Cedar Breaks Reunion-Fun We Had

Nina helping James "swim"

escaping to the playground while the adults sort out the room assignments.

Nina was a huge help with James. He wasn't too excited about slides.

This is Cambria riding a skateboard in the parking lot. The little boys thought it was great.

Charlie's new truck!

On Thursday we all went down to Parowan to the local LDS chapel. We figured it was the only place large enough for us to all be together comfortably for a dinner and games. Grandma and Grandpa had put together a delicious meal. Nicole had brought stuff to do some craft activities, Richard and Donna brought some Minute to Win It games, and we also had "Grandma's Goodie Grab" That is a favorite activity. Grandma likes to bargain hunt and when she finds a good deal she buys the item and stashes it. After a while her stash is big so she loads it up and brings it to a gathering. There she sets all of it out and we play her game. She calls a letter and if your names starts with that letter you get to go pick something out. We keep going around until all the goodies have been grabbed. I ended up with a set of books for my library, there was jewelry and toys and clothing that came home with us. Pretty cool game!

Soren helping Brian with his new train set.

Ford and Hannah learning how to make paracord bracelets.

Nina yakking with someone. More bracelet making.

Spencer showing off his skills.

We were divided into teams and each team had to introduce themselves with a chant, cheer or dance.
Spencer's addition was pretty cool.

Come on Jordan, hit that bucket! 

Bobblehead game. There were some tired necks.

Hannah trying to get her pompom stuck to her vaselined nose. Isabelle beat her.

Soren giving it a go.

Cambria attempting to be Nina, the Green-nosed Girly.

Curtis the Blur! 

Sadie accomplished it.

There was a keep the balloon up game for the younger kids.

Bobble Head Jr. version

Charles jamming out to some of Ford's or Jordan's tunes.

Trying not to smile.

Making new friends at the country store. Charles looks a little apprehensive.

Not Nina!! I like this boyfriend. You can keep him, Cambria.

There were other fun things to do at Brian Head. Kyle took his kids on a hike, we talked about going to Duck Creek, or Navajo Lake, or hiking to the falls, but it was pretty rainy that day so we mostly hung out in the rooms. We also had a spa going on in Nicole's room with finger and toenail painting, and an essential oils class taught by Lori.

When there are this many people around, there is always something fun to do!

Family Reunion at Cedar Breaks-Where we Stayed

I am going to break down the posts related to our reunion cause I have sooooo many pictures.

Our Welch Family Reunion was held July 11-14, 2012. We had to bring two vehicles to get all our people and luggage there. Since our Suburban's engine was still iffy, we used Grandma's Durango and Ford drove over in the little truck with all the luggage in the back. Crazy what has to be taken for a 4 day vacation.

Grandma Welch got us accommodations at Cedar Breaks Lodge which is actually at Brian Head. That is in the mountains above Cedar City. It's a resort there. We all had some apartment type rooms with kitchens and living spaces and two bedrooms/baths. It was sort of crazy at meal times because whoever was in charge of the meal(usually Grandma) had to open up their room for the hordes to come in and eat. The rooms were big but were not big enough for the 70+ people we had at the reunion. I am so thankful to Grandma and Grandpa for making this whole thing happen. It was not inexpensive but they love getting everyone together so much that it was worth it to them to provide this. 

Here are some pictures:

the pavilion and main lodge

The main lodge had a nice weight room, pool, hot tub, conference rooms. It also had a restaurant but we never ate there. We had a closing meeting and testimony meeting in one of the conference rooms the last night we were there. It is still so hard to believe how huge the family is getting. And then to think that some day ours will be as large. Hopefully. If our kids choose to have larger families.....9 kids marrying and having 5-6 kids each....do the math!

Nice outdoor playground

In the center of the three buildings that make up the lodge there is a grassy area with the pavilion and some playground equipment. The little people used the playground a lot, (when it wasn't raining) and there was a mean game of baseball played out there as well by everyone who wanted to join in. The pavilion had several tables and about 3 gas BBQ grills.

A seating area in the 'commons'

Our room were the 3rd and 4th windows from the left on the middle row of windows.  Curtis and I had a large master bedroom with fireplace and master bath with a huge jetted tub. James was in the corner of the room in his playpen. The girls and one of the little boys had the other bedroom and the boys all slept in the living area. The couch made out into a bed where Ford and Jordan slept and we pushed two chairs together for a little boy(whichever was not sleeping in the bedroom).

Brian Head is quite high in altitude. The weather was nice but cool and cloudy a lot. And it rained quite a bit. The kids made good use of the pool and hot tub, which is to the left of the pool in the picture below. Charles even finally got in and had a good time. Took almost all night but he finally did it!!

We filled up the pool all by ourselves.

