JFFR 2012

Our trip west merits far more than one blog post, but this will have to do.  Here are the highlights:

Our first stop in Utah (after staying the night with my Aunt Claudia) was temple square.  Dear future Merrody, you can't blame me for posting these pictures.  This is the face you made everytime I had to take a picture of you facing the sun.  I think you're still cute. :)

We also visited the Great Salt Lake and stayed the night with my sister, Bethany.  The next day we drove around BYU and went to visit our great friends, the Jacksons. (sorry, no pictures).

On Wednesday morning, we headed up Hobble Creek Canyon for the 2012 Joel Flake Family Reunion (JFFR).  This year it was held at my Uncle Lawrence's home.  It was a pretty sweet set up.  He has a nice big house with 9 rooms that could conceivably be arranged into bedrooms ( 7 real bedrooms).  He also has a tire swing, a merry-go-round, many trampolines, a rope swing, a zip line, a fun shallow creek and horses.

As you might imagine, Merrody was totally in heaven with the horses.  Each morning, Grandpa Flake would wake her up bright and early and have her go down to feed and saddle the horses with him.  She spent a lot of time riding and a lot of time "instructing" her fellow cousins on how to do it best.

Most of our meals were served on the nice, big wrap around deck. 

Each day, different people were assigned to do specific activities for the grandkids.  There were kids making their own golf course, baking with Grandma and Grandpa, manicures, friendship bracelets, and so much more.

There were plenty of sports.  One morning we had a family race, complete with trophies and medals.  We also had a kid's fun run, a family field day, swimming at my cousin's house and a family dance party.

There was plenty of time spent just messing around and enjoying each other's company.

This year's reunion was chocked full of so many fun activities.  Our kids loved being with their cousins.  Matt and I loved being with our siblings and in-laws and parents, etc.

After the reunion, we dropped Matt off at the airport and drove to Boise for a week.  First we stayed with Joel and his family.

Joel recently built a nice, big new house with a beautiful swimming pool.  The kids were in heaven!  They swam every chance they got.  They also jumped on the trampoline, went four wheeling, went into town to the movies, and visited a bee farm.  It was a pretty great week.

Then we drove to Salt Lake and picked Matt up and drove the long drive home.  It was such a fun vacation!