Uruguay Mission Reunion

Our busy week last week finally came to a close!

July 5th we woke up to a rainy day! We actually didn't mind because we knew it will be so good for the wildfires. I was a little sad because we were going to do family pictures that evening, which didn't pan out... again. *sigh*

The rainy day didn't stop Joe from being busy. I will have to post the pictures I took of all the projects Joe has been working on. Even though we were busy last week, we did manage to have fun! On Friday Joe took a break from all of his projects to go to the swimming pool with us.

We went to the Lindon pool, and it was a blast! We were having so much fun that I did not even take any pictures with my cell phone like I intended. The Lindon pool has a pirate ship with small water slides for the kiddos, a lazy river, and a big water slide. Jacob absolutely loved the lazy river. I think he must have gone around it at least 8 times! It is only 3 feet deep, so he can touch the bottom and loved floating down the current. Both of the boys went down the big water slide three times, which was awesome.

The kids were SO sad to leave that we had to promise that we will go again before summer is over! I definitely want to go again because next time I want to bring some flotation toys. The Lindon pool allows them and I think the lazy river would have been more fun for Ephraim if he had a pool noodle. Plus it would be nice to put Amelia in something to let her float along instead of having to hold her the whole time. She did have fun splashing in the shallow pools though!

Saturday morning I canned 3 batches of apricot jam. It is one of our favorite flavors, and Jacob and Ephraim helped me out quite a bit. Joe was working on the gate at the rental house (aka. Devereaux South) and the boys were bouncing back and forth being helpful. I had Amelia in her stroller because I did not want her to get involved in my canning project or touch anything hot, so the boys took her on walks back and forth between Daddy and me. It was kind of cute.

Saturday afternoon we all drove to Bountiful for Joe's mission reunion. This is the first one they have had earlier in the day, and I definitely think it was more family friendly. They held the reunion outside, which was fun for the kids. We ate dinner and then I played with the kids while Daddy visited.

President Gardner has and enormous house with an even bigger yard. So the kids had fun running around. Joe was smart and brought some fun airplanes that he got at Costco and the boys had a great time launching them and running after them. Before long Joe had a crowd of little boys around as he showed them how to shoot off the airplanes.

Amelia had fun going up and down the rock steps in the side of the hill. I don't know if I enjoyed it as much as she did, but at least I got in some exercise!

The boys also had fun jumping on the trampoline and playing on the play set in the back yard with the other kids. We even walked down to the river that borders President Gardner's property. The boys had fun throwing little rocks in the water and just goofing off.

Amelia enjoyed the trampoline too, when there weren't too many big kids on it! It is built into the ground, so she could just walk right out onto it. She thought it was fun to bounce on.

And yes, that is a tennis court behind the trampoline! I really should have taken a picture of the house and yard so you could get an idea as to how big it is! Maybe next time.

The best part of the reunion starting early is that we left before it was dark. We did get home after bedtime, but I did manage to get all the kids bathed and in bed within a half hour or so of getting home. Go Mommy!

This year we had a good time at the reunion, and I hope they do it this way again next year.