Friday, June 25, 2010

Menu for Group Meals

For those of you still around or the ones who aren't but have laptops with them....here is what I came up with for the 4 meals we will be together for.  I have decided rather than having to lug a large thermos for water and lemonade stuff, everyone should probably provide their own drinks for these meals, and of course for their own individual meals.   Here is what I have in mind as far as food.

Keep in Mind...Thursday is potluck, so bring whatever you have in mind for that, and if you are worried about your kids not liking stuff, bring something they will like.  :)  Can't wait to see you all in a few days!  I'm excited, are you?!?

p.s. if you see something missing on the list that you think should be on the shopping list that I haven't thought of,  then please comment this post so I can make sure we get everything.  thanks!

Menu for Reunion



OPENING BBQ on TUESDAY
Burgers
Hot Dogs
Potato Chips
Baked Beans, Salads

BREAKFAST ON WEDNESDAY
Eggs
Pancakes
Sausage
Bacon
OJ ?




DINNER THURSDAY
Potluck with burgers and stuff just in case
Scones for Dessert (fry bread)


CLOSING DINNER SATURDAY
BBQ Chicken or Fried Chicken
Grilled Veggies
Baked Potatoes with toppings


CONDIMENTS/extras NEEDED

Ketchup
Mustard
Mayo
Relish
Butter
Syrup
Peanut Butter
Hamburger/ Hot Dog Buns
Cooking Spray
Cheese
Salt and Pepper
BBQ Sauce
Milk
vegetable oil
marshmallows
Hershey bars/Reese's

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Last Minute thoughts before we all leave

Here are some last minute thoughts I need to share with you all before you head up to Canada.  I think some of you are leaving tomorrow, but here it is anyway.

Catherine Beaman got us some info about the border crossing about what can get over the border and what cannot.  You can take with you up to $20 of dairy (cheese, milk, eggs--she said cheese is expensive in Canada, so that's probably something you want to bring yourself), 10 lb of beef or pork, and up to 20 lb. of chicken.  No produce, so you'll have to get that when you get there.  So plan ahead, save yourself some cash, because rumor has it, groceries are expensive there.  We'll probably still get group meal food up there, but as for individual family meals, plan ahead for sure!

Also, speaking of group meals.  I need some ideas as to what you all want/will eat for those meals.  I need to come up with a menu so we can get our supplies early on in the week.  We will also need some help storing some of the meat and perishables in coolers/fridges, so if you can help out with that, it would be great.   Keep in mind, Thursday's picnic will last most of the afternoon, and it is potluck, so figure out what you plan to bring, and get your ingredients!

I have decided to move the big opening dinner shindig to Tuesday night because there will be more people there at that time. I realize this will be the same day as Waterton, but I think we will still have time to run up to Lethbridge and do a quick Costco trip if we know what we need and we hurry.  We are planning to BBQ so if any of you have mini grills you can bring with you, or if you Cardston-ites could bring over your grill, that would be FANTASTIC!

As for the deposits of campsites...If you have not paid me already, go ahead and get some cash or write me a check when you get there.  The lady at the desk said she would transfer funds to cover my bill, but some people have already paid and so it's just easier to follow suit that way.  The deposit amount is $29.40 Canadian dollars.  Cash is preferred, but checks are fine.

If you haven't ordered your t-shirts, get on that, because it takes awhile to get them shipped out.  We would like you all to have one for the big family picture, so it would be great if you could get those ordered! 

Please be aware that Waterton and Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump cost to get in.  Go here for Waterton's rates, and here for Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump.  You may need cash to get in.

For those of you interested in making a temple trip to do sealings or endowments or otherwise, I did some research on the Cardston temple.  They have clothing rental, so you don't need to bring your own stuff.  They are not open Monday, but the rest of the week should be fine.  We are aiming to go either in the afternoon on Wednesday or on Friday.

I think that is all for now.  Sorry, I know this is a hodgepodge mix of stuff and it sounds a bit disorganized but these are the things that have been on my mind and I have been checking on for the last few days.  Email me if you have questions, my email address is on the right sidebar at the top.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Please Note: Border Crossing Rules

VERY IMPORTANT

If you are crossing the border from the States, please review the information in this website.  It will tell you what is allowed to cross and what is not.  DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THINGS THAT CANNOT CROSS, IT WILL BE TAKEN FROM YOU.

http://www.beaware.gc.ca/english/toce.shtml

T-Shirts are Ready to be Ordered!!

Carol Jean has finished with posting the T-shirt designs online and they are ready for you to order for your family members.  We decided because there were so many to be ordered and we didnt get any responses about sizes and quantity, we would post where you could get them and then you can go get how ever many you wanted for your family.

