Tommy's Favorites:
1. Being loved and adored by all the older cousins. Tommy is at a fun age. He likes to imitate, laugh, be tickled, and be entertained. We had lots of cousins willing to try and keep Bubba happy all week. Sometimes it was too much stimuli for him, but most days he relished the attention and had fun being carried almost everywhere. He loved playing with his buddy Graham. They are about a year apart and both love cars, tractors, and balls. The two older cousins Tommy enjoyed most were Isaac and Claire. They were his buddies and took good care of him.
2. Blowing bubbles at the park. One night we took the kids to a beautiful city park and played games. Then Grammy brought out bubbles. Tommy loved every second - especially when Grammy took some time to blow bubbles just with him!
3. Olympic Park. Tommy was too little to ride the Alpine Slide or climb on the obstacle course, but he enjoyed the museum and riding the ski lift. There was a video playing in the museum of how ski fashion has changed over the years. Tommy loved the 80's segment with the silly music and dancing and bright colors. We visited the park almost every day of our trip. By the last visit, Tommy wasn't enjoying the park as much. He didn't like when Daddy and all the older kids got to leave and ride the Alpine Slide without him and he threw a major fit - which was hard for Mommy since I can't carry him anymore. Climbing on the bobsleds and luge were fun for him. He did great on the ski lift. His first ride he was pointing out the trees, flowers, mountains, and sun - until Mommy told him to see how high up we were, then he sat back and was silent and still the rest of the ride. I didn't mean to scare him, but I'm glad he had a healthy respect for how high up he was.
4. Great Harvest Bread. There is a Great Harvest in Park City. One afternoon Mommy took all the kids on a little outing for some juice and bread. Tommy REALLY liked the bread. The girls preferred to share a huge sugar cookie.
5. Swimming! Tommy's all-time favorite activity was swimming. Our fearless little fish had some close calls during this trip. We had lots of willing helpers watching him in the pool, but Tommy is so brave and strong that he found ways to escape supervision and end up under water. Plus when he has to wear his life jacket, he panics more than when he can move freely. He loves the feeling of being under water. We swam every day but one for at least two hours. It felt good to be in the water but was a little nerve wracking for Mommy trying to supervise three kids in the pool while Daddy was gone hiking. Luckily we were all safe and the kids had a super time splashing with cousins.
Annie's Favorites:
1. Olympic Park and Alpine Slide. I think this was Annie's most favorite thing. She got to ride the slide three different times during the week.
2. Swimming. Mommy was diligent with the sunscreen so we enjoyed a burn free week - but Annie did gain a few new freckles from all the hours in the sun. She is getting braver and stronger in the water and likes trying to swim without her life jacket - when Mommy or Daddy can help her.
3. Making water balloons with cousins. The girls kept trying to make tiny water balloons so they wouldn't pop as easily. They called them "balloon babies". Annie treasured hers for a long time until the urge to pop it overwhelmed her.
4. Being part of the "Gingers". Look at all those cute red heads! Annie is a few years younger than all the other girls, but she liked being a tag along for their ginger adventures. The last night of the reunion, all the red heads had a slumber party in our condo. Lily and Annie were asleep by 10:30 but the older girls were still going strong for another hour or more. We're so thankful for kind older cousins who were willing to include little Annie as much as possible. She liked the attention and feeling part of something special.
Lily's Favorites:
Lily had a hard time narrowing down her favorites. Mostly she loved playing with Madilyn who is exactly the same age. They both love to color, read, play Barbies, and play princesses. She also loved tagging along with the red head bunch who are all 8 years old. Lily loved having so many girl cousins to play with.
1. Skit night. The girls wanted to sing or dance to a song from Frozen. Mommy and Daddy decided to make it a comical act by having them do a chin lip sync. We drew eyes on their chins and pasted Elsa hair above it, then covered the rest of their face with a hat. It was hard to hear the music because we were outside, but the girls loved singing their favorite song "Let it Go" and hearing the family laugh.
2. Swimming. This one was tops on all the kids' lists. Lily is getting better at swimming underwater on her own. We brought goggles but she preferred swimming without them. At the end of every day, her eyes were red and swollen from the sun, pool water, and sunscreen. Some nights she looked like she had been crying for hours. She said it was worth it.
