Morris Brothers Reunion at Bear Lake

Alright, where do I begin? Every couple years or so we plan a reunion with just Cordelle's immediate family and their families. This year the only people we were missing were Cordelle's parents still on a mission in Chicago! Cordelle's older brother Kent and his family were there from China and another brother Kyle from Washington (who had'nt even met Jaquelle yet) were there too. It was SO fun to see them! Its crazy how all these neices and nephews have changed and are growing up! Anyways so all 6 brothers were there for a few days staying in the Garden City KOA and it was a blast! It was a much needed break for us (and especially me) after all the reunion jazz and just having one crazy, busy summer. We borrowed a tent trailer which made us want to buy one even more. It was so nice. But Cordelle just found out he has to have ACL surgery so even though the people we borrowed it from offered to sell it to us at a screaming deal, we had to decline. Sad. But when you dont have the money, you don't have the money. We'll get one for sure one day.

ANYWAYS!!!....A little recap of the reunion goes like this....Day one was spent mostly setting up camp and just hanging out. Day two we spent the entire day at the lake and had a blast just lounging, and swimming, and canoeing, and talking, and watching the brothers compete in bocce ball or the work outs Kent tried to rope them all into doing. :) Then that night we shared family talents and skits and my sister in law Lisa (fabulous Lisa that she is) organized this whole farewell festivities for Michael, (the first grandkid going on a mission here soon) and then the kids played Harry Potter in the dark with glow sticks as wands. Funny. Anyways the next day we packed up and everyone took off for the Minnitonka caves or to Lagoon (except for us who had a long drive ahead of us, so we headed homeward). Anyways, thanks for the most part to our neice Cassidy's husband who literally took over 600 photos of the trip, we have lots of pics! So enjoy.

Day one...of course my kids are glued to my hip because its been awhile since they've seen their cousins and are in "shy-bubble mode."

One of the previously mentioned work-outs that Kent (an aspiring fitness instructor---ok not really) convinced his brothers to do. Cordelle complained for days about his stomach feeling like he was sick....and I just kept reminding him that it was the muscles that probably hadn't EVER been worked before, rebelling in anger at his sudden cave to exercising peer pressure.

My sister in law Rebecca (to the right of me) brought with her some stuff called Jerusalem mud that is supposed to keep your skin clean and clear, so we all had fun smearing ourselves with it. And I might add, my skin had never felt so refreshed! Ahh I have fun sister in laws. Where was Sherrie and Tammy in all this?

Grandma/pa Durrant's Farm

This year my mom's family (The Durrant's) had their reunion at my Grandma/pa's farm. My grandma is still recovering at home from being in the hospital for many health problems so it was a good place to be so she could be close. I normally can't come up because its just too far away but this year I decided I could really use the time to de-stress myself and I was really looking forward to some long drives by myself (weird I know). So I decided to go. I tried to squeeze a last minute high school reunion meeting in the day before but it ended up not happening (another story for another post). And Cordelle had to work so he didn't come, but the kids had a good time hanging out with their cousins and running around on the farm. I have some great cousins and aunts and uncles so that made it fun. It was kind of just like camping. Everyone brought out their trailers and they all just camped out in this big grassy area next to some ponds on the farm. We stayed with my mom in her trailer for the night, so of course my kids were just in heaven. Anyway's here's some pics from the short little trip!

My cousin created this scavenger hunt all around the farm for the kids. We went from the animals to the old abandoned barns, to the rubble of the original house on the farm and then of course there was a clue in the old out house. Yes, this is a true and true out house. Mostly just spiders in there now, but pretty fun.

How bout this at the next carnival? Tractor rides!! Redneckish? Perhaps. And yes there are kids inside the shovel part of that tractor. My uncle decided the quickest way to fill up the swimming pools for the water squirters would be to use the tractor to carry water from the pond to the pools. It actually worked quite well. But then the kids thought it would be fun to ride in it..... and there you have it.

Nothing like some button button whose got the button with candy....I must say its been years since I've played this game.

Kids (mostly mine and Kristas), two of the others are my cousin Tammy's kids and believe it or not the one at the end is my cousin! (I think he's the youngest cousin and Tammy's the oldest)

My Sisters! Both of them only stayed for dinner but I was glad they were both there.

Water balloon pass. My children can barely hold a water balloon without it popping on them, let alone throw it to each other. Ahh it only lasts a few seconds anyways and then the water fight begins.

Tiff and Brett were here too. She was cute and playing with all the kids in the trailer. We are really going to miss her. She has to move back to Hong Kong in a few weeks because her student visa is up. We love her!

