Lehi 2112 Reunion

 The majority of our time in Arizona was my family reunion.

This is my mom's family.

And with all trips it includes a trip to the local cemetery.

I was really surprised at the size of the Globe, Arizona Cemetery.

Finding graves that had requests for photos on Find A Grave was almost 

impossible. It was the 4th of July, so I was not able to go to the Court House and see if they had a map of the cemetery. It has both an OLD and NEW section.

It also has a lot of Arizona history.

I had never heard of the Buffalo Soldiers

When I got home and had computer access I looked up the history of this group of men.

Their story was very interesting.

Wikipedia has THIS information.

One story is HERE.

Like I said, very interesting.

We went to the Reunion at Workman Creek.

It is located in the Tonto National Park of Arizona.

We were at a neat camp area that we have had our reunion at before.

I loved getting to see my siblings though we did miss my brother Ro being able to come.

I am never surprised to see these two busy helping.

Morris and Kirk are always in the middle of what ever needs to be done.

2012 celebrates 

Arizona's Centennial Anniversary

also

My Grandma Williams' birthday,

 the invention of Oreo Cookies and LifeSavors.

How cool is this cake that my cousin had made for the reunion.

Some of our best laughs came from this GIANT bug.

My cousins baby was in his bouncy chair and this bug was getting close to him.

His big brother who is maybe 2 years old, saw it happening.

He walked over, literary hit the bug out of the air and then stepped on it.

He left as the protector of his little brother and the defeater of the GIANT bug. 

our other favorite laugh was the cup holder.

Best idea ever...everyone had a cup with their names and clothes pins.

BUT, finding where you left your cup last was hard telling.

We would die laughing as people would stand staring at the cups.

A couple of the older kids found great joy in moving their parents cups around.

.

Aunt Elma Lee had the week planned and it was awesome.

Aunt Patsy always makes everyone feel special. 

Aunt Patsy and Aunt Judy 

watching the kids playing games.

Aunt Martha and Uncle Joe enjoying the activities.

My niece, Brandi her husband, Chris and her mom Rhonda.

I am going to say that there would have been some very bored kids

and stressed out parents if it were not for my brother, Morris and his son,Chad.

These two never stopped entertaining the kids.

They are my heroes.

Chad you are so darn amazing.

I do not know many guys that would spend their vacation keeping the little ones happy.

There were cabins available for each of the aunts. 

We bunked in my Mom's assigned cabin

 with my niece, Brandi and her husband.

The weather was perfect.

We even had a rain storm roll in and really cool things off.

We looked like wet camping rats...

But, it was great fun.

Thanks Kirk for using your limited vacation time for my reunion.

I love you.

Our Quick Vacation

Kirk and I went to Arizona for a quick vacation to visit family and to attend my family's reunion.

Our 1st day was spent traveling. We arrived at my brother Morris', and his wife, Rhonda's cabin near Happy Jack, Arizona.

The next day we cruised the mountain sides laughing and visiting.

Well, I should say AFTER Rhonda and I got up from sleeping in. Kirk and Morris had already been out on the ranger for a couple of hours.

I thought I trusting the driver and was relaxed on our off road adventure,

but the bruise in the shape of a hand print on my leg, says I was holding on a little too tight!

Northern Arizona is its own kind of amazing beautiful.

I am always in awe of how much I like it.

I could not believe all of the Mountain Blue birds we saw.

and Oak Trees!

That evening we left and headed to the "Valley of the Sun".

and the Arizona desert.

 I went to my sister, 'Lene's to stay the next couple of days.

Monday was a total kick for me.

I am not a reader, I am sure I have stated that several times.

But, 'Lene's children are....CRAZY readers.

They had read a bunch of books, enough for each of them to get a free one from Barnes and Noble and some gift certificates from their local library.

I am going to just say, WOW... Queen Creek, AZ your library ROCKS!

I might even find myself wanting to hang out there!

We went to IKEA. I wanted to find another umbrella like the one I had lost to a recent wind storm.

They didn't have any

 BUT they did have one of these:

How cool is this little circus tent.

The kids quickly made it a reading tent.

I knew that Miss C and Miss H would love it, I had no idea that my

nephews and nieces would think it was so cool too.

(I really felt bad when I had to take it down to bring it home)

I have the most amazing uncle.

As long as I can remember...

This man has been my rock. As a little girl I always knew he could make things better.

I also knew I could get in a lot of trouble too!

I enjoyed my visit with Uncle John and asking him as many family history questions as I could think of. I especially love getting my big hug from him.

I am sure I surprised my dad and his wife Barbara when I stopped in at there place too.

I will usually see my dad and either Morris' or 'Lene's but because my dad's knees have got so bad we went to his home.

We had a nice visit.

'Lene and I also went for a "sister's only lunch"

at

Joe's Farm and Grill

Yes, it is the one that Guy from Food Network visited.

We had the Fontina Burger along with their sweet potato fries.

The food is really yummy.

Almost as wonderful as just setting and visiting with my sister.

I am really lucky to have such amazing siblings.

'Lene did get a kick out of my total surprise when we went to get in the car...

There was an "OPEN" can of pop.

Opened like it can only be in a very warm car.

I quickly removed the 2 12pks that I had in my trunk!

What a mess that could have been.

I know I grew up in AZ but it has been a long time and

I forget that you NEVER leave an unopened pop can in your car during the summer months.

HELLO!

Next...off to the family reunion.

The Pecans

While we were in Arizona, Kira asked my sister, 'Lene if she would take some pictures of Miss H.

'Lene knew a place not far from where she lived that would have some green in the grass and a beautiful rock wall for a background.

We ended up getting to 'Lene's house later in the day than we had planned on.

So, when it was time to start taking Miss H's pictures...

Well, she really wasn't in the mood just to set around.

and heck, Ham was there...how could you not just want to squeeze him, and Miss H was going to hug on him as much as he would let her.

While 'Lene & Kira were busy chasing taking pictures of Miss H.

I found a childhood memory.

The Pecan Trees.

As I have mentioned I grew up in Arizona.

We had pecan trees around our home.

I can remember my dad climbing up in the trees and shaking them

until he had most of the nuts on the ground.

Our job was to gather the nuts from off the ground and put them in bags.

 I want to say they were gunny sacks.

But, everything is bigger when you are a kid.

As I walked around I found myself gathering the pecans,

squeezing two of the pecans together and cracking them open to get the meat out.

AMAZING...

ALMOST as amazing as the pictures that 'Lene was able to capture

while I was crawling around taking pictures of the nuts!

Dang she is cute!

Good job 'Lene and I LOVED the location.

Derek...leaving me again!

I wasn't thinking this morning at 6:30am to take out my camera and get a picture of Derek and I.

He is on his way to Arizona to interview for a job. He couldn't find anything at home.
Being I am a selfish mom it was pretty hard on me.
He has only been home from his mission for 1 month and I HAVEN'T BEEN HOME.

How could my baby be all grown up?