Bear Lake Reunion 2010

Hold on to your britches. There are 32 pics here. Maybe that's why I haven't blogged very well here on my family blog lately. I knew I had this big post to deal with. And yet, it still feels like only a tiny portion of this year's reunion story will get told. It was hard this year, dealing with two reunions on the same weekend. It meant missing some or all of our Cox Family Reunion. We compromised this year, going to Zen's family reunion on Friday, and our family's reunion on Saturday.

Not everyone is picture perfect, but this was the best overall shot of all of us on the beach at Bear Lake. I'm glad there were so many of us here! But I hope we get to spend more time together next year. I'm really excited that David and his family are planning on coming next summer. Wahoo!

It was all about the sand this year on the beach.

Sassy frass!
Two days before, Gil took Connor for a ride on the motorcycle on Zen's parents' farm. Of course, he wrecked it, and fortunately it was pretty minor, but I was constantly irritated with Gil and Zen every time I watched Connor hobble around on his injured foot. I'm not sure he's completely healed yet, but I don't know if it's due to an actual chronic injury, or he just got used to limping.

Again, no hot chicks allowed on the beach!

Don't you just want to squeeze his chunky thighs?!

Josh can always be counted on to get out some serious gear to help the kids with their sand castles.

I think Lily managed to get sand everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE.

Dani had a blast in the water all day, and a sunburn to prove it!

My coolio man, who also managed to lose his keys in the water. Oops!

Woohoo! Watch out!

This was pretty much Emma's opinion of deep water for most of the day, "Lemmee out! Lemmee out!"

Gil, goofin' off in the kids' tube.

The Montmeny's brought their turtle, whose name I think was Checkers, and he was very interesting to all the little boys, and some of the girls, too.

This was as close as Emma wanted to get to the water for most of the day.

Our headquarters on the beach, with the state flags from Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming represented. Maybe we can get a flag for David next year!!

Sand makes a lovely condiment.

Liz was definitely the Quilting Queen with her show-and-tell this year, a fabulous nursing quilt!

She was also working on a great quilt inspired by the children's book Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton, a favorite at our house.

Pajammy to the left, pajammy to the right... oh, that's another book.

Mom organized a great lunch. This was probably the point where I threw in the towel on counting my calories. Mom also had wonderful jars of apricot jam to give away from the tree she planted eight years ago in honor of Hope. What luscious jam! We've gone through two jars already, and the third jar isn't going to last much longer, with the many grilled PB&J sandwiches the kids have fallen in love with this summer.

This was probably the last year of the quilt giveaway. All enthusiasm for handmaking quilts has died out. What should we do for next year? Maybe we should just have a big show-and-tell. Actually, I think that could be pretty fun! If you're not crafty, then make up a posterboard or some little presentation of activities that portray your own special kind of talents.

Connor had a blast out in the water, too, and had a matching sunburn just like Dani's. In fact, his sunburn made such an impression on him, that for weeks afterwards, he kept talking about how the sun was out to get everyone.

No, it's not a snowball, it's a sandball.

Tickle toes, tickle toes!

Sleepy Bennett. I think all the kids were feeling like this by the end of the day.

Zen and Dani finally coaxed Emma out into the water.

Dani is so awesome with little kids. I get compliments about her all the time at church, as people watch her with Connor, Emma, and Sam in sacrament meeting.

Miraculously, we had enough energy left after we got home, to clean out the van. Zen even vacuumed it out for me. Fifty gold stars for you!

Dani and Gil were less than enthused about cleaning up.


A little sidenote - Zen had to point out the evidence of my "lead foot." See, over the past ten years I've worn a hole through the car mat, and even through the carpet.