Family Togetherness

It feels weird to call getting together with my family a "family reunion," but that's what it was! The day after I finished taking the bar, Joe and I flew to Utah to enjoy 3 1/2 days of being with my parents and all the siblings, in-laws, and nieces at my parents' cabin - for the first time in over a year and a half. It took a lot of planning to get us all together and although it went by way too fast, it was definitely wonderful. We packed a lot of fun into just a few days, and here are a few of the highlights:

Deer Creek Reservoir: my family never owned a boat until just a couple of months ago, and we took advantage of it with a full day at the lake - wakeboarding and tubing. It was beautiful and the water was surprisingly very pleasant. Joe spent a lot of time driving the boat for the wakeboarders and I spent a lot of time in the front of the boat watching everyone. At 16 weeks pregnant and without that much wakeboarding experience I decided not to get too crazy.

And things DID get crazy, especially on the tube. Joe and my Dad both gave the tubers quite the ride - one I don't think I would have been up for even if I weren't pregnant. (Also: please note Joe's "lake shirt" which he was so proud and excited to pull out again. Apparently he has had it for 10 years and doesn't go to the lake without it. Believe me, it's even better in person.)

Joe hanging on for dear life. He even managed to keep hanging on while the tube did a full 360.

I did get on the tube for a bit, but only on the condition that it be a somewhat gentle ride. After so many weeks of worrying about the baby I guess it is better to be safe than sorry.

4-wheeling: The next morning we got up early for a 4-wheeler ride through the mountains to Daniel's Summit for brunch. I've done this beautiful ride many times but it had been quite a while. After being away from the mountains for so long I just loved it! Plus getting to take turns riding with the nieces was quite a treat.

Me & my sis.

We stopped on the way back to get a family picture - dog and all.

Relaxing: although we did lots of activities we also had some time to sit around after a good meal and just chill. It was hard to believe it had only been a couple days since I was stuffing my brain with crazy amounts of material for the bar exam. My how fast it emptied itself out...

We also did some family "service" by tying blankets for my sister to bring on her Operation Smile mission in Kenya to give out to children getting surgery. It was definitely a team effort and by the end I was ready not to tie any more knots for a while and to get back to relaxing - which included ping pong, air hockey, shooting hoops, putting on the little putting green, playing on the playset, and using the zipline. Actually, I needed to relax after doing all of that ... (I'm pregnant, remember?)

Campfire: One night we had some extended family (grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins) come up and share in the family time and as it got dark we made a fire and roasted marshmallows for s'mores. So fun!!

Nieces: of course one of the highlights was getting reacquainted with my favorite little girls. This is sweet Bella - such a curious little explorer.

Me & Bella - we're dancing. :)

And Kai (Kai-ster to me). What a hilarious little thing! Oh boy is she fun.

And my oldest niece Tyler - isn't she beautiful?

Tyler and I enjoying some serious coloring.

My sister-in-law Liz & I making cinnamon rolls. I pulled out this recipe the last time the family was all together and knocked everyone's socks off, and by popular request we brought it back. Sooo delicious!!

Grandpa gave the girls tractor rides!! They loved it. I bet our little guy will love it, too.

Kai on the zipline.

The whole fam.

Sadly, on Monday we had to split up in order for some people (like Joe) to get back to their normal lives. I was able to stay an extra week and spend more time with the family just hanging out down in the valley. By the end, I still wasn't ready to say goodbye, but I was definitely ready to get back to Joe! The good news is ... we are going back for Thanksgiving and we are SO EXCITED!!