A couple months ago, I called home and reserved the back bed in the motorhome for the family reunion. For my 33rd(!) birthday, Mom and Dad bought me a round-trip plane ticket between SLC and Boise. THANK YOU!
Opa and Oma are also hosting Kurt and Carlee's oldest three kids while Kurt and Carlee stayed behind in Boise to give birth to their youngest. On the drive from Boise to SISCRA, we also brought Carter along. And then stopped along the highway and collected Hannah, Hallie, Stella and Zoe. (Jed, Maria, Tucker and Walter drove back home for some TLC for Walter - they came up the next morning).
The first night in the motor home (it rained hard at dinner time and we didn't set up any tents), we had Opa and Oma in the upper bunk, Tyler, Christy and Stella on the couch-bed, Zoe on the floor and Jake and Aunt Jessi in the back bed. (Hannah, Hallie and Carter found other arrangements). That is a full load! Try putting 5 busy kids to bed all at the same time. Oma did fantastic. She called everyone in and began telling stories. Stories about their parents, stories about the kids and stories from the scriptures. Zoe fell asleep on Oma's lap before too long and all the kids went quietly to bed. Only Jake was still awake at midnight. But he was a pretty quiet bed buddy and didn't wiggle too much.
Story time: Zoe, Oma, Christy and Stella
This is how Opa goes to take a shower...
I tagged along to take charge of the wagon once we got to the restrooms. (Christy, Zoe, Ellie - hidden behind Zoe, Bree, Jake and Opa)
I hauled all the kids back to camp, made everyone change out of their pajamas, added an extra kid and Nacho and we met back up with Opa just as he was coming back to camp. Then the kids got an 'off-road' wagon ride back through the group site to camp. Lucky!
The reunion was full of annual favorites - picking up trash along Highway 55 for our service project... Tie-dying clothes... Playing at the beach and in the boat on Cascade Reservoir... Really good food... Cribbage games... Homer the Clown and a pinata... Visiting... and this year we had the added bonus of waiting for news from Kurt and Carlee on the status of their little one. Carlee went into the hospital on Friday July 8th to be induced and early that evening... A BABY GIRL! And on Saturday they announced her name: Rachel Kathleen Simpson.
Along with tie-dye t-shirts, an annual photo with Oma-Great is a tradition: Here she is with all the great-grands that could attend this year:
These are almost all of the Gil Simpson Grands - the only one missing is Rachel and as she is only a day old, she is excused. Back Row: Jake, Tucker, McKayla, Bree, Oma-Great, Hannah, Zoe, Stella.
Front Row: Aspen, Hallie, Emma, Carter, Tyler, (Rachel's onsie) Christy and Ellie.
This year, I got to tie-dye a onsie for my Little Bandito. Next year, he'll be able to sit up on his own for a photo op! (On my birthday, I am 31 weeks pregnant.)
Kurt and Carlee's big kids -Jake, Christy and Tyler- with Rachel's onsie. So fun!
The last day of the reunion is a clean-up and mosey down the road sort of day. But we had a deadline - my flight! And I really, REALLY, really wanted to have time to meet Rachel before I flew home again. Mission accomplished - Favorite Aunt Jessi and Rachel (2 days old). Holding my newborn niece is a fantastic birthday present.
Little Blue. My subaru has been having some electrical problems. For a couple months the battery (which is less than a year old) has been dying. If I drove everyday, driving would recharge the battery enough for a start the next morning. But if I didn't drive for a couple days, then the battery would be completely dead and I'd have to jumpstart the car. I finally bought a set of jumper cables so that I could use The Outlaw to jumpstart Little Blue and not have to ask the neighbors for help. For the last month or so, I just left Little Blue parked outside our apartment and drove the XTerra instead. (My car is FILTHY because there is new apartment construction going on right next to our apartment.)
I didn't think it was the battery - because it was less than a year old. I didn't think it was the alternator - because when I did drive, it would charge up the battery just fine. Something else was draining the juice - even when the car was turned off. The culprit... the radio. Something was haywire inside the radio and even when power to the radio was off and power to the car was off, it was still draining power from the battery. Now I have no radio, but at least the car will start in the mornings!
Little Bandito. I had my 32 week appointment on July 18th. Everything is still perfect and normal. Great blood pressure, lost one pound in a month, fundal height of about 31 cm, baby's heart rate at about 130-140 bpm. He kicks around a bit, several times a day, every day and that is reassuring. He is still finding new places to poke me - recently I have felt him all the way off to each side and sometimes down super low by my hip. Kid must be growing! But mostly, I feel him right around my belly button. I don't think I'm having any weird cravings...but I could eat ice cream every single meal. It must be July.
