Reunion Memories

Here are everyone's favorite reunion memories!

Emily: Gondola rides

Richie: Winning the foosball tournament

Kristen: Making paper airplanes with the kids during stations and flying them off the balcony

Dave: Foosball tournament, specifically winning doubles with Greg AND looking at the stars

Jenny: Kid's Olympics in the rain, looking at the stars from the deck, and "Matt's game" (please stand for the national anthem with your dog)

Aaron: Hiking with all the kids and realizing we were not actually lost

Spencer: Playing toss the ring onto Uncle Kevin's head; making monsters; Greg & Ducky at the talent show

Joshua:  Riding the gondola with Nana, Opa, Carma & Eric

Courtney: Throwing rocks in the creek; jumping off the carpeted stairs one thousand times

Kevin: Hiking, Kid Olympics.
Emily:  Gondola ride, playing group games (Matt's Game)
Grace: Playing in the yard with cousins (the "club"), Talent Show
Anne: Gondola ride, Talent show (especially Kristen and Dave's synchronized swimming)

Michelle: Watching the fun talent show and the Alpine Slide!

Dan:  playing lots of games
Anna:  The big hike with Opa and the Kid Olympics
Rachel:  Playing with cousins
Caleb:  The fishing pond and playing with Uncle Richie

Eric: Riding the gondola with Carma, Mom, Dad and Joshua; hiking.

Carma: Matt's game, charades, talent show

Greg: The cool weather

Thurman: Kid Olympics, foosball tournament, playing games

Nicholas: Kid Olympics

Maddie:  Being held by Anna and Grace

Mom/Nana: The times when we were all together sitting on the couches, having FHE or talent show or whatever.It was just great to be all together.  It was fun to see the grand-kids having fun with each other---sailing airplanes, doing Olympics, or just free playing together.  And the adults enjoying time together, playing games, talking and laughing.

Dad/Opa:  Friday morning many of us took a hike. We had been told that the
Burrow Trail would take us into downtown Breckenridge. But we didn’t
quite find that trail, but we did manage to get there on some little
used trails, which turned out to be much more interesting than the
Burrow Trail. Anna said it was the best hike ever

Here are the "mission calls" 

Thurman - China

Anna- India

Nico- Siberia

Grace- New Zealand

Spencer- Mexico

Rachel- Uruguay

Joshua- Russia

Maddie- Australia

Anne- Australia

Courtney -Tonga

Caleb- West Virginia 

Opa and Nana- South Africa

I hereby turn all future Bylund Bash correspondence over to Kristen Bylund Franckum! 

Final Schedule and Reminders

Reminders

1.  Bring your t-shirts!
2.  Make sure you are prepared for all your assignments (see schedule below)
3.  Email Mom and Dad to let them know what kinds of food you and your family would like for breakfast or lunch (cereal or other easy breakfast foods, sandwich meat, bread, chips, other snacks).  If you are choosing to not be part of the communal breakfasts and lunches, please let them know that as well so they know how many to buy for.
4.  Email Mom and Dad to let them know what ingredients you need for the dinner that you are in charge of.  (Alternatively, you can buy food when you get there --  there is a grocery store.)
5.  If you have kids, help them memorize the general authorities.
6.  Come prepared with a joke for joke night! (Each family member can tell a joke)
7.  Let Emily and Richie know what you/your family member's entries will be for the talent show.
8.  It will likely be cool (especially at night) up in the mountains.  Pack appropriately!!

Final Schedule and Assignments

Room Assignments
Downstairs bedrooms (2) - Jenny's family (will bring own pack-n-play); Kevin's family
Bunk room - 8 oldest cousins; alternatively kids may move mattresses into parents' rooms
Study with queen sleeper sofa - Kristen's family
Loft with queen aero bed - Eric
Top level bedrooms (4) - Michelle's family in King Bed with twin chaise; Mom and Dad in Queen Master Bedroom; Emily's family and Carma's family in the other two King Bedrooms.  (Mom to bring pack-n-play for Maddie)

Dinner Night Assignments (5:30-6:30 p.m)

Friday - Jenny's family/Mom and Dad:  taco salad
*Dinner bell:  Spencer and Joshua

Saturday -Kevin's family/ Kristen's family: Pulled pork, hot dogs, baked beans, corn muffins, watermelon, and lemon freeze
*Dinner bell: Grace and Anne

