Dinner Theater with the Paul's

I thought I'd start with the most recent set of events and work my way backwards. We'll see how that goes with this first post.

I just attended the much anticipated extended family reunion on my mother's side that we have every three years. We had SO much fun reminiscing with everyone and seeing new faces in the form of spouses and babies.

We stayed at the Homestead Resort. Wow! What a place!

We originally started these Paul Reunions out in Park City, outgrew the condos Great Grandma had there then moved on to Bear Lake.

'81 Reunion in Park City. That's me in the backcarrier. Aunt Kristina was in charge of Ryan and I. What a lucky teenager!

About 15 years later. This is my Grandma and Grandpa Lee's side of the Paul family, and it's nearly doubled since this picture!

Well, back to 2009. So, we decided to give the Homestead a try, which was still a bit of a juggle to get everyone close enough to each other, but with 150+ (over 30 of which were under the age of three), I think we did pretty good.

We stayed in the "Barn" building, which had rooms just like a hotel, despite the completely unappealing name.

Eliza and I smelling some hollyhocks before the big family dinner. Ahhh!

And now, on to the family dinner, complete with skits, slide shows, singing, and performing:

A little taste of what kind of posterity my Great Grandpa and Grandma left behind. This is their baby, my Uncle Greg, who has defied every law of gravity and sanity there is. I'll share more on the "Dinner theater" in a moment.

I got a bit distracted when a box behind me kept moving around. No, this isn't some strange creatures who's hands are his eyes looking around. This is Seth at the family BBQ dinner after discovering a discarded box that had dinner supplies in it.

Peek-a-boo! He got so frustrated that he couldn't completely shut the top but his noggin kept poking up.

The BBQ was delicious, but what's dinner without entertainment?!

Eliza rockin' out while some little cousins performed a dance onstage.

Then we had a magic show!!!

I was impressed with Austin changing the hanky colors, but it was a tough audience. Note to self: When performing novice magic, DO NOT do it in front of family. They're the hardest audience to please (especially the kiddies). They'll totally call you on your trick.

Jenny had a magic book that took color and then got rid of it with blank pages. By far the highlight of the magic show (it impressed me!)

Yep, guess who got volunteered! I was under the impression I was doing my disappearing candy trick in front of just the kids, NOT the whole family.

One little cousin told me afterwards that it was the worse magic show he's ever seen. He's seven. He knew all the tricks, so I told him he'll have to help us next time.

Don't worry. The evening wasn't a total loss.

Fortunately, we were able to have some actual talent during our "dinner theater" when my cousin Benton performed a few ditties for us. I think all the Paul talent was encapsulated in his body...

So, there's one day (well, more like an evening) from the trip.

Stay tuned for more from the Paul Family Reunion, 2009!