Walker Family Reunion 2015...

Labor Day weekend was our annual Walker Family Reunion...which is basically our excuse to play for an entire weekend. The past couple years we have based from Grandma and Grandpa's house and had most of our activities center around the house (which works well for napping kids and babies).

One of our favorite things to do it go find a secluded sand bar and let the kids dig and splash and play for hours. This year was no exception...despite the chilly wind's best efforts!

 

 

 

The goggles were a pretty big hit with the kids and a pretty great source of entertainment for the adults!

 

 

Ellie did get cold pretty quickly and wanted to snuggle up in her cute new towel (from Grandma) for most of the beach time...so she made her way into a lot of these pictures!!

 

 

 

 

 

I was lucky to get Brig to stop for any pictures at all. You see, the big boys have "The Nature Club" (I need to post more on that soon...it's kind of a big deal!) and that pretty much governs all they do. So while they were at the beach, Brig was super excited to catch some little fish. He was even more excited to take them back to Grandma's and study them...and then dissect them with his beloved pocket knife. The same pocket knife that he used that evening to cute up some pears he found and cook over the campfire.  Oh boy. I tried not to think about it too much. He was in heaven.

 

 

 

 

 

One highlight was when Grandpa surprised all the kids with their own watermelons. Each of the 12 kids had their very own melon to indulge themselves. They loved it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's hard to see in this picture but the theme of the reunion this year was to Be The Good and Believe There Is Good in the World. A great message to remember!

 

 

Another fun thing was taking the boat out- this is the first time that some of the grandkids went on a tube and everyone had fun! It was pretty cold again so a lot of the moms weren't even planning on getting in the water but it just looked like such a great time that we all had to give it a shot...and we all ended up getting pretty wet! It was great!

 

 

There are so many other moments that I just didn't have my phone or camera to take some pictures...

piñata, tin foil dinners, the dad's hike, the kids hike, playing in the sandbox, making skirts for the little girls, lots of food, lots of toys, new towels, laughing, learning a new game, cousin time, grown up "time out" (aka...the giant tote of candy) and lots of fun!

Thanks for the memories Grandma and Grandpa!

 

Utah Trip {Part 2}...

I am really frustrated with myself for not bringing my real camera for this part of our trip but thank goodness we have iPhones...even if some of the pictures are super blurry.

The main reason we chose this particular weekend to head down to Utah was because it was my Grandma Arlene's 80th Birthday.

This is one special lady to me.  She is my only biological grandma that I know and I don't see her or the Huff side very often so this was a fun treat.

 

 

Some of the Huff cousins...I always admire how close they all are and how much fun they have together!

 

 

We were especially excited when we found out the my biological dad Mark and step mom Dee were going to be at the party. It was really nice to see them and show off our growing kiddos. I just wish we could have seen Carlee, Parker and Hannah.

 

 

I think one of the neatest parts of visiting everyone was to hear how much they said I looked like all of them...I have the Huff eyelashes, or I look just like Aunt Krissy, or that big head of Jase & I comes from the Huffs:) There is definitely something special about seeing who you come from and feeling the connection that comes from more than just genetics.

 

 

We had a great time and I loved seeing my kids interact, play and tease with everyone! I consider myself blessed to part of the Huff family!

Walker Family Reunion 2014...

It happened...the time that Brig looks forward to almost as much as Christmas.

Seriously.

The Walker Family Reunion.

 

 

There are so many kids now! 12 littles under the age of 7. It can get a little crazy.

We had a pretty low key reunion this year. It was at the Grandma & Grandpa's house which made it convenient for most of those little kids to sleep in their own beds (since 3 out of 4 Walker kids live in Emmett now!!! What?)

Having 12 kids running around also means having 12 noses running.

Seriously. I think every kid gets sick after these big shindigs. Most of the time it doesn't really slow them down.

 

 

Ellie did spend most of the time freezing under a blanket as her body burned up with a fever. The poor girl felt awful and her fever lasted way too long.

 

 

Luckily, with the help of some Motrin. She did manage to squeeze some fun in too.

 

 

 

A few highlights were:

The TRAEGER cook off. If you haven't eaten food cooked on this fancy-schmancy BBQ...come over. We will convert you.

The Circle of Stone Boxes (more on these later)

The Choles (I am not sure I spelled that correctly and can't believe that after an entire weekend I somehow missed getting a picture of them. Dad shared the gospel with them in Virginia when he was a missionary and they came and visited us in Idaho. They were so kind!)

 

 

 

The mini-4 wheeler races. These got pretty intense. And I have to say that Cory almost had a heart attack as I zipped around that "track" like a crazy person. He had to admit...it was pretty hot too:)

The canal is always a hit providing lots of wet and dry entertainment (this is supposed to be kept on the DL)

Good food. Mom always makes sure to get everyone's favorites. It makes for a lot of happy tummies!

And lots of cousin time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Annual High School Ranch Visit...

I think we need to come up with a better name for this get-together.  That one is just too long...we are taking suggestions now:)

Anyways, several of Cory's high school friends had been planning a reunion of sorts this summer.  Last year was their 10th high school reunion and they all decided that they would rather just get together and see each other...so this little shindig was created!

 

 

Cory had a really close group of high school friends- most of them all stay in touch quite well too! So they decided to get together at the same place where they shared plenty of memories back in the day... the Lazy R Ranch... (check it out- it is pretty fancy now with a beautiful barn, horseback rides and a great cabin to stay in... www.idahoguestranch.com) this time there were wives and kids in tow.

 

 

We had so much fun fishing, paddling, horseback riding, talking, reminiscing, eating, and laughing. And we were only there for a few hours!

 

 

 

 

We decided to make it a tradition for every two years.  Next time- we hope everyone will be able to make it!