Wyoming part 2

I better finish up our vacation... so here it goes:

My mom and dad planned a "family reunion" the weekend of Aug 1-3, so after the wedding (mentioned earlier) down in UTAH and the dinner party that evening in Evanston, we drove another 2 1/2 hours up to my parents new home on the 'ranch' that night! Believe me, that was a busy day for sure. Saturday morning rolls in (after a very chilly night sleeping in a tent) and we begin by playing some doubles tennis... lots of fun... Then after breakfast, whom ever was able loaded up and we played 9 holes of golf. It was one of my better rounds so that made me happy! ****Thanks Jess and Mom for watching my boys so I could go play! We also floated down the Salt River and then the rest of the day was spent chatting and playing yard games together. It was a blast!

I tried to get pictures, but I didn't get everyone. Here are the ones I got:

My brother Derek, his lovely wife Allie and munchkin Lily



next my Sister Aimee and her main squeeze Eric (It was nice to meet him for the first time)


My brother Dusty, his honey Jess and little man Tyson

My Brother Ryan and our lovely Grandma Mary Hoopes and Denise Ivory


Here the men are loading up the truck with as many tubes as we can for floating down the river. Good Job GUYS!


That Monday, most everyone that was still around headed to a traditional summer family spot on the North Shore of Bear Lake. The weather was gorgeous and the water was fantastic! This was Brecon's first experience with sand and it was a great one! He only ate a couple of handfuls of the stuff :) No really, he loved it! He really was so excited about the "shallow" wash area, you know where the water is almost "too warm"? Well, he just would get so excited, lay on his tummy and soak it all in. It was a party!

Cousin Tyson and Brecon enjoying some play time in the water... so cute!


This was taken immediately after Cael had been buried up to his neck in sand. He fought his way out and he doesn't look happy at all, does he? More like "BRING IT ON AGAIN"!


Like I said before, we really enjoyed seeing our brothers and sisters and moms and dads and other extended family and spending time with them. It has been a long time since we have ALL been together. So even though it was only a short while, it really meant so much to us. We often feel sad because we live so far away from all of our family members. We talk on the phone and we hear about a family party or how the family all went camping, or any other simple or special occasion where most all of our family is getting together, and we are sad. There is just something wonderful about having family close by and we feel like we miss out.... That's why we enjoy seeing our family when we get the chance, we appreciate and love and cherish it. We also know that getting together all the time isn't going to be easy, but we will try our best when we get the chance. So thank you to our families for putting up with us during our visit and letting us enjoy our time with you! We love you!



SO....Not to say that we don't love our home, because we do. We have amazing friends who love us and take care of us and they are like our family, only they live close by. Really, they love us and we love them back. It's just nice to have people who feel like family when we live so far away from our real ones. So thank you to our very wonderful friends who put up with us all the time! You guys are the best and we love you too!