Washington Trip

 Earlier this year we heard about a family reunion on the Hunt side of the family to take place in Washington State in August. With a baby due in July we didn’t know if we would want to go with a possibly two or three week old baby, and more importantly me being possibly two or three weeks postpartum. As it was Sorrel came near enough to her due date and was five weeks old at the time of the trip. 

We left on Friday morning and drove the 9 hours to Moses Lake Washington. The kids were surprisingly good in the car. I decided to do the drive with no screens. In the past we’ve always used them, but now with five kids and one tablet I just knew it would be more trouble than it was worth. So instead we did coloring pages, audio books and toys like this Puzzle ball that I found at the thrift store for 50 cents, was a huge hit. 

We stopped at a fun park in Boise for lunch and continued on our way. Just like on our trip to Oregon, I was amazed by the size of the Columbia River. This time we got to cross over it and go into Washington. That was neat. You don’t see rivers like that in Utah!

We got to the house we were staying at in Moses Lake around 7pm. Leland has a bunch of extended family in Moses Lake and they told us not to get a hotel, they would have a place for us to stay. I was a little skeptical of this arrangement but Leland shrugged it off and told me that this is the way Hunts do things. 

We ended up staying at a member of the stake presidency’s home from Leland’s Aunt’s stake. When we pulled up I was blown away at the view on this house! It was right on the water and so pretty. I wished we had more time to go down and explore the lake but we didn’t. The home had a separate little apartment for us and it ended up being just the nicest accommodations for our family. I was touched by these stranger’s generosity and it made me want to be more hospitable with friends and strangers alike in the future. 

Anyways, the reason for this family reunion was that Moses Lake, the city where Leland’s dad was born and raised, finally got a temple. The open house only ran a couple weeks so they timed a family reunion around the open house. 

Leland’s mom and brother Alexander flew into Washington from Texas on Saturday morning. We met up with them and headed to the temple open house.

The temple was beautiful but so much smaller than our Utah temples. Still it was fun to see. The people there are so excited to have a temple near them and it felt a little more exciting that your average Utah temple open house. 

Afterwards we went to the family reunion at a park. There were a lot of Hunts there! I hardly knew anyone and Leland knew a few of his cousins but not very well. Still it was nice to get to know people. The kids jumped in right away and were so happy to learn that their little friends they were playing with were in fact their second cousins and had the last name of Hunt too! 

The Hunt's all have big families. Leland's dad was the second child of 11. Many of the people at the reunion had 6+ children. So needless to say, even with only a portion of the family there it was still a big group. Everyone loved and doted on Sorrel. This was the first time  I had met Leland's dad's siblings and it made me wish even more that  I had gotten a chance to meet Roy too.  We stayed at the reunion a few hours and then headed back and went to sleep.

Sorrel Jane with her namesake

On Sunday we went to a ward where one of Leland's aunts were speaking. In an attempt to pack light, I had only brought one pair of church clothes for each of the kids, which they had worn to the open house and the reunion the day before. I should have known that the kids could not be trusted to keep their clothes clean all day. Lesson learned. Church went well and afterwards we went to another of Leland's aunt's houses for lunch. 

Her house was small for the lot of us and it was horribly hot outside, but Leland and Alexander took the kids to the park anyways. I enjoyed chatting with Leland's extended family and getting to know them better. Aunt Linda was just so thrilled that we came and wouldn't stop telling us how happy she was that we made the trip. It was nice that  we got to know her a little bit. She was the sibling closest in age to Leland's dad Roy, and she herself has 6 or 7 children, though all grown now. It was a good visit. Afterwards we went back to the house and went to sleep. In the morning we made the long 9 hour drive home, this time with Leland's mom and Alexander along with us. (yay for having a big van!) They stayed in Utah for a visit before flying back to Texas. 

All in all it was a good trip. My one regret is that we didn't have time to stay longer and see more sights in Washington. But Leland had just taken 3 weeks off for paternity leave and couldn't spare any more time off. We were on the fence about going but I'm so glad we did! It was a beautiful trip and it reminded me of the importance of investing in the family relationships.