Road trip!

A few months ago, my siblings and I decided that it was time to schedule a little reunion, and this time around we wanted to do something a little bit different.    So...we looked around, considered our options, and (thanks to a great find of my Crystal's) we finally found a great little home that we all could vacation in together. 

So, last Thursday, John and I loaded the van to the roof with enough bedding, water supplies, food, and luggage to see us through a year.  And then we packed the kids in.   As you can tell, they were so excited!

"ROADTRIP!!!"  

We began our journey around 5:30 that evening, and approximately 13.5 minutes later we arrived at the vacation home.   A beautiful 5 bedroom cabin perched happily overlooking the St.Mary River not too far from Magrath.   ;)    

Everyone arrived at staggered times that first day, but it didn't take long for us to start doing what our family does best.  Eating...and playing!

The kids LOVED going down to the river and wading in the water, playing in the sand, slinging mud, and even fishing.    I myself actually never made it down there.    I'd discovered a book on one of the shelves called "I am Hutterite" and I'm afraid reading that just seemed to take up all my time.   tsk tsk

On Friday the Dad's and a couple of the nephews drove a few miles down the road and did some shotgun shooting.    My Father in Law met up with them for that, and apparently Max is quite the eagle eye, even at 70!!!

The kids played so well together, and I love that we never really have to referee them or worry much about them.    The older kids are great examples, and the younger kids make us all laugh.   

 I love this group so much!

It's been a whirlwind of a summer, and it seems as though we have spent the past couple of months going from one party to another!   John and I totalled up how many kids there are in both of our families combined and the total number is 41!  (25 kids on John's side and 16 on mine)     

Over the past three and a half months we have been able to see and play with 37 of them!!!   

It's  kinda felt like one big prolonged family reunion!

We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family!!!!