She's Done It Again

The Moore family, I must say, is anything but boring. They are always up for a challenge, they are very competitive, family is important, and they love to have fun. They all view "fun" in different ways but when given a challenge, they meet it head on.
So Helen (Mark's sister) has the traditional day after Thanksgiving get together at her house, and every year it is an experience. There is always lots of food and family and her added bonus is she throws in a "game" of sorts where we are split into teams and are given any range of tasks to accomplish. The first year one of our stops was at her woodpile where we were challenged to stack as much wood as we could. Very clever way to get that woodpile stacked, if I do say so myself. Being the competitive group we are I don't think she was disappointed in the end results.
This year we started with a 5K walk (pretty sure we didn't go that far but it sounds good) It rained on us for most of the walk, but didn't slow anyone down. When the walk was over it was serious game time. We were slit into two teams, given our respective colored bandanas, red and blue, and very little instructions. Each team was also given a camcorder where we were instructed that every stop we made as a team we had to be taping from the time we got out of the car until we got back in, and someone different had to be taping each time. We were also given a sack with a deck of cards in it and sheet music to a few Christmas carols, along with a clue as to our first stop.
So, in my expedition, we crammed my team (red), all 10 of us and away we went, still unsure how we were being judged, if we were being timed or how long this would take. The other team had a suburban which I believe was a little roomier than our vehicle, but you know we weren't complaining.
First stop, Delores house where we piled into her home to be instructed on how to play Rock Band where we had to complete a song all the way through successfully. Miles on the guitar, Brett on the drums (did I mention Brett is color blind) and the rest of us on vocals set out to conquer this song. It took us two tries but we managed to get through the song, nothing I am sure you would ever want to hear again, poor Delores, but mission accomplished at stop # 1. Each stop also had a trivia question, and if successfully answered you won a different assortment of "stuff" I believe our first stop we won some rebar and wire. You can imagine how excited we were.

Stop number two led us to the store in Pilot Rock where we were given an envelope with $10 in it and instructed to purchase a complete meal for someone. Can you just see the look on the cashiers face when all 10 of us piled in the store, scattered to all four corners searching for the perfect meal we had no idea what we were doing with? We had at least 4 trips to the check stand to spend all our money we left with the winning meal. Did I mention that while we were there the other team arrived and Karen thought it would be nice to move their car around the back of the store so elderly shoppers could park closer to the door. I believe somewhere around here both camcorders batteries stopped working, but I had my camera on board. Trivia question answered successfully, given more boxes of "stuff" which I might add was taking up precious room in the car for seating, and away we went.
Stop number 3, go to Rance and Tiona's home and teach everyone in the house over the age of 5 a new card game and play it through 2 times. Spoons was the game of choice, and they were very good sports about playing the same game they had just learned from the other team who had just left. More "stuff" to load up and on to stop 4.

Here we are at Pat and Carols, Packy's parents home, where we practice our singing skills again as we sing them two Christmas carols before receiving our trivia prizes and sent on our way.

Last stop, Packy's welding shop where all our "stuff" we had won along the way came into practice. Here you see our winnings displayed. Each team was to use these items to create a piece of "yard art". We had full use of any of the equipment in the shop but were not allowed to add anything else to our display other than what we were given. We were assigned Packy as our team welder and the blue team had Kelly.

Team work is an understatement at this point. Still no idea if we are being timed or what we are being judged on but we dive in as if we have no time to spare. It is amazing how well we worked as a team, each person willing to do whatever was needed to be done, even if it meant guarding our project from the other team who stole supplies from our pile and spied on us.
So, here you see our finished projects. The red team created Burl the Snowman and the blue team created an angel. Each unique, each cute and creative as can be, and not way to judge the winning teams. We were both winners, even if I think our snowman is the best.

You really do have to see them in person to appreciate them. There are some very creative things happening in these works of art. The the best part was the fun the family had together. Helen, you rock! Wish you could of been with us to experience the caous but I guess someone had to stay with the babies and keep the food hot. The look on Helen's face when she saw these was priceless, I think I saw a tear in her eye.
It really is true, the family that plays together, stays together. Okay, I think the original saying was "prays" but you know this family knows how to do that also. Each member brings something special and unique to a family. I am so thankful to be a part of such a family.