I love to be amused

After the reunion most of the family got to go to Lagoon, an amusement park in Utah. (For Iowa readers (I know, huge assumption for me to think I have any readers at all, but just in case...) it is about the same size as Adventureland. Sadly, Mara and Ben had to get back to work in Arizona so they weren't able to join us. I'm sure that at 8 months pregnant Mara wasn't going to be super excited about riding the rides anyway. Caleb was able to come with his boys and Nathan and Stacy and their bunch, as well as us, Crystal and Rich and Mom and Dad. It was a blast!! I didn't get any pictures of Wicked, by far the best ride there, so you'll just have to take my word for it. It was awesome. Here are the photos I did get:
Brennan and Mia on the swings.
Me and Caden on Dino Drop. This one takes you up to the top and then drops you, over and over. It is technically for kids, but I loved it. :)
Much of the gang on the little kids pirate ship. Henry would scream (a good scream) the whole time on this one. It was hilarious.
A cute picture of Kelbie and Brennan on the train.
Me and Henry on Ody-Sea. I was not a very good driver on this one and ended up soaked because of it. Henry was a good sport and put up with my pathetic skills.

Next up are some fun pictures on the trampoline at Nathan and Stacy's house. These kids sure are lucky to have such fun grandparents. I'd venture a guess that not too many kids have memories of jumping on the tramp with grandma and grandpa, but lots of these kids will. It was fun to watch.
Papa wreaking havoc while he is the log in "Dodge the Log".
Grandma's turn to be the log. Too funny. We had to start a chant to get her to get on the tramp. She caves pretty easily haha.
Who doesn't love to just sit down and be bounced?? Well...I don't, but I'm probably kind of weird. They certainly enjoyed it though.

Gotta love family. Our trip to Utah was tons of fun. It is hard to be so far away from so many loved ones, but we are grateful for the time we do get to spend with them and for the relationships we have with them even from so far away. They are such a blessing in our lives. Love you all!

reunions, auctions, family, and fun

Our lives have been crazy for the last few weeks!! And that trend looks to continue for the next little bit. Between a trip to Utah and a trip to North Carolina, we made it to 12 states in less than a week. We are finally home now, only to be met with a big interview for Rachel, a big move into our new house later this week (pictures to come), and Brennan's classes starting next week. Jikes! I'm excited for when we can get into a normal life routine and maybe relax a little. I think I have been sleep-deprived for about a month now. But it has been well worth it. We have had a blast and are excited for what the future holds for us!

First up was the trip to Utah for the Cardon family reunion and to visit Brennan's side of the family. The reunion was a riot! My parents rented a big house by the Jordanelle, a lake near Park City. There was plenty of room for everyone and a great view from the back deck. Grandma did treasure hunts for the kids, we all took a little hike, there were bikes to ride, lots of games to play, and besides sacrament meeting we even had our own family church. It was pretty awesome.
The house we stayed in.
The view from a bike ride we took very close to where we were staying.
A beautiful sunset. They are impossible to truly capture. Cameras don't do it justice, especially not our low-end one. But trust me. It was beautiful.

These pictures are going to be all out of order. But on Sunday we played some Minute to Win It games. If you've never seen the TV show, basically you have a minute to complete random challenges and the more you complete, the more money you win. No money was involved here, just the pride of knowing you were the best. :) The following are pictures of the M&M challenge. We had to pick up 3 M&Ms (one at a time) with a straw in our mouth (no using hands) and balance them on other straws that were standing up in a wooden block.
Stacy was the first to give it a whirl.
Super pregnant Mara trying to do it. Probably a little hard to bend over with that big belly. ;) And for the record she got slobber everywhere and I had to go right after her. Nice. Thank you.
Brennan decided it was all about the stance, and wide stance was the way to go in his opinion.

Next up was the Marble Tape challenge. We put double sided type part way down the table and then had to roll marbles down the table and try to get them to stick to the tape. I might have actually gotten the most on this one. And I think I might have had the fastest time on the M&M challenge. Hmmmmm.....
And last but not least was the Cookie Challenge. We had to put a cookie on our forehead and then using our face muscles we had to try to move the cookie into our mouths. I did not hold the record on this one. Didn't even complete it in fact. It was probably the most entertaining to watch.
Check out that look on his face. He is pretty proud of himself.

Back to Saturday...some of the group ran Utah's toughest 10k that morning. Caleb, Nathan, Brennan, and Crystal were the lucky ones who got to get up early and practically kill themselves on the run. I think eventually they were all happy that they had done it.
The happy group.

Later that morning we took a hike down to the lake. The kids loved skipping rocks and dipping their feet in the water.
Even though we don't look incredibly thrilled in this picture, I'm pretty sure we can count this as one of our bonding moments. Actually we have to, because I didn't get any other pictures of the two of us. Ben was a good sport and got his feet in the water just because I asked. I'm probably just like his favorite sister-in-law or something.

After our hike we packed sack lunches and headed to the park.
Even the BIG kids had fun on the playground. haha. Actually this piece of playground equipment provided a lot of entertainment.

Not sure how well you can see their faces in this picture, but it was the best. Kids are so carefree. I loved watching their complete happiness on this little toy.

I got to ride a road bike for my first time. It was a little scary at first but once I got the hang of it it was a lot of fun. I just might have to buy myself a road bike eventually.

Stacy got a try one too. I think it might have been a little too big for her though. :)Rich decided to try out the padded bikers. Just had to grab a picture. Rich is the greatest.

Preview

We had our first ever family auction at this reunion. We all had to make something homemade to sell at the auction. Then we could earn fake money by eating all of our dinner or helping in the kitchen. We weren't sure how well it would work or how much the kids would really get it, but it ended up being a huge success. It was hilarious to watch the kids. They loved it! And Rich was a great auctioneer.
Everyone waiting to bid.

Gavin holding up his number to place a bid.

I learned out to crochet for the auction. Once I finally got the hang of it it was a lot of fun. But it took me awhile to really learn. I made three little stuffed animals to sell. A duck, a dog, and a bear. I only managed to get a picture of one of them.

There was a hot tub on the back deck of this house, so one night Brennan and I got in it with most of the kids. They are so easy to please. I mean there was hardly any room to move at all and it wasn't cold, so it wasn't like it felt real great, but they couldn't have been happier. It was great.

Preview

On Saturday afternoon we went to the Olympic Park in Park City. There was a ski jump event going on. Despite the incredible heat, it was a lot of fun to watch. They were jumping into a pool with skis on...I'd never seen anything like it.
Me and most of the kids watching the ski jumpers.

Some of the best things about the reunions are new babies. Somehow I didn't get any pictures with Marci and Caleb's new baby, Wyatt. He was very new, very tiny, and very cute. We also got plenty of baby time with Jaren. He's got quite a smile.
I think that about covers it for the family reunion. A nice short post, right? :) The bottom line is that our family is great, I love them all, our reunion was awesome and full of a lot of fun. Thank you mom and dad for the time, money, effort, and love you put into it!! We love you for planning these for us!

Up next: our trip to Lagoon. :)