Thursday, March 1, 2012

Sorensen Reunion 2011

We had our Sorensen Family reunion in Island Park Idaho last July. We had a blast! It was so beautiful and great to be out in nature and with all of our family. We got there on Sunday July 24th, but apparently we got there too fast. Trent got a speeding ticket on the way there. Cops love him! We settled into the cabin, unloaded our stuff, had dinner and a devotional by Mom and Dad and learned our theme, "Fear not, Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith." -Thomas S. Monson

On Monday we had breakfast, family pictures and family olympics. Family Pictures are kind of a treat with that many people, but it actually went pretty well. We took pictures of individual families and then used the timers on our cameras, boxes and stools to take a big family picture. They all turned our pretty well. Todd planned our family olympics and they were pretty entertaining. We had an eating contest for the younger boys and a tower building contest with marshmallows and toothpicks. Daniel (the engineer), Kirsten and Emily won that one, big shocker. We had a relay race outside and I'm pretty sure our team won. Lisa, Anna and her fiance and Andrew and his wife came up for the afternoon. It was great to see everyone. The Wells made meatball sandwiches for dinner that night and we played some games. We had some never ending Jenga games. It got intense.

On Tuesday we went to the lake!! One of our favorite things to do! We rented a boat so we could go wakeboarding and tubing. It was great weather and despite forgetting my swimsuit, it was really fun. Trent and I took turns staying on the dock with Sienna and everyone took turns on the boat. We had a canoe so we could explore around the lake. It was a great sun filled day. Todd and Jessica made tater tot casserole that night and we played more Jenga.

Wednesday we went to Yellowstone, one of my favorite places. It is so beautiful and amazing. It blows my mind every time I go there. We left pretty early and saw all the sites. We had to keep a sharp watch on Aiden, I was scared he would fall in a hot pot, he did really well. We packed our lunches and ate them after we saw Old Faithful. There were a lot of signs for bears and I was pretty sure we would see one. We didn't see any bears, but we did see bison and deer. We had an eventful time at the waterfall. The kids were all playing up on some rocks and Aiden kept telling us he needed to go to the bathroom. Of course there are none around, so he had a little accident. We didn't bring any extra clothes for him so he was sporting shorts only. Then Kailey fell and cut her forehead and so we were out of there. Thank goodness for Dr. Wells, Daniel stitched up her cut and she was back in business. We had dinner at the lodge and then stopped at a little river before we drove home. Of course, Aiden fell in and got all wet and muddy. He ended up wearing one of Sienna's diapers home. As we turned in to go to the cabin, we saw a huge moose right by the road. We stopped and admired him for a while, then turned in. We love Yellowstone.

Thursday was our last full day at the cabin. We went on a short hike and went wading in a freezing cold river. The kids did pretty well, it really was freezing. We were in charge of dinner that night, so I put that in the crock pot and the kids and Trent took turns going on 4 wheeler rides and hanging out with the cousins. That night we had a big campfire and made smores. Delish. It was a great end to an awesome reunion. That night, Sienna woke up throwing up, so we were up all night with her trying to clean up and put her back to bed. The next day we were all leaving so we tried to keep her away from everyone else in case she was sick. That is tough with a one year old. On Friday we spent the day cleaning and packing. Grandma had awards that she gave to each grandchild. I think they loved it. She gave each one a small toy and a treat. It was really cute. We loved being able to spend time with our entire Sorensen family! It had been a long time since we were all together and it was so fun to hang out with everyone and to let our kids all get to know each other. We are excited for next summer when we get to see everyone again!