Bradley Family Reunion

 We held our annual Bradley Family Reunion August 9-10, 2013.  We decided to leave early, early Friday morning in order to make it to Pineview instead of leaving Thursday night.  Chris and I both had meetings we needed to be to on Thursday, and we didn't want to have to find a place to stay for the one night either.  So - we woke up at 3:30, and left at 4am!  It felt like Christmas morning.  Ethan thought it was the coolest thing ever to get up that early.  Andrew was the only kid to fall back to sleep in the car!  Abby and Eric were way too excited!

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 We spent Friday mostly at Pineview Reservoir. We had a great beach spot! 

 We played in the sand, we swam in the cold water, and we soaked in some warm sun!

 Ann brought a kiddie pool - Ethan was in love!  He thinks water is amazing!!  He was the happiest kid all day long. 

 He crawled around - he was so excited to be able to get where he wants to go!  He was like a little sand turtle - always going towards the water.  Good thing he was slow!

 He had a fabulous day eating sand, and playing in the water.

 Andrew loved the lake too.  He had his life jacket on and was in the water most of the day.  When we weren't in the water at the lake, he was playing in the water on shore!  This kid thinks water is the greatest toy ever!

 Ryland, Eric and Abby enjoying their lunches.

 Eric had a great day.  He spent most of his day on the boat. He is really becoming a brave kid!

 Ethan - what a cute little guy!  Well - he's not so little.... but he's really cute!

 Abby and Eric having a blast on the boat.  Andrew loved riding the boat as well!

 Abby and Eric were crazy on the tubes!  They loved it and were incredibly brave.  Thanks uncle Brian for taking some awesome shots of their crash landings! :)

 

 


 Thomas enjoying the water - these kids were in heaven!

 James rented some kayaks.  They were so fun!  We had a blast with them.  It makes me want to buy one!  Maybe someday we'll acquire some!  They were really fun and easy to maneuver.

 Our little shaded area.  It was so nice when this shade tent finally came to the beach - it was heaven!!  But it didn't last long!!!  Not long after we put this up, the wind picked up - REALLY picked up.  We frantically held onto the tent before it blew away.  It knocked over all the chairs, it blew around the toys, and the sand was awful.  It whipped in our faces and stung any part of the body that was uncovered. 

 The kids were scared, the parents were frantically trying to gather everything before it blew away.  It lasted for a good hour like this - I headed up to the grassy area and just hunkered down with my scared kids under a blanket, while Chris helped gather all the stuff, keep the boat safe and help others on shore get their boats safe too.  It was a crazy time!

 We decided to skip our dutch oven dinner and head straight up to Zarahemla where we cooked dinner instead.  We set up tents and got going. 

 It was fun to be at Zarahemla - it was nice and cool and just beautiful.  I never thought I'd say that Zarahemla was cool in August - but it sure felt perfect to us! 

 Eric was totally wasted... he fell asleep on the floor!

 Abby spent the evening drawing..  of course! 

 We had an ok night - Ethan only woke up three times... I was sleeping so soundly - it was cool and beautiful - but no... Ethan had other ideas for us!! 

Chris and I traded off going for runs in the morning - it was so nice!!!  I love running in the cool air and with a good friend (Jenny)

 The food was amazing - always delicious and always plenty to go around!

 Saturday we did some crafts, and had time to relax and enjoy each other

 Ann helping Eric with his craft.

 Our fingerprint memento that we made! 

 The tour de utah rode by Zarahemla - so we went to the road to watch them go by.  It was awe-inspiring!  What a group of athletes!  They were so amazing and super fast!

 We played some games - it was fun to get the whole family involved!

Then we took a personality test to see what color we all are.  Chris and I were Blue.  Bet you couldn't have guessed that!  :)  Sometimes I wish I could be more yellow... and sometimes I need a little red...but I'll just have to work on that!

We ended the day with pictures.  Some kids were more cooperative than others!

 We got a family shot too ;) 

 Here is the whole Bradley family - minus Scott who is on a mission, and Rulon who was asleep!  Not bad!  What a fun time!!! 

One of the highlights to the reunion was definitely the CD!  Everyone in the family choose a song to share and it was made into a CD.  It was so fun to listen to.  Even the kids got involved this year.  We love the mix of music - it becomes our favorite CD for the year!!  We blasted it on the way home so we could stay awake!   We didn't get home until 1am!  It was a late night, and it was exhausting - but we made it and we had a blast!  Until next year!