Our Annual Family Reunion at Priest Lake

The kids and I just returned late last night from our week up at Priest Lake with the rest of my family.  As always, Ron had to work and so the five of us drove there without him last Saturday after picking Lia up at church after she returned from Girls Camp.  We were the first ones to arrive after my parents on Saturday with both Eric and Chris and his family arriving on Sunday.  Rebecca and Vivi joined the group late on Wednesday after driving up after work and Brent and Kelsey managed to come for 1.5 days on Thursday in between Kelsey returning home from her study abroad in Mexico and their big family trip to Costa Rica.  So, it definitely was our smallest family reunion yet, but we still had a good time and I actually appreciated the smaller groups when it came to things like the morning ski run and meal times. 

With the exception of a storm that blew in Thursday night and on and off on Friday before we left to come home, we were blessed with beautiful weather in the high 80s and 90s.  The lake was 74 degrees when we arrived and 78 degrees when we left which made for such pleasant swimming in comparison to the chilly water of last month when we were there with Ron.  As always, the kids had such a great time playing with cousins and in the water.  Although Logan and Ella refused to go water skiing this month, I enjoyed a morning ski run with my brothers every day and I was also able to convince Lia to go skiing four times and she even went out of the wake successfully for the first time in her life!  After a fire broke out at the north end of the lake above Lionhead on Tuesday, we were able to witness an amazing fight to put it out over the next few days.  We watched four, firefighting planes fly for hours both Tuesday and Wednesday as they swooped down to the lake to pick up water, turned back around (right over our cabin almost every single time), and flew back up north to drop the water on the fire.  In addition, there was always one to three helicopters carrying a large bucket with water to and from the fire.  Watching all of these aircraft fight this large fire right in front of our eyes was like watching a movie and the kids and I got such a kick out of the airplanes whenever they flew right over us on the dock after picking up water from the lake.  Needless to say, it was an exciting and once-in-a-lifetime event to witness and I was so grateful for the hours that these pilots put into fighting this fire to protect the surrounding area.  Overall, we had a great time and I am so grateful that we were able to spend this annual and special week at the cabin with my family.

Ella, Logan, Lia, and I all enjoyed paddle boarding throughout the week.  Here is Ella paddling around the dock on our first day there.

Brynn, Lia, and Riley swimming with their googles on.

The kids loved playing on the water mat throughout the week.  Here are Brynn, Callie, Trenton, Logan, Lia, and Ella playing a game of who can last on it the longest while they wrestled around and fought each other off.

Logan and Trenton enjoyed being thrown in the water by Eric and Chris over and over again.  Here is Logan flying through the air.

Dad also convinced Eric to squeeze in a haircut one day during the week.  Eric has been cutting his hair for years, so it was fun to finally get a picture of this--much to my dad's chagrin.

Lia on her first ski of the week before attempting to go outside the wake.

As always, Chris brought up his flotilla of inner tubes that were enjoyed as much floating off of the dock as they were being pulled behind the boat.  Here is Uncle Chris with an army of children climbing over and around him.

An amazing picture I took of Ella doing a cartwheel on the water mat with Brynn looking on.

Although Emmett got comfortable swimming around in the hotel pool last month in Belize, he was still afraid of the lake water due to how cold it was last month.  After Chris managed to slowly get him deeper and deeper in the water after approaching from the beach, he was able to convince Emmett to start swimming in the water within a matter of minutes.  It was so amazing!  As a result, Emmett spent the rest of the week motoring off of the dock swimming to and from the water mat and to and from an inner tube if it was floating in the water.  It was the cutest thing!  Here is a picture of Emmy and Chris after he first got in the water.

Although we couldn't find any clay in the sand last month, Garrett dug down deep this month and found a massive supply of it.  As a result, Ella, Logan, and Trenton spent many hours digging up their own clay supplies and sculpting little creations.  It was the cutest thing!

Mama and Emmy floating on a tube together.

Emmett, me, and Brynn hanging out on the water mat.

Emmett swimming back to the dock with a frisbee in hand.

Ella showing off the little elephant she sculpted out of clay.

The kids at work on the dock creating their clay sculptures.

Logan showing off his awesome Godzilla sculpture.

We spent one afternoon at one of my favorite public beaches next to Lionhead.  Although we left behind a napping Emmett, my three older kids and I had a great time playing there.  Here we are posing on the huge log that is always waiting for us each year to take a group picture.

Although we were missing a few grandchildren, here is the group picture I managed to take of 8 out of the 14 grandchildren who were present that day.  (Emmett was sleeping and Vivi and Kelsey came up later in the week)

Another group shot of the kids standing above a massive skeleton of a deer that we found on the beach.

Lia, Ella, and Brynn relaxing on a tube.

Logan floating in the beautiful water.

Callie was so nice and helped Ella build an elaborate fairy house on the group beach before we left.

Lia, Brynn, Ella, and Callie did a girls' tube run back to the cabin which was so fun to watch.

Since Lia has been training for her cross country season all summer long, we went out on a nightly walk/run every evening after dinner.  I would walk the 2-mile route while she would run ahead of me and then turn around to run back to me before running off ahead of me again.  She would do this every evening and, as a result, easily ran 3 miles every night.  However, after Kelsey arrived on Thursday afternoon, the two of them were able to go on this run one evening together before we left.  Lia was so thrilled to have a runny buddy and to run with Kelsey for the first time who she has looked up to and turned to for lots of advice over the past year during both her cross country and track season.

The traditional, family photo that we asked our neighbor to take on our last night together after Brent and Kelsey arrived and before the kids and I left the next day.

Eleven of the fourteen grandchildren together on the steps.  We were only missing Sarah, Spencer, and Bryce this year.

A picture of me enjoying my last water ski run in Huckleberry Bay with Brent, Eric, and Kelsey on Friday morning.

The kids and me on the dock one last time before leaving later that day.

As always, my mom put on a scavenger hunt for all of the grandchildren before we left.  All of the girls were together and all of the boys were together except for Emmett who had his own hunt.  I had so much fun walking around with him all around the cabin helping him to find his clues.

The girls running back up the stairs after finding a clue down on the beach.

The boys heading back up after also finding a clue down below.