what a weekend!

This past weekend was wonderful! I loved the reunion! It was so nice to hang out with family that I don't get to visit with very often. We have so much fun together. I feel so blessed to have grown up in this family. Even when we haven't seen each other for a long time, it's like no time has passed...we can still have a great time.

We drove up to Moses Lake on Thursday afternoon. When we got there we ate some dinner with Mom, Angie, Jared & Lindsay, and their kids...it was J's Teriyaki, of course. That night we watched the finale of SYTYCD. We were all so excited that Sabra won! Especially mom...since she did yell out "Oh, there is a God!" Yeah, she didn't hear the end of that one!

Friday morning Aaron and I woke up pretty early. Aaron had to get ready to go golfing, and I had no choice (thanks to Elsie). While Aaron was golfing I went to the grocery store with my mom to get the food we needed to bring for that day. We got to Jeff & Becky's around 11:00 for scones. I must say I didn't really eat as much as I wanted because I was too busy talking to everyone that I hadn't seen for so long. I spend the afternoon visiting with everyone. Some people went swimming and most of the younger kids were out on the boat/jetskis. Elsie was so good all day long. She took a couple naps in their house and enjoyed being outside the rest of the time. It was fun to get to show her to everyone that hadn't met her yet! We had a great dinner with lots of nummy salads. Then once our food settled, we had a little family dance. Angie put together a great mix, and we danced for about an hour. Us girls had so much fun!! We were all quite impressed with ourselves that we remembered "The Grind" and just had to much fun goofing off. Most of us don't get to do that very often. Some of the other cousins and aunts/uncles came out as well...the little kids were so cute, too. Everyone got a kick out of Carson's serious face as he danced the robot. I still laugh when I picture it. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. He is too funny! Plus, we were privileged to see Aaron bust a move. I always tell him it looks like he's having a seizure when he dances. It makes me laugh. After the family dance, Jeff made a few announcements and handed out the family reunion T-Shirts...Cherry Creek Rules. (Basically it means we think we can do what we want and change the rules anytime we want. I think it was very fitting.) Then we watched the family video that Doug had put together. I really enjoyed seeing all the pictures of us growing up. He also had included some really cool pictures of grandpa. There were also a few pictures of Mitch, which really made me miss him and wish he could've been there. Doug had set up a video screen outside to watch a movie. Aaron and I decided to go home, though, because Elsie was tired...and so were we.

Me and my cute baby Elsie!

Aaron playing Settlers of Catan with Aaron Roach, Kelsey, & Jared. Isaac and his fiance Linh were playing a different game next to them.Kendall and McKayla relaxing in the sun. I love these girls, especially since they actually came out and danced with us (unlike some of our other younger girl cousins...haha!)Aaron, Angie, Elsie, Kacey, and I talking when we should've been chowing down on scones!Myca and Jared cuddling. By the way, I did fail to mention earlier than during our race at the park, my pregnant cousin Myca was faster than me. Is that pathetic or what?!Mom and AngLindsay and Daishan playing on the swings with their girls...who are so cute!!

Saturday morning before we did anything else, we went over to grandma's house to get some toast and jam. A trip to ML wouldn't be complete without that. Aaron eats it like candy! Later that morning, us girls went to a bridal shower for Alysha while most of the boys went to the park to begin the games. The shower was nice, and Alysha got a lot of cute presents. Next we got to go to the State Park where we played volleyball, ran races, did an egg toss, took family pictures, and ate pizza. It was a great day. Aaron tied in a threesome in his race with Kyle and Isaac, so they had a tiebreaker run. Aaron says he won, but it looked pretty darn close to me. Most people were quite impressed that such a little guy with short legs could run so fast. I must say that Aaron was quite impressed with himself as well. I rotated in a couple games of volleyball, but they pretty much kicked me off because I was so bad. Not really...but I did suck! That evening we went to Justin's reception and visited some more. We took some adorable pictures of all the babies under the age of 1. They were so cute! It was so interesting to see how different they all are. Most of the babies that are younger than Elsie are bigger than her. After the reception Kacey, Peggy, Alysha, Myca, Gail, and Nena came over to mom's house and we re-watched the SYTYCD finale and analyzed it. What fun!

Grandma joined a game of volleyball with her children. She was so cute and, of course, was trying her hardest because she's just as competitive as the rest of them. One time she took a fall and was laughing so hard. I took this picture a little too late!
My mom playing volleyball...a sight I've never seen. I think that may be where I got my skills from.I had to steal this picture from Ashley's blog because it is so cute. Elsie was obsessed with touching and rolling over the other babies. She was loving Sibel sitting right next to her!
We were supposed to leave on Sunday, but we both felt like we needed a day to relax after such a busy weekend. So, we just hung out at my mom's with my family and watched TV. It was nice. Elsie had a fun time playing with her cousins and being spoiled with attention. She was SO good all weekend long, even though her schedule was all out of whack. I wish I had taken more pictures with my camera, but I got lazy. Plus, there were so many other people taking pictures that I'm hoping I'll be able to see everyone's. Anyway, I just loved it and loved being with all of my family.