His and Her Stories: Naseath Reunion 2015 + Announcing the Pregnancy

Over a year ago the plans began for a family reunion/celebration of my MIL's 60th birthday.

Literally thousands of planning emails later...

We all ended up in gorgeous Garden City, Utah staying in a cabin overlooking the absolutely stunning Bear Lake.

We had roughly 30 people in that one cabin. 6 Bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 1 overly stocked kitchen, and 30 ridiculously happy people just enjoying some family time. If I'm being completely honest, I expected multiple breakouts of hurt feelings, angry words, and moments of tucking away in frustration. But not once did any of those happen. Our family literally played all week and just had fun!

Was a wallet lost off the roof of a car and run over by a lawn mower? Sure! But did we find that wallet including all of its precious contents? You bet your bippy we did.

Was there maybe a small hillside fire caused by a malfunctioning firework? Of course. But you better believe the strong and the brave of the family put those fires out before the fire department even hung up the phone with us.

And did the Sea-doo run out of gas and eventually die well before it was time to turn it in? Naturally. But not once did you hear someone complain. Instead they played King of the Mountain on the water trampoline.

All 15 grandkids (my adorable nephews and nieces) got along remarkably well all week and relished in their precious cousin time. I spent most of my time in the living room, cooing with my 3 nephews who are 6 months, 7 months, and 1 year old. On one evening it was my turn to make dinner, so I made 5 batches of pretzel dough and we spent 4 hours rotating amazing pretzel creations from the counter to the oven and out again onto anxiously held plates.

Another evening we had a cooking lesson from my MIL and Ray's grandmother. We all learned how to make grandma's stuffing. Now- at the time no one knew I was pregnant (oh yeah! I'm pregnant, more on that later) so I apologize if that evening I seemed like I'd left my partici-PANTS at home. But the thought of being in a crowded, hot kitchen was literally more than I could take. So Ray and I waited until everyone else finished their creations and then we ventured in to make ours. In true homage to our favorite cooking show, Master Chef, and its most honorable judge Gordon Ramsey, I quizzed Ray thoroughly on all his steps as he blended, squished and mashed our stuffing mixture together. The result? A "stunning" first place winner for "Most Like Grandma's Stuffing."

Together, Ray and I can do anything. Including making some awesome stuffing.

So finally, the day arrived when we were scheduled to take family pictures. Some members of the family started pushing for evening shots, and Ray and I immediately fought back saying we were pretty sure morning would be the better time frame. The only reason we cared was because we had been waiting all week long to tell everyone about the pregnancy, and we were going to have the photographer announce it and then snap pictures of everyone's reactions. The thought of dragging through the last day without telling anyone until the end was excruciating.

It's lucky we did start early since there was a delay due to camera trouble. Eventually we had everyone seated and ready. The photographer (Ray's cousin) started taking her pictures and then gave her "ready" signal to her assistant (Ray's other cousin). She poised for the photo and said "Everyone say: Kailin is pregnant!"

Everyone said it- which really wasn't what I was expecting. But then it went kind of quiet. I finally had to interject: "Really guys! 4 months along!" Some small nervous laughs maybe, and then a "Really?" to which I had to affirm.

"It's me saying this, not Ray, so you know it's true!"

Finally we got the reactions we wanted. Ray's mom is my favorite of all. I wish I could post the entire progression but that may be too many pictures. It goes from complete shock, to happy smiles, to happy tears, to trying to hold back tears so we can finish taking family pictures.

We are very pleased with the results.