The day that never ended--Day 2 of the Family Reunion

Saturday seemed to stretch on forever--in a great way. We crammed so many fun things into the 15 hours of sunlight it's hard to remember them all.

The cabin had huge windows, so when the sun came up, the kids couldn't sleep anymore and the day began. "The sky's awake, so I'm awake..."

Since the cabin had one bedroom with a door where the Grandparents slept, the rest of us either camped outside or spread out on the floors, cots, futons and couches on the main level and loft of the cabin. It was an interesting experience sleeping in the same space as at least 20 other people, but we made it work and the kids did well.

George and I went to pick up Mom, Glenn, Grandma Brewer, and Jason who had driven up from Provo that morning. Lily came along and had a blast playing with Uncle Jason in the back of the truck.

Uncle Jason with his newest nephew Austin.

Breakfast was pancakes the size of your plate and breakfast sandwiches.

Kasia with her son Jacob and niece Alivia.

Little Grant, Nathan's son.

James has grown into quite the young man! Last time I saw him he was about Jude's age.

Lily and Great-Grandma Allred enjoying breakfast inside the cabin.

The master chef. Tyler and Laura were in charge of the food during the weekend and did a fantastic job.

The weather couldn't have been better. Cool in the mornings, warming up to the perfect 80 degree afternoons. It was gorgeous.

Between the fire pit, the mountain to climb, the fields to explore, and all the cool bones and rocks they found, these kids never ran out of things to do.

Grant Calderwood.

Corin was there, too! It's always fun when she comes.

Grandma and Grant

Grandma Brewer came also! 

Just down the road from the cabin was the original homestead sites of Tyler's great grandparents who built the cabin and owned the land. We took the kids on a little hike to visit the tiny log cabins that were still there.

They were only about a mile or less away, but it took a while to get there. Just too many things to look at!

Benjamin with his two boys Joel and Henry, Grandma B, and Cole

These two boys kept finding the coolest cow and elk bones. They even made themselves "pick-up sticks" so they could pick up the bones without using their hands. Clever.

I've never really considered Utah to be very pretty, outside of the huge rocky mountain ranges, but I think Coalville changed my mind.

Thank goodness for uncles! This little girl LOVES her Uncle Jason.

Joel riding this neat old tractor

Exploring the old homestead site.

One of the three cabins still "standing".

These kids were in heaven! 

Documenting... you can see that old tractor in the background surrounded by kids. 

So pretty.

Cute couple

Cole showing Lily how it's done.

The coolest part of the hike was finding this dead porcupine inside one of the cabins. It hadn't been dead for very long and was totally intact. The kids thought it was the neatest thing.

Ouch, Lance!

"Pork-ee-pine!"

Checking out it's face:

Aunt Amy showing them the short, sharp barbs hidden under the longer hair.

Like I said, it was a hit. The kids (and adults) poked and prodded for a good 15 minutes before Tyler finally threw it back into the trees.

Heading back.

Once again, it took a while.

From left to right: Samantha, Stephen, Corin, Jason, Mom, Mybree, Caleb, Jude, Mason, and Aunt Dorene

Caleb and Mybree trying their hands at horseshoes.

Sweet! That bone was almost as big as they were!

Spending time with Grandpa.

Fast Scrabble, anyone?

Grandma Brewer with baby Austin.

Tyler, Austin, and Laura

Jamberry nail party with Maya, Aunt Dorene, Kasia, and Samantha

Sharing goldfish with Grandpa.

We all got to try our hands at shooting clay pigeons:

Laura

Lance used a featherlight rifle and did a great job! I think he got at least two of the five pigeons.

Go, Mom!

Jude got to try out a BB gun and thought it was pretty neat.

Big brother showing him some tricks of the trade.

Caleb

Jason

Amy

Me!

I did alright--I shot two of the four pigeons. Not too shabby for a beginner!

George

And now it was time for games! I had about 10 minute-to-win-it games planned. We didn't get to them all before it was time for dinner, but we had a great time!

Cup stacking game: stack all your cups into a pyramid before one minute is up!

Oops!

Shake it! Get all the gumballs into the other container before your minute is up:

Jude did it!

Maya and Benjamin, head to head

Watching the fun

Dice stacking game: stack as many dice as you can on the tongue depressor.

Amy! Looking good!

Our favorite game! Shake all 8 ping pong balls out of the box tied to your back in less than a minute. This was hilarious to watch!