Sunday - Michelle's family/Emily's family: Spaghetti and meatballs, green salad, breadsticks, peach cobbler
*Dinner bell: Anna and Rachel

Monday - Carma's family/Eric: Beef enchiladas, fruit salad, will also make a special treat for FHE
*Dinner bell: Nico and Thurman

Tentative Schedule with Assignments

Thursday afternoon/ night: arrivals, begin working on t-shirts

Friday morning
9:30 a.m. Morning Devotional - Mom and Dad

10:00 a.m. Kid Olympics - Jenny's family

More t-shirt work (for those getting in too late Thursday) 

Foosball tournament (Thurman)

Friday afternoon
Free time - Kristen's family to provide a brochure of local activities in Breckenridge
Late afternoon - Walk (Kristen and Dave)

Friday night
Celebrate Emily's birthday
7:00 p.m. Joke night - Carma's family
Dance party - Mom and Dad and Nico

Saturday morning
7:30 a.m. 5K race - Emily's family
French Toast Breakfast - Thurman and Carma 
9:30 a.m.  Morning Devotional - Eric
10:00-11:00 a.m.  Stations for Kids* - Kevin's family/ Michelle's family/Kristen's family
Foosball tournament

*Each station will be 20 minutes.  Kids will be divided into three groups and rotate through the stations.  (Group 1: Nico, Anna, Grace; Group 2: Spencer, Anne, Rachel; Group 3: Thurman, Joshua, Caleb, Courtney)

Saturday afternoon
1:00-2:00  Emily-squared baby shower for all women and girls who want to attend
Early afternoon:  Men and boys activity -  water balloons:  Aaron & Greg

2:00-4:30  Free time

Saturday evening
4:30-5:00 Family Pictures
7:00 Talent show - Emily's family


Sunday morning
Sacrament meeting 10 am
Primary to follow back at lodge after lunch - Emily P and Jenny in charge; Carma and Mom singing time

Sunday afternoon
General authorities recitation by children - Michelle
Free time
Foosball tournament

Sunday evening
7:00 Family Time - "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Bylund Style."- Emily's family
7:30 "Watch Me Time"

8:00 Popcorn and watch the stars come out

Book Club --Happiness Project (Carma)

Monday morning
8:00 a.m. Morning Walk - Kristen and Dave
9:30 a.m. Morning Devotional - Kristen's family
10:00 a.m. Stations for kids* -  Carma's family  /Mom and Dad /Emily's family
11:00 a.m. Face painting - Kristen
Foosball tournament

* Each station will be 20 minutes.  Kids will be divided into three groups and rotate through the stations.  (Group 1: Nico, Caleb, Rachel;  Group 2: Grace, Spencer, Thurman;  Group 3: Anne, Anna, Courtney, Joshua )

Monday afternoon
Free time
Hike (Kevin's family)

Monday evening
Presentation of Foosball Awards (Thurman)
7:00 p.m. Family Home Evening - Mom and Dad

Tuesday morning
Pack up and leave.... so sad. 
 

Other non-scheduled, ongoing activities could include...
Wii, darts, kuub
Movies in theater room
Games
Amazing Race activities -?

Answers from Property Owners

Here are answers to our questions:

Yes towels are included

Not a back yard to play in, there is a patio & large deck

Most appliances are there unless someone snatched some without us knowing. Pots, pans, griddle, blender, toaster, mixers, baking sheets etc.

There is the Burro Trail that you can walk to, its not a park but it has a stream and it beautiful. Kids love it. The elementary school  is close and downtown has a play area for kids. You may walk to these.

Yes there is an iron & ironing board

The main freezer is a bottom freezer. There is another freezer (side by side fridge) in the laundry room. Plenty of room

UPDATED: Next Iteration and some other things

Updates in red below.

Well, now that it's July, we can say, "The family reunion is next month!"  I think everything is coming together well.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts about T-shirts.   Emily Bylund has come up with a great idea.  Every family can bring their own T-shirts (and choose their own colors) and then as part of the reunion she will organize "freezer stenciling" for a logo for the shirts.  This will allow us to have different colors per family and also to be able to have the right size shirts for younger kids.  Thanks Emily for being willing to do this!

Colors taken:

Mom & Dad - 

Carma's fam - navy

Eric -

Michelle's fam - light green

Kevin's fam - light aquamarine

Jenny's fam - white

Kristen's fam - tangerine

Emily's fam -Dark red

I have a couple assignments that I still need people to take on:

1.  Contact the property owner with the questions listed in the previous blog and the comment. (I have sent these to dad).
2.  Still need a volunteer/volunteers to be in charge of the "Men and Boys activity" during the Emily-squared baby shower Saturday afternoon.
3.  Be in charge of the morning walks on Friday and Monday.  

