Cousins’ Camp

As our children married and began to have their own children, my husband and I decided that we wanted our grandchildren to know and appreciate each other. Though we knew that eventually the families might move to other parts of the country, in the summer of 1987 we lived fairly close to each other. It seemed to be a perfect time to get the grandchildren together.

We mailed them invitations to a “cousins’ camp” to be held at our house. It would run from Monday through Friday, so we told them what time to arrive and what to bring with them.

Monday, the day of their arrival, was also our day to irrigate our property. Grandpa gathered the children together and played water games with them. Everyone got soaked from head to toe and had a marvelous time.

That evening we let the children sleep on the livingroom floor. The two littlest ones slept in the same sleeping bag and giggled all night.

Tuesday morning, we took the children to a friend’s farm to let them see the equipment and animals. The tractors were the highlight of the day. That night, we set the tent up in the backyard and let everyone sleep outside. Our daughter Laura supervised the activities and tried to get the children to sleep—but they were having so much fun together that her attempts met with limited success.

Later in the week, we took the children to Brigham Young University to have lunch and to see Grandpa’s office. We also went to BYU’s Monte L. Bean Life Sciences Museum. Another day we gave each child a brightly colored T-shirt that read “Cousins’ Camp” and had a group photograph taken.

When we look at our photo and remember the fun times of that week, we realize that the hard work and lack of sleep were worth it. We built memories and bonds of love that will last a lifetime.

We had a second “cousins’ camp” last summer and look forward to having another one this year.—Laureen Jaussi, Orem, Utah, as told to Julie Jaussi, Logan, Utah