You can order your shirts here at Zazzle for a double sided shirt, or here at CafePress for single sided shirts.  Both sites have different style shirts, from adult to baby onsies, and you are welcome to get whatever suits your fancy and size.

Please note, we would like to take a large family photo on Thursday of everyone in a t-shirt.  It would look pretty sharp if you all could have one for the photo!!  And think of the nice memory it will leave of the fun you are going to have at the reunion! 

Order quick so they get to you in time to leave!  Remember, only 10 days left til the week-long Reunion Party!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Final Itinerary

I came up with a final draft of the itinerary and it's very relaxed...there is lots of time for individual activities and hanging out to get to know people, naptime, and other activities.  Check it out and if there is something you would like to add that you think others would enjoy, email me with your ideas! 

Cardston Harkers and Obrays
2010 Reunion

Itinerary

MONDAY, JUNE 28
  • Check into Campground and Hotel (s)
  • Shopping at Costco and grocery store
  • Opening Dinner, BBQ at the Campground
TUESDAY, JUNE 29
  • Waterton all day.  Picnic lunch together, hiking, ice cream, boat rental, whatever anyone wants to do (boat rental is up to each family if they want)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30
  • Group Breakfast at Campground
  • Cemetary trip
  • Short family history activity
THURSDAY, JULY 1
  • Canada Day/Aunt Marcia's Birthday Celebration--either Potluck picnic, or BBQ
  • Fireworks that evening in Lethbridge 
FRIDAY, JULY 2
  • Head Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
  • possible temple trip for those interested
SATURDAY, JULY 3
  • Closing dinner at Campground, not sure of theme yet
SUNDAY, JULY 4
  • Pack Up, Check out, Head home.
***NOTE*** All meals not listed in Itinerary are left to each individual immediate family, and should be planned for accordingly.  If you like you can do these with some of your cousins, or you can keep to yourselves.  If you are in a motel but would like to cook your own meals, you can definitely bring your food to the campsite to cook and eat with the rest of us.

All activities NOT specifically mentioned on this Itinerary are NOT planned group activities.  If you would like to do something not already listed here, you can either plan it yourself or you can mention it to me and I can add it if you like.  This was designed to have some large group activities, and the rest of the time is left to do as you will.  We will have board games and playing cards and frisbees and outdoor play things, and I believe some people are bringing their softball equipment to play some softball.


T-Shirts

CJ (Carol Jean, Uncle Bryce's daughter) came up with a fantastic design for the t-shirts for the reunion, and now we are just trying to figure out sizing and how many to order. 

If you are coming to the reunion, please email me (click the link to the right of this post) with the amount of t-shirts you want for your family and the respective sizes you'll need.  Depending on cost, it might be cheaper to just get adult sizes even for the kids--so the kids would get adult smalls or extra smalls instead of ordering kid sizes as well as adults. 

Please let me know asap so CJ can get our order into the company in time for us to have them for the reunion!!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Getting close...

Hey everyone!  The reunion is a month and 4 days away!  Are you ready?   Are you coming? 

In a couple of weeks I have to call the campground to cancel any sites we will not be using.  If you are camping and you haven't told me yet, you need to do so NOW so I can count your site in and not cancel.   I will be calling on June 21st because I would like to get my deposit refunded on any sites that go unused.

So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get the word out and let people know if they want to come and camp, they better email me or "Facebook" me so I can keep a site open for them (or for you, for that matter.)

I will be working on getting a revised itinerary up on the site so you can see what we will be doing.  Much more lax than the original draft--a couple of big activities each day, and the rest of the time, everyone is up to do what they want.  We'll have some games and playing cards and things for downtime activities.

CJ is working on a t-shirt design, and we are looking for people to bring cameras and to take pictures so we can all share our pictures and have lots of documentation!!

I do still need some help from people to help me with food for the large group meals.  If you can please let me know if you would be willing to help cook, make menus and such that would be great!    I know some of you have those wonderful things called Costco memberships, and that would be great if we could use them and pay you back.

Gwen was nice enough to let me know that if you are in the States you can bring up sodas and water and chips and such, just no meat or fresh produce.  So stock up before you leave if you have room because lots of things are more expensive out in Canada!

One last thing before I go.....DON'T FORGET YOUR PASSPORT!!  THIS IS LITERALLY YOUR LAST CHANCE TO GET ONE IF YOU HAVEN'T YET!!!!  AND BRING IT WITH YOU ON THE TRIP SO YOU CAN GET ACROSS THE BORDER!!!!

Love you all and I hope to see you in a little over a month!!  YAY Reunion!!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Contact Me!

I have added a link to send me an email on the right hand side of this page.  If you have questions, would like to volunteer to help out, suggestions, comments, etc., please feel free to send me a message and I will do my best to get back to you on it in a timely manner! 

