Another Family Reunion

We had three family reunions in 24 hours.  This one was for my mom's side of the family. Usually this reunion his held on the 4th of July to celebrate my grandparents wedding anniversary.  This was the first year I have ever known it to be held on a different date than the 4th of July.  We only had about half of the family there but I still had a good time talking to cousins, aunts and uncles.

Here's my mom's sister and her husband.  You wouldn't have guessed that my mom could have a blond sister, but she does...in fact, she has two blond sisters.

I love this photo of my SIL.  She is such a beautiful person and has many great talents.  One of those talents is that she is a hard worker and I love that talent (probably because I consider myself to be a hard worker also).

Isn't that a sad face?  (Makes a great photo).

Here's my cousin and one of her cute daughters.  Fun picture, huh?!

I know that this photo is blurry but look at those girls...they are cousins, not siblings, yet they look like twins.  Wish I could have taken a better photo but this is what I have.

This is my cousin and my sister.  My cousin was my very best friend for many years and my next door neighbor as we grew up.  And now we are all growed up!

Had to get some photos of the lil' uns.

And lots of fun on the hill with the ball and an Uncle that doesn't say "no" to fun!

Did I mention fun?  Yep, that's what happens at a family reunion.

Family Reunion at my parents house

In July we had a family reunion with my father's siblings in my parents backyard.  It was so much fun to get together with everyone, get caught up on each others' busy lives, and see how the kids are growing up.

My cute sister!

...and her husband!

And the little kids enjoyed going on the merry-go-round.   Just like I used to do when I was much younger. (you know, a month ago...hee, hee).

Look at my brother and his cute son!  This son really loves his daddy.

I love this picture.  My aunt and cousin are enjoying a laugh together. (I wonder what they are laughing about)?

Look at that smile!

This is my cousin and her daughter.  I can't believe that my cousin has a daughter old enough to start college this fall.  Both of these ladies are awesome and I'm glad they are part of my family.

Here's a picture with the ladies!

I like this picture of my cousin and his son.

And me!  (Thanks to my cousin's wife for taking the camera and getting a photo of me.  Usually I take all the photos and don't get many of myself).

I love this photo of my parents backyard and the sun setting in the west, causing the sun to hit Mount Timpanogus.  Beautiful!

This is the other side of the sunset.  I love the clouds and the colors.  I love sunsets.  I hope to live somewhere where I can see sunsets regularly.  I always took them for granted until they weren't there anymore.

My cousins wife took this photo of her husband, daughter and newborn son.  Isn't it an awesome photo?

My cousin and her cop husband.  My cousin in an author and is currently writing a couple books.  She also stays busy with two cute boys and a little girl. 

And we played some games and got to know each other a little bit better.  I think we need family reunions more often so that we can stay close as family.

Just had to show that SM was there, visiting with many family members, including my brother.

And the final photo is my niece...so beautiful and cute!

4th of July Family Activities

After the big water slide, we had other activities to celebrate the freedoms we've been given and the opportunity to be with family.  The kids made their own ice cream in a bag within a bag.

And they loved eating the ice cream...even if it was softer than they were used to eating ice cream.

And there was time to dry off on towels.

And a smaller slip and slide for the smaller kiddos.

Here's my niece making her own ice cream but you can tell that she has already had a blue frozen ice because of her cute blue upper lip.

Later that day we had a BBQ...you know you can't just have Hawaiian Shaved Ice and ice cream...even if that sounds really yummy.  Real food always tastes good after expending so much energy on the slip & slide.

In the middle of the afternoon we had Hawaiian Shaved Ice...which is a scoop of vanilla ice cream, with a scoop of shaved ice on top, then flavored syrup and coconut milk/cream on top.  Very yummy!

And here's that cute husband of mine!  (He's helping the kids get ice in bags so that they can make their own ice cream).

And the kids took turns pushing each other around inside this ball.   Later in the evening when we were cleaning up, I got in this ball and got pushed around in the yard.  I felt like I was a kid again.  Lots of fun was had by everyone.  This was a 4th of July to remember.

4th of July Family Slip & Slide

On the 4th of July, SM's brother and wife put together this giant slip & slide in their yard and invited all the family over.  The slide was 50 feet long and ten feet wide.  They put a couple sprinklers onto the slide and some baby oil.

Look at that determination on his face.  The brothers were trying to slide to the end of the slide.

Even SM's mother tried the slide a couple of times. 

I was very leery of trying the slide because I know I'm a klutz.  And, well, I did try it.  And it did hurt me.  But at least I tried it and was part of the family.  (This is my new swim suit...my old one gave up on all the elastic...I used it since high school).

I did laugh every time I tried to slide.  Notice I didn't even get close to the end of the slide.  And I provided much entertainment for others...lots of laughter all around.

SM's older brother slid like a pro...

And his nephew was amazing as he slid all the way down the slide.

SM's youngest brother tried some other ways to go down the slide.  This was his "Super Man" pose.

Our sister-in-law is a natural athlete and slid all the way to the end.  Wahoo!  Lots of fun!

And here's a photo of my other SIL...she has a permanent smile and all of her photos are gorgeous.  She's the owner of this slide and set it up for us.

And here's a younger brother sliding down in style...with his sunglasses on and a smile on his face.

The newest SIL is also a natural athlete and was amazing as she slid down the slide and off the slide.  She was probably the fastest girl zipping down the slide.

Here's my niece...check out those core muscles.

I think all of my nieces and nephews were pros at the slide.

And there were smiles all around.  What a fun family activity!

Getting Caught UP!!

So, for the past month I have been taking a lot of pictures.  A lot has happened, a lot of family activities, reunions, and fun activities.  And then we drove over 2,000 miles and moved to the other side of the country.  So, I've decided to try to get caught up...and it's a bit overwhelming.  Luckily I'm only a month late.  One day at a time or one blog entry at a time!  Ready, set, go!