Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Parties r us

 Uncle Eric and Kaibs
 Grandma and Ammon
 Jeff rolled his ankle in some game - man with weak ankles.
 A pinata party
 Some of us were a little exhausted
 the ramp - weeeeeeeee!!! 
 Good times in the garage
 and with face paint - some of Jeff's younger cousins enjoyed a little face painting on any willing participant(s). :)
 Abbey and Kaibs
 Abbey was chasing Greg (and his daughter Kaylie) on the big wheel - mad skills.
 Some indoor rock climbing - LOOK! I found Lucas. :)
 Lots, lots and LOTS of food!
 
 Steven - aka: dad's crazy brother
New friends made:
my Abbey (she's not quite tall enough, so she hangs on the edge) and little bit bigger Abby - shooting hoops.
 Lucas and Spencer
 Lea, Abbs and Kaibs
 Abbey and Caleb - isn't he adorable!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Way to go, Idaho!

 We said good-bye to Twin Lakes on Lea's birthday (July 29th) and spent the rest of the day in the car. Lea was in tears as we left - she missed her cousins already. Lizzie, Calla, Rachel and Melissa were great friends for her to play with. I missed my family, but Jeff needed to be picked up from the Spokane airport. :)

Stopped at Edna's to get Jeff a milkshake, then on to the airport! The kids were so excited to see Jeff and so was I - he maybe not so much - confined space, lots of noise after living his Bachelor life for a week was a little overwhelming, but he was glad to have us back - he was bored. 

Finally made it to St. Anthony, ID for the Risenmay (extended family) reunion. We went 3 years ago when Abbey was just a newborn - probably 6 weeks old. I was exhausted and my other kids were 2 and 5. Not quite old enough to run around by themselves. This year was different: 8, 5, 3 and 1. I had more energy and Lea was now big enough to help the other two if needed. Which was good, I could NOT keep up! This house is AMAZING! Perfect for all ages and my kids LOVED it! As you can see, so did the grown ups. :) It's called 3 Peaks Lodge - if you're looking for a good place to have a reunion - I'd suggest this place.

The garage was converted to a large play area, complete with slide and chalk board walls, riding toys and a ramp to the bottom floor of the house.
 you can see the ramp to the left in the picture below - doesn't my mother-in-law look thrilled!?! The slide is faster than it looks.

 Abbey!
 Ammon was in heaven!
 He tried very hard to climb up - no such luck.
 Water balloon battleship - gearing up to launch water balloons.
 water-balloon volleyball
 Michael and Lucas
 Anyone up for a swim!? Yeah, me either.
 Abbey threw a GINORMOUS fit outside as I calmly (quite proud of myself) dragged her inside, where after a few moments of crying, I left and came back to this:
 a play place for babies?
 oh yeah babies. :)
 still tired from the nap, not interested in anything.
 Our favorite little cousin Kaibrey - Lea's shadow.
 Ammo and I trying out the slide.
 I have very few if any pictures of Lucas at all. I could barely keep up with that kid. I only found him when it was time to eat or bed time. I saw him occasionally throughout the day as he ran from one slide to the next. There was a twisty slide in another part of the house.

And what family reunion is complete without a talent show:
Orton clan
Pugmires
 Our family talent was recruiting others to sing with us (the two girls on the end are Jeff's cousins - Kim and Jennifer and the youngest sister is playing piano). :) And me who slept through the practice and was ordered by Grandma Riz to 'sing.' Right then - I'll sing.
 Kaibs and Lea
More to come!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Cousins!

and KIDS NIGHT!!! The one night at Twin Lakes where all the kids 1 and older get to play together: games, crafts and songs to learn. The Dale Romrell family grandkids started it and so creative! It's no small bunch of kids either - at least 60+ kids. Plus there's no store to 'run to' for last minute supplies - they're prepared! After playing for a couple hours, they then march down the street cheering 'kids night'- that's our cue to gather to watch the performance. This year's feature presentation was brought to us by 'Tangled'.
 Trenton, Lucas, Rylan, Lea
 Even the big kids have fun! - Paige and Dallin

 Lanterns and frying pans

   Calla and Lucas
 Lea's birthday parting 25+cousins - what a group!

Fun at the lake

 Water fights are a must - usually not so mild. Usually involve buckets of COLD water from the faucets, any container you can find filled with water and no-one, NO-ONE is off limits. :) Holding a baby usually helps, but don't let anyone take the baby or you're freed for a swim in the lake. There's running, screaming, ganging up, sneaking until we're all too tired and OLD to keep going. :)
This year's water fight was minimal.
 Tanner was 'helping' Abbey.....she didn't approve of the help.
 Uncles were recruited to hold Tanner so Abbey could 'get him!'
 cute, messy babies
 relaxing rides on the tube are also good fun. Thanks Uncle Jim for pulling us around.
 Oops! Abbey fell off. :)
 All safe back on - Uncle Jim is back.
 Homemade ice cream in a bag - Grandma's project for dessert.
Lea, Lizzie, Melissa, Rachel
 More boat rides:
 How many cousins fit on the tube?!  7.
 Shay, Tanner and Abbey going for a ride behind the boat.
 Lucas' advice: Abbey be careful!!
 Bye Abbs!