September 1st
The Higginson Family Reunion

The Higginson Family Reunion is something we look forward to every year. Brian's extended family is extremely close, so these reunions make for a LOT of fun! This reunion is for Brian's father's side of the family. He had eight kids in his family, so there are a lot of people that attend. In the picture up above, we are just waiting to get started. We rented out a park pavilion this year and then a church building as well.

After getting started, we went ahead with the auction. As I explained in an earlier blog entry, family members donate items to the auction, and then the proceeds of the auction go towards the next family reunion. This year we raised just over $1,000.00! Pretty great, huh? I can't remember if we had lunch first and then the races, but since I had no picture of lunch, we'll just move right on to the races. By the way, at the auction we bid on and won a little girl's swimming suit that Brian's sister Linda had made, and it was ADORABLE!!!!

We always start out with the youngest kids. It is so fun to watch these little kids race towards their parents with great big smiles on their faces! To the right are me and Vaughn. I'm trying desperatedly to encourage him to run, and he did a great job. I don't think he quite understood exactly what he was supposed to do at first, but in the end, and especially once he saw Brian, he ran pretty fast. All the kids got a little treat when they finished. Vaughn really enjoyed that!

Brian was so proud of Vaughn for finishing the race. He carried him around for quite a while telling him what a great job he did! I'm so glad that Brian and Vaughn share such a good realtionship!

After the little kiddie races comes the older kid races. I think these go up to age 10 or 12. Then come the teenage boys and teenage girls races. And then after that are the adult races.

This was a pretty bad picture, but you can see Brian smack dab in the middle wearing plaid shorts and a blue shirt. I tried desperately to record the race, but the camera kept going haywire and I barely missed Brian winning the race! Darn it! I was very proud of him! The Higginson men really take these races seriously, so it was quite a big thing for Brian to win! That's my man!

Brian's niece Lindsey Edwards wasn't interested in racing, but she did build a fantastic boat out of leaves and twigs. If you look in her left hand very closely you can see it. Isn't she amazing?!

Here is a little flower doll that another one of the nieces made, but I can't remember who did it!!!! If anyone remembers please let me know. Isn't it great?!?! These kids are so creative!

After the races, we all filed into the church building we had rented, and we held the family talent show. Here's Brian's cousin Spencer singing a song with his two boys Luke and Benjamin. It was awesome! The song begins with "Hey there Delilah I've got something more to say to you..." I can't remember it all, but they did a great job!

Here are some of the young girls in the family singing a Primary song for their grandparents. It was such a touching experience to hear these girls singing, and knowing they had practiced just for this occasion.

Here is Brian's sister Amy in the middle of singing the song SHE WROTE! She is a very good composer, and she has been writing a lot of songs lately. She also happens to be an excellent singer, so it's great to hear her sing the songs she composes. Brian's sister Julie sings backup or duets with Amy as well, and she is also an excellent singer!

And what do you know, here's Julie! Here she is singing Puccini's O Mio Babbino Caro. It is not an easy song to sing, and Julie did a fantastic job!!! If you've never heard Julie sing, then you're missing out on something pretty special. Julie is one of the better singers I've ever had the opportunity to hear. The entire audience was in awe when she was finished. And a lot of the grandkids were turned to their parents and said, "WOW!"

We had several piano pieces played during the talent show. I played The Maple Leaf Rag, but we didn't get any photos of it. Above is Brian's cousin Lisa's daughter Caroline Richardson, playing the theme from The Man From Snowy River. It was a great performance!


Brian's cousin Jeffrey created a medley of hymns and was asked to play it for the talent show. He did a wonderful job and played it all from memory. We were very touched by the arrangement, and it was the perfect ending to a wonderful talent show!

This is a shot of most of the people who were watching the talent show. It was quite a crowd! After the talent show, we had a few minutes to hear from and about members of the family who had served or were currently serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which is the name of our church. It was neat to hear about their experiences and listen to their testimonies.

Now it is a VERY FUN tradition to have a game of dodge ball after the reunion is over. It's for anyone who dares to stay and play against Brian's brother David who you can barely see in the top middle. He is partially sitting up and getting ready to throw the ball. This is a different kind of dodge ball, and it's too hard to explain, so just take me at my word that it is a blast to play! After dodge ball the reunion officially ended, and we all had ice cream sandwiches as we headed home!

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED IN AND PLANNED THIS WONDERFUL EVENT! WE LOVE YOU ALL AND CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT REUNION!!!

Love, Lisa