Week 32- A Camping Reunion Birthday

The Long Reunion fell the same weekend as my birthday this year.

I've been wanting to give camping a shot with Em all summer, so this became the perfect opportunity.

Happy camping birthday morning. Em was a rockstar and was completely in her element, but of course we woke up early :).

My mom and her sisters filled the day with activities of course. It was fun to catch up with cousins and watch Em explore new terrain.

 Some of the photo booth results. You can tell my mom and her sisters spend a little bit of time together.

Can you didgeridoo? (I can't.)

A nice, cool (albeit ghetto) place for an afternoon nap.

Enjoyable, overcast hike to Bridal Veil Falls:

The kids all loved feeding the fish at the foot of the falls. Have I mentioned recently that Emelia is OBSESSED with Aunt KiKi? Well, this trip sealed the deal.

A typical group shot...we couldn't find our whole group and we still don't all fit, not everyone is smiling/looking/etc.

Thank you mom and dad for snagging a birthday cake for me :). I tried to teach Em how to help me blow out the candles...although she is an excellent "blower" she wasn't so sure about blowing out fire.

My friend had a cute idea to think of 27 things she wanted to accomplish while she was 27..so I'm stealing it. Haven't thought of them all, but I'm excited to get to work.

"Who Does That?"

~A Memoir of a family road trip~

This memoir is to bask in the oddities that are within every family. I haven't had the privilege of taking a road trip with my family for some few years. This trip brought back many memories of long hours in the van with my siblings (although only half of them were there this time). It reminded me how much I love my family and how unique we are; I wouldn't change us for anything!

**Note: Couper does not appear in any of these pictures because he had the opportunity to go hunting/fishing with his Grandpa and some of his other fun relatives. He was having so much fun however, that he forgot to get any snapshots of his adventures. You'll have to just ask him about it I guess :)**

*I figured this was the perfect picture to start out a blog entitled "Who does that," I mean really, that can't be comfortable! Think of the crick in her neck! haha Shantel...what a good sport.*

*Who sleeps eleven people in a joint hotel room? --Ah, cummon, we've done better then that! What about the time we had thirteen people in ONE room?*

*Obviously the girls far outweighed the boys this trip...sorry boys :)*

*Who eats a bowl of dry cereal, then washes it down with a bowl of cold milk? --Jonte wins that award.*

*Who eats cereal with a fork?? --We forgot to pack the spoons ok?*

*Who can seriously make ANYTHING with pipe cleaners upon request? --Jenni, you are my hero. (These are a great car toy by the way.) Jenni is currently popular for the makings of a horse, crib, car, people, hats, and a monocle.*

*Who gives the ABSOLUTE bEsT explanations of words when playing "catch phrase"? --that would definitely be Kionna! No doubt.*

*Grand Opening of the bridge above Hoover Dam.*

*Who can "sing" just about any song on key using the words "bumbumbum"? --Sky, what would we have done without you? When tension was high in the car on the Sunday drive home, my niece began "bum-bum-bumming her way through a song which wasn't out of the ordinary. As we began to listen closer we realized she was "bum-bumming" away to "Praise to the man"!! All verses! What a gem. Who knew this three year old knew the melody to the that whole song?*

*Who adds a couple hour detour to their drive to Arizona? (like it wasn't already long enough :) ) --We wanted to see Hoover Dam okay? Not to mention the incredible bridge that now looms over it! I admire those engineers! (If you click on this picture to get a closer look you'll see that Shantel and I missed the memo)*

*Who has a 20 foot long pool that goes from 2 1/2 to 8 1/2 feet just like that?--This place did, hence all of the flotation devices. If you want to have a fun time swimming, these are the kids to go with!*

*Who can make it look like their moving in "rewind," pulling a string of children out of a pool? --Well, I can (or mom's photography can). Who couldn't be happier to be in that string of kids? --my niece Sky, lol, cracks me up*

*A nice recovery.*

*LOL! LOL! LOL!...No REALLY, Who does that?---Maddi!*

*JUDE*

*Who drives for hours upon hours to visit their adorable nephews? --You better believe I would/will/want to again already! (oh and to see Justin and Nan)*

*JONAS*

*Who makes a road-trip like this functional and possible??-- Mom and Dad AKA "Grammie & Granpa"*

*Who goes to a breakfast buffet at 10:00 AM so that they can hit up the lunch menu at 11:00 AM too? --Well, we did, but only at Justin's request...haha!*

*Who only eats bacon and waffles...pretty much ever? --that would be Amber.*

*Who goes to the drive-in and makes the other cars jealous because they make it look like a family home theater without even trying?--We do!!!*

*Who goes to the drive in when there's a windy dust storm?--Yeah, that was us too, don't worry, it subsided*

*Mesa, AZ LDS Temple*

*Who lets children play in the fountain at the temple grounds?!....okay, we did, but they were completely harmless, and look at those faces!*

*Who travels 14 hours to visit a BFF attending grad school at ASU? --I do!..okay, it was just an awesome bonus, love you Allisa! (and it was good to see you too Nicholas ;) )

*Okay, I just like this picture of Levi, it makes me happy.*

*Who has the name "Charles Eugene Chiz" (pronounced "Sh-ee-z")?--That grey guy with big ears in the middle that's who!" At least Shantel, Jenni, and I figure that's his full name; he's probably French.*

*Who wears Sesame Street shirts to their son's second birthday party?--My brother and sister-in-law*

*Who has enough coupons to get over 300 tokens at Chuck E. Cheese? ---Our mom, that's who, party on! Where do you get these coupons?? (obviously this is only a small portion)*

*Pretty sure this pictures speaks for itself, Who does that?*

Who makes a 13 hour car drive in one day with 9 children (6 under the age of 14) all sardined into a 15 passenger van (however with only 11 seats available mind you)......WE DO! Thanks mom and dad for having me along for the trip! Justin, Nan, Jonas, and Jude it was great to see you and I miss you already! Family to whom I rode in the car with for countless hours, I think I may love you even more ;) .