Bowling in Silver City

We had time one afternoon and decided to take the kids all bowling.  They had a great time.

 Joel bowled better than I did and he was holding Jessica the whole time.  I think Megan was the winner out of all of us.  Go Megan!  By now all of our kids were getting tired of bouncing around to different places, staying up late, eating lots of treats, and ready for some consistency after 3 weeks of partying non-stop.  We were sad to see it coming to an end and dreading the drive we were going to make the next morning!  It does help that they are all thrashed on the car ride.  It was a wonder trip!

Our stop in Silver City, NM

After a few days back from the reunion we headed back to Texas by way of my sisters house in Silver City, NM.  It is a little detour but I thoroughly love stopping and seeing them for a few days.  They are great to make it a pleasant stay for all 8 of us!  A few hours after we got there we headed to the arena to see Holdyn show us her new hobby, barrel racing on the horse, Big John.  She looks so tiny up there and knows exactly what to do.  We were glad she got to show us since the rodeo got cancelled that weekend because of the rain!  It rained a lot of the time we were there I almost forgot it was still summer, I was cold and had to pull out my jacket a few times!  Joel was able to help Ben and his dad get a project done on their new house while we were there.  Joel is always good to jump in wherever and do manual labor.  He actually really enjoys it since he is usually sitting in front of a computer in an office.  He really misses having a wood burning stove so that he can go chop wood.  That was a good stress reliever after a long day at work.

 Kimber and Megan riding like pros.

 Jessica and Cody enjoying some crackers.

 Holdyn and Big John

 Cody and Mason

I even braved the horse alone!  Ever since I was about 12 years old and went with my friend horse riding I have been a little nervous around horses.  Her horse got scared and bolted on a dead run up a hill for about 1/2 mile, it left a mark in my history of horse riding and haven't gotten on one if I didn't have to, I kept telling my kids to go so I thought if I want them to feel comfortable on them I should do it myself.  So I got brave and I did it!!!  It wasn't too horrible. 

 We were also able to be there for Holdyn's special baptism day!  She became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and received the gift of the Holy Ghost.  She is such a cute girl and we loved spending time with their family. 

Mustache fun @ reunion

So the country store is something my kids can hardly wait and save up their money for all year long.  It is full of candy and little trinkets to enjoy!  This year they were selling mustaches and the kids loved them!  As you can see from the pictures, I never had them more excited to get their picture taken than when they all got them on and then they wanted single shots.

We love Jeffrey!

Dancing and crafting

My kids love it when it is craft time here they are showing off their painted wood snakes.

Since we didn't have our same campsite we usually do we loaded the truck full of kids and went to the pavilion for the activities, the rest of the adults eventually showed up!  Here is a few of the grandkids in the back.

Jessica got to ride first class with Grandpa and Grandma.

Line dancing has become one of the favorite activities for most of the kids.  Well they either LOVE (Megan, Jessica, and Brooklyn) it or HATE (Courtney, Luke and Mason) it!  Aunt Kat does a great job teaching them and helping them learn some sweet dance moves.  Love that Megan is wearing her shorts and boots!  Texas is starting to wear off on her.

Games and Footraces at the reunion

Jill and Quentin did a great job with the races this year.  We had potato sack, three legged, egg carrying, foot races and everything in between.  Along with the parachute and human foosball.  We love this big grassy meadow that we have to enjoy it makes it so nice to come and play in. 

Potato sack race

 

Abby and Brooklyn just finishing the three legged race

Luke enjoying the races and saving a few suckers in the fence for later!

Jessica is by far our most social child and loved all her older cousins and the attention they gave her.  Her is Morgan helping make sure she has enough suckers to enjoy while watching the races.

Three legged race with the adults.  We schooled everyone!  As usual ;)

Mason, Jessica and Kamryn eating more sugar!!!

They started getting creative while they were waiting for the ball to come back to them.

Kassidy and Jessica enjoying as much sugar as possible.  They are almost exactly a year apart.

The parachute is probably a highlight for the older kids.  They have sharks in the middle and you grab peoples feet and bring them under while there are lifeguards on the outside trying to keep you safe.