Family Reunion

I have to admit, a family reunion in a lodge in the-middle-of-nowhere, Utah, with about 200 people, sleeping in bunkbeds, is not my idea of a vacation. But we hadn't made it to one of these reunions since 1999 (I know this because that's where Max was conceived.... in a tent). So it was time to make a showing before my parents disowned me. Not that I don't love my family. I have some great peeps. And there's alot of them. I have over 60 cousins on this one side! But it's hard to make a vacation of it. I'd rather spend vacation time on a beach somewhere, ya know? And I couldn't help thinking the whole time that last year we were here. But we packed up the Suburban & headed ........

........here.

Altamont, Utah.

About 2 1/2 hours east of Salt Lake.

Middle. Of. Nowhere.

But my great-grandparents homesteaded this area. And so my grandpa grew up here, and met grandma here. So I loved it because of that.

My beautiful little sister, Jen, and her boys.

Cory was home studying for the Bar. My awesome sister Holly & her darling family.

Zane's first solo ride on an ATV.

There were alot of ATVs up there & my kids were loving it.

My Aunt Wendy & Uncle Bryce & family.

My brother Shawn playing the game show host for a Family Feud game.

He was the shizzle.

Aunt Janet & Uncle Steve.

Aunt Connie & Uncle Steve & family.

Swimming with cotton candy!

Does it get much better?

The game room.

My Mom's very first ATV ride.

This was a big moment for her. She said she wanted to ride on one before she died.

Look at how much fun she had!

My Uncle Greg & Aunt Cathy & family.

These boys swore they knew how to play Settlers. Rigghhhht.

My 2 sisters, my Mom, and my 3 sisters-in-law, and me. Yes, I was there.

And I can't believe I posted this picture.

My Mom's going to kill me.

At least I made it to the reunion!

And it was alot of fun. The kids had a total blast. They love hanging out with their cousins & there was so much fun stuff to do.

Can't wait til the next one!

Back to school!

Can't even believe it's that time already.......

Mars is in 9th grade this year! How did she get so old? How did I get so old? Her grades now count for college admissions. She's in Seminary. She's basically a high-schooler, she tells me.

She also got up 3 hours early to get ready this morning.

Jake is a 6th-grader this year & is so ready for the social scene. And he got a nice teacher this year. And wears contacts now. Good stuff.

Everyone was pretty ready.........except Zane.

He's not a fan of anything that interrupts his Wii playing time, especially school.

So this is what he looked like on the first day of 1st grade.

Not exactly overflowing with excitement.

And he had a lip-licking clown face going on.

But, he has his buddy Davis in his class and his new Pokemon shirt on, so come on , it can't be that bad!

Max has graduated into the I'm-totally-embarrassed-that-my-Mom-is-trying-to-take-pictures-of-me stage. With girls around nonetheless! Get used to it.

Max is in 4th grade this year. Gotta love this age when the girls out-grow the boys.

Max plans on playing the cello this year. Hmmm.

So now it's me & my Gus. He's going to be so bored! Heaven help me!!

You'll never guess what we got......

........that's right!..........a money machine!!!

Through a CocaCola connection, we got this baby. Too bad the money's not included.
We tested it out last night. It was a hit. I'm thinking chore motivation potential. A turn in the money machine at the end of the week for good behavior. Totally brill.

The Fab Four

These 4 little cousins were all born the same year. My Gus being the oldest (and fattest).
So we call them the Fab Four. And whenever we're all together, which doesn't happen too often, usually at Christmas, we like to get a picture of these guys.

They're 2 to 10 months in these first 2 pictures.......


.......this one being my FAVORITE. I laugh hard every time I look at this picture. My giant porkchop plowing over the smaller, helpless babies. He sat there until he realized it was 'MaMa' behind the camera & headed for me.
So. Funny.


And this was the following year.
I have about a hundred outtakes of alot of screaming & crying & drooling & 'I'm outta here's' until we figured out to just give them candy canes.

And this was last month, at our family reunion. They're all about 3 years old now.

The last day of the reunion we realized we still needed to get a Fab Four shot, so we pretty much herded them like little sheep against this fence to get one.

They love to play together now. So it's a bummer we don't all live in the same town. Especially since every day Gus asks me at least twelve hundred times (not exaggerating) if he can go to Bronson's house........which is in Prescott. Maybe one day we'll all live a little closer. But until then I'm hoping Gus will completely forget about his cousin Bronson so I can have some peace & quiet around here. Sheesh!

Updated Crack

That was then.............

.....and this is now.

Gus cracks me up.

This is.......

........my nightmare!

Just when you're trying to get the he** out of there.......
The ticket redemption counter.
I get anxiety just thinking about it.
The gleaming rows of plastic shiz.
The attempting to explain to a 3-year old that he doesn't have enough tickets for the big car.
The indecision.
The whining.
The headache.

The pure joy a 2-cent parachuting alien guy can bring.