Summer Vacation: Moser Family Reunion

Tuesday was our down day. We didn't have anything 'planned' and that is exactly how I wanted it! Jordan and McKay went fishing with Grandpa Moser and I helped Kathy with some bookkeeping while Max took a nap. I don't think we got dressed until after lunch. :) Yes it was a much needed relaxing day!

Wednesday we went and spent a few hours at my Grandma and Grandpa Cardon's house and had a delicious lunch with them. Then they watched the boys while Jordan and I went to the Logan Temple with his parents, all his siblings and spouses, and his nephew and spouse who recently were sealed. (20 people total) It was lovely to be in the temple. Then we all went to Hamilton's Steak House for dinner. Kent and Kathy just thought we all were going out to dinner. They didn't know we had been planning for months (okay years) to do something to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. We invited some of their closest friends and family for a surprise dinner. It was a fun evening.

Shawn & Yuri, Frank & Kim, Tyson & Mandi, Derrick & Kelli, Ira & Nicky, Lisa & Todd, Kathy & Kent, Me & Jordan, and Robin & Reese.

This shows things as they really are.

Kathy, Yuri, Me & Nicky

Jordan's sisters did an excellent job decorating with Kathy's wedding dress and pictures from various stages in Kent & Kathy's lives as well as baby/childhood pictures of the kids. Nicky also put together a slide show. :)

After the dinner Kent and Kathy were given several bags with various objects we each had picked to represent a memory with them and they had to guess who it was and what the memory was. It was entertaining.

We were later than we thought we would be so we got the boys ready for bed at Grandma and Grandpa Cardon's house and they both fell asleep on the drive home. I am so glad my boys were able to spend some time with my dear grandparents. I also realized I need to get more pictures (or at least post more) of Maxwell's curly hair since Grandma didn't realize his hair is so curly!

Thursday after lunch we went to Willow Flat and set up camp. The water from the spring was moving quite fast but McKay was pretty good (definitely not perfect) about not being near the water without a Mommy or Daddy there.

Nicky was trying to get all three boys in the picture but McKay was walking away so Kelli said 'Wink at Nicky!' And he did! :)

He and his cousin Desmond quickly became friends as they threw rock after rock into the water. They have met before but McKay wasn't quite 18 months old at the time. :)

McKay loved being on the 4-wheeler with Grandpa Moser. We needed to get to higher ground to make a phone call so we 'had' to go for a ride. Max was asleep so we took the opportunity to go.

Grandpa told McKay to hold on to the 4 wheeler while he took Nicky's bikes off her trailer for her. He was impressed that McKay never let go until Grandpa said he could.

After we made the call we went to the ice caves. We didn't think to bring a flashlight so we used the flash on the camera (of course I had that!) until our eyes adjusted. It was amazing how much snow and ice there was! By the time we left, McKay was shivering.

It was neat to see and McKay loved being there with us.

I realized as we were riding just how blue the sky really is. Now that we live in the 'city' I don't see the blue skies I grew up seeing every day.

Kamden & McKay

I think McKay ate 3 s'mores. He couldn't get enough!

That night was a terrible thunder/lightening storm. We didn't get much rain but there was so much thunder and lightening it was hard to get to sleep. It was also very cold. McKay didn't sleep well so I kept my hand on his chest and then he was okay. I also kept waking up to make sure Maxwell had blankets on. Then, sometime during the night Jordan & I must have been woken up by some loud thunder because we were both awake when there was a huge clap of thunder and a bolt of lightening at the exact same moment. My eyes shot open and I listened and looked intently to hear a tree falling or to see fire. It took a while to fall back to sleep after that!

Max woke up probably around 5:30 or 6 with the sun and was happy being with Jordan and I until he saw McKay who was still sleeping. He wanted to say 'hi' to his brother and was not happy when I wouldn't let him. So Maxwell cried and cried for a long time. I think McKay was the only one around who slept through it!

Kim brought these visors with tons of stickers for the kids. McKay loved it! He spent all afternoon working on one for him and then on one for Maxwell. Kamden spent quite a while working on his too.

McKay, Ryan & Kamden

Ta Da! I didn't take a picture of it but BOTH sides of the visor are covered with stickers. I'd say this craft was a hit!

McKay and Kamden spent a lot of time climbing on these rocks together!

As soon as I saw the clouds rolling in Friday afternoon, I decided Max and I would go home to sleep that night. As soon as we got there, I gave Max a bath and put him to bed. He slept GREAT and I actually had to wake him up in the morning to go back to Willow Flat! Jordan stayed up till 3 am that night playing Mofia, which killed his plans for hiking to Bloomington Lake at 5 am. :)

McKay went on another ride with Jordan on Saturday. In fact, every time someone went for a ride, he thought he needed to go to. Grandpa gave him a few rides around the camp site and Max got one short ride too, which he loved.

While Jordan & McKay were gone on the ride (with the camera) Maxwell and I hiked up to the spring with the rest who didn't go on the ride. It was beautiful. Max INSISTED on putting his feet in the water. If I had let him he would have jumped in. Silly boy!

Check out that grin!

Ryan, Daxon, McKay, Tannon & Truman

Jordan as been itching to go on a ride so I am glad he was able to go on a couple.

"Hey, did you see that sky today, talk about blue!" (Kronk)

Saturday night after dinner we had a fireside devotional and talent show featuring the Gurney flash mob dance and Tyson & Jackson singing 'Mean' by Taylor Swift. Maxwell was 'all done' so he and I spent most of it outside the circle with Max playing with various people. He has the personality that makes it impossible to ignore his grin and 'hi'; that and he'll keep saying 'hi' until he gets a response! We had everything all packed up and slept at Jordan's parents house that night. Then Sunday morning we started the drive home. Max was so done driving it wasn't long into the drive that he started telling us he was 'all done'. Poor kid.

We drove to Mesquite Nevada and got a hotel with a pool. McKay had fun practicing what he had learned at swimming lessons and it was fun to relax a little after having been in the van all day. We closed the curtains up tight and didn't get up until Max woke up for the day at 9 am. :)

It was wonderful to visit family and to see so many we hadn't seen for such a long time... but it was also nice to be home in our own space again.

Summer Vacation: R Lester McCleve Family Reunion

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 4th of July weekend and this year marks my grandparent's 60th 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!