Reunited

My family reunion is SOOO much better than YOUR family reunion!!! Let me just show you why I EASILY came to this conclusion.

First point of proof: These two- my Grandma and Grandpa Griffiths, or "the Greats" as my girls call them. They are the reason we are here and why we all LOVE to spend time together. I never knew my "Greats" and the fact that my girls get to know them makes my heart SING!
Second point of proof: It was in Albion Idaho, Population 262. All the way there Olivia kept looking out the window and saying "Where ARE we?", like we were traveling on the moon or something- totally HILARIOUS!!
We stayed at an old College campus and we slept in renovated dorm rooms- FANTASTIC! Actually, it sounds funny but the facilities were really wonderful.Third point: Friendship Bracelets! Made by everyone, for themselves and for each other. My girls are still sporting them.
Fourth of all: Does your reunion come complete with Jump houses, Banana peel cars, Swimming pool, water slides, and a Bicycle built for two? I didn't think so, enjoy the following:
We also had an 18 team, double elimination Horse Shoe Tournament. The fact that it took three days to complete and you could cut the tension with a knife, makes ours reign supreme over any other! Paul and I were eliminated in the second round to my Dad and brother Brandon, but notice the pregnant Lady five weeks from delivery behind me- Yes, that would be Brooke, my cousin Taylor's wife and they were the champions- totally awesome!!! But Trace and Amber gave them a true battle, and for that we are completely proud.

Lets not forget the Banana Car races!! What, you don't have the joy of being put on uber creative teams and constructing Banana Cars to race down tracks? Yeah, you had better get on that one at your next reunion because it was SWEET!!!
My teams car didn't fair so well, but improvements have been noted for the inevitable rematch.

I do enjoy and love my Griffiths family- we top out around 80 people these days- and I really like when we get together and play for days, and stay up late sharing funny and silly things, and being competitive, and just plain having a fun time together!

If any of you now want to be adopted into our family I wouldn't blame you one bit!!!!

Albion 2012- we will see you then!!

Playing the Pitch

Look who has started her first season of Soccer!!After three years of watching Abby, she knows what to do, she isn't afraid to get in the kicking mix, she can kick off to start the game, kick it down the field, and throw it in from the sideline, all with a grin from ear to ear!

In case you are confused in the following shots, Olivia would be the girl wearing the pink socks, it just wouldn't be Liv without them :)I asked her when it was over if she had a good time and if she wants to play again next week and she said "Oh yeah!!" They did win 3-2 "unofficially", but we all knew it!! Way to go team T-Rex!!

I think it is going to be a great season for Olivia the Soccer Star!

Down the winding paths

Last week we were busy busy busy. We are pretty much homebodies- well Paul is- so we don't usually have things planned and scheduled EVERY day of the week. But it was fun to spend time with out of town family, go up Mill Creek Canyon to roast Marshmallows, Hot Dogs, and hike.
We went to an "Adult Only" dinner one night with excellent company and fantastic food. I fully enjoyed being out on a "Date" with my sweetie! By the way, Pistachio Gelato is AMAZING!

We were then lucky enough to spend the weekend camping with our "Old School" chums and besides a few mosquito bites that swelled up Eva's eye- we had a fun time cooking over the fire, making even more smores, watching the 500 squirrels squabble for our crumbs, sleeping in a vintage tent that despite all odds survived the rain storm, and taking hikes that opened up to magnificent views.We totally had a moose cross the trail in front of us! (killing me that I didn't get a picture)

Liv's favorite part was all the wildflowers. She would have taken the entire mountain home with her. I did convince her that we should just take some snapshots of her favorites to print because they would last much longer!When I was a little girl I had a "Flower Journal" that I took on all our family backpacking adventures. Everyone, even my brothers, would help me to find a new blossom that I hadn't clipped and taped onto my pages so that I could go home and find out what it was called. I wish I still had that book... but I think it is something that Liv would like to start doing on our next mountain adventure. I found out this week that all three of my girls are great little hikers! This is wonderful because I have lots of trails that I want to take them on!!

If all that wasn't enough, we then hit up the City of Fun Carnival (long story, but we missed the Strawberry Days Event) and here are the highlights of the twinkling light filled eyes and brimming smiles of our children.Eva was so excited to go on the Farris Wheel- declaring more than once "I am big enough!"
A busy week, but a pretty awesome one to say the least!

Red, White and Blue all over

Patriotism: A Pictorial

The best part

Signs that it is in fact the first day of July- a glorious month, one of my absolute favorites. This is my conclusion without question because it is filled with Red White and Blue, patriotism, reflective memories of the past coupled with current bare feet showcasing brightly painted toenails,sand,little blue pools,and sun kissed skin.How has your summer been? So far ours has been this good: