Labor Day Weekend!

Sandy was only back in school for a week before we took off yet again. We went to Camp LoMia in Pine, Az for a Stratton Family Reunion with the descendants of my great grandparents on my mom's side of the family over Labor Day Weekend. I must admit it was quite stressful for me since it was pouring rain a lot of the time we were there. It was so muddy and we had to walk through streams of water created by the rain anytime we had to go between the lodge and our cabin. However, Tyson had fun playing in the mud and finding worms and just being outdoors.

The highlight of the reunion for me is always our big family auction. Everyone brings homemade items to put in the auction and then we auction them off and use the money that is made to pay for the reunion and future reunions. Here a few pics of some of the stuff we auctioned off. These were taken before everything was put out.

We had a glow stick dance party one night that was a big hit with all of the kids. Tyson surprised us by being one of the last 2 kids dancing when they shut off the music. 

Tyson got extra brave and went down the zip-line!

We ended up coming home on Sunday instead of staying through to Monday afternoon because Charly wasn't doing very good. So on Monday we went to Fountain Hills to see the Fountain.

Charly enjoyed relaxing on the blanket and Tyson wouldn't leave the park. (Not even to watch the fountain)

And there you have it. Our adventures of Labor Day Weekend! :)

Skouson Family Reunion!

This past week we had the opportunity to go to Aspen Grove in Provo Utah with all of the Skousons. We were traveling with an almost 7 week old baby so we drove about halfway and met up with Sandy's parents in Las Vegas. On Saturday we finished the drive to Provo but we stopped in Beaver for lunch. Tyson was not happy about taking a picture with the beaver at the gas station.

So on Saturday we checked in and they had an orientation for everyone at camp. Afterwards we signed up for the activities we wanted to participate in during the week. There were all kinds of sports the parents could participate in. Pretty much every sport you can think of. Usually everything fills up pretty fast but this week was the last week Aspen Grove was open for the summer because kids are back in school so we didn't have as many people at the camp while we were there. We still had a blast though. 

On Sunday they have all 3 hours of church. Here is Charly hanging out with Nana during relief society. She loves to smile. :)

After church we went on a family walk to take up some of our afternoon free time. Tyson loves to be outside exploring. Charly spent a lot of the week strapped to me and covered to keep from getting sunburned when we were outside. 

In the evenings we had a big common area to hang out and play games together. I had to throw in this picture of Tyson holding Charly. He loves having a little sister. 

On Monday we got to drop Tyson off with all the other 3 year olds to hang out and do activities together so we were free to go off and do whatever we wanted. We spent our free time doing various activites but one of our favorites was playing Kubb. 

Charly even enjoyed hanging with us. 

Monday afternoon was the Aspen Follies for the whole family. They had all kinds of activities for us to participate in as a family. Some of them were pretty challenging. I just took pictures the whole time since I was carrying Charly. Here are some highlights. 

Before we took off to the field for the Aspen Follies, Nana and Papa brought out some squirt guns for the kids to play with. It turned into quite a war for the older boys. And Tyson got tired of getting squirted. 

On Tuesday we got family pictures taken early in the morning... too early for Tyson. We don't have those pictures yet but I'm sure we will get a good laugh out of them when we see them since Tyson was crying the whole time. Later on Tyson got to go swimming with his group. He loves to swim and has no fear of the water even though he doesn't know how to swim on his own yet. 

Tuesday afternoon the adults could do the ropes course. Sandy, Nicci, Papa, Bryant, and Todd participated. They had to climb up a log, rock climb, walk on ropes 30 feet up in the trees, and then repel down at the end. 

Tuesday night was Frontier night. This was a night of fun activities mostly for the kids. Tyson loved riding on the train and he was given the Indian name of smiling wolf. 

Wednesday morning was the Adult vs Young Adult dodge ball game. There was one game where it was just Sandy left against 5 or 6 young adults and he came back and beat them. They were all so worn out after dodge ball so we skipped the hike we were supposed to go on afterwards. 

Later in the day we fit in a couple games of frisbee golf and some family swim time. Tyson had fun going down the slide over and over and over again. 

Thursday was MY BIRTHDAY! There was a 3 on 3 basketball game in the morning. The family played a few games of speed to warm up. They lost the basketball game though. 

Sandy took Charly in the afternoon so I could take a nap. They went and watched some of the family fishing. I don't have any pictures of it so here is a picture of the moose that showed up at the pond during the day sometime. Can you spot him? He is on the right side of the pond climbing out of the water. 

Thursday night was the family dance. I'm not much of a dancer myself but it was a lot of fun watching the Skouson family show off their moves. Here is a clip of the craziness that I married into. I love it!

Friday morning we all had to go our separate ways. The cousins had so much fun together and were sad to have to part. Here are some of the fun shots we got of the kids together throughout the week.

Sorry for the super long post but I want to have this on record for our family. I'm trying to use this blog as a family journal. :)