Martin Family Reunion

Man, this year has seemed to fly and unfortunately, so have all of our vacations! They are over with as of now... so if anyone wants to take me somewhere, I will find a sitter!!!

So.... this year the MFR (Martin Family Reunion if you didn't catch that), was at Pine Lake. If you don't know where that is, it is up by Bryce Canyon. It was awesome. We had this HUGE campsite all to ourselves and plenty of space to let the kids catch their horny dude (and no, it wasn't Brent- it was a horned toad that they named Horny Dude, hilarious if you ask me) and just run wild. I pretty much parked my butt by the fire most of the time but still enjoyed my time. We did go to Bryce for about 20 minutes before Brent started freaking out over some "cliff" and that was the end of our sight seeing. It was still fun!
So we got up there Thursday, got our stuff out and ate some delicious chicken kabobs and corn on the cob. The next morning we ate dutch oven cereal (ok, maybe just cereal) and then we went to Bryce and just chilled the rest of the day. By 9:30 it was 49 degrees and we were off to bed. It was a bit cold. Saturday we just did some more playing in the dirt, walking to the lake that was filled with leeches (my nephew got one on his leg) and then Brent took Kenna fishing while I relaxed more with Gavs as he slept in a hammock (oh the life of a two year old).

We ate like we hadn't eaten before while we were up there. And if you didn't eat the snacks and food fast enough, they were tossed in the fire by Gloria. Pretzels, cheese balls, salsa, grapes... you name it, it got burned. Seriously, some super delicious food. Alright, enough of my chatter! Here are the pics.

Just starting to get dirty

Eating homemade/handmade ice cream.

Booms, Maicey and Gavs on the hunt for "Alvin and Brittany"

Don't I look pretty... HA!

Lake Powell.

Yes, yes. It is that time again!!! YAY! As we know (and I mean me and two other people know) I LOVE Lake Powell. L.O.V.E. it. This year was no exception except I got to experience something that will probably never happen again (fingers crossed). I had to wear a freaking jacket the whole time we were there. So did everyone else. Most people were in sweats 90% of the time. I wasn't that smart and just brought a jacket, but my kids were in their long winter pajamas (I was a bit smart for them). It was SO DANG COLD!!! When we went to bed on Friday night, Cha Cha said it was 57 degrees. At the lake. In June. It poured I think most of the night. Either way, here is the run down of the trip.

Thursday. We leave at 7:30 (surprisingly early) to get out there and going. We all arrive around the same time and start to unload everything. Once again, as we start the houseboat, only 1/2 an engine works (not surprising). I think they (the men) worked on it for maybe 2-3 hours and finally got it going. The wind was starting to blow at this point, so we had to move fast before it died. I'm pretty sure my dad and grandpa are experts and driving the boat with one engine. In a wind storm. And all of the other houseboats now have booeys (sp!?) around theirs just so when we get blown into them, their boat is protected. Anyway, we find a beach. All is well.

Kenna decided that she wanted to wake ski (thats how she said it). So when my little bro got in to wakeboard, she jumped in and got up with him. It was crazy! They went forever and it was fun to watch. Unfortunately (once again not surprising), I didn't have my camera, so we went and got that and my mom and she wakeboarded with my dad (see pics below). Day was over and we all got to sleep on the top in the starry sky.

Friday morning. We didn't wake up to the usual bright sun, which was a pleasant feeling knowing we slept past 7:00 in the morning. Problem. The sun didn't shine the rest of the day. It actually rained, wind blew and was so dang cold. We did go to a sand hill and climbed the beast and ran down it before we were covered in sand. We all got back to the houseboat and were camped inside the rest of the day/night. We watched movies on laptops, played some card games, and ate. Now, the houseboat we have is fairly small on the inside. By 11:30 we realized we were all going to have to sleep inside the boat instead of outside due to the rain. So there were 31 of us crammed (and when I say crammed I mean CRAMMED) under the roof. It was quite humorous really. People were sleeping two to a twin size mat, smashed in the kitchen, and down the hall. Quite the adventure. Some of us slept, some of us didn't. We woke up in the morning and the weather was still pretty crappy so we went home.

Overall, it was pretty fun considering the circumstances. My kids were wonderful (thanks to my family) and we survived without killing each other!!! Hopefully August will be a bit warmer. Even 70 degrees would be a whole heck of a lot warmer than it was! Enjoy the pics.

Ready to go the first couple hours.

Them waiting to be served.

Driving to the beach.

Two adults ended up sleeping in this small space.

The beast of a sandhill.

Getting ready to climb it!

My grandpa and Kenna

The big wakeboarder!

Kenna and her bestie (she doesn't leave him alone)

Isn't she so cute?!

A few of us watching a movie (taken with my phone so not the best shot)
There are 14 people in the picture. Can you see them all!?

The end.

Kenna had her last day of preschool a few weeks ago, and since I am such an awesome Mom, I didn't take any pictures. Why?! Well, because who knew your camera didn't work sitting on the counter at home!!! Luckily, Heather is a WAAAAAAYYYYYY better mom than me and brought hers. Thanks for helping a girl out Heath. You rock.

Kenna L.O.V.E.D preschool. She loved her teacher. She loved her friends. And loved learning. She didn't so much love waking up in the morning (don't know where she got that from), but once she was gone, she was gone and enjoyed it. Their last day they had a water party and then we got to go for a little picnic. It was cute and they had some delicious treats there for us. Parker (one of Kenna's besties) decided that the little butter pad things looked like a great treat so he ate it. And about made me throw up my cinnamon bun. Seriously. He was actually CHEWING it. Like gum. It was disgusting. Funnier than heck, but disgusting. That was the highlight of the picnic. That, and my husband was able to make it!

Kenna and Ms. Adriane

Some of the kids (Parker before the butter)

She is a goof ball.

So happy he was home!

Us. (yes, I know I look like retard)