We tried a new location for the Hall reunion this year - Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Before this trip, we had never heard of it. And now it is a place we are excited to explore again and again. Thank you Grammy and Grampy for organizing a fun reunion.
Our first day was spent driving to Flaming Gorge. We stopped at Fort Bridger on the way. It was a place we didn't know much about so it was neat to see it in person and learn more:
At this famous fort, the Oregon Trail swung north from Fort Bridger while the Mormon Trail continued on another 100 miles west to the Salt Lake Valley. In 1855, the Church purchased the fort from Jim Bridger and his partner, Louis Vazquez, for $18,000. In September of 1857 it was burned to the ground to keep it from falling into the hands of Albert Sidney Johnston's advancing federal army during the so-called "Utah War."- from lds.org
Daddy impressed the kids with his ability to "read" braille. All the signs around the fort had one side in braille and standard writing on the other side. Daddy ran his fingers over the braille while simply reading the words printed next to it. The girls fell for it until Mommy pointed out what Daddy was doing. Then we all had a good laugh. Nice try Daddy.
There was a little stream and a beautiful field on the fort grounds. The teenagers organized a game of kick the can while the little ones played in the stream.
Lily, Annie, cousin Sofie, Joey, and Tommy
Amanda
Drake, Gabriel (hidden in background), Eli, and Tabitha
Once everyone arrived we had a family lunch. It was so fun to see everyone together.
Sofie, Amanda, Caleb, Eli - Tommy, Claire, Drake
After lunch we spent more time exploring Fort Bridger.
Joey was more interested in walking Rosie the dog.
Grampy, Isaac, Lily, Uncle Justin, Sofie
Tommy got into the pioneer spirit while riding the mechanical horse.
We piled into the car for more driving and finally arrived at our housing units. It was warm and we decided to hit the beach. Daddy blew up his birthday present, we changed into our swimming suits, and then found Swim Beach a little way up the road. Grammy and Grampy stayed behind to get dinner ready while the rest of us got to play.
The water was so inviting and it was nice and shallow pretty far out which was fun for the kids.
Eli and Gabriel
Uncle Jared wandered down the beach with some of the teenagers for some rock jumping.
Lily found a clay deposit near the shoreline. We all had fun playing with the clay.
Except for Tommy. He only wanted to shoot water guns.
After watching their cousins paddle on the lake, Lily and Annie got brave enough to try out paddle boat on their own.
Isaac was so patient and helped them get going and gave them some tips too.
This was the beginning of the end - we hardly saw the girls once they figured out how much fun paddle boards are. They spent every minute they could out on the water during this trip. To be honest it was a little hard to see them wander so far and grow up overnight, but it was amazing to see them grow in courage and skills too.
As the sun started to go down we decided it was time to head back to camp for dinner.
Tommy was so cold once he got out of the water. Amanda scooped him up and kept him warm while we packed up the beach gear. It was so wonderful having all these teenagers to play with the kids.
After dinner, we had a family talent show. Grammy recited a funny poem about all the troublesome things she'll do to her kids and grandkids when she's old.
Lily and Annie did a couple of their short solos that they learned at clogging camp. Daddy improvised a floor for them so they could dance outside without damaging their shoes.
Uncle Jake did some magic tricks, yo-yo tricks, and juggling
Joey was a dancing monkey - who made repeat appearances during the rest of the talent show by running across the stage during other's performances.
Violet, Jasmine, Annie
Drake, Claire, Tabitha, and Sofie in the front
Gabriel played some wonderful pieces on the piano. It was tough using an electric keyboard, but he did very well.
Isaac showed us some soccer skills
Grampy read us a poem
Sofie and Rosie did some dog tricks
Aunt Becky impressed us all with a handstand and Amanda played a few songs on her violin
Daddy was the closing act and recited "The Cremation of Sam McGee"
It was a great day and we loved seeing so many share their talents. We were ready to hit the sack at bed time.
Day two at Flaming Gorge was relaxed. We had perfect weather, lots of beautiful beach all to ourselves, a pontoon boat, and the whole family together.
The kids immediately set off for adventure on the paddle board.....
.......While the rest of us played on the shore.
Lily and Madilyn were together all the time. Luckily this year, Annie and Graham hit it off too. They often left their big sisters to have their own fun.
The big kids loved taking turns on the jet ski and the kayaks. They laughed and played and exlpored all day long.
Lily and Madilyn even gave the kayaks a try.
Aunt Becky was speaking Joey's love language when she offered to take him fishing. He was so excited to give it a try.
They never caught anything. In the end, Joey wasn't sure what it so great about fishing. Maybe we need to try again where he can actually catch something.
He was super excited about this sea horse looking stick and showed it to everyone on the beach.
Seeing the kids have so much with their cousins fun was my favorite part of this trip.
The bigger kids tried pulling a tube behind the jet ski. Somehow this picture cropped out. Opps.
In the afternoon we took a family ride on the pontoon boat. We got some up close views of the beautiful red and yellow rocks and found a fun underwater rock shelf to stand on.
Joey was a little nervous on the boat
He got tired and started retreating into his life jacket as the ride went on. Lily was such a good big sister and let him sit with her. She even shielded his eyes from the sun.
The camera and time of day don't do the rocks justice. It was neat to see the layers of color.
Jared drove the boat for us
Josh, Nolan and Chelsea
Sleepy Rosie
Sleepy Joey
Annie and Graham were so cute together.
We parked the boat over the shelf and let everyone climb out to explore.
Daddy went a little farther and jumped off the rocks too
We thought the kids would be tired by the afternoon, but they were still going strong and taking turns on the kayaks and paddle boards.
Caleb found a crawfish. Tommy was absolutely terrified to be anywhere near it.
Annie started showing signs of sunburn so we put her in Mommy's shirt.
Sofie coaxed Rosie out onto the paddle board.
It felt so good to relax all day long and just let the kids play.
When we returned to camp we found some pronghorn antelope grazing under a nearby tree. There were pronghorns all over the campground in large groups. Sometimes one or two would wander over to our units to eat the fruit from our tree.
Joey was so excited. He wanted to touch one. We had to watch him to be sure he didn't get too close.
He loved seeing "Santa's reindeer".
Feeding a group this large is a monumental task. Grammy and Grampy did a great job.
Isaac
Drake
Gabriel
After dinner and some relax time, Grammy formed a kitchen band. All the grandkids chose a kazoo and an old kitchen utensil to attach it to.
Joey loved it
Nolan
Annie, Madilyn, Lily
Once the instruments were built, Grammy led her rag tag band in a few songs.
The teenagers were good sports - and the little kids thought it was awesome
After serenading (or annoying) the campground, we put away the instruments and played Canadian Pinata. We stuck a gift card at the center and filled the pinata with toys and candy.
Next time we will make it even harder to unwrap. We had some competitive kiddos and adults going after the prizes.
After we unwrapped the pinatas we just visited and let the kids play with their new toys.
And Uncle Justin pulled out the salt gun to shoot the flies and bugs.
Caleb, Amanda, Claire, Drake
Aunt Julie gave Joey some yo-yo lessons.
We talked until the sun went down. Seeing all the cousins have fun together was heart warming. We all live so far apart that times like this are very rare.
And with cheeks full of candy we were ready to snuggle down and rest up for another day of fun.
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