Dad's birthday celebration!

My daddio had a birthday not too long ago and to celebrate, most of the family came up to Idaho!

We had lots of fun all weekend.

Friday morning, we started the day doing a temple session with some family names my mom had.  Then in the afternoon we headed down to the zoo.  The weather wasn't the greatest but it didn't stop us from having fun anyways.

These lions were a definite favorite. The kids enjoyed having roaring contests with them. 

We got to the monkeys just in time for them to get their dinner which was fun to watch them jumping all over the place fighting for some food!  

Later that evening after everyone arrived, we went bowling.

Usually I am a terrible bowler but for some reason I was awesome.  I even got two strikes in a row on the last frame!  Pretty proud of myself.

Brayden loved playing with the balls as they came out of the shoot.

The next day, Mitch and I headed back over to the temple to help participate in our ward temple day.

After lunch, we packed up and headed up to Jackson. We dropped Mitch off at the Bar J to save us a place in line and then the rest of us went into down to wander around the shops.  Once again it was rainy and a little chilly but there wasn't too much complaining.  

Around 5:00 we headed back to the Bar J so we could be there for the fresh biscuits! 

Then we put Mitch on the carriage with all the kids and the rest of us just walked the path.

Brayden did not enjoy the ride so I got him off and let him just walk around.

He was in heaven!

Yeah, we barely survived the bear attack.  Good thing my sisters are brave and fought him off!

It was such a fun weekend which went by much too quickly.  Other highlights were Mitch's famous and delicious crepes, grandma teaching the kids how to make stick boats to float down the river and grandpa paying for his own birthday weekend!  I have been so blessed with such an amazing family! We just missed Tyler and Karson since they had to stay back and work.  Maybe next time the weather will be just a little more sunny and we can head to the lake!

Kansas City Family Reunion

We headed out to Kansas City the beginning of June for a Workman family reunion.  Mitch has a brother that lives out there with a few acres of land so we all gathered at his place and had quite a fun-filled week! Of course I took a million pictures so I really limited them on this post but it is still super long.

Addy was pretty excited about the airplane ride so trying to get her to take a normal picture was nearly impossible.

We flew in really late Friday night and then spent Saturday helping decorate the house for the rest of the family and figuring out food for the rest of the week.  That night we went into the city to the Plaza and ate at the Cheesecake Factory.  

By Sunday evening everyone had arrived so we did some family pictures.

Obviously they can't be too serious of pictures with Mitch involved.

Chrissy had got some really fun accessories to keep the pictures from being to boring!

Later that night we had the "opening ceremonies" which included s'mores and some incredible fireworks.  

Yum, Yum

Monday we were in charge of family games.  We sort of cheated and used lots of the same ones from my reunion last year.  They were a big hit for all ages.  

We've learned to put the water games at the end because it always ends in a fight.

Where someone always gets soaked!

This picture is what family reunions are all about!

That afternoon we relaxed and let the kids play outside.

Later in the evening we had family karoke night.  Each family was asked to come with a song or chant to perform.  It was great entertainment!

On Tuesday we all packed into the cars and headed out for a Church history tour.

We squeezed in with all the teenage girls and poor Mitch had to suffer through the singing and talking!

Our first stop was Independence.  They take you on a short little walking tour which shows what the Saints had to go through.  Afterwards they have a really fun place for the kids to play.

After we left Addy turned and waved good-bye to Jesus. I just love her!

We walked across the street to see where the Temple will one day be built.  While we were visiting the kids went exploring and found a random turtle.

Our next stop was Farr West.  It is really hard to imagine the saints living there because there really isn't much there anymore.  It is just so green and beautiful.

This is one of the cornerstones for the temple.

Then we drove out to Hans Mill.  Which only has a small little marking plaque on the ground.  It was another gorgeous place with a little creek where the kids loved to throw rocks.  

My favorite stop was at Adam-Ondi-Ahman.  We had a picnic lunch and then went and walked around  and had a little family discussion about what happened at that place.  It was just beautiful and had a wonderful feeling which is why we spent lots longer than we'd planned.

It was a very long day for this little gal.

Our final stop was to the Liberty Jail. We were all a little tired by this point so we didn't stay long but it was still good to see.

On Wednesday the youth went to the newly finished temple to do some baptisms. Then later in the evening we went to a Royals baseball game.

Thursday was another relaxing day with lots of card games.  At some point Ted was taking a nap and the girls decided to write on his forehead "Kick Me".

Well when he woke up those girls found themselves being thrown into the pond! I'm sure it is a memory they will never forget.

Of course that let to a nice mud fight and swim.

That night all the adults went out for a nice dinner of some good ol' southern barbeque. I still have dreams of eating that delicious food.

Thanks B&C for letting us all come and invade your house.  You spent a lot of time planning this reunion and we had a tremendous time!