Dame Reunion

Sunday we watched our ward on zoom then headed toward the Denver airport where we sent Greg on his way to the East Coast.  We explored the Rocky Mountain Artillery Park where we saw lots of bison and praire dogs then drove to Becca Pike's house where we chatted with she and the girls for a few hours.  We were all sad to leave but it was late- so we headed to Mel's where the cousin fun was about to begin.

I woke at 5:20 to catch a hot yoga class with Mel.  We also made an epic Costco trip with Keely and arrived home to Laura and her kids - the party was on!

It has been six years since we were all together for more than a few hours. So we were all pretty excited to gather in Colorado for a week of fun. 

Our first night was filled with getting everyone settled, exploring the awesome accommodations, and feeding all of us.

Then Tuesday we set out on a hike - all together.  It was about 1.5 miles up, but it really was up.  Mom had to stop not to far in but most of us trudged on.

And the view from the top was well worth it.

I spent most of the way up catching up with Holly while all the kids ebbed and flowed around us on the trail. 

On the way back down Lily partnered up with Grandpa and loved the one on one time.

In the afternoon we worked on our service project, 50 backpacks filled with school supplies for a local foster program.  The kids took turns going around and around stuffing the backpacks full.  The youngest ones really got into it.  The kids also all brought new stuffed animals to donate as well.

Within seconds of our arrival on Monday Emma had attached herself to Kate, rarely to be separated.  It was so sweet to watch.

We had a harried hour of everyone getting feed and clean in time for family pictures.  My hair was still wet (not my best look) but we were all there.  Seriously, that is a huge accomplishment.  We stood on a bike/walking path with all 40 some of us and took pics a bit haphazardly.  People didn’t love us blocking the path and we were pretty crowded in the photos.  I wasn’t very optimistic that they would be any good.  So, I was pleasantly surprised by these.  We did one of all of us, just grandkids with grandparents, siblings, and a few family groups.  We were starting to line up some other family groups when the rain came pouring down.  It was such a blessing that we got the most important shots in before the rain ruined all chance of success. 

After the rain stopped and dinner was over Sharee led the women in patio yoga- a great way to end the night. 

 The place we stayed was amazing.  There were two houses, one smaller one where Iversons, Castletons, and Myra & James stayed, and the much larger house where everyone else and all the middle age kids stayed.  Or you could say the quiet house and the loud party house.  The basement in the big house had a huge room with 7 queen beds (six in bunks) where all the kids from Andrew through Emmy stayed.  It is safe to say they didn’t get much sleep down there.

Wednesday we had to rise early to drive 90 minutes to our rafting adventure.  We then hoped on a bus for a 30 drive to where we got on the boats.  Our guides filled the time with cheesy puns and jokes.  Eventually, we were loaded on our rafts.  I was loving my raft mates with both my brothers and Dad, Kenzie, Lily, Jared, David, and Michelle.  It was chilly outside; I don’t think anyone was very eager to get wet. The little kids started out nervous but warmed up to the steady and occasionally bumpy ride.  Our guide declared McKenzie captain, which helped alleviate the last of her nerves.  The older kids were underwhelmed but I think we nailed the needs of the most nervous littles.  To create some excitement, the raft with all the teens deliberately got stuck on a big rock.  We laughed as we passed them marooned on their boulder.

Everyone went their own ways when we got home: naps, basketball, racquetball, tennis, video games, board games, meal prep, reading, walks, smiling at Winston or just enjoying cousin time.  Kenzie enjoyed chasing Andrew around and calling him dad – we were all mystified as to why?  Mark and Michelle made amazing homemade pizza with such incredible crust – wow!  Seriously, that was a lot of pizza to make in a kitchen that wasn’t yours; we were very impressed.  To top it off they had brownie sundaes which probably makes this night the kids favorite meal.

Spencer brought his Nintendo switch and a new game, Boomerang Fu, which apparently every kid could play and every kid wanted to play.  Andrew and some of the kids created a bracket for a Boomerang Fu Battle.  This turned out to be an awesome way for all the kids to hang out together, cheer each other on and have fun.

 That night after everyone had found their way to their own beds, I went to the basement to say goodnight and found Owen on one of the top bunk queen beds surrounded by all the girls from Kate though Emily giggling and laughing at everything he said.  Owen puts up a finicky front, but he was a crowd favorite with the girls.

Thursday morning, we let the kids sleep in while Holly led us in morning yoga.  Then most of us loaded up for a hike.  We picked a more moderate one this time so mom could join as well.  The littles spent the hike picking up sparkly rocks and the little boys chased each other with sticks.  My big boys went on a longer hike with James, Myra, and Isaac.

 

For our afternoon activity we went to a hot spring.  The place had over 10 different pools all a varying degrees.  The smell was strong, and the water was pretty gross, but everyone still had a lot of fun.  One pool was even devoted to playing murder, which really cracked me up.

That night we had a sing along: Sweet Violets, America, Bear in Tennis Shoes, Instrument Song, and Don Gato with a dramatic presentation by my kids and the Wilfords.  Jared held out the last note of Don Gato with bravado and a dramatic pose.  It got everyone laughing.  Mom and Dad told us stories about when they met and then Dad told everyone about Charlie’s accident when he was little.

