The Andersens: A Productive Trip to Wyoming

This was the most productive trip our family has taken to Wyoming. Every trip to Wyoming is worthwhile, but this time, we accomplished great things and spent quality time with lots of family. As usual, we all loved playing in the wide open spaces at Grandma and Grandpa's house and around the town.

I learned that Kathryn is content to swing for hours at the park if I would let her.

Nana had fun spoiling the kids with treats, and we had fun spoiling Nana with long chats.

Grandpa had a blast with the kids. He put them right to work cleaning the yard. It was only fair, though, because the kids got a little too excited about feeding the dogs their doggie treats. They fed them so many that the yard was covered in their mess. Thus, the kids had to clean up the after-effects.

Grandpa and Grandma took Grace and Kade fishing in the canoe. They caught a 6-inch fish and brought it home in a plastic bag. Upon returning, Grace put it in a bucket of water. Can you believe, that thing came back to life and is still swimming around in Grandpa's water feature pond today?! What a survivor!

A big storm rolled in while they were in the middle of the lake and Grandma and Grandpa had to paddle hard in the wind to get everyone back to shore before the rain started.

Grandpa Reichert sure knows how to please his Gracie girl! She was so pleased when he offered to paint her nails with the new polish he bought for her.

The first event of our Wyoming trip was the 10-year anniversary of my year as Miss Wyoming. A lot sure has happened in ten years! A college degree, a husband, and almost four children have come into my life. My mom and I hosted a luncheon for all the Miss Wyoming Alumni and this years' contestants. Later that night, I was nostalgic as I stepped back onto the WYO theater stage as I had so many times in my adolescence for dance recitals, children's choirs, and plays. This time I was stepping on five month's pregnant with my fourth child. I sang the closing number just before the judges announced the winners. It was a Whitney Houston song titled, "One Moment in Time," and was very fitting. It turned out that one of the contestants this year was a girl who, ten years ago, I gave some voice lessons to in exchange for her mother doing some sewing on outfits I wore to the Miss America competition. Another coincidence happened as the winner of the Sponsor of the Year was announced. The recipient was a man who approached me ten years ago asking what he could do to help bring the pageant to Sheridan and form a board of directors. Although I don't agree with every facet of the Miss America Organization and the way contestants are portrayed on stage, I still feel a loyalty to the Miss Wyoming program. Two of my dear friends who I roped into joining the board of directors ten years ago are still working away at providing scholarships for the young women of Wyoming and making the program a class act. I am still indebted to them for the scholarships which got me through my own schooling at BYU. Surely, I would not be the woman I am today without the character-building experiences I had during my year of service as Miss Wyoming.

The major highlight of our time in Wyoming was an extended family reunion for the Sam and May Young family descendants. Back in November, I had this feeling that we should try to gather my Dad's and Nana's cousins. Realizing that Nana is the only living member of her parent's children, and most of her cousins have also passed away, the feeling became more urgent to gather. I want to hear stories of my great-great grandparents, "Pop" and "Gram" before the last of the people who knew them are gone. Thus, in January, I started getting names and addresses and sending out invitations for a reunion. I was worried the response would be a negative one. We hadn't had a reunion in 20 years, so I assumed no one had interest any more. Instead, I found that cousins, aunts, and uncles were thrilled about the idea. Although many could not attend, I was able to connect with people I never knew before, and I helped connect them to each other again.

The brick home above is my Great-Grandma Opal (Young) Ratcliff's home on Main street in Dayton, Wyoming. After about 80 years it still stands today. This log home is my Great-great-grandparents Sam and May Young's home. It's about 80 years old as well. My Dad's family has lived in Dayton, Wyoming for five generations!

The reunion was simple but perfect. We shared photos, stories, and a yummy dinner. A long-lost brother was united with his sister. We Skyped with Nana's youngest cousin RB Young whom no one other than myself had ever spoken to before. I met him over the phone when I was researching Sam's parents. He told us a story which he previously told me over the phone. According to him, Aunt Hazel had a 'moment of clarity' during her struggle with Alzheimer's when she told RB about who Sam's mother, Almeda Jennie Nelson is and how she met William Young, Sam's step-father. The story belongs in a novel with Jennie as a saloon girl and William a rich banker who hired a sharp-shooter to take out Frank McKenzie (Sam's supposed birth father) in a Texas gun fight. In my family history research, I have not found enough facts to legitimize the whole story, but I have found pieces that coincide with the story. Regardless of whether the story is true, I found a really colorful person in RB and he found his cousins again at the reunion. Actually, the whole interaction over Skype was a miracle. The original plan was to have the dinner in Mom and Dad's back yard, but the rain and 50 degree temperatures made us move indoors. We had to go to the Town Hall where we quickly learned that there was no internet reception. Neil did everything to get it to work, but nothing could get it going. Minutes before the dinner started, it still wasn't working and we were supposed to Skype with RB right after. As a direct answer to prayer, when it was time to Skype, the internet worked and the phone call was made flawlessly! We spent almost an hour laughing and sharing stories about Great-grandpa Blackie and Pop and Gram.

That night, after dinner was cleaned up, I left the Town Hall feeling like God let me be His hands in bringing our family a little closer together. It was such a peaceful feeling--knowing I had followed a prompting and God made it all happen.

The next morning we had breakfast at Perkin's Restaurant and then all met at the Sheridan cemetery. There, we laid a granite headstone on Almeda Jennie Nelson's grave site which has been unmarked for almost 100 years. My mom had found her burial place several years ago when doing research, and this felt like an ideal opportunity to mark her grave. It was the perfect ending to a perfect reunion!