We 'got up at night' and began our 13 day, 2280 mile vacation. We got the boys up at 4 am when we drove to Arizona for Christmas last year and they both went back to sleep for a couple of hours. We thought we'd get a head start on the day and do the same thing this summer. However, we forgot that it gets lighter much earlier in July than it did in December and no one went back to sleep for the rest of the day. Yep, it was an adventure! McKay was so excited, he has been counting down the days to go to 'Nanna & Papas house' since his birthday. When I put him in his car seat he opened his eyes long enough (he knew he was supposed to go back to sleep) to give me an 'I'm so excited' look. Life is one big adventure when you are 4 years old and I love being a part of it!
We stopped in Yuma Arizona, about 2 1/2 hours from our home to get the boys dressed and try out Subway's Sunrise Melt sandwich, which is delicious. Then we stopped in Phoenix at Costco to fill up on gas and purchase a few things. I must say it sure is nice being only 9 hours from my parents house instead of the almost 14 we were in NorCal! We got to Snowflake and after saying 'hello' put a very tired Maxwell to bed! McKay went right to work picking up the nails Grandpa had left for him by the new shed.
After dinner, some cousins came over and we had fun with fireworks my Mom had purchased. Fireworks were always illegal in Arizona when I was growing up but I guess since they had had so much rain they allowed some for the holidays. Max loved saying 'pop pop pop' as each one went off.
Thursday after Max took his second nap we headed up to the reunion in Show Low Arizona. We camped at Owens Pond.
The 'original' 10 children of Lester & Ella
McCleve. The sisters are almost in birth order starting at the back w/ Aunt Sheila, Kathie, Nora, Marilyn, Connie in the front, Sharon,
Sherlene & Nancy. Nancy is actually older than
Sherlene but that wouldn't have worked for the picture. :) Then Uncle John (the baby) is on the left and my Dad
Verl is on the right. Eight girls and two boys, in that order.
Oh how I wish I had had my video camera handy when they were taking this picture. Uncle Jim
Maner was not happy with how long it was taking them and kept scolding them for looking around, talking, and laughing, Dad & Uncle John were teasing Aunt
Sherlene, etc. It was
(and always is) very entertaining to watch.
Add 9 of 10 spouses and this time they are in birth order. :)
Maxwell loved throwing rocks. This kid is so coordinated it seems like everything comes fairly easy to him.
Some of the lights were
unplugged and we didn't have a ladder or a way to turn them on so Uncle Jim backed his truck up and my brother Chris plugged in the light while standing on a table Justin, Lon & Jimmie held up. It looks like Uncle Fred may be holding the table up too... either that or just supervising. :)
We were all tired so we decided to make it an early night (bed at 9 pm), hoping that we'd get a good sleep and then stay up the next night to play games. Well, Max had a
really hard time falling asleep in the van with me. After a couple of hours of trying all sorts of things, I strapped him in his car seat. He finally went to sleep until about 3:30 am when he was NOT HAPPY to be in his cars eat. This time though he went back to sleep next to me until about 6 am. Jordan and McKay fared a little better in the tent, though McKay was confused as to why Jordan was moving around so much when it was 'time to go to sleep'. They were both on the same air mattress. Poor McKay, I know how that is. Jordan is a
fidgeter!
First thing in the morning we ate a few cereal bars and then Jordan and McKay did a little fishing. McKay couldn't figure out why the fish weren't coming! It took too long to get set up and the sun broke through the clouds and it got hot so they decided that maybe they would try again later.
The horses we shared the campsite with.
Each family had their own bandannas. Max wasn't very good at keeping his hat on but he kept his bandanna on and managed to not get his head sunburned. Plus he looked cute. :)
They had beads and glitter glue and all sorts of things to decorate the bandannas with.
Nanna Anna helped McKay with his. She also made him a duck-tape wallet, which he thinks is pretty cool.
Uncle Jim was
(partly) anxious about the pictures taking so long because it was almost time for the horseshoe tournament to start! Jordan and I actually did pretty well this year and were eliminated by the team who won the championship, Lisa and Kyle Gray. One game I even got a double ringer. It was pretty sweet.
It was
great to be able to participate and not have to worry about the boys.
With 3 pits going at a time there were a couple times when everyone in my family was playing, so Max got to sit with someone else. Here he is sitting with Tyler Egbert, my cousins son.
