2018 Family Reunion - Pine Valley

John's siblings (Rachel and Jordan) and their spouses were in charge of planning the 2018 family reunion.   What an event it was!    

I'll admit, my family was feeling a little apprehensive of the location (just 20 minutes from notoriously hot hot HOT St. George Utah) but this not-so- little Pine Valley Lodge was the perfect spot for a family to gather!

I loved trying to wake up before anybody else each morning.  It gave me a chance to enjoy the quiet and peacefulness of the morning.   FYI, watching the sunrise over a desert landscape while listening to the far off mooing of grazing cattle, and the nearby buzzing of hungry humming birds - is a pretty dreamy way to start a day.   Just saying.

Our reunion organizers approached the reunion in a fun way. 
They designated a major holiday to each day of our stay together, and we spent the day celebrating in ways that this family traditionally did growing up.  (ie: steak and seafood dinner on Christmas Eve, breakfast pizza on Christmas Day, etc)

Of course it wouldn't be a reunion without fun and games.   Christmas Day included the much loved "Family Auction", poker with Uncle Brent, Christmas Tree (cone) decorating contest, and the always enjoyable family photo session.  

New Years Day took us to Zion National Park.  

My little family was a little overwhelmed by the HEAT (41 degrees!) but they powered through it and spent the day doing small hikes in the park and playing in the muddy, but slightly cooler creek that cut through the red rock.  

There was one day in which we celebrate every ones birthdays.  

We went into St. George and let the kids swim at a fun pool, the Dad's all helped kids build and launch rockets, and we continued to enjoy the evening routine of games and watching family TED talks.

Halloween brought us the traditional family reunion carnival.   Thankfully we were able to use a nearby church for this, which meant we did not have to go out in the heat.  

Uncle Aaron through a fun and intense curve ball when he put $1000 on the table as an award for whichever family one his Curling Tournament.   Now he really knows how to inspire a group to try their hardest!    John and I (Italy) didn't win, as the prize went to the Finnish family, but it was fun to watch.

My family were able to feel consoled when we won Jordan's carnival challenge, which required that each family devise a way to pop our designated balloon using the tools and supplies provided by Jordan.  It was really cool to watch families focus on the challenge and work together.   

Us Moms ducked out early so we could enjoy our favorite evening out together.  

We missed Sarah H this night (darn flu!) but enjoyed the fancy restaurant and conversation.  

Our plan was to enjoy CINDERELLA at the Tuacahn Theatre.   I think I was looking forward to this more than anything else.  Unfortunately, as soon as we took our seats, it began to rain.  (Pour!)  We sat there in the rain for a bit hoping for the storm to pass, but ultimately the show was cancelled on account of the weather.  Boo!!!

Easter brought us a fun competition of Egg Jousting, a yummy Ham dinner, and (after a bit of Math Practice with Brent) a trip to Snow Canyon.

(Studying for my upcoming Diploma Exam.  Brent trying to prove that he could do better at it than I, which was probably true;)

I LOVED Snow Canyon!

I liked that the hikes we did were always short (way hot!) and I really liked how fascinating the terrain was.  

Really really a beautiful time with the kids!

Our reunion organizers made sure we had lots of time for visiting, evening reminiscing, and games!

(Family Feud, The Newlywed Game, and some Family history fun.)

Thanksgiving Day was a sweet day for me.  

It had been arranged for our family to go to a St.George nursing home to put on a musical concert.  (In honor of Marilyn's past music recitals)   It was very sweet to watch the family gather and share their love of music with each other.   

John shared a song he had composed (inspired by his Mom) and titled "Soaring." 

It was lovely.

We took a detour for a bit down into the Arizona desert where we foraged for Utah Ice.  It was a whole new level of HOT for my family, but really really fascinating!

My kids enjoyed their first ever dining experience a the Golden Corral.   (The whole "Buffet" thing was pretty darn fun for them all;)

We spent some time that afternoon visiting the St.George Temple. 

I LOVED watching Sam and Abby do baptisms with some of their older cousins, and I am glad that I get to say that I have seen this beautiful temple.   

We all enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner that night before a couple of us families left.   

(The reunion was to officially end the next morning, but some of us needed to make a dent in our trip home.)    It was a nice day to leave after having celebrating all that we were thankful for.   

Most (if not all) would agree that we were so very blessed to get to have that week together.  To get to celebrate Max and Marilyn and their posterity, to strengthen, support, and learn from each other.  

A special week with a special group indeed!

Heber Creepers

John and I loaded up the kids (and Grandpa Max) and left on Friday morning in July for Utah. 
Our first stop - Heber City, UT to visit John's brother Aaron and his family.  

Oh Heber - what a place!

We hadn't been at Aaron's for more than 20 minutes when he whisked John and I away to the annual Demolition Derby.   I had never been to a demolition derby before, and quickly got caught up in the excitement watching strangers charge each other and crash intentionally.   

Is this for real??

We watched a couple of crazy rollovers, and witnessed this unfortunate moment.  One car was hit so hard that it was pushed up and over the barricade.   It took a moment for people to realize that things were worse than that even though, but suddenly we noticed a crowd of people running from the bleachers over to this car.   A derby official had been pinned underneath one of the fallen barricades.  As people rushed to lift the car and retrieve the man, thousands of onlookers prayed.  

He was taken away on a stretcher and reportedly was going to be okay.   

This next morning we took the kids down to the Deer Creek Reservoir for some fun in the water.   It was a hot hot HOT day.  It was definitely nice to have some water nearby, though I think it got some of us worried for the heat that was still to come as we traveled further south the next day.

