A Party At Our Place

It's hard to go back and recap the fabulous time we enjoyed together during our official P Family Reunion (August 9-12) but better late than never!  We were really glad the Jeff & Libbie clan drove up a day early so we could spend extra time with a some of our family that live so far away.  Somehow I didn't take any pics of our day touring the area, lunch at Costa Vida, a walk-through tour of Grandma Annie's place before the wrecking ball went to work, foot-zoning fun, etc.

Sadie, Brinley, Jenna, Anna, Tiffany, Korinne

The entire crew showed up by Friday afternoon and it didn't take Tif long to break out the craft projects.

Quinn (4)  & Thomas (5)

The kids loved creating together outside - and I love that Tif put herself in charge of such activities!

G-pa P and Tanner

Inside the house, there was plenty of chatting and laughing....

Tricia and June

and reading...

McKay in his favorite blue shirt.

...and relaxing go on.
Our first evening together was filled with excitement - some good some not so good.  Unexpectedly, Jen and Taylor took Will to the emergency room where surgery was performed to remove Will's appendix.  He was a real trooper and was pretty mellow the rest of our time together.

Anna at the climbing wall

Everybody else headed to the local water park to play in the lazy river, ride the water slides and eat a picnic-style dinner.

Quinn and Brinley

Jessica, Elsie, Korinne

Jantzen and Britton

The next morning dawned bright and early - especially for those with the youngest kids:)

I think most people slept - at least a little bit.

Jeff on "kitchen duty" with McKay supervising?

G-ma P organized the menu for our reunion and assigned two adults and a kitchen-helper (kids over age 8) to be in charge of a particular meal with food prep and clean-up duty included.  It worked very well and the kids did a great job.

Yummy crepes with fresh fruit!

Korinne, Elsie, Jessica

Benson

Jenna

Jessica and Elsie

Our next adventure included a trip to the nearby sand dunes. Running/walking up the sand hills is an awesome workout.  I think the kids could have stayed longer but we had more to do. After lunch some ventured out to our neighborhood pond, others took power-naps and Jen & Taylor returned from the hospital with Will.  June was excited to see them again!
I didn't take my camera so I'll have to get pics from others...

Saturday afternoon was spent checking out the wildlife at Bear World.  And we saw plenty of it!
 In fact, some of us drove through the park more than once.

Our second trip through with Britton and Jantzen was most memorable. A big black bear literally surprised us from behind and basically pummeled the side of our car - leaving a nice scratch above the window.  The bear came face to face with Jantzen - just a thin piece of glass separated the two of them.  We later determined that perhaps the bear smelled the bag of Doritos Jantzen had in the car because the black weather stripping (or whatever it is in a car) was loose and hanging down which meant the scent of Doritos was probably picked up by the hungry bear.  Yeah, we certainly didn't anticipate such excitement!

Jeff holding Xander with Libbie

The kiddies rides -- not just for little kiddies.

Quinn and Tanner

Young and old got in on the action.

Brinley and Anna

No waiting in lines - always a bonus when riding rides.

Elsie and Sadie

Love this pose of Sadie - deep in thought.  Which ride should we go on next?

Anna, Sadie, Brinley

Brinley

Check out the jumbo-sized trout with a "blondie" in the mix.

Quinn and Brinley checking out the animals.

All of the cousins spent their fair share of time on the rides and in the petting zoo before heading back to our place for dinner.

McKay, Taylor & Steve

Aaron and Kristen

Korinne, Benson, Cameron, Sadie, Libbie

Making the smores!

Tif behind the camera.

Jameson liked the marshmallows.

After getting the younger kids to bed, lots of people enjoyed a spectacular meteor show happening outside.  Others were chatting and being foot-zoned inside.

Jenna, Hilary, Heather, Tiffany, Tricia, Brinley, Jen, Libbie, Kristen
Korinne, Abigail, Elsie, Jessica, Anna, June, Sadie

Sunday morning the crew got ready for church.  It was fun having all the cousins in primary together.

Jeff w/Xander, Shawn, Aaron, Tanner, McKay, Taylor, Steve, Adam w/Jameson
Britton, Quinn, Jantzen, Thomas, Cameron, Benson, Will

After attending our Sunday meetings, we enjoyed a yummy meal and celebrated G-pa P's 65th birthday.

Dad's sister, Kathy, supplied the birthday cake along with several other goodies.  She and Brent joined the party along with Marcy and her kids.  They were a great help with our family photo session at the campus gardens.

Anna, Sadie, Abigail, Quinn, Elsie, Thomas and Adam

Brent, Oakley, June, Jen w/Will, Brin, Jeff w/Xander

Kristen, Kathy, Shawn

McKay, Britton, Riley, Jameson, Tricia

Tif, Hilary, Adam, Britton, Steve

Families were color-coordinated.

Taylor, Libbie, Hilary, McKay, Heather, Tiffany
Steve & Kristen

Grandparents/Grandkids

Anna, Brinley, Tanner, Jantzen
Quinn, Heather, Aaron, Elsie

Benson, Libbie, Jeff
Xander, Sadie

Hilary, Korinne, Britton, Jenna, Adam, Jameson

Shawn, Abigail, Tiffany

Taylor, Will, Jen, June

Cameron, Thomas, Tricia, McKay, Jessica

Kristen & Steve

Heather & Aaron

 Attempted cousin "stair-step" picture...

What did Brent call this?  Our "sassy" pose?

Which turned into our "patriotic" pose...

McKay, Libbie, Heather, Hilary

That's when Hilary noticed the photo op...

Taylor's self-portrait

The cousins' "Stair Step" photo - but where's Abigail?

Elsie

Anna

Brinley

My beautiful girls.

The birthday boy opening his gift...and more treats!

G-ma P shared a beautiful FHE message with us about our family heritage and the importance of developing vibrant faith and doing hard things just like our ancestors did.

Afterwards, the children were invited to make a hand-print on fabric for a family heirloom quilt.

Thanks Jen and Tif for helping out in the craft department again!

Jameson and June sharing an ice cream cone.

Taylor, June, Shawn

The weather was perfect all weekend and we enjoyed eating many meals outside on our back patio.
Monday morning rolled around all too quickly!

Dad cooking up the bacon with McKay - supervising again in his blue shirt.

Jen and Mom - serving up the pancakes.

Will and Quinn - checking out a family photo book.
They liked finding pictures of themselves in the same book.


 After a leisure morning, people starting packing up to head out - but not before a little dancing! I'm pretty sure Jameson has an audience wherever he goes, especially when the music starts.

Jameson and his audience.

Our much anticipated reunion was quickly coming to an end.  As each family drove away, I felt a bit of sadness at their departure.  We had a fantastic time and in many ways it felt too short.  Still so many conversations yet to have!  It'll be another while before we can all gather again.  Special thanks to G-ma and G-pa P for providing these wonderful memories.  You're wonderful and we love you both!