Fun. And family. That is what I think of when I look back on these great pictures from our Monson Family Reunion at Bear Lake this past August. And let's be honest, it's much happier to look back on those moments than to remember the major lack of sleep (not for good reasons) that we endured.
Even though the mornings began early (sometimes
well before sunrise), the days were full of sunshine, beach play and boating fun. We missed Clark who had to fly home to start his CRNA program. A pretty decent excuse for missing out on Bear Lake, though perhaps not quite as fun.
The beach at Ideal Beach Resort was less than ideal, so we spent one day over at the state park on the Idaho side. As you can see from the picture, the beach went on and on, was full of the softest sand and had a long stretch of shallow (though in some places quite pokey) water. The little kids had so much fun, though I'm not sure anyone had more fun than Emmett, Emery, Will and Owen. Endless giggling came from those little ones playing (a very messy version of) "bubble bath" and telephone.
Claire Bear
Brewer Boy
Their "hot tub"
Boating, skiing and tubing are always big hits. Not to mention the candy! I was super impressed that Emmett got in the water with me and swam--on more than one occasion, too! It was good to get out for a water ski run, even if the water was just okay.
The "Inseperables"
This boy.
Sleeping on the boat instead of at night.
Emmett and Momma on the tube.
Pop Pop and Emmett are pretty good buddies.
Swimming in these blue waters is lovely when the sun is out.
Cute cousins playing together. Emmett was in playmate heaven!
Alternative uses of the basketball hoop Grandma bought...
Brewer and Emmett in the super stroller.
Beauties.
Milkshakes before everyone headed home at the end of the week.
The one blustery afternoon-the storm rolled in and out and did a nice job of beaching our boat.
Sweetest of friends.
Other memorable moments included raspberry shakes, the one windstorm that has to roll in for an afternoon, seeing my dearest friend and roomie Kim and her family, watching 32 and The Fugitive, celebrating Great-Grandma Maxine Durney's and Great-Grandpa LaVern Monson's birthdays and hearing stories about their lives, the debate about whether it was appropriate to sing "Many More Birthdays" verse to those who are already dead, diving board follow the leader, the most amazing stars, and of course, seeing grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
Emmett and I enjoyed plenty of Bear Lake sunrises. Even though I would have rather been sleeping, it was quite lovely and peaceful. We had pretty tight sleeping quarters in our condo. Emmett and I shared a room with 8-month-old Claire, Rachel and Beth. Quin slept in the hall after one night in our room. Jerai, Boyd and Brewer slept on the Murphey bed in the living room. It was an art of timing figuring out when to put the kids to bed, and the arrangement left few options of places one could go with a baby/toddler that wouldn't sleep. Emmett and I hung out in the bathroom one
morning middle of the night and poor Jerai ended up taking an unconsolable Brewer out to the car. We survived. But just barely.
Swings at dawn
This grin says it all about how Emmett felt about Bear Lake. So grateful we could spend quality time with our family. We're already looking forward to next year--pending we have a better sleeping arrangement! :)
Credit to my cousin Jenna Zollinger for the cutest and best quality pictures on this post.
1 comment:
Ok that sounds really brutal. We do close quarters at our family reunions, but it gets hard when people have babies/toddlers!
When we did Bear Lake last year we were on the north side. We had to drive about 15 minutes to get to the lake but had the definite advantage of all of that soft sand which the kids loved.
Post a Comment