The kids really enjoyed being in Heber.  Even though it is considered a city, it had a real small town feel to it.   It was cute to watch their excitement as they watched Hot Air balloons float over the house each morning.    

Aaron and Gina were incredible hosts, and kept us fed and then some. 

Corn on the cob with mayo and seasoning salt, Smoothie bowls and sourdough pancakes for breakfast, Jimmy Johns and late night s'mores.   

A visit to their house was the perfect way to start off an excellent adventure!

Cousin Camp

My sister Jewel hosted (yet again) an amazing Cousin Camp.  This year John and I missed out on doing any wild adventure sans enfants due to the fact that I was studying for a Math Diploma, BUT my kids had lots of adventure as per the tradition.

This.  This right here is what summers are made of. 

Bertha - In the clouds

Waterton recently opened the Bertha trail for hikes, which is the first trail to be opened since the Kenow Wildfire ravaged the park last fall.

This was big.  Huge in fact, and I couldn't wait to get on the trail and see how things looked.  

John and I were bracing ourselves for a scorcher of a day, seeing as we were in the middle of a summer heat wave and we knew there would be no shade on this trail seeing as there were no leaves.

We were pleasantly surprised to get out to the park and find it enveloped in a dense, thick fog.  

It was delightfully erie!

After a month of recovering from surgery and being somewhat inactive, it felt so good to move again, and I loved having time alone with John to talk and visit together in a way we don't often get to.  

Thankfully, the fog stayed with us for hours, as we climbed up that mountain trail and even after we'd reached the lake.   It finally lifted close to noon, just as John and I finished our pack lunch and shortly before we prepared to make our way back down.  We were thrilled to get to see the beautiful lake view, and to really be able to see the extent of fire damage.  

I was so encouraged to find that although many parts along this hike had been hit by the fire, and even burnt to a crisp - others parts of the mountain had remained unscathed.  It was humbling to look at the sometimes blackened earth and see tenacious green plants doing their best to come back.   

Mother nature is fierce, and beautiful and inspiring.  

Peanuts and Cracker Jacks

I think attending College level Baseball games should be "a thing."  

Perhaps it always has been and we are just late to the party.  

For the second year in a row our family LOVED getting to watch an legit ball game, complete with peanuts and popcorn, cheese nachos and hot dogs.  

A baseball game is always made more enjoyable when cousins end up being there too.  

What are the odds of that! 

I may be sounding redundant by now, but THIS is what summers are made of!  

Walleys World

Walleys Beach is a favorite place for our family.  Let's be honest, it's a favorite place for half of southern Alberta,  but us too;)   

We've been able to get out there a couple of times this summer.   

It always provides the perfect opportunity to just CHILL!

Oh my heart!!!

Oh my heart - it was a happy day when my girls returned from a four night stay in Calgary!  

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed some very interesting and humorous quality time with my boys, but it quickly became apparent to me that girls definitely add a touch of class in a home.  

The night they got back, we sat out on the trampoline and talked as the sun went down - catching up on all we had missed out on with each other and making plans of things we wanted to now do together.   

One of the first plans Jessica and I made was to get down to Many Glacier together.   I'd been a few days prior with my boys, which was beyond nice, but I had a sneaking suspicion that it was Jessica who would really appreciate the beauty of the park. 

It was a PERFECT drive! 

I took her to the hotel restaurant and then we spent some time driving around in search of bears, birds and flowers.   

We found all of those things, the most exciting being the flowers.   

Oh my heart - the flowers!!!

I have never seen such vibrant fields of color.  The Silky lupine, Fleabane and fire weed stretched on for miles and the scent of each flower sweetened the air.  

Jessica and I were constantly expressing our awe that so much beauty could exist in one place. 

We stayed way longer than planned, and had way more fun than I expected.

Sigh....it's nice to have the girls back.  All is right in my world again.

Lunch at the Interlaken

John's sister Rachel needed some help with her kids and asked if Abby and Jessica could come stay with them in Calgary for a few days.  

Abby and Jess had a fun time babysitting their little kids, and I enjoyed the very interesting experience of getting to spend some quality time with my two boys.    We drove to Many Glacier one day and stopped in at the Many Glacier Hotel.   I love that hotel!  

It is old, creaky and full of character.   

I've always wanted to have lunch there at the Interlaken Lounge and this moment just kind of seemed like the right time.  I was wrong.  

Within five minutes of sitting down it became very apparent to me that my boys (although ridiculously funny) are not the two who'd appreciate a fancier sit down restaurant.   They both tried to be polite, or at least pretended to try,  which only gave life to the old adage "You can dress them up, but you can't take them out."

I hope that waiter has forgiven us;)

Fences

Back in the early spring, John and I determined that our two oldest were ready for summer jobs.  

We made Abby build herself a resume and hand it out to various businesses around town.   When she didn't receive a single call - we decided that maybe John should take on a few fencing jobs and hire our kids himself.   (Nepotism at its finest!)

We designated two weeks in July for fencing work and it was not hard to watch those two weeks fill up fast.   Abby helped John build a beautiful wood fence, while Sam helped with a chain link fence on a business property.

Abby and Sam were really champs, working long hours (sometimes in the rain), shoveling concrete and helping Dad where they could. 

The whole thing reminded both John and I that summers are NOT meant for working.  haha

We resented the jobs we'd created for ourselves and vowed (once again) to never again go searching for work to fill up our vacation time.   

Perhaps Abby and Sam can add this experience to their resumes - because they are officially unemployed again;)