Hooker Family Reunion

Thanks to Justin's Aunt taking it upon herself to plan a family reunion, I was finally able to meet some of the Hooker Family that I had never met before. On July 5th, the kids and I flew to Lompoc, CA (Justin came in the next night). We met Steve and Cindy at the Santa Barbara airport and drove an hour north to Lompoc, a small town about 15 minutes west of the ocean. The drive was so beautiful with the ocean right there for part of the way and scenic hills the remainder of the trip. One of my favorite things about the vacation, besides spending time with Justin, was listening to Steve, my father-in-law, relate stories about growing up in Lompoc, and pointing out his childhood home, school and hangout spots.

The night we got in, one of Grandma Hooker's friends, Barbara, invited us over for dinner. It was nice to spend quiet time with Grandma Hooker, Aunt Diane, Barbara (who was a very generous host!), and Rachel (Justin's cousin). Back at the hotel the kids were so good about going to bed because it had been a very long day. Jaxon had taken a long nap in the evening so I was sure he'd be up for a while, but I laid him in the pack-in-play while I was getting the kids ready for bed and he just talked to himself. I got the kids in bed and then got myself ready for bed and when I look in Jaxon's bed, he had talked himself right to sleep. I looked at the clock as I tucked myself in, it was 9:30pm. It was great going to bed so early!

After a good night's sleep we ate breakfast, went to Walmart (what kind of vacation would it be if it didn't include a trip to Walmart?) and went to a couple parks to let the kids play. We ate lunch at McDonald's and then met up with some family at The Mission. That's where the pictures begin! My facts are a little fuzzy, but here's what I know about it. The Mission was built a long time ago, by some people (Europeans? Spaniards?) who wanted to share Catholicism with the Indians and other settlers.  Once a person was baptized they came to live at the Mission. The Mission was a self sustained community. Up to 1,000 people could live off solely what was made, built, grown, etc. there. Our tour guide was really interesting and I enjoyed seeing a little what life would have been like for the people who lived at The Mission.

T.J. Aunt Linnea, Me & Jaxon, Aunt Diane, Amber Lynn, and Uncle Dean standing in the cemetery.

The tour guide allowed people to go up into the bell tower and ring the bells.

 The entire tour, Lily found every bit of dirt she could to play in, roll in, throw, etc. By the time we left she was covered in a layer of dirt from head to toe. I can't believe how dirty that girl can get!

One of the first room we went in was the chapel.

 It was decorated beautifully.

We also saw where the guards slept

 and ate.

 Apparently, since it was so humid the black powder in the muskets didn't fire very well. So instead, their weapon of choice was the spears you see lined up on the wall.

 While Lily was mostly a free spirit, Kobe stuck close to Grandpa.

 These were huts that the Indians lived in, they were pretty cool.

 My crazy Lily! Like I said, she was a free spirit.

After the tour we made a stop by Kobe's new friend. Although I missed a lot of the facts, I really enjoyed learning about the Mission and spending the afternoon there.

That night the whole Hooker family got together at Barbara's house for a BBQ. It was fun! Awesome food, fun people, it couldn't get much better. Late that night, after an awful day of travelling, Justin got there, YAY! Of course it was after we had gone to bed, but when we woke up we enjoyed having him around.  When Lily woke up and noticed he was there we heard her whisper to Kobe, "Kobe, Daddy's here!"  It was really cute.

Saturday morning we met together at the cemetery to visit Grandpa Hooker's grave.

Grandpa passed away on my birthday 4 years ago. It was a couple weeks after he met Kobe for the first time, which was only the second time I had seen him. We weren't able to travel for the funeral so being at the gravesite was really special.

We were also able to see Steve's Grandma's, so Justin's Great Grandma's, headstone.

Steve has shared a lot of stories about his Grandma Bess (who was his favorite Grandma), I can't wait to meet her one day!

After the cemetery it was time for the official reunion.

 Justin was excited to be there!

This was a picture of everyone who came. All descendents of Grandma Bess and Grandpa Wilbur.

Aunt Cindy made this family tree. It looked so great! Grandma Hooker's family is the blue.

 

 Grandma Hooker and posterity.

 The rest of the pictures are just random pics taken during the reunion.

 Jasmin and Lilian

 Playing with their shadow while waiting for lunch to be ready.

 Photo shoot in the wagon Aunt Diane restored.

 Daddy and Jaxon

Brother bonding time.

Saturday night, after the reunion, we met up at Uncle Dave and Cindy's hotel room, ordered pizza and went swimming. The next morning we met up for breakfast before we all headed home. It was a memorable weekend. I appreciated the time spent with family building friendships. Hopefully it won't be so long before we see each other again.