Tire Swinging


And lastly, thanks to cool aunts like Tallie, Seth got an early birthday present. Tallie brought him down this dual light saber and you would've thought this kid died and gone to Star Wars heaven. Needless to say I didn't see much of him the rest of the time, and every kid was now a Star Wars character to be fought with.



Oh wait, I guess I should tell a little about our 24th of July celebrations. We left the farm Saturday morning and got home just in time for the small Enoch city parade. We then spent the evening at the park doing little games and eating dinner. Its why I love little towns. Their holiday celebrations are always so much fun. And of course we see everyone there so its fun to see and run into people. Fun time of year!

Huff camping trip

This summer we finally got out and went camping with our good friends the Huff's up by Yankee Medow!! It was a much needed trip for us and so nice to just get out and enjoy being up in the mountains. It was Avery's birthday and we were lucky enough to be the people she wanted to spend her camping trip with. We love these guys, its like hanging out with family (that you like :). We were able to go on some small hikes and both our kids spotted some amazingly close deer so overall it was a success! Thanks guys for the invite!

Hot doggers unite.

Okay so my kids didn't want their hot dogs really either...who could blame them when we were having hobo dinners (aka tin foil dinners with potatoes, chicken and the works!) But its always fun to cook them.

The mallows....of course my kids won't eat them, but they have to roast them.

Isn't he a cute Wonder Boy?

Before and Afters.....TA DA!!!

Okay this doesn't have a before but I totally wish it did! I found this gem for $5 at a yard sale. But the entire thing was covered in (i'm certain) a Million stickers! Seriously took my longer to get the stickers off than everything else combined. But I needed a new dresser for Jaq and since the mirror was still in good shape, I couldn't pass it up.

Its been about 18 months coming but our basement is finally 100% finished!!! It is amazing! WE LOVE IT! The toys are downstairs, the kids are downstairs, the TV's downstairs, all the Cedar Weddings STUFF and computer is downstairs.....its like I have an entirely new home.

I am obsessed with bins and organizing containers....If I could I would be constantly buying more and more things so that every toy has an exact place. This is close.

This was a BIG project. But I think it turned out great. I found this dresser at a yard sale for $20 and after seeing all those grooves in the drawers, I just couldn't pass it up for a nice glaze. Its now at the bottom of my stairs and I think it looks a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

Ahh the piano. Been wanting to do this for quite some time now. Never thought I'd actually have the guts to. But after days of fumes from spray paint and glaze, its done and I love it. I've now incorporated this color into my living room with red accents. Its bold I know and some people can't figure out why I did it but, I am so glad I did.

July This and That

Beautiful Jaquelle

This was a presentation I did for a stake Relief Society event. Basically we were supposed to portray a talent or something we loved to do. So for mine, I just put together a display of shoes that I love, worn in things that I love to do. (and then of course my kid's shoes too, cause I love them too :)

Aren't they cute? They really are such good friends


Swimming in the backyard one day.

Family Camp-out in the backyard! Sounds great right? The kids of course were wired and so excited they couldn't sleep.....and we realized only about 3 hours of sleep into it that grass is not as comfortable as it might seem. But man it was a great tool of bribary for the entire week prior. :) And the kids did earn it.

4th of July

We started the day off with the Cedar City parade and got great seats thanks to our friends the Huff's who live right down the road. The parade itself was definitely below par and really was a mass marketing tactic for local businesses. But they had fire trucks (that Seth is obviously a fan of) and they did throw out "some" of that generic taffy candy....so maybe it was all worth it? Ahh, I kid. It was fun going with friends and hey its TRADITION!

Love this little delectable patriotic desert I make every so often come July 4th. I was determined too, to make it. Even though blueberries were NOT on sale and I have clear memories of Cordelle rolling his eyes on the price of said blue berries which I normally would never spend that amount of money on, but which he knew I was going to (despite his disapproval) because I had set out to make it. Once I get my mind set on something....

We decided to have some the Frisby's, Askeroths, Ramsay's, and Losee's over for some after lunch swimming party. We snacked and talked and the kids went crazy in the sprinklers, pools, and with water balloons. It was actually a lot of fun, and lucky for those of us not getting wet, it was pretty cloudy all day.

Jaq and the sparklers!

Fireworks with some friends in the circle.

Seth really did enjoy the sparklers, despite this look

Over all it was a fun and busy day. Between the parade, the water party, a barbeque, and then a separate desert party with fireworks, it was quiet eventful. But whats best is right outside our door we get Enoch city's firework show which for a small town is actually quite good! And just short enough to let the kids watch and then walk inside and go to bed :) Love this town.