To the reunion, and BEYOND!

The 2008 McDermott Reunion-what a crew!

Whoa, we are FINALLY back from our crazy fun long trip. What a week! Here is a (LONG)breakdown of what we've been doing for the past 7 days... Last Thurs we drove to Logan and Dax met with his statistician to get that part of his thesis done. We are happy to keep moving in the right direction with this project. I stopped by to see my friend Kim for a bit before we headed up the road to camp in Idaho. The big reunion started on Friday when family from all over began coming together and having a super time. We camped 3 nights in a tent. We opted to leave our little pop-up trailer home this time and brought our tent instead. Camping without it reminded me just how convenient it is to have it, ESPECIALLY when it came time to cook and eat. Just to eat a simple breakfast, I had to grab spoons and bowls from the tent, cereal from the car, milk from the cooler, and then take it all to the picnic table. I got spoiled with my trailer having it all in one place and at arms reach. During the first (cold) night, I was more worried about the baby with keeping him warm and hoping he'd stay asleep all night but it was Preslie who had us up with intermittent puking spells. All the roughing it was worth it for the fun times we had playing with Dax's aunts, uncles, cousins, and second-cousins. These are GREAT people. Happy, down-to-earth, fun, loving, and pretty darn hilarious at times.

Southern Idaho is beautiful. We enjoyed the natural surroundings as well as the the big horseshoe championship, crafts, treasure hunt, campfire chats, all the little kids, delicious food,and most of all, good company. Sunday (Father's Day), we packed up and drove to my

parents' in WJ. We had dinner together with my parents and 3 of my brothers but I forgot to snap a picture with my dad! It was better than last year when I forgot to call him. I know, nice daughter. When I did eventually call him, he had not disowned me. He is probably the most laid back, low-maintenance dad there is. Having the big McDermott reunion every Father's day weekend distracts me from doing anything really special on Father's day for Dax or my dad because I am so busy packing and getting ready for the campout. One of these years, I will plan ahead and be ready. But they know I love them! Preslie had fun when Grandma taught her how to play the game Pente. Hunter loved spraying the bottom of Grandma's feet with the water bottle to cool her off. And they both loved watching endless movies with Grandma. I finally went to see Tyrel's apartment for the first time--he only lives a few miles from my parents. He is such a cool, cute guy. I can't believe he is still single! I love the litte craft we are standing in front of in this picture. It says, "prayer changes things". When I commented about it he said, "Oh, that came with the apartment and I felt too guilty to take it down."

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Monday, Dax drove back to Roosey to work and the kids and I stayed and hung out with my mom and also tried to get ahold of some friends. We went swimming with Katie and 2 of her kids at her in-laws house. It was great to see her and catch up a bit. We've known each other since we were 3 years old. She lived a few houses away and we did everything together as kids. Primary, girls' camp, Oakcrest, Lagoon, boys, dance class, piano lessons, sleepovers, birthday parties, you name it. We were BFF all through elementary, middle, and high school and shared a locker almost every year. We got married within a year of each other and our first babies (both girls) were born 6 weeks apart. She had a baby boy 3 months after Hunter was born. On our 3rd baby, she beat me to it not only in timing but in number. She had twins (a boy and a girl) a year before Mack was born. I am grateful I didn't follow suit with the twin thing. I was quite nervous about it since we'd done everything else the same! She is a much better and saner mother than me and handles twins wonderfully. She is one of those moms who always seems to have it together. Her husband is a wonderful guy, her kids are darling, her house is way cute, and she is always cute. But the most important thing is she is a great girl and a loving mom and always has her priorities straight. She puts her kids and family first but also takes time for herself to do things she likes. She is amazing and I love her!

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On Tuesday my friend Tina brought her 2 beautiful children over to have lunch. I haven't seen her since we graduated high school. We got reconnected a few months ago when she found my blog. Tina and I became friends in third grade. She is truly a sweetheart who is always so kind to everyone. Her love for people and her positive attitude about life match how gorgeous she is. It was fun to catch up with her and meet her little darlings.

That night, Dax came back to WJ. ____________________________________________________________________

Wednesday, Dax flew to Boise and back. I did my last errands and tried to pack up a week's worth of our messes. When Dax flew in, we drove to Utah County to have dinner with our friends Mike and Tiffany and their family. We met their cute family in Logan 4 years ago when they moved in directly above us. I still miss hearing their kids running around above my head. We love their family and cherish the fun times we shared when we lived close to them swapping babysitting (so nice!), having barbeques, and just chatting outside while our kids played. We had a great visit, yummy food, and got to see their new house. We drove home late Wednesday night.

I enjoyed this trip so much. I really didn't want to come home. Probably because I have piles of laundry, sleeping bags, and cub scout stuff to do. But I guess vacations can't last forever!