Since it is easier to post first things first, yet they come up first things last.....I am doing our trip in backwards order. I must also say, I'm unimpressed with my picture taking abilities when on vacation. I did this last year too, where I get home and realize all the fun things I didn't capture. It's easy to say "there's always next year".....but here I am again!.....yet it will seem like plenty of pictures were taken, this is about all I have.
Day 14......Our last night........Playing cards is a nightly traditon. This year it was in competition with Rock Band and the Olympics.....as well as little children needing to go to bed!
Mom and dad took us out on their 38th wedding anniversary for Thai food. The girls all went to see Mama Mia afterwards. I loved it.
Day 9-13.....Sunday we had all my sister's and their children up for our annual family pictures, dinner and sister trivia. I wanted Kenna's hair to stay curly and pictures were later in the day so I sent her to sacrament in curlers. We don't know these people. I bribed her with a mini butterinder candy bar and she was fine with it. My mom about fell out of her seat when she walked in and then commenced laughing for the next 5 minutes.
We had our annual trek to Lagoon with the Casperson's, Cody and Caleb. Linny tended Brody and that made it so much more fun!
Mom took the girls and I on a date to SLC on the train from Ogden. The girls loved having treats and playing cards on the ride down. We went back to school shopping and had lunch before the hour ride back home.
Each night one of my sisters would come up to spend the night. One night dad, Todd and Cody took the older kids kayaking to Causey. They paddled out to the end of the lake, had a fire, foil dinners, s'mores then paddled back by moonlight. We had fires outfront of the bunkhouse. Sat in the hot tub. Rode bikes with the kids to the park at Sheep Creek. Dad has a huge projector screen that he sets up outside with fabulous sound and we watched Batman Begins. The next night Todd, Griff and I went to see The Dark Knight and I thought it was great, not as horrible as a few had painted it to be. Shopping with Linny, North Ogden pool for the girls with Sara and biking around the beautiful ski resorts of Ogden Valley. (Kennedy and Caleb)
Day 8....My dad and I woke at 4:30 to head down to Utah Lake along with a million mosquitos! Itching did drive away any anxities we might have had. I loved the 1.2 mile swim (actually 1.5 since the gps was off....and probably longer for me since my sighting was off as well). The 56 mile ride was gorgeous around Utah lake, and the 13 mile run.....let's just say altitude plus heat=my PW. Personal worst. But running through with my dad at the end made the whole day worthwhile.
How many girls and 60 year old fathers could so something like this together. I'm so proud of him and the example he set for me at a young age to stay healthy.
Dad dropped me off back in Provo at Colleen and Jerry's palatial mansion where the Clark Renunion was in full swing.
This would be the view from the upper veranda outside the 3 guest suites. Both the outdoor and indoor pools have watersildes, diving boards and hottubs.
We played games, had lunch and dinner.....all hosted by Colleen......the queen of throwing big parties!
(McKenna and Camdyn)
This gathering area is to the left of the pools, had plenty of room for all of us, and a wonderful setting for the two daughters she married off a few months ago.
Brody and Keller Lake.....double trouble! We left at 9 pm and drove back to Liberty to unload for one final time!
Day 7......Mark and Heather took us out on Utah lake right behind their home for a few hours of tubing and wake boarding. Camdyn doesn't look so thrilled but Griffin and Kennedy loved it.
It actually rained on us for about 5 min. then the clouds parted and it was beautiful out!
Todd and I both did some wake boarding but the most fun was when Mark pulled Todd, Tyler and I on the tube. I was laughing SO HARD as the boys were hanging on for dear life as Mark drove like a maniac trying to launch them into the water....he was successful a few times too.
That night we went to Provo to Aunt Collens home (palatial mansion as I call it) for Cole's baptism. It was a beautiful setting with the Wasatch Mts in the back. The Lake Sister in laws and Heather.
After the baptism Todd dropped me off at my Aunt Yevon's to stay the night with my dad. He and the kids went back to Heather's for the night.
Night 5 and day 6....I can't think of any other grandchild in the world that is as lucky as my kids when it comes to visiting their grandparents. My parents "home" in Liberty is more of a compound. It's like a little village out back. Off to the right (which you can't see) is the most adorable playhouse in the entire world (all of this btw is built by my dad). Straight ahead is the cottage where my sister Lindsey lived with her husband for a few months and we sleep when we come...sometimes :> (it has a full bath and kitchen) the left is the barn and to the back is the bunk house.