Regarding meals, sometime in the next few weeks, talk to whoever you are paired with and figure out what you would like to make.  We will need to give ingredients to be purchased to Mom and Dad who are planning to do a big Costco trip (unless it's too much to do all of that at once).  Let me know also and I will post it to the blog so we don't have people making the same thing multiple times (ok, I know that is not likely, but still).   We will also need to give requests for breakfast and lunch food to Mom and Dad (types of cereal, etc.)  We have decided to keep the breakfast/lunch food bill separate from the dinner bill for people who want to buy their own breakfast/lunch food.

Here's the latest, revised schedule/assignments per everyone's earlier input.

Room Assignments
Downstairs bedrooms (2) - Jenny's family (will bring own pack-n-play); Kevin's family
Bunk room - 8 oldest cousins; alternatively kids may move mattresses into parents' rooms
Study with queen sleeper sofa - Kristen's family
Loft with queen aero bed - Eric
Top level bedrooms (4) - Michelle's family in King Bed with twin chaise; Mom and Dad in Queen Master Bedroom; Emily's family and Carma's family in the other two King Bedrooms.  (Mom to bring pack-n-play for Maddie)

Dinner Night Assignments
Friday - Jenny's family/Mom and Dad: taco salad
Saturday -Kevin's family/ Kristen's family: Homemade pizza
Sunday - Michelle's family/Emily's family:
Monday - Carma's family/Eric: Chicken and beef enchiladas, will also make a special treat for FHE

Tentative Schedule with Assignments

Thursday afternoon/ night: arrivals, begin working on t-shirts

Friday morning
Morning Walk - Kristen and Dave
Morning Devotional - Mom and Dad (I thought we could do these gathered together after breakfast before the morning kids' activities start).
Kid Olympics - Jenny's family
More t-shirt work (for those getting in too late Thursday)

Friday afternoon
Free time - Kristen's family to provide a brochure of local activities in Breckenridge

Friday night
Celebrate Emily's birthday
Joke night - Carma's family
Dance party - Mom and Dad

Saturday morning
5K race - Emily's family
French Toast Breakfast - Thurman & Carma 
Morning Devotional - Eric
Stations for Kids - Kevin's family/ Michelle's family/Emily's family (one idea is to a little craft or art project)

Saturday afternoon
Early afternoon:  Emily-squared baby shower for all women and girls who want to attend - Carma, Mom, Kristen
Early afternoon:  Men and boys activity -  Aaron?  Greg?

Late afternoon:  Free time

Saturday evening
Family Pictures (if Leslie's family joins us) 
Talent show - Emily's family


Sunday morning
Sacrament meeting 10 am
Primary to follow back at lodge after lunch - Emily P and Jenny in charge; Carma & mom singing time

Sunday afternoon
General authorities recitation by children - Michelle
Free time

Sunday evening
Family Time - "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Bylund Style."- Emily's family
"Watch Me Time"
Popcorn and watch the stars come out
Book Club --Happiness Project (Carma) *unless there are objections


Monday morning
Morning Walk- Kristen and Dave
Morning Devotional - Kristen's family
Stations for kids -  Carma's family (improv games) /Mom and Dad (fishing pond, parachute games, treasure hunt?)/Kristen's family

Monday afternoon
Free time
Hike (Kevin's family)

Monday evening
Family pictures (if it works better for Leslie's family to come this night)
Family Home Evening - Mom and Dad (Bingo for activity?)

Tuesday morning
Pack up and leave.... so sad. 
 

Other non-scheduled, ongoing activities could include...
Wii, darts, foosball tournaments (Thurman might like organizing one of these)
Movies in theater room
Games
Amazing Race activities (Kevin's family -- or we could do this at a scheduled time if you'd like)

Good omen

Questions to Ask Property Owners

1.  Is there cable/satellite?
2.  Are towels included?
3.  How big is the yard?
4.  What kind of kitchen equipment is there? (e.g., skillet?)

Reunion Assignments and Schedule, Version 1.0

The brain dump is beginning to get a little organized. I have added a few ideas that have come up since the last blog.  Everything is open for revision, so let me know what you think.  If I forgot something that we have talked about, please remind me!  If I've assigned you too much or too little, let me know!

