We drove to AZ on Sunday - NOT getting out of Texas before Del backed into someone trying to get out of McDonald's. We don't know what it is about the trip back and forth to AZ, but we think the trip is jinxed. Thankfully we didn't have any incidents on the way home though. Hopefully the curse is broken.
That Monday we hung out with Grandma Ruth most of the day at her house - playing "Horse" in the backyard, playing with the dog, just sitting around yapping.
Tuesday we went to Cedar Springs and rode motorcycles and quads, and did some shooting. Shotguns and skeets are my personal favorite. We got a good fire going and roasted hotdogs and marshmallows. The kids loved going for rides with the cousins and uncles on the quads. Thanks to some quick-thinking uncles, we diverted a campfire explosion with the gasoline. (That's all I have to say about that.) Phew!
Wednesday was picture day - the WHOLE FAMILY. Wish we had the adults on video - trying to get their kids to look at the camera at the same time was funny. A Grandma, Mom and Dad, 8 kids, 7 spouses, and twenty six grandkids all looking in the same direction at the same time is a blessed miracle. We discovered adults can be just as difficult as children! After pictures we went to the Thatcher park for a picnic and let the kids run wild. We saw a few friends there as well and just hung out for awhile. Later in the evening, Kelsey and Joe blessed their new little Nathan, and it was nice having the entire family there. It was a good day.
Thursday we were up-n-at 'em preparing for lunch at 1pm. So many yummy dishes and good food.
After we ate our Thanksgiving feast, we went on a scavenger hunt. Each sibling took their own family to do a list of odd tasks, and we had to take pictures of each event. Some were harder than others - i.e. go to Walmart and try on green/white shirts (for Thatcher Eagles) and have employee take a pic, go to Grandma's house and get a pic taken with her, go to the old Circle K and buy something, take a pic of parents blowing a bubble, take a pic with a past or present coach, find at least one Mullenaux, Palmer, or Bryce and take pictures with them, the list was long. Harder items were worth more points. By the end of the hunt the teams that had the most points won prizes. A few of the cousins wanted to go together, so some families were a little scattered around. Ruthy and Jordan borrowed some kids since they don't have their own yet. We even had access to our old house so we could take pictures in our old bedrooms, and see our handprints in the backyard patio cement.
Racquetball Court at EAC
President Kimball's Home
The "New Gym"
Herman's Sign on the corner
Walmart - wearing green.
The time limit was 1.5 hours to complete all tasks and meet back at the Thatcher park. It started to rain on us, so we went to the Fire Station to tally up the totals. We were running all over the place - hence the shiny, sweaty faces in most of the photos. Some were a blur because we were hurrying to get to the next task. The kids said they had lots of fun doing it - so did MOST of the adults.
In a cotton field - next to the ONE plant still standing.
With the Mullenaux Family
Interrupting Grandma's nap
Matt hitch-hiking in front of Casa.
EAC's Bell Tower
Handprint in cement
Good ol' Thatcher
In a Home Depot shopping cart.
With the Bryce Family
After the scavenger hunt we all went back to the Stake Center for desserts. - YUM. We (kids AND adults) played a mean game of dodge ball, Red light/Green light, RedRover/RedRover, Duck Duck Goose, and some broke out with a capella karaoke Christmas songs. Sooooo much fun. (The adults were a little sore after the dodgeball and duck duck goose games.) That night we went to see Twilight - it was pretty good. I'm not a die-hard, but it was good.
Friday we went to Pima to see Del's mom and brother's family. We had lunch and hung out for a little while, and also had some family pictures taken. Del, Tom, Junie and all the boys took a drive out in the hills and went shooting.
The girls and I went back to Thatcher so they could hang out with their girly cousins. Kim's friend, Patty, opened EAC Activity Center for us, and we were there the rest of the day playing games, pool, air-hockey, cards, dominoes, watching movies - all day. It was awesome. Everyone was entertained - I want a room like that someday.
Saturday we went up to Mt. Graham for a picnic - we haven't been up there in YEARS. It was cold, but no snow. Hallelujah. We built a fire and sat around for a while till the fire went out and everyone got cold. Poor Rylee gets car-sick, and the hairpin turns on the way up were too much for her. We forgot to tell Ruthy that BEFORE she got in her car. Oops - sorry Foof!
It was also fun seeing a bunch of friends throughout the week. If you hang out long enough at Casa Manana, you'll eventually see the whole Gila Valley. I think we were there almost every day.
Sunday we drove home. It was a VERY LONG day. We got home around 9:30pm. Woke up Monday morning to a declared disaster area. Laundry piled to the ceiling, luggage strewn all over the place. Not a pretty morning - nobody could find clothes to wear to school, jackets were lost, raging hormonal teenagers, - NOT FUN.
We're glad to be home.
6 comments:
OH MY! FUN STUFF! Aunt J and Juli told me they got to see you! What a great idea for a reunion. I'll have to remember that! Your pictures are so awesome! LOVE THE FAMILY PICS! The Mack colors are great! Is that your grandma's back yard!! The Claridge ones are so darling too!! I especially love the ones with Grandma J and each kid individually! PRECIOUS! So Glad you had a great time and made it back with out any major mis-haps! Surprised I didn't see you at CASA!!! :)
Loved looking at the pictures. My, your family has reproduced!! What a beautiful family. I love looking at and reading your blog. You do good work!
Holli W Gardner
You take such great pictures! What kind of camera do you own? The scavenger hunt sounded like a ton of fun. Thanks for sharing! :)
It sounds like you all had a great time! By the way, I LOVE the picture of your Grandma Ruth in the red chair and you and your sisters. So many great pictures!
SO FUN! There are some dang cute kids in the family!!! I haven't seen Kim's kids for I don't know how long. I don't even know them and last time I saw Kelsey was at your house in Utah. So crazy! Sounds like you guys had a blast! I wish I could have been there to play games and laugh hard.
Wow- so much fun! Family is the best ;) Glad y'all were able to have such a good time and be with your fam. And what a good look'n family they are!
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