This is where the kids sleep with cousins. Not visible is the bear skin rug, and the coyote and fox skins hanging on the wall. Those freak ME out!
Bunk house from the outside. Behind this is Fort Liberty....the playground fortress my dad built.
As a little girl my Smith cousins and I would have had a HAY DAY playing on the grounds.....but where do these kids (and adults) end up? In the basement trying to make it in the band.....Rock Band that is. Bundy works up a good sweat on the drums.
Packed up again Thursday and headed to Mark and Heather Kehoe's in Saratoga Springs for a Lake Family Reunion. They have a beautiful home on Utah lake and fit all of us in quite comfortably! Gi-normous Utah homes are great for Family Reunions.
That night Mark and Heather's friend who happens to be a Magician by trade came to do a show for us. I was BLOWN AWAY. His 2 hour show included card tricks and silly acts for the kids that were unbelievable but it was about the last 4 tricks he did that left all of us speechless for a few days. Heather and I wondered if it was black magic?? But look at him...he's not doing dark magic. To this day I am still reeling over how it was done!
Day 4 and 5......Drove from Owyhee to Logan and got in at 1 a.m. Unloaded at the Jensens and went to sleep. I love running along the bench in Logan and looking out at Cache Valley. It's my top pick for places I'd want to live in Utah.
We met up with my sister Jamie, her family, my Aunt Carol Searle and her family, the Jensens, Bundys, Petersen's, my mom and Brody and Kylee to have a picnic and participate in Jamie's Survivor Extravaganza! We divided up into teams. (The winning team is shown above :>) and Todd's team below....I didn't catch team #3. We played really fun games late into the night.
The kids funnest game was the food challenge. Each team chose an order and wen to the table and had to be the first to finish what was placed in front of them.....gummy worms, lemons, buttermilk. Mine was a banana. On top of a full dinner it was hard to get down! Then again, look at my competion. A 5 year old on one side and 3 year old on the other. I had this one in the bag! :>
Going a full year without seeing my sisters kids is way too long. The cousins loved playing with one another at Jamie's house......
..... and at the water park with Jensen's, Bundy's and Petersen's. After a bike ride with my Uncle Mike, a class with Lee at her gym, a 2nd trip to the doctor for Todd (long story and still not over) and lunch with Jamie and Ryan at Firehouse it was time to load up again and head to Liberty for one night.
Day 3---An entire day at Lake Owyhee with the Skeen clan. BBQ, visiting and watersports. My cousin Steve Skeen even got me up for the first time wakeboarding, with special mention to Jeff Pickett for his play by play instructions! It was Sara's 2nd time and the next day we were both SO sore!
Griffin, Camdyn loved tubing with their cousins.
Brody basked in the shade and drank Capri Suns when we weren't out on the boat.
Day 1 and 2--Drove 6 1/2 hours to Meridian Idaho where we met up with my sister Sara and her family for an afternoon of water fun at Roaring Springs Waterpark.
The cousins loved playing together and we adults took turns going with the kids on the slides.
We finally left at 8:30, and backtracked to Ontario (Nyssa) Oregon for our Skeen family reunion. Stayed at the same hotel as the rest of family that had flown/drove in.....little cousins running everywhere. Reminded me of the reunions when I was the little cousin running everywhere. Everytime we stayed somewhere new there was unloading of the bike, crib and suitcases. There would be LOTS of that on this trip!
I hadn't seen my Skeen cousins since our last reunion in Liberty about 7 years ago! My Uncle Paul and Aunt Merlin own Skeen Farms in Nyssa Oregon. They hosted a dinner, games and tractor rides for the kids through the onion fields on Sunday.
My dad has 7 siblings and although MUCH family was missing we still had a great turnout and so much fun catching up with one another.
A few months ago we purchased tickets to see Phantom. I was so excited to take my kids who have watched the movie dozens of times and know all the songs. My friend Mia and Vince joined us as well as my little sister Lindsey and Ryan who are in town visiting his family.
It wasn't a sold out show, so at intermission we went to the orchestra level to peek into the orchestra pit and stayed in some seats off to the side. The second half was awesome! We could actually see their faces and intricate details of all the costumes without using binoculars. We loved it! The kids were entranced by the phantoms face when he mask was ripped off, by the fire and gunshot effects. It was pretty funny seeing their expressions and hearing commentary throughout the play. Such a fun date night for the "older" kids!
