House Family Reunion 2010

Every year for the last 10+ years we've enjoyed a House Family Reunion. Each year is a different family members turn to plan and host the event and activites. This year was Brianne and Casey's turn. They are big into camping and wanted to share their love of the outdoors with the rest of us.
We camped for 2 nights in Bryce Canyon, Utah. One of the most beautiful places in the state. We enjoyed a variety of games and activites. Soooo much food!! And soooo many laughs!! We were shushed the first night we were so loud! Thats the Houses for you, a bunch of really, really big mouths! :)

We went hiking in Fairyland. The scenery (as you can see in the background) was incredible! Unfortunately our rowdy, little monkey children played too close to the edge and slipped off. Chad was able to run to their rescue. Alas he didn't even bother to grab onto Miles and save him ;)

The trail in Fairyland was a tad narrow and precarious and Chad, Emerson and Miles all slipped, almost falling to their deaths.

As you can see, Miles and Emerson were able to use Chad to climb to safety. Phew!!! Next time I'll push harder ;)

Here's Wes with his 4 feet of licorice. Uncle Ron kept us on a constant sugar high with his abundance of treats....suckers, candy bars, tootsie rolls, licorice, gum balls and chocolate...oh my!

3 little boys posing between swinging sticks, hatchets, axes and apparently a pvc pipe? Where the heck did he find that?!?!?! Heard more that once around the campsite, "Put the axe down! Hey! Hey! That hatchet is for chopping wood only!" As Grandpa so keenly observed, "Man you give a kid a stick or an axe and they're entertained for hours." :)

Thanks Brianne and Casey! We had a blast!

Caribbean

Thanks to the wonderful kindness and generosity of my mom, Chad and I were able to take a vacation all to ourselves this year. We went to the Caribbean island of St. Martin/St. Maarten. Half of the island is French and the other half is Dutch that's

why there are two spellings for the island and both are correct.

We spent 7 days of heaven resting, playing, snorkling and eating. The water beautifully clear, we also Snubaed (a mix of snorling and scuba). The fish surrounded us at several points, which made for an amazing experience. We ended up not taking as many pictures as we thought and ended up with no video footage. We were in the water 90% of the time playing. One afternoon we took sea kayaks out into the ocean, paddling and jumping the waves.

That's me waving half way between the docking boat and the beach. Can you believe that water?!? 86' was the average temperature of the Caribbean Sea. You could walk chest deep in the water for a long time off of the beaches. Plenty of room for bobbing peacefully in the waves with a coloda in your hand. Ahhhhh...the vacation life....

And no tropical vacation is complete without dinner next to the ocean. BBQ ribs and chicken was a main staple on the island, of course so was the seafood.

Oh the plans we've hatched for next's years vacation ;)

Back to School

Time again to dress the kids in their finest jeans and tops, lace up their designer sneakers and send them back to school.

***

Andrew and Samantha get to go to the same middle school this year. Every morning they get up without fuss, walk to the bus stop and ride the bus to school. Our middle school has a uniform dress code which limits their cute outfits but is kind on my budget and nerves.

Braeden is in 2nd grade this year. He's the only one I have to get ready and make lunches for and drop off to school in the morning. What a change for me.

Westin is in afternoon kindergarten. He's soooo excited to finally go to school and have homework like his older siblings. Unfortunately that excitment wears off within a week or so.

That leaves just Gabe and I at home for a couple hours. This is usually when Gabe naps, leaving me all alone to my thoughts, which I've discovered after 5 kids and not a moment of peace in 13 years, that I no longer have thoughts of any kind.

***

Happy Back to School, y'all!