Capener Family Reunion 2009 at Vivian Park

The John C. Capener family reunion was held at Vivian Park, up Provo Canyon, this year. Christian's family has grown so large, we've held our own family reunion every two years since 2005. With 8 married children and 29 grandchildren, the Capeners have quite a posterity. A little while after the reunion, their first great grandchild was born. WOW!

The boys all started the reunion off with a game of flag football.

The game was close, with several touch-downs a piece, but in the end the best team won.

Could there be any more beautiful setting for a football game?

The cousins all had fun wading in in the Provo River. It was all fun and games until a water gun floated down the river and one cousin lost his shoe in the deep, thick mud.

Several of the adults and teens supervised the vivacious children in the river.

Amara particularly enjoyed playing with her cousin, Ava, at the reunion.

We played volleyball.

We played horseshoes.

Some of the adults and the older kids went river rafting down the Provo River.

The cousins enjoyed a hearty lunch and dinner at our reunion.

Chef Jeremiah, our brother-in-law, made us a delicious hot dog and hamburger lunch and a scrumptious dutch oven dinner of pulled pork, dutch oven potatoes, and slow-cooked bbq beans, with a delightfully crisp and tangy salad (I think made by Siri) to top it all off.

This was our dinner. YUMMMMMMMMMMM-O! Thanks Jeremy and Siri, for a fantastic feast!

We had a fun treat to have the Heber Valley Railroad stop by our picnic pavillion.

Amara enjoyed spending time with her Grandpa Capener.

Aleya had such an exhaustingly fun and exciting day that she passed out before the fun was even done.

We finished off our reunion with grateful hearts and family stories, presented by my sister-in-law, Siri. It was a memorable and satisfying day.

Elder and Sister Capener's Homecoming

Christian's mom and dad, Elder and Sister Capener, just returned from a two-year mission to Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They spoke in sacrament meeting (a worship service) of their experiences and shared their testimonies of missionary work.

Following the church meetings, there was a family gathering with food and socializing with the extended family.

Christian's dad always enjoys taking a photo history of the special events.

Our brother-in-law, Phil, played some nice music on his guitar in the background and later our brother-in-law Cory joined him with his guitar. Siri enjoyed the music with the rest of us.

The cousins were all having a terrific time together. Aleya dressed up like a pioneer with her cousin, Oselle, and danced to the music.

After dinner everyone enjoyed chatting and swapping family stories of their latest adventures. There was a lot of laughter and lots of love. It was a definite feel-good family get together.

Pick-up Basketball with Utah cousins

Our kids played a pick-up game of basketball with their cousins and uncle at Grandma Capener's home in Taylorsville. I don't know if they were even keeping score, but they were having a blast.

Joseph did his best on defense against uncle Phil.

Joseph took a three-point shot.

Orrin went up for the rebound.

Charlito shot a lay-up.

Christian joined the game part-way through, which evened up the teams a little more and intensified the game. In the end, everyone had a sweaty and exhaustingly fun time.

Family Vacation--First stop, Grandma and Grandpa Yates

After spending the night in the worst motel in Cedar City (it was really THAT bad), our first stop on our summer vacation in the Salt Lake valley, was at Grandma and Grandpa Yates'. Amara and Aleya missed them and were very excited to be there.

Our boys are really growing. See how huge they look compared to grandma and grandpa? Joseph may be as tall as Grandma by next year!

Our boys always like playing card games with Grandma Yates.

Amara showed Grandpa how to play Webkinz on the internet.

I also made the kids play their latest piano repertoires for the grandparents. Although it was a little tricky getting used to a different piano, they did their best.

Las Vegas Lied Children's Museum--with friends!

On our way to Utah, we stopped in Las Vegas to see our friends, the Copelands, again. We met up at the Lied Children's Musem.

A fun exhibit there explored all the gross bodily functions, such as boogers, burps, farts, acne, warts, etc. Kids love potty humor . . . but this was SCIENCE!

The girls enjoyed the performance stage.

The kids spent about 40 minutes in the bubble zone, trying to get the bubble around their whole body.

Joseph and Jacob enjoyed the life-sized "Operation" game.

They also loved looking at the GIANT GERMS.

Aleya particularly enjoyed shopping at the local grocery store. She gets a lot of her experience from weekly shopping with mom. She selected a nice balanced diet.


A favorite attraction was the hurricane tunnel where you experience hurricane force winds. We all gave it a try. Aleya wished she hadn't.

The kids also enjoyed using the "green screen" to play virtual games such as soccer, basketball, and hockey.


I was glad the kids finally started pulling their own weight by the end of the day. After the museum, we headed to Souplantation (Sweet Tomatoes) for a nice giant salad dinner. YUMMO!