There was a basketball court off the south end of the parking lot and a beautiful view of the meadow to the south of the resort. Brian Head is a ski resort town, so most of the amenities were geared to outdoor activities.

I'm losing the battle

I had great plans to post much more frequently over the summer. However, I failed to take into account having the kids home. And the fact that they all want to be on the computer. I am losing the battle to get computer time because there are just too many of them and only one of me. And I'm just too old to stay up late to post.

Actually I have put passwords on the computer and we are all learning to find other things to do with our time. Some sewing, quilt square cutting, crocheting and cooking are happening around here! Just finished reading Robinson Crusoe to Joe(6) and just starting the Oddysey with Noelle(12). The other kids are all reading on their own. Lots of exercise between walking, running, weightlifting, plyometrics and gymnastics. And lots of feeding of pigs.

 We are having a terrific summer. Hope you are too.

It was just so Fourth!

BB shooting. Redneck 4th of July!!

This year we decided to see what the kids wanted to do for the 4th. Blanding hosts the parade and activities on the 4th and Monticello does the 24th. The kids decided that they would rather not go to Blanding but would rather have some fun at home and then go down at dark for the fireworks. Smart choice!

Nina taking aim. 

They had a list of activities they wanted to do. Shooting, tin foil dinners, games at home, and fireworks.

Hannah, Hunter(friend), Charles, Soren and Sadie

Charles learning how to hold the gun.

Do we have to smile?

James' turn

Looks like he's getting it down.

Only in the country can a boy shoot a bb gun in his own front yard.

Assembling our yummy dinner! We love tin foil dinners.

waiting for the fireworks to start

We found a place to watch fireworks in Blanding the first year we went down there. We park in the parking lot of the San Juan Building Supply. Its just north and east of the park where they shoot off the fireworks but it's mostly empty and isolated from the crowds at the park. We can see the show well and we can get out of Dodge quickly before the park empties itself. Win/win.

Whose devil children are those?

 OOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

 AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Way to try to get out of the photo Sadie! She is always doing the opposite of a photo bomb!

A perfect ending to a wonderful, relaxing day celebrating America's birthday!

Shoe Redo

I finally decided to be brave and attempt some minor shoe fix-up. Paint scares me for some reason but I decided I had very little to lose with these two pairs of shoes. I've had these LEI ruffly flats for a year since I began dressing my truth. They were a great color to begin with, but you can see the wear on them and they were becoming quite useless to me. Not nice enough for Church anymore.

you'd think I used them for brakes when I ride a bike or something.

This pair of wedges I bought a couple of years ago looking for a fun pair of sandals. I think they have T2 characteristics. The cascading flowers and the straps are soft suede. Unfortunately they are black. Yup, that color I don't wear anymore. So it was either paint them or DI them. 

You can see my expert painting techniques here. Stuffing them with grocery bags and taping off the heels. Pro.

I used Krylon Brushed Metallic spray-paint in the Brushed Nickel color. Here are the results. I am pretty happy with them and I think I'll get lots more wear out of them. You can hardly see the scuff marks!

And here are the wedges. I think they turned out very cool. The flowers are more visible and the straps have an almost sparkly look because of the suede. Can't really see that in the photo. So excited to have some heels to wear now!

And just for fun, thought I'd share the new sandals I found. Another LEI shoe from Walmart. I got them to wear to Youth Conference because we were going to be doing a lot of walking and I didn't want to wear something between my toes or shoes that would give me blisters. I need to get some silver nail polish and cover the rivets which are a yellowy color, but they are so comfy and have a slight wedge heel to them. Sort of dressy but comfy casual at the same time.

Wordfull Wednesday - Night Games

http://www.wildretina.com/nature/full-moon-in-night-sky-over-water.html

The first summer we lived here and hardly knew anyone we were surprised to hear a knock on our door one evening. There was a group of kids, various ages, standing on our porch, asking if our kids wanted to come and play 'Night Games'.

Even before school gets out the 'Night Games' commence as soon as it's warm enough to do so. 

It's tradition in our little town for the children to get together as it starts to get dark and play games.

I remember playing some of them when I was a kid. 'Kick the Can', 'Sardines' and 'No Bears Are Out Tonight' have been around for a long time. 

There have been some new games introduced since I lived here as a kid. 'Fugitive', 'Come to Court' and 'Murder in the Dark' seem to be the popular ones currently.

These games are played all summer long, as many nights as they can get a bunch of kids together.

I like that it's a tradition that includes all types and ages of kids, (even some who are only kids at heart). 

My 6 yo son still talks about the time his big brother took him to play because we were out of town and  big bro wanted to play so little bro got to come along. I like that it's an inexpensive way to have some summer fun in a small town where you have to make your own fun.