Firth Reunion 2012

 Firth Family Reunion! Clayton was too busy studying to make it this year so I heroically (kidding) took the kids up by myself. Well, all the accolades belong to Rex and Kathy for letting us cram in the back of their truck and letting Winston kick their seats the entire way. We were also missing Clint and Alison and their family this year. We couldn't make it last year as we stayed in Michigan and had a baby. Anyhow, I was excited to go as we look forward to it each year.

There were a few minor hitches, the power and water were turned off at first due to lots of fires in the surrounding canyons, but they got it turned on by the second day and all was well. Winston was in heaven with all the room to roam and I was in heaven not having to worry about streets or cars and having so many hands to help with him. We had a lot of fun.

Eleanor and the kids found an inchworm. Have you ever actually seen one up close? They really do inch along, just like Slimey from Sesame Street. So cute, kind of. Still a worm.

 And other worms she insisted were also inchworms. Uhhh..

 Winston reacting to something awesome.

 And Eleanor hugging her long lost friends. All the older girl cousins (technically Clayton's cousin's kids.) are so sweet to Eleanor, letting her harass them the entire time. This is Bailey and Kinsley, I think? All told, there is a Hattie, Bailey, Kinsley, Hailey Jo, Paige and a few others. I never get them right.

 Winston loving Wendi's dog.

 Lucas was bet by Lex to eat a beetle for $10 whole, I think they talked it down to $5 to take off the legs and head. It was still bigger than a Rolo and completely disgusting. He chewed it up like a champ. His first comment? "Hmm, spicy." Shudder shudder shudder.

 See that little dot to the right of the green and black tent? Yeah, that's Winston, just crawling around the lawn. He's so tiny!

 Attempting to get a family shot. HARD.

 There we go.

 Zannah and Hayden? (Why can't I get them all straight? If they blogged, I'd have an easier time. Hint hint.) Working on the Sharpie tie-dye project.

 For the talent show the gals all sang Jingle Bells. I'll give you one guess as to who chose the song. (Remember, this is the middle of the summer.)

 And then we had a hard time getting Eleanor and Zannah off the "stage". Here they are dancing back-up for Rachel's songs.

 P.S. Rachel playing is always a highlight for me. She plays all my favorite songs.

 Grandma Kathy and Rachel's little bundle, Audrey. Who has the prettiest blue eyes ever. She is just a month younger than Winston.

 Aunt Val holding my elf.

 Eleanor begged Uncle John for a horse ride. He said he would after lunch (which was an hour or so off) and she hounded him the entire time. Bless his heart, he took her and every kid there for a little ride.

 Including Win. I just wanted a photo, but he took him around too. Winston loved it.

 

 And after everyone was all done, he took Eleanor for a second ride. What a sweetheart! And hello, doesn't John look like such a total cowboy? P.S. It was freaking hot outside, so this was truly a service.

 

 E mugging for the camera.

 And a quick shot with Grandma Ethel Mae before we headed back home. I couldn't have done it without the help of Kathy, Rex, Monica and Val- so a big thanks to all of them! We love all the Firths!

Wasn't Your Utah Trip Like Over A Month Ago?

So yeah, we've been back forever now, and I still haven't finished blogging our trip. And I am only doing so now for journaling purposes. I like things to feel complete. So here is the last of our trip. Lots of pictures with no real rhyme or reason to them. But hooray for me for getting it done!

The plane ride out was AWESOME! Eleanor decided to forgo her nap in exchange for a 4 hour game of "Hey, what's over there? Who's that? Let me down! Hey you, hey you! Why aren't you awake? Why aren't yo looking at me?" It was awesome, did I mention that? Ya, on the plane ride back we may have become friends with Benadryl.

Judge away internets.

Eleanor was delighted with grandpa and grandma Firth's new addition of chickens. The chickens are all named after old girlfriends of grandpa Firth. Sassy!We got the chance to see old friends, like sweet Emma. After Eleanor got over how fun her stroller was, they were totally happy to see each other.We also got to see our friend Matt and his family. Here are his daughters Ashley and Gracie with us at Cafe Rio. Oh, and we got to visit our friend Cafe Rio, we may have seen him more than our other friends.

It's hard eating ice by yourself.

We got to go lots of places with grandma Howell.And spend lots of time with grandpa Howell.We got to see aunt Cassie, visiting from Idaho.And Eleanor practiced the piano with dad.

She's a total prodigy, I can just feel it.

Eleanor took some fun walks with Jack and Abby.

Abby, who is now Lehi Middle School's newest cheerleader! Go Abby!As you saw in an earlier post, we enjoyed the annual Firth reunion up in Arbon Valley Idaho.Where Eleanor made stuff with clay.Rachel got to change her first diaper in something like 17 years. We went easy on her, no #2. The little kids stayed out of the way while...

...the big kids had a shooting competition, complete with 8 awesome shooting stations! Jeff outdid himself this year, and that is saying something.
It was so fun!

Bailey and I were on a team and we were, you guessed it, awesome!

Clayton was just horrible at it. Ok, kidding. I just wish I could beat him at something.
He and Kadin were terrific.

Later that night we had a really fun auction, with Clayton as the auctioneer. If you need a fun idea for a reunion or ward function, call me and I will tell you how it works. No money involved!He made sure to keep the bids going higher and higher. I kept chickening out on stuff, or wussing out as I didn't want to out-bid one of the little kids. Autumn lost her first tooth during the festivities.And the guys stood around and gossiped. Ok, talked, sheesh, whatev.

Back in Provo, Eleanor got to play dress up.Complete with grandma's "Sally-Jesse" glasses.

We went out to dinner with my brother Tom's family for his birthday.

Here are E and Tommy (junior) out front.Inside she had to show how cool she looks in shades. Pretty darn cool if you ask me.

Later Tom got to open presents. One of which was a clue leading him on a scavenger hunt. It's a tradition for them...

...which tends to put Tom in some awkward positions.Eleanor got to be one of the clues.The trip was so great, we easily could have stayed for a month and needed more time, alas, two weeks it was. We ate at all of our favorite food spots: JCW's, Cafe Rio, Smart Cookie, Costa Vida and best of all Chungas. It's a Taco place at about 650 North Freedom Blvd. It's in the same strip as Shirley's Bakery, which was also on our go-to list. If you want an awesome taco, possibly the best we've had, get the Taco Al Pastor at Chunga's. You will thank us.

We Miss everyone a bunch and hope to see them all again at Christmas time. Anyone and everyone are invited to visit us in Michigan! I'm looking at you, Allie.