Anderson Family Reunion 08

The sights on Whidbey Island, Washington have to be among the most beautiful in the world and it was the setting of the Anderson Family Reunion. I must have commented on it like 85 times, but...it was July and like 65 degrees!! Okay, I think it's out of my system now. The weather and the sights were amazing, but so was being with everyone again. We took a hike, (no one was mad at us, we just actually chose to take a hike! Man, I think I took that directly from my dad's book of cornball humor, scary.) Anyways, let me take you on a tour of one of our hikes.

The trail got higher and higher and at times very narrow, with a sheer drop to your immediate right.

When I asked Daniel how he was feeling about that....

We hiked to several beaches and enjoyed the sights and company.

Gretchen and Alanna (below) Anna and Joe (above)

Amara, um, darling!!

From a distance we thought we could all fit in the tree. As you can see, we were greatly disappointed that that was in fact not the case. L to R: Eric, Michael, Stephanie, Caroline, Me, & Daniel. Missed you a ton Will, wish I was a whiz at photo shop and could stick you in somehow!

Anna and Ethan

Ha, ha, see what I did here...I took pictures of people taking pictures! Yeah, I know. This is what happens when I think I'm being clever. Sorry.

Jonathan, Janet

Uncle Dick

Kids are the only ones smart enough to know how to hike. Catch a ride first thing!
Alan and Ethan.

Isn't it amazing??


On a hike in a strange place, it's always super helpful to have knowledgeable guides to educate you along the way. Daniel is informing us here about what he has so quickly identified as a fossilized rhinoceros. It evidently was one of the rare rhino breeds that also had Afros. Luckily for us it was captured and preserved very well over thousands of years. Thanks D!


Caroline is informing us of branch safety on the hike. She learned the hard way and only wants to help keep us safe. You never know when one will reach out and strike from 20 feet away.

We learn from this sequence of pictures here that if ever you find yourself alone on a rock and think no one is watching, clearly the only thing to do is reenact the crane move from Karate Kid.


We had so much fun kayaking, and by fun, I mean the rest of us were really excited from the get go. Eric, somewhat afraid of water, needed a little encouragement. He did great though and came back alive which I'm not sure he thought at the time.


This may seem like all fun and games but this is a workout! Looking at these two pictures you may not think much of it, but it totally sums up the experiences the four of us had on the lake that day. Staying in sync is really important to successful kayaking. Knowing that, I'll let you draw your own conclusions! Above, me and Michael. Below, Daniel and Caroline.


Alan turned over a rock and instantly provided hours of entertainment with the discovery of these baby crabs.

We can't plan these things, they just start happening. Somehow the idea of arm wrestling each other took on a life of its own and before we knew it we had somewhat of a full blown tournament of strength going on. Here is Gretchen looking amused at my lack of arm strength right before she takes me down.

Now, this tournament between Alanna and Stephanie somehow got declared a tie. I'm not sure how though as you are looking at a good idea of how the match was for the majority of the time.

Matthew knew he was up against a lightweight with Daniel. You can see in his face he's not overly concerned with the challenge.

Amazing day to fly kites, play football, walk down to the beach, visit a lighthouse, eat a picnic lunch... So we did all of the above.

This better be framed and in your dorm room Caroline!

How many cousins can you fit in a tree? We didn't try more than 5.

Where are Caroline, Gretchen and Alanna?

That's right, at the top of a lighthouse and naturally we took a picture in it!

This was an amazing hike Uncle Reed took some of us on, but definitely not for those with any phobias of height, or falling off cliffs. (Wait, that would be me...)We progressively got higher and higher, and this part of the trail was a wider part. Very fun, with beautiful views that pictures don't really do it justice.





What part of the trail was this again? Oh, that's right, the end.
L to R: Michael, me, Gretchen, Stephanie (7 months preggers by the way, seriously can you say what the-?) Caroline, Joe, and Daniel. (Uncle Reed behind camera)

I think our group alone about sold out the 9:30 showing of The Dark Knight. Totally worth the 30 minute drive to get there. This was so well acted, amazing action, great plot and not to mention you got to see Christian Bale for 2 hours, 45 mintues. Not a bad way at all to spend your time! Very fun outing.


Settlers of Catan! If there was ever a game that brought people together while it simultaneously tore them apart it was this game. Sometimes the goal was to win, sometimes it was just to try and beat Alan and Kristina, sometimes your partner would just continually reassure you that they had a "strategy", but whatever your end game, this was a total blast. The last night we played till the wee hours of the morning. What was the name of the train game? We started to call it so many other names I can't remember the real one now. I am looking forward to the rematch!

The Anderson "Un-Talent Show" helped wrap up the reunion in much the way it started. Laughing, enjoying one another's company, and wishing it didn't have to end.




Amara reciting a poem, "A Hotdog for a Pet" (sorry about the lighting.)



Sweetcheeks and the Bummetts made a rare live performance which was really exciting, tickets are usually sold out in the first 30 minutes. I miss everyone so much already. Thanks Aunt Cathy and Aunt Janet, you were A-mazing for putting it altogether in such a fun way. I was depressed to come back and see that my house was not busting at the seams with food. I got used to that really fast apparently. I'm pretty sure Jonathan is going to have more and defiantly superior pictures posted on a website soon. We greatly missed everyone who couldn't make it this year and look forward to doing it again in 2010!