Medley Reunion 2017

Another year, another trip to Eureka for the Medley family reunion. Being the planner I am, I had been thinking about this trip for months. Where to stay, what places to see, what things to pack, how to make the kids comfortable and entertained in the car, finding some one to watch the dog and water our garden, etc. 

We were excited to get on the road and made our first stop at the Salt Flats. Jared busted out the drone and did a fly over while the kids changed out of their pajamas and stretched their legs.

We made our usually stop in Elko to play at the park and the Mcdonald's for lunch. We got to Reno nice and early, went swimming and ate at a yummy burger place across the street from the hotel. We were all in bed by 8:30. 

Up again early for the second leg of our trip. We wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to hang out in the Avenue to the Giants before we got to Eureka. We stopped for lunch in Willits, although we almost missed it since they have rerouted the 101. We back tracked, ate lunch and played at the park. Off to the the redwoods.

Gosh the redwoods are magical. Jared and I were both so excited to get into Northern California, roll down the windows and smell the sweet smell of the forest. We found the same spot we stopped at a few years back, hiked around, flew the drone and let the kids play in the river. I want to remember this moment. The moment when we were throwing rocks in the river and I told Ellie to just get in. She looked at me like "are you serious" We had a suitcase full of clothes in the car, it was a short walk back, it was easily 90 degrees outside. Dunk yourself girl! They had so much fun and I loved watching them play. It's important to me to take time to do things as our nuclear family when we are going to a family reunion. Life is busy and although we see each other most nights and weekends sometimes life is all work and no play. We definitely took time to play this trip and make memories together just the 4 of us that we will have forever.

We made it and headed straight to Grandpa Dee's House

We hit the ground running the next day with 4th of July festivities. Activities for the kids, beautiful weather, great company, food and fireworks. 

Ever since Jared got his drone he's been talking about bringing it to the reunion so he could show Grandpa. I loved watching the guys geek out over it. Jared was in his element and loving every minute.

This parade started last year and I'm going to call it the reverse parade. The kids ride down the street and we throw candy at them, it's great!

Our job as parents is to capture precious moments between our children and their grandparents and great grandparents. Mission accomplished!

The sign of a good day at the family reunion! More to come in another post.

June

June was a weird month. We knew at the beginning of the month it was going to be busy. I of course had been thinking and planning out trip to California for months and once June hit I knew I could really start prepping. Jared had a ton of photography work and was gone multiple nights in a row. Then I was really thrown for a loop when a close friend of mine from our ward passed away. She was two years younger than me and had a little girl the same age as Lucy. It was such a shock to our whole ward and community and it's been hard to process. I've never had a close friend pass away, I've never even had to go to a funeral as an adult. The last funeral I attended was back when I was in junior high. It was an emotional month. I was overwhelmed and inspired by the love and support our ward poured out to the family of Meg. It made me that much more grateful for the wonderful community we live in and the amazing ward we are a part of. 

In between all of that we had some fun moments too. We visited the train museum with our friends from St. George, Ellie's little "boyfriend" Cruz. They have become pen pals and so Ellie was excited to have them here to visit for the afternoon.

I got a new phone and I'm overly excited about how good the camera is. As if I didn't take enough photos already.

Just documenting the day we went to the splash pad.

A moment I want to remember. Ellie wearing a tiger costumer that is 3 sizes to small but somehow managed to squeeze in to. Me trying to stay sane after Jared worked late nights for what felt like a week straight. The kids missed him and they get sick of me.

Visiting the poppy field in Mantua. 

Went to visit a new park up the canyon. It might be a new favorite. 

Get together with the old Pleasant Grove crew. Loved seeing all our kids play together, it's hard to believe our first play dates happened as they were crawling around. Now they are a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds.

We acquired some new dress up clothes from some friend who are moving and have older girls. Ellie has been in heaven and changes outfits numerous times a day. 

Father's Day dinner. We missed stake conference, like completely forgot and drove to the church at 11 only to realize there were no cars and that stake conference was just ending. Then Jared had to go to work, yeah on a Sunday, and set up for a convention the coming week. The shrimp fajitas made everything better.

One last photo shoot before we head off for vacation. This time we tagged along with Jared and then met up with an old friend in Salt Lake for lunch.