Family Reunion!

My whole family, minus Jessica who is serving a mission in WA, all met for a family reunion in St. George area. I planned it and was nervous about people actually coming and having fun. But everyone came and I think they all had a great time, I know we did! It was a lot of preparation with planning, activities, and prepping meals, but I think it wall was worth it! Just wis Ryan could have stayed the whole time!

Ryan had the 4th of July off and flew home late Tuesday night. I surprised the kids and told them we were picking up something for our trip to St. George. They were VERY excited to see Dad! I wish I had a video of Marlee, it may have been the cutest thing ever! We headed to St. George Wednesday morning and enjoyed some time with Daddy before everyone else arrived.

3 cute Forth of July kiddos, best shot we could get :)

I ordered this giant blow-up ball back in December and finally pulled it out for the reunion. The kids had a blast pushing eachother around in it.

Ryan was such a good sport and had fun playing with the kids, he even let them roll the ball over him!

We played some "Minute-to-win-it games" with the kids and they had a great time... none of them lasted a minute :)

This girl loves her Grandpa!

The fireworks in St. George were about 30 minutes away and only a 20 minute show, and didn't start until 10:00 pm, so we ended up doing some fun ones at the house.  Ryan had to leave at 3am that night, but we loved getting to see him even for a short time!

Thursday we headed to Zions and had a fun picnic lunch by the river.

Brett dipping Casen's head in the river!

We headed up to The Lower Emerald Pools and had a fun hike. The kids found this crack through one of the rock walls and had fun crawling through the hole.

The whole gang!

River by Emerald Pools, so beautiful!

Afterwards we grabbed icecream at the Zion's lodge and sat under a GIANT tree. It was fun relaxing on the grass with everyone.

Weeping Rock. Everyone got their own family shots, but Mom and Ryan were gone, so Dad and I got this shot with us and all the kids.

These two girls had a great time together! So fun to have these cousins so close in age!

Afterwards we got these wood-fired pizzas, they were AMAZING! And only $8 each. A guy built his own portable wood-fire oven and sells them on the side of the road in Hurricane close to Zions. Glad we found this place, we will be back!

Friday we headed to Sand Hallow Reservoir, it was a beautiful day to play on the beach!

Casen was pretty tough pulling Blake around :)

The kids and I had fun sinking our feet deep into the sand!

Love this face!

So glad to have these amazing parents!

Marlee had a great time playing in the sand. She liked filling the buckets up with sand repeatedly.

Casen, look at that run :) I love the coloring in this pic!

Marlee and the boys eating lunch after a morning at the lake!

Brinley and Andelin with their twinner hair, thanks to Aunt Jenn!

These two girls loved this statue of Christ. They stayed at His feet for quite a while :)

We went to the visitor's center at the LDS St. George Temple. It was neat to learn about how it was built and how much people sacrificed to build it.

The flowers at the temple were beautiful!

 

11 of the 12 Judy Grandkids... with Aunt Brooklyn... baby Cardon was in his stroller.

 

That night we played minute to win it games with all my married siblings, spouses, and Brett. We all had a great time!

Joe was the first to stack 4 chapstick tubes using chop sticks.

I didn't even stand a chance!

These floor races were pretty awesome. So fun seeing each couples compete again each other!

Ryan was gone so Brett and I raced. I totally killed him even though he cheated :)

Saturday we headed back into Zions. Marlee loved watching all the squirrels!

All 24 of us hiked the Narrows! It was a 1 mile hike before we even reached the river!

The first water crossing! I know I look like 1,000 lbs here, but I like to think it's only because my little sister Brooklyn only weighs 88 lbs!

Madeline helped Brinley most the way and Brin had a great time with her!

The beautiful canyon!

Brett helped Casen the whole time! It was so nice since I had Marlee girl on my back the whole way!

Loving the deep water!

Marlee and I go through some of the deeper water. I went on my tip toes and leaned forward to try and keep her little bum out of the water!

Love my Dad!

Grandpa making Brinley think he was going to through her in!

We took a break for a snack and I let Marlee take a break from the carrier. She was sick and SO over tired, but I couldn't help but laugh when I saw her grouchy face in this picture. Poor Mars!

After hiking the Narrows most people headed back, but my kids had really wanted to go swimming, so Brian, Katie, and Blake came swimming with my kids and I for a bit before heading back.

Marlee loved actually getting to play in the water!

The SHOE tree! We had to stop and get a shot of this crazy shoe--filled tree! people who destroy their shoes while hiking in Zions will sometimes add their shoes to the collection! We saw a guy hang a pair that the soles had been completely rubbed through.