I have so many pictures of giant adult sized cousins congregating in rooms. We used to fit on one couch or two, but now it takes the floor, the chairs, the other room, the garage, the outside for us to fit.
**a few stressful things about this trip: 1. My kids got super sick starting about the week before we left. They were still coughing and not feeling awesome by the time we got there. Our flight was a late one, so we pulled into Rob and Mary's around 1:00 am. I was very stressed about traveling sick and getting people sick. Geez I think I aged about 5 years the day before we launched.
2. Jim only had Wednesday off, so he flew with us and stayed 24 hours to get in on the family pictures. It was fun to have him for a tiny baby amount of time, but we missed him on actual Thanksgiving day.**
After family pictures, we went roller skating.
I was just about to take Jim to the airport...we were walking out the door...and Aaron mentioned "I'm going to the airport in a few hours to pick up Brad." So we consolidated and had Jim drive a car and leave it at the airport for Brad. It was such a relief to delete two trips there and back for me and Aaron.
Skating was fun, except my poor kids were just wiped out. They still felt a bit lousy and were so tired from the little sleep the night before.
We ended the night with fudge sundeas at Kim and Aaron's.
Emily called out, "gather round everyone, I have a story about your mom".
She then told about the time we were all home from college. Me Emily and Nettie were driving to town in the dark. I had the hiccups, heaven forbid. Nettie kept demanding I stop. I couldn't because: hiccups.
She said if I hiccuped again, I would have to walk home.
I hiccuped again.
She made me get out of the car. It was dark and cold on Allen Road. I walked.
They turned around to get me eventually.
I mooned them when they got close enough to see my butt.
I said "this story is more about Nettie than it is about me."
haha so good.
The next day we had a Dairy Dash bright and early.
Poor Annie fell off the four wheeler at one point hurt her arm. Lyle the Vet confirmed that it was most likely not broken.
After we finished, me and Emily went to check out grandpa's old pool. It was dusty and dirty. Not like it was when I was a kid. I spent all my summers in that pool.
Look at this line up of large adult sized children for their turkey.
We sent most of them out to eat in the garage.
This is how the cousins gather up and "hang out" these days.
So many middle school/high school/university kids.
Not sure how we got here.
We played a hot round of LCR.
$94 dollars were in the pot.
Every person thought they would walk away with the pot.
It came down to Evan, June, and Morgan I think.
Finally it was just Evan. he had just been handed a dollar the round before.
Then he rolled a dot, and we all exploded. He about fainted.
Andy took the pot and poured the dollars over his head.
He was shaky and sweaty when he came and hugged me.
It was so awesome. So fun.
We ended the night lounging around digesting all the good food and good pie.
Us five were in the sitting room sitting...
and then Jamie farted. It gave us all permission, and immediately that was followed up with
Emily fart,
Brandon fart,
Kelli fart,
and another Jamie fart.
We died laughing. Let's not pretend our bodies aren't full of digested gasses anymore!
Oh yeah, Calvin was sitting there dying as well.
This is a safe space, Calvin. No one will get mad at farting in here.
He said "we aren't allowed to THINK about farting in our house."
haha
Friday morning we headed to the gym.
We did a favorite things swap.
The kids did a "pass the parcel". Wyatt stole the cotton candy machine from sweet little Hattie.
The Petersons left and we all cried.
We went on a sunset walk.
We ate dinner at Pizza Factory.
This lasted forever and ever.
We ended the night making cotton candy for the whole crew.
We did lots of Be Reels. Look at Andrew's "be real" pose. He always closes his eyes like it was an accident.
Dang I just love being with all these people. We all just want to be together in the same space.
We don't always physically fit together, but no one wants to be anywhere else but with all the people.
Mom and Dad had to get up super early for the temple the next morning, so we kept the chaos at Rob's and then Aaron's.
Saturday. Our last day. boo.
We spent the morning in the church gym playing chair soccer and bump and dancing.
I love them!
The Kelvington's won 80% of the games.
Then we descended upon McDonalds for lunch.
Me Mom Emily and Jamie went for a walk.
These four kids were working on getting 8 cows that were "out" back into the coral.
They worked for hours.
They finally quit after they got 6 of the cows back in.
We walked past the Tree House. It's all cut down now, but when I was a kid it was full of branches and seats and levels. There was a rickety slide to get down.
This is all that's left of it.
We ended the night with diamond dot art and chatting.
Abbey and Ashley started making memes about our week. They are so hilarious and I love how they capture the inside jokes and the memories.
Leaving is the hardest. My kids cry.
Avery was crying and said "this is the only place I am truly happy."
That's not totally true, but Fallon with family is for sure one of the most special, safe places for us.
