4th Annual Fred & Carolyn Family Reunion

We had a wonderful time as a family at this summer weekend reunion.  

We stayed in this awesome cabin way up on the top of a mountain just outside of Heber City, Utah.

As always at these reunions, we ate really well and had fun relaxing as a family.  

We took the kids on a scavenger hunt, Fred and Carolyn spoiled everyone with gifts, and we played other outdoor games.  I was having too much fun hanging out that I didn't get very many action shots this year.  But check out the shots that I did get:

Staci taking Bella and Bauer for a walk

Kevin and Wesley

Hot Tub Time

Sarah and Gideon

He's ready to dive right in!

Sibling teasing

Siblings - Kimball, Eleanor, Simon

Silly Sarah

Owen and Tyler are checking out all of the action from the loft.

Resting up.

Zoey

Maddy

Eleanor

 Kristen

 Katie

 Grandma & Grandpa Ward bought all of the older granddaughters matching outfits, accessories, and baby dolls.

 Cute cousins.

Zoey loves her mommy (Rosanne).

 Exploring their surroundings.

 Sadie

 The 2013 Grandbabies - Julia, Gideon, Sadie

Snippets of Our 2013 Thanksgiving via Instagram Photos

We are so grateful for wonderful full lives that we live.  Sam and I have been truly blessed being raised by amazing families.  We now have our own family of six to raise up in faith and righteousness.  We are so thankful for our home, Sam's job, and our 4 healthy children.  I could go on forever on what I'm thankful for, but the photo below will give you more of an idea of the specifics.

Our Uncompleted Thankful Tree! We are thankful for so much more than what this tree shows. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend!  #webelieveinblueleaves #usewhatyouhave

We had a very nice Thanksgiving this year.  We left our house about 10am and drove 2 hours to Orem.  We spent our time at Sam's parents' home.  Dinner was at 2:30pm and we had 15 people total eat together: our family of six, Sam's parents, Rosanne, Rafa, their two girls, Zoey and Sadie, Rafa's dad, Laura, and Laura's boyfriend, Josh.  The food was excellent!  The kids were in heaven playing with all the toys downstairs.  After the kids went to bed, the adults played a round of Apples to Apples and watched a little Harry Potter on TV.  The next morning, we just spent some quality time hanging out.  I took Julia on a morning walk around the neighborhood.  The weather was perfect this weekend!  Good food, good company.  Life is good!  

And now for some snippets from our time in Orem:

Sam and his dad are ready for turkey.

Julia's cousin, Zoey, wanted to feed her.  Zoey fed Julia for about 2 minutes and then she said she was all done.  As I took Julia from her, Zoey stood up, swiped the back of her hand across her forehead, and said "Whew!  Hard work!"  How adorable is that!

Grandma Ward is having some quality time with Julia & Tyler.

Playing the made up "Lego Train Game" with my boys.  We each strung some Lego train cars together, made a huge long trail of Legos around the room, and raced to see who's train could hold the most cargo.  Tyler won!  #somanytoysatgrandparentshouse

My boys insisted on having a string of Christmas lights on their bed at Grandma and Grandpa's place like they do at home!  #lovemyfestiveboys

Old Classic Game #boardgamemarathon

A sweet dollhouse with all the accessories you'd ever want.  #grandparentshouseistoyheaven

Dream dollhouse #playskoolrocks

Sunset on the road home

I love this quote!  It is a perfect thought to share with the Relief Society sisters since I'm serving as the Compassionate Service leader.

Heber C. Kimball Family Reunion Day

Sam is a descendant of Heber C. Kimball.  

We attended the Heber C. Kimball Family Reunion held at 

This Is The Place Monument Park in Salt Lake City.  

There were probably 200 people in attendance.  

We enjoyed a picnic lunch complete with strawberry shortcake under this pavilion.

During the family meeting part, Katie was rambunctious,  so I took her on a walk.  

Tyler lucked out and won this sweet huge Star Wars kite in the raffle.

The adults enjoyed chatting.

Here's Sam's Aunt Deanne.  

She is a great host and it's always fun to go visit her and the rest of her family.

The kids enjoyed playing in this mini sized town.

Riding a pony was fun too.

More views of the village.

It was a super hot day, and my kids didn't last as long as we'd hoped. 

There were many fun things we could have done, but once we mentioned ice cream to the kids, there was NOTHING else that they wanted to do except get  ice cream.
The line for ice cream was way too long at this building,
so we left the park for good and ventured down to Wendy's so we could each enjoy a frosty.

We enjoyed a pizza dinner at Sam's parents' house with Aunt Laura,

Aunt Rosanne, Uncle Rafa, Zoey, Kevin, Becky, Owen, Wes, and Madalyn.  

Then we hung out in the perfectly shaded backyard for a bit.  

Becky started up a fun dice game that I participated in before heading home.  

I feel so lucky to belong to such a great family.

Here is Tyler bonding with his cousin, Owen: 

Brian and his cousin, Wesley LOVED the bubble machine.

Fun With Cousins from Lisa Ward on Vimeo.

The sunset on the drive home was just gorgeous.