Ben, Becky, Kara, Kiersten,and Evie: Bear Lake Reunion

We drove down to Bear Lake to get together with my family for a few days. We were in a huge house that sleeps 60 people, and we sure filled it up. It was so fun, and the kids were excited to see everyone.

We all played volleyball, and that was lots of fun.

We stayed up playing games, and the kids didn't want to go to sleep. They had such fun together. They all got to sleep in the loft on mattresses. There were at least 20 mattresses all stacked up in the corner. They thought that was so cool.

We set up the switch in the basement, and they all had to go down and take a turn. There was a full kitchen on the main level, and in the basement, so we had tons of space for all our food, and room to cook for a crowd.

Reunited with my little ittle baby brother. I'm his favorite sister, and he misses me a lot.

Sister selfie with Jackie, my littlest sister!

Chillin in the basement.

We wanted to get a big family picture. I got to meet my brother, David, and his family for the first time, so that was pretty cool. They all fit in so well. They are on the end in black. Jackie's family is in pink. We are in Yellow. Angie and her girls are in orange, Chris and Jayden are in purple. Nic is in gray. Mom wore orange to match with her favorite daughter (just kidding... kind of.) Adam, Lucas and Lily are in green. Shelly's family is in teal. Alan and Lisa are in black, and Janae's family is in blue. So there we are.

Kids and spouses. Right to left, top row: Michelle, Josh, Ben, Chris, Nic, Dave, Lisa, Troy
Bottom row: David, Jackie, Becky, Angie, Mom, Dad, Janae, Alan, and Shelly
9 out of 11 kids in one place, not bad.

The grandkids, well, most of them.

Six sisters, finally all together.

Dad with all six of his awesome daughters.

We got a family snap, since we were all dressed in our fabulous yellow tank tops. I don't recommend googling yellow men's tank tops, by the way. There's some weird stuff.

We had a short drive to the lake, and the kids played there all day. Dad and Mom liked being there to observe, but did not care to swim.

The littles mostly stayed up on the beach.

But the bigger kids loved splashing around. We had one escaped float that had to be rescued by David, Troy, and a pair of benevolent paddle boarders.

Guys at rocky beaches like to throw rocks, it turns out.

Ben helped me create a rock-free walkway into the water. It really hurt to step on all those rocks. Kara and Kiersten and Adam helped too. I worked on that for at least an hour. I did feel a sense of pride when all the kids were walking out and back on it, though while I was clearing it, I felt like I was wasting my time. I'm sure mother nature has already put everything back where she wants it by now.

Such a fun day at the beach! I loved getting to hang out with my siblings, and all my nieces and nephews.

Evie and Rylynn hanging out. At first Evie was hesitant to get to know her cousins better, because she said they were all best friends already. It broke my heart to hear, but they all welcomed her with open arms, and she made fast friends.

Hat twins! Kara was pleased to find a kindred spirit in Afton.

Ben grilled burgers and hot dogs for everyone. They turned out so yummy. That was a lot of people to feed.

Kiersten and Linkin in the hammock. They picked up right where they left off last time. I believe Kyrie was hiding down in the hammock during this picture.

All of my girls just adore their uncle Nic. He is so good to them.

Back at it. Ben had to improve my path. He couldn't let a subpar, unfinished path remain. He also liked moving the huge rocks.

We all went to get raspberry milkshakes, because that is what you do when you are in Bear Lake.

We heard this place was the best, so we all waited in line for a bit to get some. None of my girls ordered raspberry when it was our turn. I thought we should get the flavor they are famous for. Oh well.