I would love some help from all of you, so please please please feel free to let me know if you are willing!  It would be awesome to have an army of helpers to do different activities!

Love to all of you!

Carmel

Okay, So I know things have gotten slow...

I was waiting on some responses from you all so we could get things going as far as planning goes.   I am going to pick up the pace as far as getting things reserved for a lunch at Waterton, and also the other activities we would like to reserve.   

So far, it looks like we have 55 confirmed people showing up.   If you know of more than I do, please let me know.   I can post the numbers I have here and who I am expecting if you like. 

Also, please let me know what you would like to do as far as meals?  Would you like to do your own thing most of the time, and then some of the time do a couple of large group dinners/lunches?  Or would it be best to just do community food on a regular basis?

Thanks for being patient!  Please respond!!

Carmel

Friday, February 26, 2010

I've applied for my passport, have you?

I just went to the post office today to apply for that passport...reminded that it can take up to 6 weeks.

Just a friendly reminder to get your application filled out so you have time to get it before the big trip!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Artist Needed...

We need someone who can come up with an awesome and creative design for our reunion t-shirts!  Whether it's with graphic design or something else, it would be great to have something tailored to the reunion for all of us to wear!

If you are interested in such a venture, please let me know by commenting here, or messaging me through Facebook.  Thanks!

Head Count needed, as soon as possible!

Seriously guys, I need at least a tentative head count from each of you.  We are trying to get a t-shirt order together and we need to know how many to order.  In order to plan different tours or whatever you all want, we probably need a headcount on that too.  I know its hard to know if you can do it this soon, but can you give me a good guess for now and when it gets closer we'll bug you again?

Thanks a bunch!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Photographers Needed!

Are any of you out there avid picture takers?  Do you have a fantastic or even average camera that you love to take everywhere and take pictures of everything?  Do you have a tripod?  Let us know!

We would love to put you to work as official reunion photographers!  All we would ask is that you bring your camera and take pictures of all of us doing various activities, at meals, around the campfire, etc.  We need about 3 or 4 different ones so we have enough to cover different activities when we're not all together. 

When we are all together, we would like to take a chance and take a few group shots with everyone there to remember this fantastic event.  We're planning on getting some reunion tshirts made, so we'll probably have you all wear those for the big family shot.   More details on that to come.

Comment here or on the FB page if you would like to volunteer!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Wow, I realized I sound bossy.

Sorry about that.  I don't mean to sound mean and bossy, I just want everyone to have something at the reunion that they are looking forward to, and in order to do that, we need lots of responses and feedback from everyone that is planning to come.  If everyone's voice is represented, hopefully there will be something each person will enjoy while we are there and we can all have tons of fun together!

Please understand also that the Itinerary on here is just tentative and subject to change according to the wants and needs of those attending.  I am so open to lots of ideas and feedback and thoughts and comments!  Please let me know if there is something you would really like to do that I have not thought about and not mentioned.

I hope that this will be a super fun time for everyone involved as well as a great time to get to know some "long lost" relatives we haven't seen in so many years.  So please, don't feel weird about telling me ideas and I really hope I don't sound mean and bossy, because that's not how I meant it at all!

P.S. Thanks to everyone who have contributed to the Poll in the right upper corner!  Pass on the news to your families so we get lots of feedback!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

USA RESIDENTS! IMPORTANT!

Please be aware that if you do not have a passport and need to obtain one, it does take 4-6 weeks to receive through the mail, please apply ASAP so you do not have to miss out on the awesome reunion!!

If you are applying for one or renewing one, you need to go to this website and fill in the form.  Then you have to take it to your local facility that you can search for on the same website.  I recommend filling out the form first, then it will turn it into a PDF format and you can print it to take over to your local post office or passport application facility.  Either way, visit this website listed below and follow the instructions it gives you.

http://travel.state.gov/passport/forms/forms_847.html

You will also need a copy of your birth certificate and picture ID.

Good Luck!

Tentative Itinerary

Obray/Harker Reunion Itinerary
June 28-July 4, 2010 
MONDAY, JUNE 28
  • Family arrives, set up camp, check in hotel/motel
  • Opening Dinner – BBQ at Lee’s Campground (details to follow) would want to have some kind of game or ice breaker activity to get to know everyone there.  Need name tags for everyone there.
  • Campfire with s’mores
TUESDAY, JUNE 29
  • Carriage Museum, if interested
  • Visit Big House (need to contact current owners to see if this is okay)
  • Visit temple grounds
  • Visit Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump
  • Free time for visiting with family
  • Possible Family History activity (slideshows of pictures, family tree poster, storytelling, mingle, etc) this would probably be at an LDS stake center because it furnishes a projector and we could use laptops there, and it’s a free facility.
  • Campfire
  • Temple trip for those interested.  (My husband Jeff and I will be bringing our stuff to do a session or some sealings.  Anyone interested may join us.)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30
  • Visit Waterton National Park—pack lunches, spend day at park, get ice cream, etc.  pretty much all day or as long as people can last.
THURSDAY, JULY 1
  • CANADA DAY
  • Picnic for lunch to celebrate both Canada Day and Aunt Marcia’s birthday.  Either pot luck or we all contribute to a central meal.  Probably some kind of cake will be there too to celebrate the birthday of Canada and Aunt Marcia
  • Fireworks in Lethbridge that evening.
  • Possible swimming pool or something of the sort.


