Vernal Empty Nest: August 2020

VIRTUAL BURT REUNION 2020

We had made big plans to have a reunion/birthday party this summer to celebrate Mom and Dad's 85th and 90th birthdays. All the grandkids had committed to come, Bryce and Alicia were going to be in town and we were going to play for a weekend and then. The virus hit. We had hopes that we would still be able to pull it off but as it got closer it was obvious that it just wouldn't work. So Vicki and I threw out thoughts and came up with some ideas for a virtual reunion cause I just felt that we needed to do it while everyone was planning on the first weekend in August.

A week or so before August 1st, we sent out some info that there would be a scavenger hunt and trivia game with prizes and that they should study up on the grandparents' personal histories. We paired up Vicki's kids' families with mine and Patti's kids' families and hoped to create some competition.

The morning of we sent out the rules/scavenger hunt.

Scavenger hunt - rules: download to Google Photo link sent. Include your team and # of challenge. Send or download by 3pm.

Bonus 2 points for facetime pic with both team members participating in same event (no limit). Bonus 2 points (total possible 8) for including Grandpa and Grandma Burt somehow in a challenge.

1. Visit a local cemetery::

Find someone with a birthday (month and day) closest to Grandpa/Grandma- 7 points each (14 possible)

Find someone with a name closest to Grandpa/Grandma - 3 points each (6 possible)

2. Find a street name (take a pic of the sign) in your city with the same name where Grandpa/Grandma have lived - 10 points each

3. Enjoy a food that reminds you of Grandpa/Grandma - 3 points each (6 possible)

4. Video you doing a sport that Grandpa/Grandma like or participated in - 7 points each (14 poss)

5. Find a picture of somewhere Grandpa and Grandma have been out of the State - 4 points each (8 possible)

6. Take a picture of an establishment that reminds you where Grandpa/Grandma were employed - 4 points each (no limit, each must be from a different job)

7. Video someone on your team telling a story about Grandpa/Grandma - 4 points each (8 possible)

8. Video someone on your team telling a story from Grandpa/Grandma's histories - 6 points each (12 possible)

9. Make some paper dolls - (10 points)

10. Buy malted milk balls and compare price to 2 for a penny (5 points)

11. Take a photo at a horse riding arena (5 points)

12. Record or sing a Nat King Cole song - (7 points)

13. Find an elevator and pretend to be an elevator girl - (10 points)

14. Find a pair of old wooden skis - (10 points)

15. Make a big red U for the university of Utah (8 points)

16. Eat some apple pie with chocolate ice cream (10 points)

17. Add a “memory” to FamilySearch about Grandpa and/or Grandma (10 points each, 20 possible)

Everyone downloaded pics and really got involved. It was so fun to see what they did - some got very creative. Jodi/Troy won. Taylor/Bethany were unable to be there so Brock/Angie got paired with Brett/Brad. Poor Brett. He and Emillie really tried but Brock had a corn hole tournament and Brad got stuck doing home projects so weren't much help to his team.

We got together at 3pm for a Zoom chat. Vicki and Lynn had done a great power point trivia game about Mom and Dad. Everyone had to type their answer in the chat which proved to be hard to judge who was first. Later the chat had time with hundredths of seconds, glad I hadn't seen that during the game. Anyway, Jodi won again! Maybe. Some had really taken the time to look at their histories and know some of the stories.

We also bought dinner for everyone wherever they were. Mom and Dad are going to send everyone a Cold Stone gift card for participating and Jodi and Troy get dinner gift cards for winning the games.

All in all it was a great success. All the kids did a great job participating and hopefully we can get together in the flesh next year.