More Reunion Fun (from Lindz)

There was one thing about the reunion that I didn't mention, mostly because I was waiting on some pics from my sis Lindz, and she delivered.  They turned out cute.  My aunt raises horses and every time we get together, she lets the kids ride Frankie, a gorgeous horse with blue eyes.  So they all got their turn pretending to be cowboys. 

Malia's waiting for her turn with Bacon, a little bored. 

OH and Micah found this hat at a local store in Hangtown and loved it.  He wore it almost the entire weekend.

Kenz getting her turn.

Morgie

Micah, still sporting the hat, which ironically enough looks like a helmet.

Eah hamming it up.  She was really excited to get on, but then didn't want Frankie to move.  So we just took shots of her on the horse.

Just chillin watching the talent portion of our reunion.

Just another shot of the skit.  It still makes me laugh.

In Tahoe we found a cute little ice cream shop and got the kids each a cone.

Morgie posing at the beach.

Micah cheesin it up.

Malia making a huge mess with her ice cream.

One more shot of the horse for good measure.  I just wanted to get a full shot of her.

Going to the Couv!

Holy Cow, I started this entry a long time ago and totally forgot to post it.  Man I'm losing it.  Anyway, it's late but it's here.

Happy Mother's day to me!!!! For Mother's day, Randy bought me tickets to Portland to hang with my sister Laurie over Memorial Day weekend.  My other sister's were going to try come down to visit for the weekend also, but 2 of them got sick the day they were suppose to leave.  But my sister Lindsay came down from Seattle to see us.  I flew out the last day of school early in the morning and got there at 9 AM.  We went to the Portland Temple and met up with a friend from college there.  We went out to lunch afterwards with her husband and kid and then went back to Lolly's and chilled the rest of the weekend.  I was able to see a few of my old neighbors, like Jennie.  She's got  5 kids, 4 of which are 9 months apart.  Craziness.   I don't know how she does it, but she has made it this far and now 4 of the five will be going to school next year, Hooray for her.  What a bunch of cuties.

We set up a time to meet at the park with some other friends and my cousin Sarah.  It was cold but didn't rain.  The Northwest was reminding me why I moved away. I don't miss this weather.  Here are some of the Schmidt girls.

My friend from High School, Sarah popped by and hung out with us for a while. 

Lindsay's friend, Annie, from high school also came with her kids.

My sis and her baby. I love his dimples.

Brad man and Tater enjoying the swing.

Grace and Tate showing me their piano skills

The kids giving loves to Auntie Lindz before she headed out.

Cole showing me his cool toys

Someone trying to be funny and taking my picture.

Getting my loves from the Collinator.

Bradley just being cute.

Classic Collin pose.  Getting ready to sing the "I love the Tiger" (really Eye of the Tiger).  I had a video clip of it, but for whatever reason I can't upload it, so it will have to wait.

Thanx Laur and Randy for setting this up.  It was really nice to get away and not have to parent and just be the fun aunt I never get to be.

Reunion; the rest of the Story

After Tahoe we headed back to P-ville for the rest of the reunion with our extended family. This is where we have had a majority of my dad's family reunions over the past years.  Now that my grandparents are both gone we aren't sure what's going to happen.  It was a great reunion though, lots of gabbing and dancing and laughing and of course eating.  Every time we get together we have amazing Bbque ribs and chicken.  It's heavenly.  Here is my dad and one of his cousins.  I love how these guys all look the same.

 Malia found "Grandpa pocket" and stuck with him like a fly on stink.

And of course posing for the camera.

Little Cole decided it would be fun to climb the tree.  He was up there before anyone saw him.  What a little Monkey. 

The infamous Sara shot.  I don't think she likes her picture being taken, too bad for her, lol.

Cousin Chris (or Jim or James, take your pick).  He looks so good right here I just had to post it.

The kids found a butterfly, not sure if it will survive after the excitement of all 20 kids, thanx little butterfly.

Tianna, Lenore and Meli right before one of their dances.

Uncle Larry and one of the cousins.

We were forced to do a skit, and so some of my sister's and me put this together really fast.  It's from SNL's Lawrence Welke show.  We made Bacon be Junice.  It is absolutely hysterical.

The little boys learned this number from Lenora.  Micah was trying so hard, it was cute.

My bros Andy and Billy used to do this skit at scout camp and then they brought it to our family reunions almost 20 years ago.  We were able to enjoy it again (substituting James for Andy) this year.  Watch as Billy gets off of his horse each time, it's awesome.

And my favorite. . ."Somewhere Over the Rainbow" preformed by my cousin Lenora with her 2 girls Meli and Tianna.  They are amazing Polynesian dancers.  Right before they danced this, Lenora dedicated it to my grandparents.  They were really the driving force behind our reunions.  Without them I don't know how much we all would have gotten together.  There wasn't a dry eye in the crowd.  Thanx Lenora for remembering my grandparents in such a beautiful way.  I wish they could have seen it.

I'm really glad we were able to go.  We had a memorial for my grandparents during the reunion and I was able to hear a lot of great stories and memories about them.  They were truly missed but it was nice that so many were able to show up and be together again.  I hope we keep it going.

Reunion; TAHOE FUN

For our vacation this year, my sister was able to secure a few rooms at a timeshare in Tahoe.  We had 3 rooms that slept 8 each.  It was so much for my sister's and brother's to hang out and have fun.  We drove a little bit around Lake Tahoe.  This is Emerald Bay.  It is gorgeous.

Alina, Kiki and Malia posing.  Malia wouldn't leave aunt Lina's "house."  I've never her seen her eat as fast as she did, so she could quickly head back over to their room.

Bacon and Tate.

Shauna acting like she doesn't like me taking her pic while eating ice cream.

We headed down to Round Hill Beach and spent a day chillin by the lake.  The water was pretty cold, but it was really warm out and we had fun anyways.  Here's Malia, Morgan and Preston hanging out on the beach.

Micah really liked to dig and dig.

Morgan and Preston kept asking us to bury them . . . so we did

Morgan really wanted to be buried.

The guys trying to be brave and get in the water.

Billy Alina and Kiki enjoying the water while Kiki let them.

McKenzie pretty much spent the whole time in the water.

Malia (with her suit falling off) and Ella filling up the basket full of holes.

Lindsay, cousin Chris and Shauna soaking up some rays.

Bacon and I hamming it up for the camera.

Tater trying not to fry.

And in the end, the kids were a bit pooped.  They slept pretty good that night.

And a quick pic for good measure of me and Randy above Emerald Bay.