Tuesday afternoon all of the teenagers and most of the adults went to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. Jeremy and Heidi's family has been making it a goal to all go to the temple together once a month (what an amazing goal). It was Max's first time and Mer was able to do a family name. They said it was a great experience to be at the temple with family.
We then met them all at Casa Bonita, the Disney Land of
Colorado, for a fun night of bad mexican food, cliff divers, terrible acting,
haunted houses, arcade games, sopapias and much much more. It was so much fun to have fun and be crazy
with all the kids.
Wednesday we went to Rocky Mountain National Park to go
hiking. (Ben didn't get to go because he had to work this day.) We had a rough
start, the road up to the park was closed so we had to detour and then we
entered the park at the wrong enterance so we had to drive a little further,
but it turned out really fun. We hiked
up to Dream Lake (the same hike we did with Rachel and Wendy a few weeks
before) and then up to some falls. It
was really beautiful and fun to be in the outdoors. We had a, late, but very good lunch and then
headed down the mountain exhausted and happy.
Thursday morning was the Family Service project. After Ron's stroke the yard took the back burner to everything else so for the
service project we did a lot of yard work.
Trees were cut down, weeds pulled, mulch spread, weed barrier laid and
lots of critters caught (and habitats made).
Thursday afternoon was the big family event, the LUAU!! Rachel and Nedra
always put on a big event; there are costumes, great food, decorations, entertainment
(hula and haka dance), games and more. This year Nedra made a shark cut out and
everyone got to have their picture taken with the shark face. It is always so fun and so great that
everyone has something to do and to contribute.
Friday morning the brother's all went golfing. While they were gone we went to Pearl Street
and got to walk around and get ice cream.
Saturday was a slow, low key, day. In the afternoon (after the annual Chef King
lunch) everyone went to see a movie. Sunday morning we took the family picture. I love taking and having these pictures (it
is fun to see how much the kids grow) and although it is crazy getting that
many people to sit still, look in the same direction, and do it with a smile,
it is worth it. We all then went to church and had a low key, relaxing
day. Oh, and we had a great talent show- we have some talented kids in our family!
Of course every night, once the kids were asleep, we played
games. The favorite this year was poker! It was fun to play, until the
brother's started dominating (ha), and the teenagers got really into it.
One of my favorite parts about the evenings was family
prayers. Ron still doesn't get around
well and so he stays down in his room most of the time (which I think he would
still do if he did get around well) so we don't see him a lot during the
festivities. Every night we would all go
down to his room, crowd onto the bed, sit on the floor and find any available
place to stand, so that we could have family prayer. It was so nice to have the whole family there
to pray together; even though it was crazy with kids and talking it always
settled down and you could feel the spirit.
It made me appreciate our eternal families and the opportunity we have
to be with each other forever!!
It was a fun reunion and I am so glad that we got to spend
the time with the Newson family.
Elizabeth loved her cousins, especially Jack (she still is a little obsessed
with him) and Malcolm (they were so cute together), and had so much fun with them all. I felt like I got to know some people better
and loved spending time with everyone.
It was sad to see everyone go and we are already looking forward to next
year!!
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