 

We got the kids in bed and the adults did some late-night chatting.  Some of my favorite parts of reunions.

Friday we enjoyed our last morning yoga then headed to Winter Park Resort for the day- mini golf, the gondola, a climbing wall, ropes course, and everyone’s favorite, the alpine slide.  Well, everyone except Luke who used his legs as breaks and ended up with some seriously painful road rash.  The rest of the kids went over and over again.

 

Lily also loved this ropes course; it wasn’t very exciting for kids older than 10 but the little guys loved it.  The zipline at the end was a hit though.  There was music in the background all day and at some point, they played “I Believe I Can Fly”. Owen took that opportunity to ride the zipline singing and making dramatic hand motions.  It cracked me up.

 

I loved the view from the top of the mountain and would have loved to do some hiking, but I didn’t have any takers, so we just went up, ate lunch, and came back down.

Some of the kids were ready to leave early so I took them home and started working on dinner.  Emily stayed and partied longer with the Castletons and Lily played with Grandma and Grandpa.  They stayed till it closed, enjoying every moment.

Kate and Rachel baby sat Winston so his parents could got play tennis and he cried a lot.  The girls were glad they had each other to tag team it.  While they fought the baby, Laura and I made taco/taco salad bar complete with sweet pork and cilantro ranch dressing.  Yum.  As we were making dinner, we realized we had tons of whipped cream left so we sent someone to buy a pack of Oreos and created a dessert activity for after dinner.

 

We had everyone sit at the table with one Oreo on a plate.  The Oreo was then covered with whipped cream and the kids had to eat it with their faces.   Most of the kids loved it although a few like Kenzie, weren’t so sure this was a good idea.  Once the kids were done Spencer set up a competition no barriers to entry – only Grandpa, Val, Spencer, and Anna joined.  They had to eat all the cream and Oreo fastest to win.  It was a close call – technically Val finished first but did use her hands to tilt her plate, so Spencer took the win.  Such a fun way to end the reunion.  We sent everyone out to gather, pack and start clean up.  After the kids settled down (no illusions that they were asleep) the adults played more games.  Scattegories was hilarious.  I loved my time with everyone and was grateful to end on a high note.  No one was too irritated or dying to go home yet – as Greg always desires, we left before the party stopped being fun.  

I woke early, packed everything I could, then woke the kids and we were off by 8:00.  It was a good thing we left when we did because Emily woke up with a cold and was miserable the whole way home (unfortunately, the germs had already spread – luckily it wasn’t Covid, but the cold did make its round in the families).  We had such a great time the kids were asking when we are doing it again.

Mesa Verde/Arches

We got started early Friday morning and drove toward Cortez Colorado.  We drove by the Glen Canyon Damn where we took a quick potty break and let the kids see Lake Powell.

Then we took a little detour to see Horseshoe Bend.  It was 106 degrees- it was so hot that Kate refused to do the 1.2 mile round trip walk so she stayed in the shade by the van while the rest of us walked out to the view point.

Lily cried, complained, or moaned the entire way (note her grouchy face here) but inspite of that the stop was worth it because WOW- it was beautiful.

So incredible - but really really hot.

After that we had a horrible Sonic visit where they didn't have onion rings 😢 among other things - but for me it was all about the onion rings.  Then we got back on the road and drove through monument valley.  

It cost a pretty penny (charged per person rather than per vehicle) to drive to where we could take these pictures.  The rocks were pretty interesting but probably not worth the $.

Emmy and I were trying to mimic the rocks that looked like they were giving two thumbs ups.

Thursday night we realized four corners had opened up and we could go - hurrah!  I called them and they said they didn't close till 8:00 so we felt confident we could make it.  We arrived at 6:15 to find an offical looking truck parked across the entrance.  They were closed; there was much murmuring and nashing of teeth.  Luckily, our hotel was quite close so we got cosy while Greg brought our own Chinese buffet right to our room.  We had so much extra Greg took it to the hotel clerk who had recomended the restaurant.  While chatting with Greg the clerk said the guy at Four Corners probably just closed early because he was ready to go home 😩.  Such a bummer.

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early, filled our water bottles with ice and headed to Mesa Verde.

The drive in was beautiful- we saw a a deer and wild horses then arrived at the start of our long house tour.  Luckily our tour started early enough that it wasn't too hot.

And that little walk in the heat was so worth it!  I was amazed by the village built on the side of the cliff.  We learned that ranchers found the ruins in the 1880's.  So incredible.  We got to wander the ruins while rangers kept us on the right path, answered questions and taught us about the natives who build these amazing structures.

Built in 1200 - a similar time as Machu Pichu.  Our kids started calling it Wish Machu Pichu.

This isn't a window - it is a door.  The entries were very small; they assume it helped keep the heat in (smaller area to cover with pelts) as well as small children (a fall would be tragic).

There was a seep spring right into the back of the village where they could get fresh water.

Check out this four story house!  In many of the ruins you can see where ladders would have rested. 