Aunt Dorene and Caleb

Group photo:

We ended the day with a birthday celebration for Grandma Allred's 80th Birthday, followed by a family Fireside by Grandpa Allred.

Whew! What a day! We couldn't have asked for a more perfect way to spend time with family and enjoy each other's company. 

Allred Family Reunion--Coalville, UT

I had been looking forward to the Allred Family Reunion since Laura, Tyler, and Benjamin started planning it last year. We hadn't seen most of our Allred cousins or Grandma and Grandpa Allred for years--since we were kids, we've always lived on opposite sides of the country and it was rare for us to get together. I was excited to meet my cousins spouses, see their kids, and of course introduce George and my kiddos to them. It was going to be great!

We landed in SLC late Thursday night and headed straight to the cabin where we would be staying for the next three days with the entire Allred clan. The cabin is owned by Tyler's uncle who graciously allowed us to borrow it for the weekend.

Tyler and Laura were already there with their boys, so Tyler met us in Coleville around midnight that night to take us the rest of the way to the cabin. It's a good thing he did. The dirt road went up through the mountains, across pasture lands, and around free-roaming horses and cattle. The road stretched on for a good 15 minutes and we had to stop about four times to open and close gates along the way. By the time we got to the cabin, we really were "in the middle of nowhere".

We settled right down to bed, only to get up with the sun around 6 a.m. The cabin had limited electricity (think no fridge, lights we could only use at night, and if too many people plugged their phones in to charge, it would shut off). It was great because there was literally nothing to do except play outside. It. Was. Awesome.

The first things the boys had to do was to climb the mountain next to the cabin. Mason had already done it and showed Lance and Jude the way. I couldn't believe how fast they managed to scramble up.

(Lance is way up at the top, shirtless.)

We left Jude and Lance at the cabin with the Calderwoods and with Cole and Lily in tow George and I made the hour+ trip to Provo to get groceries and pick up Amy.

By the time we got back later that afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa had arrived, as had Nathan with his two cute kiddos Alivia and Grant.

Grandma holding Austin

Lily liked the horse on Grandpa's shirt.

George, Tyler and I drove back down the road to Coalville to guide in Caleb and Mybree who were on their way.

Just a glimpse of the road we got to drive:

The road went right through this pasture with horses and cattle. A few times we had to wait for the animals to get off the road before continuing.

How do you know your uncle is cool? He lets you ride in the back of his truck and open the gates along the way. Lance thought this was fantastic!

(I won't tell you that Lance actually started out standing in the doorwell outside of the truck holding onto the handle through the window as Tyler drove. What kind of mom would let their kid do that?)


While we waited at the gas station for Mybree and Caleb, Cole entertained himself with the dandelions he found.

Love this kid.

Back at the cabin while George was cooking dinner, Lance got a little shooting practice in. Nathan had brought this awesome rifle just his size and Lance had a great time shooting targets on the side of the mountain.

Cole of course wanted a chance to try. Nathan was so nice to help him out.

Jude found treasure after treasure outside and brought them in for all of us to enjoy. There was an abundance of deer and cow bones that he and Mason collected over the three days we were there.

Jude and Alivia showing a bug to cousin Caleb.

These two were inseparable the whole weekend. They really do enjoy each other.

Alivia, Nathan and Millie's daughter. Millie wasn't able to make it to the reunion because she had just given birth a couple weeks earlier to their third child Everett, so Nathan drove to UT with Alivia and Grant.

Little Grant.

Cole. That pizza he's holding was from lunch earlier that day while we were running errands in Provo. He wasn't able to finish it then, so he saved it for later and ran around with it for probably an hour before it was gone.

The last time we saw Grandma and Grandpa was when Chad graduated from Columbia's Dental School back in 2011. This was Lily and Cole's first time meeting them. It was so good to have them there!

Lily made friends fast! Mybree is so sweet and good with the kids.

And of course we couldn't keep the kids off the mountain.

Alivia wanted to climb too, so Uncle Caleb helped. I didn't realize how steep this mountain was until I tried to help Jude up it. It was almost straight up and and down!

We made it all the way to the top, though, and back down. Honestly, coming down was harder than the climb because I was constantly afraid we'd slip and just keep falling.

We ended the day with marshmallows by the fire...

...and a shrimp boil while we waited for Stephen and Corinn, Aunt Dorene, Maya, and James to come.

All the activity of the day caught up with Jude.

Like Dr. Seuss says in his "Sleep Book"

Today was good.
Today was fun.
Tomorrow is another one.