reunion was back in 1994 as well...so it was fun for everyone to see everyone all grown up.

The welcome sign got a little wet from the freak downpour

And to try and simplify the family tree, this whole reunion is based around Jason's grandpa and his other siblings. Jason's grandpa's youngest brother is the only surviving one today, but all the family still manages to get together for some good times!

Our long weekend included many fun activities. The first activity was a BBQ dinner all together at one house and then drinks later in the evening at another house. We managed to dodge the massive rainstorm by the time we had dinner. We hadn't seen rain come down like that in a long time!!

Sharing pictures and stories from other reunions

Drinks...Glenda, cousin Dave, his girlfriend Jess, and me

We spent our first whole day in Oregon going to lunch at the Deschutes Brew House and then on the Deschutes Brewery tour in Bend, Oregon. Such a cool tour allowing us to see all the aspects of the huge brewery!

Bree, Scott, Brian, Jason, me and cousin Lisa at lunch at the Brew House

Jason and I outside of the Deschutes Brewery

Sampling the beers (truthfully Jason just drank all of mine)

On the tour

The second night we shuttled over to La Pine, Oregon for another fun dinner altogether at the American Legion Hall. Lots of stories were told and reminised upon.

Some of the kids...Brian, me, Jess, Dave and Jason

Everyone in the American Legion Hall for dinner

Brian reading us stories from grandpa Mace

Our last full day was spent rafting the Big Eddy on the Deschutes River with a group of 22 of us. Even though it was a short trip down the river, we got some killer rapids and a mighty good soaking! And while we were out having fun on the river, Glenda and Scott were being super grandpuppy parents and took Coda on a little spin with the bikes.

Bree, Jason, me and Brian at the house before rafting

While we were gone, Glenda had Coda "mush" her on the bike

This is what we like to call "drinking the Deschutes"

Not totally sure what we have in store for us...it was A LOT of water!

One last big drop before the end

After rafting we took a little walk down the bike trail to the river to get Coda interested in swimming. Erin, Jason's second cousin, and her Border Collie Luna came along too for a little swim. Neither dog was excited about getting in, but we made them anyway. Luna learned that she actually did enjoy the water! Coda...not so much :)

Jason and Erin trying to talk the doggies into getting in the river

We decided we just had to put Coda in the water (he did NOT like it)

Once Luna was put in the water, she started to swim and seemed to like it!

And to top of our last night of dinner we had a Cook-Off Competition between the family. Let me just tell you that this was PURE DELICIOUSNESS!!!! We have some amazing cooks in the family!! The winner of the best beverage was Kate with her Buddah Blue cocktail. The winner of the best appetizer was Uncle Lou (Jason's grandpa's youngest brother) with his Shrimp Cocktail. The winner of the best side dish was Bridget with her Cheesy Grits. The winner of the best entree was Uncle Lou again for his Pulled Pork. And lastly, the winner of the best dessert was Peggy (Uncle Lou's wife) for her cake.

Me and Luna at the Cook-Off

Some of the cousins and an aunt...

Meghan, Liz, her husband Josh, aunt Faith and Meghan's boyfriend Adam

Aunt Velma and Uncle Mike cooking up some pineapple goodness!

The night didn't end with dinner!! About 21 people came over to our house to play in a little Texas Hold 'Em Tournament. The buy-in was $20. It lasted for about 2-3 hours and the 1st place winner was Dave winning $180!

Uncle Lou all ready for some serious poker

All three tables playing in the tournament

One sleepy puppy trying to sleep through all the noise

Dave, the big tournament winner!!

We had a great time being all together and Coda enjoyed playing with his new friend, Luna. Without Luna we are not sure what we would have done. Since Luna is a herding dog, she always had her eye on Coda. We would let Coda off the leash in the front yard and they would run laps around the house and then Coda would wander off into someone else's yard. Luna would always know where he was and would get him to come back most times. We loved Luna!