2nd Annual Ward Family Reunion

The 2nd Annual Ward Family Reunion was held last weekend.  

Last year's reunion was held at Bear Lake and this year, we went to Yellowstone National Park!

Sam's older brother, Kevin and his wife, Becky were in charge of the reunion.  

It was organized very well and we all had so much fun.

We arrived at our Island Park, Idaho cabin, Bishop Mountain Lodge, late in the afternoon.  

After settling in, I took this video:

720p from Lisa Ward on Vimeo.

Sam's oldest brother, Aaron and his boys, Kimball and Simon, slept here for a couple nights.  

Brave boys!  The rest of us slept inside.

* * * * *

I took over 400 photos on this trip!
So to best show off the photos, I decided to create a few slideshows.
This slideshow is of everyone just hanging out at the cabin.
Go ahead and enlarge the slideshow on your screen to get the full effect.  Enjoy!

 Aunt Staci showing off her 8 week old puppy, Bauer, to her nephews, Tyler, Wesley, and Owen

 My man did all the driving on this trip!

 Lisa & Sam

 Katie running away with her favorite blanket

Tyler, Brian, and Owen

Owen, age 7

Maddy, age 3

Joy School Video

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

At Tyler's Joy School graduation, we showed this video montage of all the kids and their preschool adventures.  The kids loved pointing themselves out while they watched it.  My sister, Jenny, compiled it for me and sent me copies for all the families at the graduation.

Katie - 12 months - BIRTHDAY GIRL!

Katie- Happy Birthday! 

You've perfected the army crawl.  You just need to get brave and learn to walk!

You're getting over your first ear infection.  You are allergic to ammoxicillin - poor thing!

You LOVE to eat!  Hope you enjoy all the sweets at your party.

You've made our lives so much sweeter since you've joined our family!

You are a big girl now!

Favorite Family Photos from 2009

My Early Christmas Gift for Grandma Hallstrom

Tyler's First Year

I still can't believe Tyler is a year old! Here's some of my favorite pictures of him. Enjoy the slideshow and the music :D

Over the River and to the Woods

Make sure you turn the music on by clicking on the megaphone right next to where it says slide (in the top left corner). Enjoy!

My older sister, Amy came to visit us this past weekend. On Saturday morning, we dropped the boys off at my friend Kathy's place (Thanks, Kathy!) and met Grandma Hallstrom at the Logan Temple. Grandma was just expecting me to come, so it was fun to surprise her with Sam and Amy there too. We had a nice time. Sam had to go to work for 2 hours and the rest of us just visited at home. We had an early dinner together after Sam got back from work. Later, I thought it would be nice if we all went on a walk in the mountains. As we were leaving, we saw a double rainbow. I looked in the direction of where we'd be walking and the sky looked nice and clear. Well, we were all walking on the trail and all of a sudden it starts raining cats and dogs. I took Tyler's stroller and started running as fast as I could. There was thunder, lightning, and everything. Sam put Brian up on his shoulders and started running as fast as he could. Amy was behind us just laughing. She thought it was great. Sam and I ended up trading kids. The kids weren't complaining. Brian just kept saying "wet" and "rain" and "noise" (thunder). By the time we made it back to our car, about 10 minutes later, the rain had stopped. We turned around and saw another double rainbow! We went home, soaking wet. I washed a load of our wet clothes and Sam gave the boys a bath. What an adventure!

Western Van Wie Family Reunion

Yesterday, we had a family reunion for all the Van Wie Family that lives out West. My Uncle Neil and Aunt Nan drove up from Arizona and we all met at my cousin, Jerry's fabulous new house. My little family of 4 was there of course as well as my older sister, Amy. I hadn't seen my cousin Jerry since I was 8 years old! Now, Jerry is married to his beautiful wife, Marla and they have 9 kids. It was fun to get to meet his big family and get to know them better. Brian had a blast playing with Jerry's boy, Hunter. Hunter is only 10 days older than Brian. We had a delicious meal: pulled BBQ pork sandwiches, mac and cheese, chips, fruit salad, etc. After dinner, we listened to Aunt Nan, Jerry, and Aubri (Jerry's oldest daughter) play a musical number. It was very nice and they played this same piece in church earlier today. Later on, the kids played in the backyard and we had some tasty treats. I made brownies with extra chocolate chips. I'm glad that we could get together and wish that more of the family could have been there. We'll all have to get together again soon!

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M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Happy Flag Day!

One of my relatives gave me this sailor costume. I wish it came with a little sailor hat. I ran across it the other day. Brian saw it and immediately wanted to wear it. (That didn't surprise me at all because Brian usually changes his clothes several times a day). Then, I draped our lovely navy blue bedsheet over Brian's tall bookshelf, opened his bedroom window, and captured these great shots of him. I'm surprised Brian sat still for me because he is such an active boy. I wanted to wait until the 4th of July to post this slideshow, but I just couldn't wait. Enjoy!

by brian

Auntie Em - Take Two

My Little Artist!

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This was Brian's first time ever painting. Painting kept him entertained for hours! I think he did an AweSoMe job. What a talented 3 year old I have! I must say that some of the most inexpensive things that we buy for our kids end up being the most fun for them...like the $1 kite and $1 watercolor paint set. Does anyone else out there have any fun inexpensive activity ideas that their kids enjoy?!?!

Candy Belly

Happy Easter!

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On Easter morning, my little family ate candy for breakfast (except for Tyler of course) and then headed off to church. Church was good as always. After church, we went to my sister-in-law, Laura's place to visit. For Easter dinner, we had honey glazed ham, mashed potatoes, blueberry muffins, jello, and corn. It was delicious. Then we went on a walk over to the duck pond. Brian enjoyed chasing the ducks. It was a nice relaxing day. (Oh yeah, and the cute bunny ear headband Tyler wore was made by yours truly.)

Tyler's Blessing Day