FRIDAY, JULY 2
  • Some kind of gathering at either a park or at the Campground.  Pretty much a free day to do what people want to do.
  • Possible second temple trip if anyone is interested.
  • Visit Cardston Cemetary

SATURDAY, JULY 3
  • Different outdoor activities or games.  Water balloon toss or Frisbee or something if people are interested. 
  • Free time to visit with family and cousins
  • Closing Dinner Social – probably a central theme for dinner, could be potluck, but we might choose one thing and just divide the cost per person or per family.  Ideas would be appreciated.  Either held at LDS stake center cultural hall or at campground.
SUNDAY, JULY 4
  • Pack up and checkout
  • Possible religious gathering of a sort, for those interested.

Reunion So Far

Here are the basics regarding the reunion plans as we have them so far.  As I said before, an itinerary is forthcoming, I just wanted to list the basics while I wait for my husband to help me get the Itinerary posted on here from Microsoft Word.

First of all, I know some people are wanting to get a hotel or motel room, and that is fine, and that can be up to each family.  You can also try to all get rooms at the same motel (which may in turn give us another gathering place if it is like a Holiday Inn type of place).  Either way, hotels have not, and will not be planned in general and it will be left to those wanting a hotel room to do for themselves.

Those of you who would rather tent camp, or use a camper trailer or RV, you can do so.  I have reserved 6 campsites at Lee's Creek Campground that all join together edge to edge and they all have full hookups, including Wi-Fi access.  There is also access to full bathrooms with flushing toilets and showers.  If your particular family group is going to take up a whole campsite, please let me know because I will ask you to please cover the full cost of that campsite, which will be $28 per night plus hookup usage.  Mostly I figured we would just mark all of the sites as ours and people will just choose wherever they want to camp within those boundaries.  Either way should work.

As far as meals, for some of them we will be gathered together as the whole large family group, and for those meals we will probably have a central meal and just ask for each family to contribute what is fair for their size of family.   We discussed potluck, but a lot of us won't have access to cook in the places they are staying.  If you would like to potluck, we can revisit that option.  I think a good way to deal with this is to go to Costco and just get enough for everyone, take the cost of the meal and divide that to the per person cost and each individual family can take the per person cost and multiply that by the number in their party.  Beyond the large gathered meals (about 3 or 4 of them all week), meals will be left to you to do as you wish.  You may join another subgroup if you wish or just get your own stuff for you and your immediate family.

Activities are still to be planned.  Depending on answers I get from the poll on the upper right side of the column, I will be working with others to decide what our options are while we are all together.  PLEASE GIVE YOUR INPUT IN THE POLL SO YOU HAVE A CHANCE AT WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO.   Discuss with your immediate families what you want to do and then respond to me by April 1st so we can get some people to help plan individual activities.

That's about it for now.  Hope this update helps, and if you have questions or comments, please post them here in the comments section.

Welcome Relatives!

Okay, here we go.  We decided having a blog open to anyone who wanted to see it would be better than having a Facebook page because not everyone is connected through Facebook.  We will continue to link you to this blog from Facebook when we have updates added, but for the most part, mark this page to your favorites because this is where all of the hot new reunion updates will be posted.  There are a few things I would like to mention here as we get started.   Here they are:

Please take the time to check this at least on a weekly basis because as things get closer we will have different things we need you to respond to so we can get different things planned as far as activities go.  The itinerary will change as time goes on, and this will be according to feedback we get from you, the family members attending this reunion.  We want this to be tailored to what people want to do so we don't end up with a bored or upset crowd.

WHEN I POST NEW THINGS AND ASK FOR FEEDBACK OR RESPONSES, PLEASE RESPOND.  I need you to do so within a week of the post.  Either do this through an email directly to my email account, or through the comments section on the post.  Sometimes I will have a poll on the sidebar that I need you to click on a little thing and that will of course be self explanatory, but otherwise, I need you to send things to my email or in the comment section of that particular post.

IF YOU HAVE IDEAS....please send them to me.  I would love to get your feedback on things so I can make things work better.

I think that is it so far.  I will be adding a copy of the current rough draft itinerary to this page today so you all can get an idea of what is currently in mind.

THANKS!