Family Reunions

As a kid I never liked family reunions it seemed like torture when my parents would say another Saturday in the Summer was filled up with a reunion and I couldn't do what I wanted instead. They were boring and long and no one I knew was there. This is not the case with this family reunion. Every year my parents do a 4 day event for me, my brother and sister and our kids. We have such a blast.

(These pictures are the second day at Pineview and the 3rd day Swimming at the resorts pool.)

The first few years we went to Park City, we stayed in a hotel and each room opened out to an indoor patio with tables and the pool. The kids loved it there. Then a couple years later they switched it up and we went to Sherwood Hills, stayed in a hotel there. The kids really enjoyed the pool there, it was nice to have the tennis court and golf course right there too. But as with the past they switched it up again. This year we went to Eden Utah, above Ogden Canyon. They rented a cabin on the hillside near Wolf Mountain (what used to be Nordic Valley) it was awesome!!! There were 7 bedrooms in the house and 3 levels and 3 decks, and 22 people! I loved the dynamics of having everyone in the same house. We visited and spent a lot more time together. Around the perimeter in the woods they had made trails, had swings, a 2 level tree house and a fun Tepee built from tree bark.

One of the days we went swimming and had lunch at Pineview Reservoir, my brother brought his canoe and we all (at least most of us) played in the water, sand and sun!! It was great! Another day we went to a swimming pool and spent the morning at the pool. There were walks to be had and tennis to be played. We watched movies and played games, and even had family home evening! I have such a great family and I am so blessed to be able to spend time with them. My brother and his wife have three older kids that have kids of their own so we don't see them as much as we'd like, and it was awesome to have most of them there. Only my niece Stacy couldn't come, but her daughter was there so at least we got to see her. Hopefully we'll see their whole family at Christmas!

My mom reads this so I want her and my dad to know how great I think they are. The grandkids (and me) will always have so many great memories of these weeks we spend together. We love you guys and are grateful to you for all you do. We love these weeks, but want you to know that even if we didn't have them your still the GREATEST!!!! THANKS!!!!!!

Typical Monday?...or not!

Not necessarily a typical Monday, but a good one! First swimming then golf, then a small unexpected wildfire behind our house! Right now the girls are taking swimming lessons at the local outdoor pool and having a blast doing so!

Sweet Abbie!!!

Teaching the rocket float...

then attempting the rocket float!!!

Next up...As everyone knows, golf is kind of a big sport at our house, and if you like golf Idaho Falls is a great place to live. They have a great Junior golfing program run by the city that cost me $25/kid and they can golf on the 6 hole par 3 course as much as they want and every monday is junior day and they get a free 9 hole round at one of the 3 city courses (they rotate every week). Then at the end of the season they have a big tournament and awards dinner. Its super fun and the kids love it!

We love golf!!!!

On her belly lining up her putting shot...do you think it helps???

Sometimes there's not really any golfing that happens!!!

We had a bit of excitement today, a small (sort of) fire back by the Railroad tracks. I am pretty sure it must've been fireworks, lucky for me my kids had been in the house all afternoon. It was such a windy day that the fire spread pretty quick. My neighbor called 911, but someone else already had. By the time I came in and got my camera the fire was already out darn it!!!

Play Ball!!!!!

I love softball season!!! This year we had a great team for softball, since I forget to ask what the score is after each game I don't know how many we won or lost, but we have a great time!!!! (btw, we did win a few) It was so nice having Cierra and Abbie on the same team this year, and I think Cierra learned a lot more than she would have playing t-ball. Cierra played 3rd base and left field, she did well enough she got a couple of kids out at 3rd even!!! Here are our team pictures and their individuals. Mary was nice enough to take the pictures for us since not all of us were here on picture day, and my dear friend Julie made these cute pages for me to give to each girl. Thanks for your help guys it made this year the best ever!!!!

And thanks to Linda Blair for helping me Coach, it was so nice having help!!!!

Here are some pictures of our team water party after the season was over.