Here's the next round.

Tentative Room Assignments
Downstairs bedrooms (2) - Jenny's family (will bring own pack-n-play?); Kevin's family
Bunk room - 8 oldest cousins; alternatively kids may move mattresses into parents' rooms
Study with queen sleeper sofa - Kristen's family
Loft with queen aero bed - Eric
Top level bedrooms (4) - Michelle's family in King Bed with twin chaise; Mom and Dad in Queen Master Bedroom; Emily's family and Carma's family in the other two King Bedrooms.  (Mom, if you could bring a pack-n-play for us that would be great!)

Tentative Dinner Night Assignments
Friday - Jenny's family/Mom and Dad
Saturday -Kevin's family/ Kristen's family
Sunday - Michelle's family/Emily's family
Monday - Carma's family/Eric

Tentative Schedule with Assignments

Thursday afternoon/ night: arrivals (not sure if everyone is arriving Thursday night)

Friday morning
Morning Walk -
Morning Devotional - Mom & Dad (I thought we could do these gathered together after breakfast before the morning kids' activities start).
T-shirt distribution - Nico
Kid Olympics - Jenny's family

Friday afternoon
Free time - Kristen's family to provide a brochure of local activities in Breckenridge

Friday night
Celebrate Emily's birthday
Joke night - Carma's family
Dance party - Mom & Dad

Saturday morning
5K race - Emily's family
French Toast Breakfast - Thurman & Carma 
Morning Devotional - Eric
Stations for Kids - Kevin's family/ Michelle's family/Emily's family (one idea is to a little craft or art project)

Saturday afternoon
Early afternoon:  Emily-squared baby shower for all women and girls who want to attend - Carma, Mom, Kristen
Early afternoon:  Men & boys activity -  (WHO WANTS TO VOLUNTEER?)

Late afternoon:  Free time

Saturday evening
Family Pictures (if Leslie's family joins us) 
Talent show - Emily's family


Sunday morning
Sacrament meeting 10 am
Primary to follow back at lodge after lunch - Emily Peterson and Jenny in charge

Sunday afternoon
General authorities recitation by children - Michelle
Free time

Sunday evening
Family Time - "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Bylund Style."- Emily's family
"Watch Me Time"
Book Club --??? (is there interest in doing this - and if so, are we doing Happiness Project?)

Monday morning
Morning Walk
Morning Devotional - Kristen's family
Stations for kids -  Carma's family (improv games) /Mom & Dad (fishing pond, parachute games, treasure hunt?)/Kristen's family

Monday afternoon
Free time
Hike (Kevin's family)

Monday evening
Family pictures (if it works better for Leslie's family to come this night)
Family Home Evening - Mom & Dad (Bingo for activity?)

Tuesday morning
Pack up and leave....   

 

Other non-scheduled, ongoing activities could include...
Wii, darts, foosball tournaments (Thurman might like organizing one of these)
Movies in theater room
Games
Amazing Race activities (Kevin's family -- or we could do this at a scheduled time if you'd like)


 

Eric called me the other day because we doesn't know how he's getting from the airport to Breckenridge.  We will not be going close to the airport at all Thursday night, and even so we are getting a 5 seat car so we won't have any extra seats.  Can this thread be for videocassette/little people logistics?

Colorado here we come!!

Hi everyone! 

I have volunteered to be the organizer of Bylund Bash 2012.  Following is a "brain dump" about the family reunion.  (This comes from conversations with many of you).

Please use the comment section to make any edits, additions, etc.  If you wish to volunteer to be in charge of a particular activity, please note that.   After everyone has commented, I can put together a rough schedule for further comment.

If you don't volunteer for things, I will just assign you!!

Ideas for Evening Activities
Joke night (every one bring the best joke they can find and we'll share)
Talent show (could be in conjunction with Joke night)
Book Club
Dance Party
Family Home Evening
Birthday Party for Emily Bylund
Games (would need to coordinate who is bringing which games).
Bingo
Our cousin Leslie Thurman Gray and her family live fairly close to Breckenridge and they would love to come and spend time with us one evening.   (PS if anyone needs a place to stay before or after she would love to have guests!  She said they just moved into a big house).

