Family Reunion - Day 2

Ahhhh!  I think I'm the first one up.  Well, at least in this condo.  Grabbing a glass of water and my book, I am off to the front porch.

After a bit, Zyra joins me and is surprised that we're the only ones awake.  We have such a fun talk and when Mister joins us, we decide to get out of the sun (which has come over the top of the house and is blasting me) and checkout the upper level deck at the back of the house.  Perfect.  Watching the wildlife below makes for some fun and then peeking at the other condo deck shows little movement on the other side still.

But what a view!  Yes, I think the desert provides beauty as well.

Such joy.

Back to the front and peeking to see if anyone inside is moving about.  Nope.

It's okay with me.  Time with this sweetheart is always exceptional.

O and A have discovered the butterfly bush full of flowers out front.  Ava picks them and takes each petal off and delivers them to us, calling them "petal flowers."  So cute.

Life showing up.  Good Morning Jon.

Now - coffee.  Becca has brought her own machine and is having troubles with it.  I go next door (people are awake and moving about) and locate a coffee filter and some coffee for the machine in the condo.  However, one stilly mistake on my part has coffee going EVERYWHERE.  Apparently, not ALL machines work the way my one at home does.

More and more are awake and taking time with each other.  Isn't this what the gathering is all about?

It's time to get dressed and go next door.  Breakfast is starting to come together and it's time to help.  I center on littles, while Mister goes to the kitchen.

An  actual picture of Mariel.

Look who is in charge of the pancakes.  You go girl.

Still guessing.

Friendship bracelets in the making.  

Caught loving on each other.  Ahhh, my heart.

Grandpa with Mairead --- woot woot

Back to the pool.  Cassie has it all together!!!

Apparently, the older kids don't have quite as much energy.

However, some still have creative energy flowing.

Okay, that's different.

Back to the other condo for a bit.  Jen, Jared and I are working on a game for the kiddos.  You know - a saran ball containing so many goodies.

A peek at the menu for the next couple of days shows that shredded chicken is used several times and our refrigerator is full of roasted chickens.  Thus, a de-boning party occurs.

Before the retreat, I had looked and looked for a "higher adventure" activity for the group - one that almost all could do and not cost an arm and a leg.  I found a local state park that had a cliff-jumping area with ranges from just a couple feet to30 foot jumps.  Perfect.  Three cars have loaded up and off for some fun.  I had every intention of doing this before I left home, but between a medical procedure and falling out of a bus at the airport, the decision to be photographer was made.  Here we go.  There is a bit of a walk to the cliffs.  And, it's hot.

As us older folks arrive, jumps are already beginning to be analyzed and attempted.  Woohoo!  Click on the pics to enlarge.

Jacob and Jared

Zyra and Elena

Jon

Ryan

Jared - horizontal

Elena

Joshua

Bekah

Jon

Matt

Jen

Ryan - flip time

Hyrum

Matt

Jon

Hyrum

Grandpa decides to join the fun.

Elena 

Joshua

Jon

Bekah

Zyra

My Mister

Matt

Not to be outdone by Grandpa, Bekah

Jared - looks like he's standing on water

Hyrum

Jon - nice dive

Zyra

A family jump --- from right to left  Matt, Jon, Jared, Jacob, Grandpa, Josh, Elena.

At this point Louis decides to give it a go.

Ryan jumped shortly after and then he and Uncle Matt decided to stay on the rock below.

And we call it a day.  A few more jumps and it's back to the house to help with lunch.  Yep, this was all before that.  Whew.  Hold on, it's gonna be a VERY long post.

Paper figures are happening.

And just chatting - wonderful.

Excellent job Miss O

A sofa full of grandsons.

Gotta love those knees of mine.  Ugh.

Off to the other condo for a bit and a personal visit from Miss Malea!!!  

Games -- learning new ones is so fun to watch.

Girl time!!!  Happy Gammy.

Ooooh, snuggles from Ophelia too!

And Zyra!  It's a trifecta.

Meanwhile, in the other space - 

Yep, she found another game to play and Grandpa to go with it.

Worn out!

Our attempt to feed Mariel --- it was ALL rejected.

Elena starts doing hair.

The hair thing escalated.

Still going - 

Remember those baby pics --- here ya go.

JP spending lots of time upside down.

Somebody woke up

Raef took his place on the opposite side.

Dinner preparations underway - 

He's helping.

Ooooh, look close.  I have a baby in the background.  Treasured moments.

Lots more took place this evening, but we called it an early night and missed it all.  Gotta get the beauty sleep.  Back again tomorrow.