After our walk was over we walked over to other pueblo ruins that showed the evolution of homes in the area and Mack spoted a green collared lizard.  Emily, Greg and I fought the heat and trekked over to the long house overlook.  It was cool to look across at the village we had just wandered.  The other kids had returned to the car so we booked it back to explore the rest of Mesa Verde and to escape the extreme heat.

We enjoyed PBand H in the car and took a quick look at spruce tree house.

It had this amazing tower and the best preserved walls that we saw all day.

We drove every open road in the park - from certain view points were able to see several ruins including the largest ruin, cliff palace.  It was all amazing.  Then we hit the road again in order to see Aches National Park.

It was hot - so so hot.  Over 105 all day long and dangerous to hike in so unfortunately, we didn't do much exploring.  We did a mile hike in order to see the famous delicate arch.  Can you spot it between Mack and I?

While we drove we tried to spot arches.  It amazed me how many we could spotted; there are over 2,000 arches in the park.  It is incredible to imagine how perfect all the elements must be to create so many arches.

We still had a few hours to drive and didn't want to drive it all in the dark but we still managed to cover every road in the park.  I think we will need to go back -still so many arches to see, but we are going when it is cooler next time.

On our way to the exit there was one more short hike that would get us up close to three arches.  The kids were done so Greg and I took the opportunity to take a quick hike together.  So amazing and so hot!

The boys watched a soccer game in Wendy's for dinner while I FaceTimed Natali (at home MTCing).  We made a late night arrival to our hotel in Parachute, Colorado but we pulled off an amazing day.

Mesquite Days

With the van filled will dozens of non-fiction books for the library challange and enough stuff to last us 16 days we drove to Utah and spent a quick enjoyable evening with the Petersens before waking early and driving to Cedar City for Dahlia's baptism.  It was fun to share my birthday with this awsome kid again.  Greg even made me this fabulous donut birthday cake with Krispy Kreme donuts, whipped cream and homemade chocolate sauce.  It was a hit.  

We enjoys cousin time and cahtting with Don and Teresa then drove off to Mesquite to enjoy a few days with Grandma and Papa.  After church I took Greg to the St. George airport and came home to find the girls playing games.  We got together for a fourth of July dinner with Petersens and Brad's family.  

We got home from Brad's to be welcomed by Teresa and her kids.  They just couldn't wait to spend more time together.  While Teresa was napping the kids packed their bags and were ready to go when she woke up so what could she say?!  My kids were thrilled.  We watched fireworks from Grandma's house and then had a hard time getting the littles to stop talking and just go to sleep.

The next morning the oldest 5 girls were up and ready to go to breakfast with papa by 5:45am unfortunately, Lily and Dahlia were up at 4:00 for no apparent reason.  When the big kids left I took the littles to find a bakery but everything but Smiths was closed.  They were still pretty thrilled with their donut holes.

Once they were dressed and ready Brad took the two littles and Emily down to Bunker pond to fish.  He spend over an hour with them.  They sure love him!

Let the swimming begin!  The girls swam for hours and hours.  I think Kate was out there for over 6 hours and she got a sunburn to prove it.  She reaplied sunscreen several times even.  Ava and the twins joined the party.  Grandma ordered pizza and brought it poolside so they didn't even have to get out for lunch.

The little girls came in earlier than the oldest kids so they had a dress up party with Brad.  He wore some fancy pants and even carried a pink piggy purse.  What a sport!  Lily just lights up whenever she sees him.  He is such a great uncle to these girls.

We said goodbye to Addy and Violet (they had summer school the next day) and said goodbye to the twins (off to girls camp) but Cecily and Dahlia got to stay with us and we enjoyed a Come Follow Me lesson about the three degrees of glory (represented by the squishmallows) from Emily and Cecily.  Do you see the creepy headed bear that represents perdition?  So fun.  Then we connected with Brad in order to take their dog, Aussie, to the dog park.  The girls actually loved the dog park- we stayed long enough that Grandma was in bed when we got home.

Our last day we cleaned up, packed up, then went to the splash pad park and the splash pad drink place.  Then a bit more swimming before we headed to Teresa's house.

The girls LOVED Teresa's house.  We had about 52 hours at their house and the girls never wanted to leave.  They played games, made waffle cookies, and the oldest three stayed up watching Hannah Montana till 1:00am.  But I can't be critical because I stayed up talking till 2.  

The next morning Violet and Addy skipped school.  The kids stayed busy playing video games, playing outside, enjoying Teresa's craft store basement, making snow cones, decorating shirts, and we enjoyed a stage production of Pirates of Penzance.  It was so fun.  

We all got our exercise with a late night Just Dance party.

The next day the girls went to school and we finished all of our crafts and maybe decorated more shirts.  Teresa's craft store selection and creative mind could solve any crafting delema.  

After school we met the girls and went to the park.  We waded in the little river, played badmitten and just enjoyed our last hours together.  We ended our time at an old fasioned soda fountain where we devoured our different treats.  Then we did a major clean up and said goodbye and drove to St. George where we checked into our hotel room.  I got the girls to bed then snuck away and picked up the boys - time fore phase two of this epic adventure.