So many pictures... so little time. This post will be huge - lots of pictures to capture some of the memories made over the week long reunion when all my family could be together. Somehow, my parents house, plus a camper trailer still manages to accommodate everyone and we are so grateful for this time to be together. We had an absolute blast. I'm so grateful my kids can foster relationships with their cousins. It really was the best.
 |
| sunscreen + water + sweaty face = cute boy |
The week was actually quite exhausting. Here's just a small sample of sleeping people at random times of the day...
Erin brought her fancy facial tools so she helped some of us out by extracting nasty things from our skin. The kids were very intrigued...
 |
| Olivia loves the dogs. Exxon never gives her any sort of reaction, but she tried hard. |
 |
| Late night chats, and adult games were the best. |
 |
| Quaker made himself comfortable sitting on Erin's lap, and mom tried unsuccessfully to duck out of the picture. ha ha |
 |
| Eden loved feeling like Jesse's little apprentice with that big fancy camera. |
Memorial Day was really special. In the morning we gathered around the flag pole and grandpa taught all the kids about what Memorial Day was, and why it was important. Michael then spoke to them about what Memorial Day means to him, and the friends that he lost the day he was injured in Afghanistan. It was such a moving and emotional experience, and one I'm so grateful to have been part of. We raised the flag, and later had a moment of silence for all the members of the service who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. It was so many kids who are usually never quiet, but they were all silent and knew that it was meaningful. I loved it.
Then Kally and grandpa planned and arranged the tough mudder course for the kids. It was complete with a bridge walk between the trampolines, a huge mud pit at the bottom of a slide, pole walking, a hay pyramid to climb, a ketchup pool, and slip and slide. The kids had a blast.
 |
| After it was all over they had to get hosed down. |
 |
| Tiff was in charge of the tie dye project. Each of the kids did a tie dye shirt which they thought was totally awesome. |
 |
| Jesse brought washable hair dye and the little girls lined up to get a colored highlight. Eden was so excited. |
Then we also had the annual courage exercise which always starts out with war paint on our faces. Brad was in charge of the creature this year, so that made grandma especially nervous.
If I remember right, every one of the kids did it this year! Yay! And then even grandma did it too. Peer pressure is real people.
 |
| Kike had one in his mouth and was going for Erin. That's true love right there. |
 |
| Brad also had a small bucket of super worms, just in case the big green ones were too much for someone. Everyone was courageous though! |
 |
| Even Olive made a little friend. |
 |
| Unfortunately we forgot to take our usual family pic with face paint, and I had just washed mine off when Brad came in to take this. Oops! |
After the courage exercise was done, we circled around the fire pit for s'mores and silly songs. It was so fun.
The following day, all the kids got in their new tie dye shirts, had to take the classic photo on the swing, and then we all headed out to the zoo for the day.
 |
| Being at the zoo with Michael and Exxon was a whole new experience. This jaguar was stalking Exxon like crazy. It was pretty creepy to watch it walk up and down it's cage all crouched down trying to get to Exxon. |
 |
| My kids were so worn out by the time we left the zoo. |
On another evening, Jaxon and Austin had a baseball game and a bunch of us were able to go cheer them on. I actually think it made them really nervous and kind of hindered their game playing, but we were glad we were able to be there for them.
That night we had a pretty big scare. Erin had been complaining of a headache and different parts of her body feeling numb. Things got scary when she lost the ability to talk and communicate and we thought she may have been having a stroke or something. She got admitted into the hospital, and they ran a ton of tests, but fortunately it wasn't a stroke. They believe she had a migraine that caused all these other weird symptoms. It was all very scary, and put a big damper on the vacation for them, but we are so glad she is ok!
 |
| We missed her, but secretly I think her and Kike were glad to be in the quiet hospital for a couple days to get a break from the crazy house of kids! :) |
 |
| Olivia had her first ice cream cone. She was so adorable figuring that thing out. |
On another day, the kids got decked out in their tie dye again and we went to Cliff's amusement park. They were all so excited to be there and wanted to go in a million different directions. The tie dye shirts really came in handy! Unfortunately, mom, dad, Kike and Erin were all still at the hospital that day, so we were a little short on extra hands since three of the four moms there had a baby. It was interesting and busy, but it all worked out and everyone had a blast!
 |
| All 15 grandkids! |
 |
| Kally and I manned the baby crew while the rest of the group took turns going down the log ride. |
 |
| Jade, the partier in the back, Jaxon, Brody and Austin. |
 |
| Dallen, Carson and Lincoln (who was seriously ticked off and hated it). |
 |
| Tiffany, Kadence and Wren |
 |
| Jesse, Michael, Sophie and Jack |
After we did the rides for a couple hours and got all nice and hot and exhausted, we found the perfect spot in the shade to hang out while everyone played at the water park.
After leaving Cliff's, I had to go to an appointment with Eden to the eye doctor. A couple days prior, she got sand in her eye pretty bad and every day it got more bloodshot and painful for her. So I took her in and they said she had some pretty significant scratches on her eye and needed to get a prescription to help it heal. Poor girl. She was a champ though.
That night, since it was grandma's birthday, we had a big luau birthday party. Erin was out of the hospital so it was good for the whole group to be back together again. Jesse did an amazing job planning the party and doing the food. It was awesome.
 |
| Grandpa got a hold of Brad's phone and took some selfies (as a payback because Brad does that to any phone he can get his hands on). I couldn't help but post at least one though. It's too cute. |
 |
| Jade taught the little girls (and Carson!) a little luau dance and they loved getting their grass skirts on and performing for everyone. It was very cute. |
 |
| We gave grandma a book full of letters and pictures from all the kids and grandkids, and pictures of her with everyone through the years. She was very surprised and loved it. |
 |
| The next day we put the kids to work a little bit and pulled weeds around the house. It can't all be fun and games the whole time, right? |
And then, unfortunately the week had to come to an end and families started to leave town and go back home. We got to end the week on a good note though with one last sleepover at our house with Wren. The kids were so excited.
As I was getting Bentley settled in bed in the other room, all I could hear coming out of the movie room was tons of giggling. They are so cute together.
It was a whirlwind of a week, packed full of fun. I'm so grateful for my family and the time we are able to spend together. I truly feel like it's such a blessing to be together, and let our kids make memories together. It was so much fun, so incredibly exhausting, and I can't wait to do it again soon.
