Each year we have the grand opportunity to visit Jonah's family's property on the shores of the enormous Bear Lake, which sits on the border of Utah and Idaho (and nearly on the border of Wyoming too... its right there in the corner where the three states meet). This year we got up there almost a week before the big influx of people, so we were able to welcome everyone as they arrived. We spent the 4th up there too... although I am having a hard time finding photos. BUT, it wasn't anything too spectacular because we usually rely on the neighbors setting off some awesome fireworks that we can just watch. It is great to be on a big wide sandy beach to watch the fireworks.
My kids are in heaven at Bear Lake, especially once all of the cousins arrive. They each have quite a few cousins their same age, so they are never alone. Cam is the oldest of a group of five boys, not including the girl cousin two days older than him, another girl cousin eight months younger, and another girl cousin 11 months older. His sociality really shines through when he gets to the lake.
Ana mainly hangs with her two cousins-- Grace who is two months older than her and Isaac who is six weeks. They are quite the trio.
Elsie has a whole gaggle of girls her age, including Lucy who is a few months older, and Emmeline and Lyla, who are about 18 months younger.
Po really lucked out to have two boy cousins her same age. She loves it.
Jonah loves having such great brothers and brothers-in-law to waterski and fix the multitude of engine malfunctions with.
And of course I love all the great conversations and festive reunion activities. I especially appreciated having my kids fed and entertained while I spent a lot of the nearly three weeks fairly sick. Well, the first two weeks were bad, but I got much better once we visited a doctor friend who figured the strep throat must have knocked down my blood volume and made me extremely low on iron (a common problem with me) to the point where I was having symptoms like altitude sickness or panic attacks. Once Jonah gave me a giant spinach and strawberry smoothie once a day and I ate a lot of frozen chimichangas (surprisingly high in iron and protein with very little sugar), I started to feel much much better. The heart racing and shortness of breath at random times of the day of day was starting to get real old... so glad it wasn't what the doctor initially feared it was, which was either rheumatic fever or a damaged heart valve. This is the second time I've been sick at the family reunion, and as much as it is a bummer to miss out on a lot of the fun, it is SUCH a huge relief to be able to recover without having to worry too much about cooking and cleaning and entertaining the kids. I feel bad to not be able to contribute, but I'm also so thankful to have everyone's help. At least this year I wasn't contagious so I could hang out in the midst of the crowd and at least get in on the conversations. I could also sit on the beach and go in the boat-- I just couldn't get my heart rate up or it wouldn't stop. Whew. Glad that's over.
Anyway, my sisters-in-law do a much better job of recording the happenings of the reunions, so I'll link here to their sights and then put on a few of my own photos. Our memory card was broken for a few weeks, so that's part of my excuse for not taking as many photos as they did...
And my mother-in-law probably did the most complete synopses of all:
Jonah's youngest brother Eli cuttin' it up. Sadly, I did not capture any epic crashes on film this year, but the rooster tail on these ones are sweet...
Jonah with the deepest cut ever. Not deep... like deep. Like his knees are nearly submerged.
Paddleboarding
Po just played in the shallows for hours and hours every day.
She also made friends with Uncle Jeff and made sure she always got in on the canoe rides.
Cam got up on skis again and even got up on a wakeboard for his first time.
Po and Peter were killer cute. They are only a couple months different in age and both have names that start with P and are both the fourth kid in the family!
They didn't get very far on this bike though.
Ana is taking after her aunts-- she's a sunset lover!
Ana dressed up a bit for the Bandito show this year. We go to the Pickleville Playhouse every year to get our melodrama fix in for the year. It was hilarious, as usual.
Ana and Grace and their yearly traditional tandem rides.
Even though the Kolob Fire is still a heartache, it makes treasures refound like this one all the better. Can't wait to get this onto DVD... and SO glad we paid for an extra copy to give to the in-laws!
We had a fun ragnar-style race this year. I can't remember how our team did... I think 2nd? I had to be the designated driver.
Cam fulfilled his dream of winning Fear Factor this year! Good thing he loves weird food anyway!
We also had an enchanting time letting off some floating lanterns.
Hooray for Bear Lake!
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