Workman Family Reunion

A couple weeks ago, all of Mitch's brothers and sisters came into town and we had a little reunion of sorts. Most of them stayed for about a week and so we were able to do quite a few fun things. My favorite was Saturday morning we headed up to Jackson and rafted the Snake River.



We rented a raft which was nice because we ended up going twice because we missed all the big rapids the first time down. On the second run we knew where to go and wow it was so much fun.




Thankfully we only lost one person to the big kahuna and it was one of the adults who managed to save the paddle!!

After the second run we headed back down to IF and had a nice dutch oven dinner/feast and a little family program.


The Yea's were in charge and they came up with the idea to bury a family time capsule. So every family brought something to represent their family through the year and then the little kids all wrote letters to themselves. It was such a great idea and in ten years we will dig it back up as long as we remember that we buried it :)

The next night we went up to the Bar J Wranglers which is always good ol' entertainment and a family tradition.

We took Addy on the carriage ride because she loves horses!

Then I tried to get as much energy out of her body before the show started so we could actually enjoy ourselves so we spent some time running around and she climbed all over the fence.


and starred at everyone walking past but it made for some cute pictures.


Our silly family :)

The next day we went up to warm river (which is not warm by the way). On the way up one of the vans broke down, so we piled as many people as we could into one car and then our car went to find parts and tools to fix the van. Luckily it was a pretty easy fix so we weren't too far behind.

It was a fun place for the kids to float the river. We took Addy down in the yellow raft and as long as I was with her the whole time she was fine but she did not like going down by herself.




The kids also had a ball fishing with Grandpa. I think they caught 9 or so.

By late afternoon it got a little chilly and started to rain on and off so we huddled under the tree while it rained and then ran out and cooked hot dogs and s'mores when it wasn't raining.


Later in the week we had all the nieces and nephew age 5 and up (accept Addy) up to our place for a pigza hut party. They had no idea what to expect which made it even funner- and yes funner is a word! Sadly my camera wasn't working so I only got a picture as we were backing to go back to IF.

As part of the party, each kid made their own pizza and then we played lots of games. Mitch took them out and taught them how to play pig on the basketball court, then we played a game where each person pins a balloon to their backside and then has a thumb tack taped to their nose and then you run around on your hands and knees popping each others balloons. We had them squeal like a pig when their balloon got popped. It was great fun and I was really sad I didn't have my camera. Then we played oink, oink, pig because it was a game Addy knew but I did have a pig face that they wore and then they had to chase around the circle as if they were a pig. The last game was squealing/snorting competition-very funny. They then set up their pig pens/tents in the backyard and then we watched Penelope on the back of the house.

The next day us sister in-laws all went to lunch and then all the girls went to see Letters to Juliet. It was such a cute show and I was happy to be watching it with girls because I knew Mitch would be making fun of the cheesiness.

On the last day we went to Rigby Lake and played around. Addy loved playing in the sand and splashing around with her cousins. It made me wish that we hadn't waited all summer to go. Next year we will have to go more often.

So it was a very fun week and we all went home exhausted but it is always good to be with family especially when most of them you only see a couple times a year.

Snow Fun

While we were in Island Park, we took advantage of all the snow and went sledding a couple of times. The first day we just went down the driveway because there really wasn't a good place for a track. We eventually got a little bored of that and with the help of Mitch and Mike we built a nice jump. In order to get over it you had to be pushed half way down the drive because it wasn't very steep.



Addy loved being outside and she even went down a couple of times on her own. I just laid her on her back and like I said before it wasn't that steep so I just walked behind. The funniest part was just watching her walk because she was so bundled up.





The best part of the sledding trip was when the kids started making a track that was steeper but it went through the trees so you had to be really careful. If you didn't dive off at the end then you would run straight into a tree. Well, Mitch wanted to go down with me so I told him I would as long as he promised we wouldn't hit the tree. With two people you go a lot faster so all of a sudden we see the tree and he leans one way and I lean the other and smack- we run straight into the tree. Since I was the one in front I got a huge bruise on my leg and ended up completely wrapped around the tree. The best part was that it had snowed the night before so the trees had a fresh coat of snow and after we hit the tree, all the snow fell down on top of us. Everyone busted up laughing and thankfully we weren't hurt to badly.

My surprise!

Several months ago I saw this book at my neighbors house that had the cutest little kid hats. It inspired me to learn how to knit so for one of our relief society activities that is just what we did. I was a really slow learner but determined none the less so I went to the library and found the cute book and taught myself the rest. Well I became somewhat obsessed- I kept learning new techniques.



And then came the idea, why don't I make hats for all my nieces and nephews for christmas. Sounds like a fun idea except I thought of it at the beginning of December and I have 16 nieces and nephews. I knew we were all going to be at the cabin together so I was determined. I spent every spare minute knitting. My fingers got very strong and nimble but with four days till the cabin I still had a couple hats to make and several others to put finishing touches on. I stayed up pretty late a couple of nights but I did it!



And happy for me, they LOVED them. I was sort of nervous that they wouldn't care because it was just a hat but I was pleasantly surprised by their reaction. They wore them all over the cabin and a few even tried to sleep in them.






My favorite hats were the little boys because I was able to be a little more crazy. This made my whole christmas! probably because it took me soooo long and they loved them so much.