Family Reunions

Well, this first week in July the Hall family went to two reunions - both on my (Irene's) side of the family. The first one we attended was the infamous Pratt reunion (my Mother's family). My mother is the oldest of ten children, meaning Tim had a lot of names to memorize before we got there. Good thing we had seven hours in the car to play "Pratt Family Name Bingo."

It was held at a girl's camp in Garden Valley, Idaho, which is in the mountains above Boise, ID. It was a great set-up for all of the families and kids. Because it was a camp ground, that meant Dominic had his first camping trip! He did really well; the temperatures at night had cooled down making sleeping manageable, and he slept through the whole night except for one or two feeding sessions.

This is the morning after the night of camping. The camp had showers, so that's why we look so clean and happy to camp;) Oh and Dominic is asleep again. I guess he prefers his Dad's arms to of the padded car seat as a bed.

The Pratt reunion lasted all week long, but we could only stay for two days because Tim couldn't miss too many classes.  It was good to see many of my Aunts, Uncles and Cousins, and even Tim said it was fun meeting/seeing everyone!

Some of the fun activities that we participated in were: a slip-n-slide (with dish soap - super slippery!), talent show, and dinner making. At the talent show Tim represented the Fry Family (Tim here - how did that happen? I only married into this family 11 months ago, and here I am as the official representative? Back to Irene...) and sang his rendition of "Hey-Diddle-Diddle." All of the younger cousins got up to dance and enjoyed the folky tune. It was enjoyable to see all of the other families do skits, piano playing, and gymnastics.

Our last day at the Pratt reunion was the Fourth of July. That day we took the big Pratt Family photo, with individual family photos taken by my Uncle Spencer. Dominic had a cute outfit that he wore that day along with his cousin Maria, both made by his Auntie Kara.

This is Dominic with his 4th of July outfit being held by his Aunt Shelly. We were about to take our family photo, so Dominic was warming up with his crying face.

After the family photo and being fed, he fell asleep. What a concentrated face for sleeping!

Maria got one too! Don't they look so happy being dressed up;)

Notice Maria's arm - she is trying to put her arm around Dominic to show cousin love.

After the Pratt reunion, we drove to Wolf Creek, Utah to enjoy the Fry Family reunion. We didn't go camping, but instead stayed at a WorldMark condo where we could sleep on beds and go swimming at any time. It was so fun to see all of my siblings (except Natasha and her family, they were still in Ghana, Africa, but we were able to skype with her)! While we were all together, we played lots of games, ate tons of food, and watched babies (much more interesting than TV).

On one of the days, we all went swimming. Dominic loves taking bathes, so Tim and I thought he would love to go swimming. However, that was not the case. He only got wet about waist deep and decided he didn't want anymore of it. So he hung out with Opa (German for grandpa) on the beach chairs while Mom and Dad played 500 in the pool.  

Ready to go swimming at the pool!

After the pool I was hungry and a bit tired from all of the playing. So while everyone watched a Sherlock episode, I took a nice little nap with Dominic. Naps with that little boy are so enjoyable; it is like having a little personal heater right next to you. After the nap, everyone wanted to play ultimate frisbee at a nearby school. As they were playing, a thunder and lightening storm came in and soaked everyone. No one complained though, it just added to the fun.

The next day (Sunday) was the last day. We all went to church and took up the whole back row bench. I wonder how many more benches we will take in the future for other reunions... Anyways, after church we came back to the WorldMark, ate dinner, played some games, and headed home. It was great to see my parents and my younger siblings! It had been over a year since I'd seen them all (except my Mom, who came after Dominic was born). I also loved seeing all of my siblings and the new additions to their families - the Fry side of the family has really started to produce some babies;)!

Traveling home! Dominic was pretty tired from the whole trip, but he was a trooper!

 It was great to see family and new places, but it was wonderful to come home and sleep in our own beds.