Family Reunion

We had a WONDERFUL family reunion in Cascade Idaho. We stayed at a house right on the Lake. It had a private beach and dock and room for everyone to sleep. It was wonderful and relaxing. The only bad thing about it was the fact it added 6 hours onto our already long (24 hour!) trip going back home. However, it was worth it. We had tons of fun relaxing, swimming, exercising, boating and jet skiing. Not to mention, there was always plenty to eat!

Here is a picture of the entire family minus Katie and Megan. Katie stayed home because she was too close to her due date. (we missed you Katie)

I loved these table and chairs they had in the back yard. They were all over the patio and we ate at them every meal.

Lucy, Lydia, and Ethan
We were able to get Lucas out on the tube. He liked it but probably not as much as Ethan. For him the faster the better!
Lucas talked for weeks about going to grandma's to ride in a boat. It finally happened and he really enjoyed it.
Andy and Lucas
The kids loved the jet ski. Lucy was very cautious on it. Anything over 10 miles and hour was too fast! However Ethan couldn't seem to go fast enough. The scarier the better for him. It was so funny to watch him.
Here is Ethan taking andy for a ride!!

Lucas also loved the jet ski and liked going fast as long as he was pinned in the middle of two adults. It was cute.

Here is our cool joe boat driver - AKA Adam!
There is never lack of food at our reunions. Let's just say the 5 carts from Costco was more than enough food for 1 week!!! This picture doesn't do it justice. This is just one pantry of food and one of the refrigerators full of food. It wouldn't be a reunion without lots of treats. The kids (and adults) loved it!

To justify all the food we also had plenty of exercise going on. One morning a bunch of people tried alisa's yoga DVD and all the girls went power walking each morning.
Leave it to Uncle Travis - our newest (and only) dentist in the familyto bring tooth brushes, toothpaste and floss to take care of all the treats we were eating!! He just graduated from school and showered us with lots of dental prizes!! We're so proud of travis for what he has accomplished!

Seemed there were always people fishing off the dock. Ryan and Travis were the faithful fishermen though and even cooked up the fish on our last day there.

Here is Matt showing off his perfectly roasted marshmallow. I'll admit he definitely knows how to roast marshmallows!
This was a typical activity for me and camie. Seemed we are always nursing our babies!!

On our last morning everyone gathered for a family run. The kids started out by doing a 1/2 mile run. Then the adults did a 5K. It was lots of fun.
We especially liked Matt's oh so lovely running shorts not to mention his awesome white legs!!
Grandma was good to walk with a lot of the little kids and babies during the run.

Trip to Utah

We drove 24 hours to Utah! We were so surprised with our kids. They did a great job. The drive home was a bit long and we were all ready to be out of the car but the dreaded drive turned out to be a positive experience. We stopped at my parents house for a few days before heading to Idaho for our reunion.

Thank goodness for more help!!

It's been a while since I last posted. We've had a VERY VERY busy summer - starting with the birth of Jane, visits from 2 grandmas, a LONG road trip (yes, you read that right - a road trip!!) to Utah just 4 weeks after having a baby, not to mention selling a house and now trying to pack all of our junk from the past 9 years and moving it to our next destination - MBA school (yes, you read that right too - MBA school and yes we are aware we have 4 kids and are going back to school!!)
I was completely spoiled with 3 weeks of help from 2 different grandmas. After my mom left, Andy's mom came and stayed with us for a week. I am very lucky to have such a wonderful mother-in-law. She was a huge help and the kids kept her very busy!

One morning we all went downtown. Andy took the kids for a fun bike ride while my mother-in-law and I enjoyed a nice walk behind them with Jane.

Grandma treated us all to some fudge from Kilwins!!