Family Reunion #1

(July 1, 2011)

We got the chance to go to 2 family reunions this year,  First up my side of the family...welcome to the Clement Family REVOLUTION!   Okay not really, but that is what my dad (without fail) will call a family reunion...{grin--I love my daddy!}  My mom's got EIGHT brothers, so I grew up with A LOT of cousins, I do pretty darn good with my own cousins but I can only remember a handful of their kids' names.

This year our Awesome Cousin Shellee hosted the 3 day event at her home in Heber, UT. 

Backside of Mt. Timp. (I like it a little better than the front!)

She has quite a bit of land and such a fun house, we had such a great time. 

(Shawn had a huge project at work and so the kids and I came alone to the first two days events--everyone kept asking me where he was!)

Rusty blowing bubbles and my cousins daughter Nicole.

There was such a great turn out, especially that first night, although looking in the background at all those kids back there....and I can't remember who they are!  I might be able to tell you who they belong to though!

That first night they projected a movie on the house.  It was so fun watching my uncles (all grandpa's) hanging out, talking and work together.  I love my uncles they are all such amazing men!

Tangled=awesome.  My kids quote lines from this all the time.  ♫I gotta dream♫  --Go live your dream,  "thanks,"  I was talking to her...your dream stinks!

The next day we met my mom and Aunt Connie up at the outlet stores.  We were a little early so we played around on the play ground until they got there.

Wes and Russ playing "Store" and "selling ice cream!"

Pretty Mily

 Of course not long after we got there someone had to go potty so we piled back into the van and headed over to Walmart.  I needed to go their anyway.  I forgot sunscreen (what is up with that, I use to be so good about things like that?)  Anyway as we were headed out of the store I called my mom to see if they were here yet and they still hadn't left yet.  Apparently breakfast took a lot longer than planned.  So I decided that Mily could get her "summer" cut...since how the boys already got their summer hair cuts!  ( I wanted one, but never got it, the last time I had my hair done was this time....can you say split ends?)

She got a cute A-line cut, which I liked well enough but it was a long A-line cut and so a few weeks later I cut it shorter, and then every few weeks I notice that it's uneven and try to fix it...poor girl!

Anyway we ended up meeting up with Grandma and shopping for a few minutes, grabbing lunch and then going back to grandma's motel and swimming in the outdoor pool!  Fun time.  Aunt Connie is so multi-talented, she's been a swim coach for years and years and was helping me teach Josh a few techniques to get better.  Awesome.  I don't know why I don't have any pictures of this---oh I know, because I was in the pool playing with my kids!

Then we headed over for another night of fun.  Uncle Rex had made a movie with old pictures of Grandpa and Grandma (Rhoda)...It was really neat!

Then next day Shawn was able to come up with us.  We headed over to a place called Cascade Springs. 

Thanks for looking at the camera and smiling Josh!

That place (although really crazy, bumpy dirt roads---leave it to a Clement to find a place off the beaten path) was really quite neat.  The name describes it perfectly...go figure.  It's a natural springs on a side of a hill/mountain and it pools up and cascades down each level of the mountain. 

They have boardwalks all over and you can look right into the pools and see little fish...it is so neat! 

My cousin, when she was describing it, said it was so beautiful that you would go 10 feet and have to take another picture...she was right!

We really enjoyed this cute little hike (it was super easy).  Although the car ride up, while playing a video game...and then standing in the hot sun for a half an hour = trouble.  Josh told us his head started hurting so we ran to get him some headache med. which he had to swallow, and he hates doing that!  And then we had to go back down the mountain on the same trail.  He was holding his head the whole way down trying to cover his eyes against the light and would beg dad to go slower over the bumps.  He only made it a handful of steps once we got out of the car before he started puking.  It was awesome...right on my cousins lawn!    So he took over the couch while the rest of us went and had lunch.  It was so fun to hang with my family...well my cousins since I was the only one there of my immediate family that last day.  I am related to some amazing people!  We sure missed the family members who weren't there.  We had several in hospitals or otherwise really sick and a few deployed over seas.  So sad, we missed them, hopefully next time...

As we were finishing up lunch my kids ran to their favorite part of the house.

The Chess board?   There that kid right there in the yellowish-green shirt, Ben, he is the one to blame for teaching my kids to play chess.  And he also taught them to love it and how to use strategy.  The kids drank it all in.  They loved the attention from their older, "cool" cousin and will tell you this is their favorite part of the reunion.  In fact when we got home the next day we found a make-shift chess set on our front room floor!

Pretty smart if you ask me.  My favorite parts are the zhu-zhu pets and the My Little Ponies!  ☺ 

Anyway back to that afternoon.  Josh was feeling better and we decided to test fate and take the kids on kind of a long drive. We told them we were getting them ready for our long drive to Disneyland later this year.  We drove down Provo Canyon, through Lehi and past Eagle mountain to no-mans land.  The back way around to Tooele.  It's actually the drive I use to do all the time when I lived in Tooele and wanted to visit my sister Yvonne.  But seriously there is nothing out there...still!  Once we got into Tooele we stopped at my FAVORITE restaurant (who still has good prices) La Frontera!  Yum.  Then we drove past my old house on Daniel Dr.    Haha, it was fun.  The kids didn't think so, they could care less, but I loved it!  Then on the way back home (on I-80) I saw Salt Air and asked Shawn if we could stop and check it out.  He looked at me like I was mad, but this man that I love so very much, took the exit and let me and the kids go play in the yucky stinky lake...again! (pictures, story!)

Again, Wesley LOVED it, thought it was awesome!

Holding all the sludge filled shoes for the kids! My hero!

So a funny story real quick.  We were walking out to the lake and all the sudden I heard Rusty kicking rocks and saying, "take that, and that."  So I turned on my camera and followed him for a minute.  He continued, "take that, and that Gargamel!"  I started laughing he looked at me and smiled and told me that he was fighting Gargamel, you know, from the Smurfs.  And this was before the new movie came out.  Funny kid.  (gotta love the library keeping old classic cartoons!)

We were hoping with such a wet winter and spring that we wouldn't have the same problems that we had last time.  But the lake is still pretty stinky, the shore line was closer, but the lake was still beyond being full, and there was still the wall of bugs!  I got it on video this time so you could see what I'm talking about when I say "wall of bugs!"  You'll love this.

Gotta love The Great Salt Lake!

Final verdict:  Still nasty!

But if you haven't yet experienced this for yourself, you really should.  I think we are going to try again, someone told me that going to Antelope island is a better place to try it out!


.