3. Daddy as a human pinata. All the kids enjoyed this activity. Daddy had to wear a shirt covered in candy and run for his life while the kids chased him down and tried to pull candy off the shirt. Lily tried her hardest to catch him and get as much candy as possible. She loved it.
4. Water balloon volleyball with cousins. It took Lily and Madilyn a long time to get the hang of shooting and catching the balloons with their towel. But they had fun trying. After playing for a while, the balloons started to get bigger. Lily babied one for a little while before letting the older cousins play with it and pop it. We even took a belly comparison picture when she stuffed it under her swimming suit. I think Mommy still won for biggest baby belly.
5. The coconut Italian ice at the luncheon for Jake and Diana. Lily talked about how good this was for days after the trip. She loves coconut, just like her Mommy, and really enjoyed the super yummy treat from her aunt and uncle.
6. The Olympic Park and Alpine Slide. I think Grammy must be the best slide driver because both girls said their rides with her were their favorite. Lily really wanted to drive on her own but she was just shy of the height requirement. She loved being up high in the mountains. The obstacle course was just challenging enough to keep her busy for a long time and she loved the shuttle rides and chair lift rides too. She would ask every day if we could go ride the slide again.
Mommy's Favorites:
1. Seeing Daddy run for his life as a human pinata. I think the pictures say it all. This was our family home evening activity and it was a big hit with our family. Daddy was exhausted by the end. He just collapsed on the ground and let the kids take whatever they wanted.
2. Seeing the girls snuggled together every morning. They would start out on the opposite sides of the hide-a-bed, but my morning, they were always right next to each other. They played together so well all week. Some days were a little hard for Annie. Lily and Madilyn liked having time together which left Annie without her usual best sister friend. But overall they had a great week together.
3. Jake and Diana's sealing. Any sealing is wonderful to be a part of, but to witness the sealing of a couple who appreciates it more than most is a special thing. They have been through a lot and worked hard to get here. It was an awesome experience for all of us to share as a family. I was having a lot of contractions this day, but it was worth the discomfort to be in the temple as a family and celebrate together.
Josh and Chelsea's family
Jared and Becky's family
Justin and Julie's family
Our kids enjoying the Cheeto bribe from Grammy. Grammy quickly learned that the way to Tommy's heart is Cheetos and she wasn't afraid to use them to get him smiling in the family pictures.
Our kiddos with Grammy and Grampy
Almost all of the Hall grandchildren - missing Wyatt and Meredith
4. Baby Nolan's blessing. Chelsea's family lives near Brigham City, UT. Just before driving home from the reunion, we stopped at the Pickett's home for Nolan's blessing. It was a sweet moment to have both grandfathers and most of the uncles there to participate in the blessing. What a great way to end our time together.
Daddy's Favorites:
1. Jeremy's favorite part of the reunion was a the three day hike in the Uinta Mountains with his dad, brothers, and all the boys ages 12 and up. They had a great time. Jeremy's only problem was that his hiking boots started deteriorating on the last day. The cushiony interior core between the exterior sole and the insole sort of exploded. The boots are really old. Good time to buy another pair - and thank goodness they held up until the end of the hike. The area they hiked surrounded the Morat lakes. Every night deer would wander into the camp and sniff around. The deer were so noisy and bothersome that the guys tried shooting into the air and lake to scare them off. It didn't really work. The weather was cool with some afternoon showers, but not enough to soak them. They packed in dehydrated food for their main meals. All that processed food made them super gassy. The joke they decided on was, when people asked them what they did on the hike they would answer - we just farted around.
Ike found a dead bird. Gross!
Too sunny in the morning for these tired hikers.
Bye bye hiking boots.
2. Going shooting. It isn't a Hall family activity unless we go somewhere to shoot something. After Jake and Diana's sealing and luncheon the family drove out to Willard Bay to do some shooting. Both of our girls tried it too gut since we were helping them we didn't get pictures.
3. Being with all of his brothers. This was the first time in years that all the boys were together for an extended period of time. Yes it was crazy, but it was also fun. Being able to be in the temple together and bless Josh's baby together were an extra special bonus.
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