Kents: MEP-Quite the ride

We were so excited to go to MEP this year.
MEP is the name of my Mom's family reunion. See, years ago when they started it they just called it a reunion. But, they decided it was MORE than a reunion. Reunions were boring and nobody ever wanted to go to a reunion. So, they decided to come up with a funner name. That is when MEP (MaryLou and Earl's Posterity) was born. I have had so many fond memories of MEP while growing up. I grew up in California for the most part (3 short years were spent in Oklahoma) before moving to Idaho when I was 12. So, I didn't get to play with my cousins. But, when MEP came...we got to play..and play we did. We have stories of talent shows gone bad, hiking with Grandpa, MEP birthday parties, flies, white wolfs, tents falling down mountains, songs about MEP, games of candy poker, the village, the "peach", baby eating bugs, streaking, card games,...I could go on and on.
The first MEP was held August 1979 and there were 23 Meppers there...now in 2011 we are at 113 and at least 3 more coming this year!!! We have each been assigned a MEP number (with cool coins on the way)
Lisa-#24
Brandon #53
Kyla #60
Bianca #61
Brayden #78
Andrew #79
Hadley #86
Gabriel #99
Cadence #110

So, now that we are into the 2nd generation of Meppers...we still hope our kids will love MEP just as much as we did. For the most part, my kids know their 2nd cousins and love to play with them AND their 1st cousins while there. I hope MEP will never die!

So, I have very few pictures this year since I didn't have a camera and only snapped a few pics with my phone.

The first picture is getting there....
We have a camper and love our camper. This year, we thought it would be wonderful for my parents to be able to camp in a camper also. So, we made arrangements to borrow my friends camper for them. The only problem was, we only had 1 truck. Brandon assured us that he could just pull doubles and all would be fine. So...off we go

It was quite scary at times. Mostly going up the one lane dirt road that had very sharp
turns about every 20 feet....I have to admit, I had to close my eyes and I can only imagine
what my parents were thinking behind us. Mom kept saying to Dad, "Is that the bad curve?"
But, because my husband is an awesome drive and knows what he is doing, we made it
there safely. We did have a slight problem with the transmission once we got there but
it all worked out and we were able to make it home safely also.

Cadence in her new hat!
Aunt Phylis had a friend who showed up at MEP to visit her
(it's not all that uncommon to have visitors because MEP is so much fun everyone wants
to join)
Well, she came bearing gifts...snow hats that she had made for each and every MEPPER!
It was so funny to see the kids running around in their snow hats with sweat dripping from
them because after all...it was July.