Ideas for Daytime Activities
Improv Games
Wii tournament
Darts tournament
Stations
Fishing pond (could be part of stations)
Movies (everyone bring some great DVDs they have!)
5K Race

Scheduling

• One idea is to have kids' activities (stations) each morning (Fri, Sat, Mon) from 10-11:30 or so and have two or three stations that the kids rotate through.  Adults and children 11 years and older could sign up to run stations. 
• The afternoons could be left open for people to do what they want and to accommodate different nap schedules.   If someone wanted to be in charge of finding out what is available in the local area (e.g., mini golf, swimming, hiking, bowling, etc.) that would be great. 
• Sunday we could go to just sacrament meeting at a local ward (someone could volunteer to look into this) and then come back to the house for "primary".   We could then also have family time on Sunday. 

Bedroom Assignments

Here is what they have: 

• Master Bedroom with King Bed and twin chaise 
• Master Bedroom with Queen Bed
• Three Bedrooms with King Beds
• Bedroom with Queen bed
  
• Study with Queen sleeper sofa (sleeps two)
  
• Loft with queen aero bed (sleeps two)
• Bunkroom with Two Bunkbeds with Twin Top, Full Bottom and twin trundle (sleeps eight). 

So, basically there are 8 adult sleeping areas -- which would mean that each individual family unit would get one.  The bunkroom then could be for any of the older kids who are up for sleeping there.  It would really hold the 8 oldest kids, if they all wanted to sleep there.  Alternatively, perhaps individual twin mattresses from the bunk rooms could be put on bedroom floors of parents' rooms if needed?  Or maybe someone who is driving could bring some sleeping bags? 

The study is on the main floor, four bedrooms are on the top floor, and two bedrooms are on the bottom floor (basement I guess), which is also where the bunk room is.  So if anyone thinks their kids might sleep in the bunkroom but want to be close to their parents, we could give them the bedrooms down there.  For those of us who want to be as far away from our kids as possible, we'll go to the top level. (ha ha)

Please state in the comments if you have any preferences to which bedroom you want (for example, if someone wants the bedroom with the twin chaise for a child to sleep on? Or if you want a king bed because you have an adorable 5 month old baby girl who might just end up sleeping in the bed with you so you don't have to drag a pack and play across the country...)

***Does anyone know if we need to bring bedding and towels?? I can't tell from the website.

Meals

• Breakfast could be simple on most days.  We could just have cereal, milk, juice, bagels, fruit, yogurt on hand.  One day we could have a nice breakfast -- I think Thurman is very interested in making French Toast for everyone (if mom and dad bring their griddle). 
• Lunches could also be simple:  cold cuts, cheese, pbj, bread, chips, fruit, frozen pizza.  We wouldn't necessarily assign anyone to be in charge of these meals, just let individual families do what they needed to do. 
• Dinners could be complicated (ha ha).  With four nights, that would let each individual family unit pair up with one other and take a night to cook what they choose.   (If you have a preference for a night or a pair up, let me know!) 
• This would of course involve a major shopping trip to a nearby Costco or something to get all the breakfast and lunch food and paper goods. 

There's seating for 16 (table of 8, table of 4, bar of 4).  So there will be some "shift" eating.

Family Picture(s)

Perhaps we could do this on the night Leslie and family come so they could take it for us? 

Finances
Last time, we all just kept receipts from food we bought, gave it to Dad, and he figured it out and we had a financial settlement (Dave should know what that is by now!) at the end.  Any comments on that?

Memorization Goal
Someone suggested that the kids could work toward memorizing the names and order of the General Authorities (just the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve) to recite there (Anyone want to offer a $2 bill to those who can??)

T-shirts
I would be happy to do them this year.  (Nico has not forgotten how they were thrown down from one of the lofts last time and very much wants to be the one throwing them to people this year).

Amenities

For those of us who have forgotten, here are some of the amenities we will enjoy at the Ski Inn Lodge: 

High Speed Wireless Internet
Theater Room
Pool Table
Foosball Table
Big Screen TV
Hot Tub
Ski In and Ski Out (probably won't really matter for us!!)
Summer - 15 minute walk to town
All linens are provided
Kitchen is fully stocked excluding food
Theater room with surround sound
Gourmet Kitchen
Family Room with pool table
Huge Deck area
Mountain Views

Here's a handy link to their website: http://www.vacationrentals.com/vacation-rentals/39158.html?promoType=none

And as I just re-read all of the old emails about the family reunion, I found that Emily Bylund had looked up some activities in Breckenridge and suggested this link.  http://www.gobreck.com/.  And Kevin suggested: http://www.gobreck.com/what-to-do/summer-fun-free-and-under-25