2011 Recap - Schill Family Reunion Newport Beach (August 2011)

Every two years Jeff's family holds a Family Reunion in which one couple is in charge of planning the whole thing and gets to choose the destination. A few years back our names were drawn for Summer 2011 and we were the lucky ones to figure out a place for 42 people to stay! It didn't take us long to decide we wanted to show them Newport Beach. Jeff loves Newport (almost as much as I do) and wanted to show his family the area and I kept thinking how much easier it would be to plan in a spot I already knew so much about. After a ton of calls and sweet-talking, I was able to secure 3 beach houses about a block from the beach the week after the Jolley reunion. This worked out so perfectly because not only did we get to spend 2 glorious weeks in paradise, but we were able to borrow so many things from my family for Jeff's family to use since some were flying and couldn't bring a lot (like beach chairs, boogie boards, sheets, bath towles, fans, etc.) We had such a great week and were blessed with beautiful weather the whole time (it's always a gamble)! Needless to say, the Schill Reunion at Newport was a way different experience than the Jolley/Parker reunion at Newport. The Schill's are an active bunch so we had to plan a lot of activities to keep everyone busy. You name it, we did it. Our activities for the week included: sand castle building competition, basketball game, Minute to Win it competition in the park, BBQ in the park, riding bikes to Balboa Island for a Balboa bar, game night of classic Schill family games, Talent Show, white elephant gift exchange, roasting hot dogs and marshmellows on the beach, boogie boarding, and walks to the pier. I'm exhausted just recounting everything! As I said earlier, it was a fun week full of wonderful memories. Lucky for us Jeff has lots of siblings so we will have a sixteen year break before we have to plan another one! ;)

About half of the grandkids in front of the Newport Temple (the others were still arriving)

Funny story about this picture, we knew we wanted to get a family picture but trying to coordinate outfits with 42 people is pretty much impossible so we decided to go with the most basic item everyone owns....a white shirt and jeans (I know, pretty cliche). The night we were all dressed and ready to take the picture we all walked down to the beach in this massive group and it was hilarious to see people stare and wonder what was going on. I'm sure we were a sight to see!

Jamisen loves bananas, so when offered one dipped in chocolate and smothered in sprinkles there was no hesitation!

I don't think this boys hair could get any whiter!

This is our neice Erin. She is doing one of the Minute to Win it challenges where you have to roll an oreo down your face and land it in your mouth without any hands. She was a pro!