Reunion time again!

Usually when the word summer is mentioned, images of relaxing by the pool comes to mind, but for our families-- that's not the case. Justin and I both come from large families (8 kids for Justin's fam and 7 for me, of which only 3 live in the area), so summertime is all about reunions! I LOVE IT! We started with the annual Bear Lake trip for my family. If you know me, then you know that I love to organize and my family is no different. The "Bear Lake Trip" is like a well oiled machine.

Here's the run down: (Sorry if there are more details and pics then you need/want/can handle-- I had over 4 gigs of pics to choose from by the time I gathered all of the fam's pics together.)

Every year we have the same menu! (Why fix somethin' that ain't broke!) Aside from home-cooking at the condo, we always make a trip to get some awesome burgers and fresh raspberry shakes! Mmmm....the food is great and the surroundings-- awesome. I love the little town at Bear Lake. It's so quaint and the valley and lake are so beautiful. Some day I want to find a little old house on this lake front to come and spend my summers!


Here is Andrew not keeping up very well with the melting ice cream!










There is always lake time. Who needs a boat? The kids are entertained for hours digging sand castles and parents get to relax!


Even though Ethan lives in Cali, Andrew and Ethan immediately acted like long lost best buds.












Even Ashlee has a partner in crime. (Actually there are 3 more cousins within a year of her age.)










Is this the smile of complete contentment or what?










Then there is the unforgettable family home evening that grandma and grandpa put together. This year they re-enacted Lehi's dream with black painted pvc for the iron rod and a created tree of life with white taffy as the fruit of the Tree of Life that the children got to partake of-- very desirable!

Here is the cast (left) and Grandpa telling about the grand dream of Lehi (right)










On the left, Andrew is moving quickly to get to the very desirable fruit from the Tree of Life and Ashlee on the right who appears to have fallen by the wayside into the deep and murky river.



There's always a craft or two planned for down time, a round a miniature golf to play (or 2, 3 or 4 rounds by the end of the week) and lots of time to hang out and play on the huge grass field! I have also prodded my family along to get an informal family pic taken here each year to watch as we grow!


BFF already at 2!?!













This is Ashlee swinging "her way". She turned 2 while up here this week and she definitely fits the profile.










The family picture-- yeah I'm the one that looks like I just ran and jumped in the picture and has the remote timer not very inconspicuously hid in my hand. Oh well- it's not going on the wall or anything! It was pretty amazing to have so many little bodies holding still and smiling at a camera with no one standing behind it.





This year seems extra special because Suzanne my sister, by no small miracle was able to come out on a buddy pass to be at the reunion. Thanks for making the huge effort. It's no small task to fly stand-by with an almost 2 year old across the country. We missed her husband Rand and thank him for giving up his wife for a week or two!

We had another week after Bear Lake to hang out with my brother Jon and his family. There were BBQ's, hanging out, trip to the Farmington train park, the parade, swimming at the Bountiful rec ctr and fire works on the fourth (maybe I'll post some pics on another post later), sleep-overs, movies. (I know I'm missing some of the festivities) Whew! It was fun! I have LOTS of pics, but it's taking WAY to long to upload them. So just imagine them. Hopefully I'll digi scrap them sometime in this lifetime. I guess there will be a part II of this post because I haven't even got to the fun we had with Justin's fam. and my bed is calling.