Jordan and I were playing horseshoes when it was time for the treasure hunt, so Mom & Chris took the boys. They had just been eliminated from the tournament... by Jordan & I. :)
A bunch of cute cousins with their treasure chest.
We weren't able to attend the reunion the last year they did shirts so we wore the shirts from this years
Cardon reunion, one we also weren't able to attend. :( The
Cardon reunion was held over the 4
th of July weekend and this year marks my grandparent's 60
th anniversary so the shirts say 'United We Stand 60 years' The W & S are white for Wayne and Sharlene.
It sure helps having people behind the camera making the boys smile!
My immediate family. We are just missing Melinda in Tennessee and Dustin in Peru.
David, Maria, Christopher, Chantelle, Anna, Verl
Mom was in charge of the fishpond this year and I think she enjoyed having grandchildren there to participate. Here my brother Chris is helping McKay.
McKay's gift.
Grandma McCleve started the fishpond and did that at the reunion in place of giving the grandchildren birthday and Christmas gifts since there were too many grandchildren to keep up with. We got to go fishing twice until we were 12. Then she would help with missions and weddings. We always looked forward to the fishpond.
Maxwell's turn to fish!
He is really loving books right now and didn't take long to discover that there were balloons in his book!
McKay enjoyed swinging on the swings, even after he fell off a couple of times. He also enjoyed climbing on some big boulders near the
pavilion. He was very outgoing and was constantly introducing himself to all the kids.
Mom & I took McKay for his first canoe ride. He enjoyed using his own oar.
We went just in time too because shortly after that it rained. It poured! Jordan had gone to Wal-Mart to get something and let Max take a nap and got stuck in the store during the downpour. Max saw some strawberries and said 'strawberries, please?' so clearly Jordan knew exactly what he was saying and bought some. He finally had to just make a run for the van since the rain was not letting up.
I love the monsoons. It rains nearly every afternoon. Several got water in their tents and a gust of wind blew our tent over. Fortunately, it blew over BEFORE the rain came so we were able to get it secured again so our tent stayed relatively dry.
This little video I took of the rain doesn't do it justice, but you get the idea. We took advantage of the storm and played a few games.
After the rain comes the rainbow!
When the sign-ups for the talent show came around, I asked McKay if he would recite an article of faith. He said yes but when it was his turn, he changed his mind. Later I asked him what would make him change his mind and he said if he had a chair to sit on then he would do it. So we got him a chair and he recited Article of Faith #3 for almost 100 people. He enjoyed it so he also did Article of Faith #5 in his sweet little voice. As they were clapping, we walked back to our seats and McKay said 'I can do #4 too!'. :)
Jordan volunteered to take Max home to my parents to sleep and since McKay wanted to sleep in the tent, I stayed with him. After he went to sleep I enjoyed playing games.
Saturday morning was the traditional breakfast the men cook and the women clean up. While we waited, we played a few games. It was so nice to see some cousins I haven't seen for a while and get to catch up. Then we had the auction and broke camp before the downpour so that was great!
McKay playing with my cousin Michael Beck and his son Timothy.
Maxwell doing his part to clean the pavilion.
Uncle Chris pushing the kids on the swings. What a cool uncle. They are lucky. I pushed them a few times and didn't last very long!
Saturday night all the adults went out to eat at La Cocina de Eva. I ordered based on a recommendation from my cousin Eric Beck who loved what he got last year and it was so
good! I have a new favorite! I wish I could remember what it was called. It was a green pepper stuffed with shredded chicken and cheese, breaded and deep fried (though it didn't taste like it) with a delicious sauce on it. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Chantelle was an angel and got off work early so she could watch the boys for Jordan & I while we went to eat.
After dinner some cousins came over and we played games. It was
so much fun. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. We played the sign game for a couple of hours and then " I have" and "I have never". I was the first one out of 'I have never' and won 'I have' . Go figure. In the picture above we are each doing our sign. Seriously, so fun. Jordan wasn't feeling well so he didn't get to play. :(
Sunday afternoon we played games and did laundry while Maxwell was asleep and then re-packed the van to leave early in the morning.
We got up at 4 am and both boys went back to sleep this time. We stopped in American Fork and I got to visit with Steve & Matt at King and McCleary (the firm I still do taxes for) and since it was still early in the day, we drove the rest of the way to Preston, making the total time over 16 hours. We got our Cafe Rio fix and as soon as we got to Grandpa and Grandma Moser's house, McKay and Grandpa went to see the animals.
I wish we had more time to spend in Arizona! It went way too fast!
