I'm pretty sure it can.
But still.
Every four years in my Anderson family we take a trip to a place where its nearly impossible to get even one bar on your cell phone even if your standing on top of an RV with your hand raised right to the sky. That was fun, let me tell you. From the 17th to the 27th of July I had the wonderful opportunity to be in Utah. And on the 17th that journey began, a 13 hour drive with three cars to Utah.
That drive could be 133 hour drive and I would, without a doubt, gladly go. And heres why.
It was two years since I last saw any family on the Anderson side. Things change and people change. Its the inevitable. But when you pull in front of your Uncles home at about 2AM and your uncle gives you a hug with so much love and warmth, its an amazing thing, and that love is something you can count on that to not change.
Now, I know most people joke when family reunion comes into their summer plans, but when reunion comes into my summer plans, I could never be more happy. Well, our family reunions are a little different, for some people at least. We go up to a camp a little ways out of Salina, Utah and spend Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday all together. And its just us, our family.
We have activities, and jobs. I mean we all just don't go and volunteer to cook dinner, we have to be assigned. We have ropes courses, which is where we have to trust people, have faith in them to succeed, to know that you can trust someone no matter how little you know them. Within the couple hours that you do the course with your family, you begin to have trust, love, and faith in people that, sometimes, you hardly know, and you gain a testimony because of that too. Our reunions are a very spiritual experience, and when you can experience that spiritualness with your family, for me, its the greatest joy I have ever felt.
The drive out there too was a very fun experience too.
And unforgettable one at most.
Sure there were fight between us siblings, its always been that way.
As long as I can remember.
Me and my dad- that made up the lead vehicle, the one with the RV.
My mom, sister, her husband, and son. - that was vehicle two, the one with the baby screaming in the back, yeah...thats us!!
My brothers- they both made up the last vehicle, hating being the last in the group.
Walkie Talkies- The link that kept us in touch, laughing, telling each other to shut up occasionally, and of course we heard stories about our parents that left us all kids dumbfounded.
Now though I have two brothers and one sister, being surrounded by family thats shows their love in every way is a rare thing for me.
I grow up in an LDS home.
All of us kids grew up in an LDS home.
But now, besides my parents I am the only one who is an active member.
Its hard growing up looking up to your brothers and sister, and wanting to grow up exactly like them.
Then sometimes you feel like you can't.
That maybe you shouldn't be following their example, but making you own.
My siblings never show that love that my unlce shows us when.
In fact I can't remember the last time any of my brothers or my sister gave me a hug.
Thats why this time that I can spend with my family in Utah, is so precious.
I need that feeling of love to get me through the day.
And its nice to have an entire week of it.
When you see your siblings leaving with a tear in their eye, and knowing thats its just as hard for them to leave, as it is to me, you wonder if they feel that this is what they need too. Family.
And thats why making that trip means more to me than any family vacation you could dream up.
Its now one week since we got back home.
For the first couple days it was hard.
When your not around anybody, when your parents go to work all day, and your stuck in the house with nothing to do.
But now everything is all the same, the normal.
And I'm still happy that I spent a week and a half with family.
I still feel loved.
There will be pictures of this trip on my photography blog in a couple days.
