Family Reunion- Random Photos

As I mentioned earlier Brent spent a lot of the vacation taking some great scenic pictures, but that does make it difficult to actually document how great this reunion was. 

Brent had a little shadow the whole trip!  Brody took a real shine to Brent!  I love watching Brent interact with cute little boys!

I got some great hunter time!

And some Brody time!  I know Brody can drive Maren crazy but I have to admit, I think the little boy is super adorable. He does demand a little more attention though, but as the aunt I am happy to give it!

Everyone spent time riding bikes, Austin even got to try it out!

The whole family at dinner.  This night we had vegetarian tacos.  Brent was not a fan, but I really enjoyed them. Kalen is a vegetarian, all though I am not up for that commitment I am always happy to be exposed to new things.  

This is at Tumalo Falls.  Braden and I were hiking together!

All of the girls.  It is so nice that we are all able to enjoy the same things!

Brent and I an Tumalo Falls. Brent scratched his head the first day we were there, and it kinda changed the rest of the picture taking week.

Mema hiking with the two littlest.  I seriously love this picture!

This is at Tumalo Falls, when we hiked underneath the falls.  Braden and I were amazed with how big this cave was!

Brent and I discovered that we enjoy tennis.  there was a tournament, and Toren was beating everyone... until I played him... that is when he lost!  I felt pretty proud!

Dad playing... or at least posing like he was playing!

We also played mini golf.  It was not putt putt golf, it was literally mini golf.  The boys lasted 4 hours before they found other things to entertain them.  

It never took much to entertain Hunter!  I so glad he is a smiley baby!

Brody making sure those flags are removed.

It was a great week, I cannot wait for the next family reunion, it was so nice to be close to everyone and of course I wish were were able to stay longer hopefully next time we can take off a whole week.

Eagle Crest: Petersen's Rock Museum

After hiking around Smith Rock, my mom had desperately wanted to go to Petersen Rock Museum. Brent and I were more than happy to tag along.  The rest of the family wanted to come but the little boys needed to go to bed, so everyone else went back to the condo.

  I am so so glad that we were able to go because the rock museum turned out to be AWESOME!

There were all of these different sculpture made out of different stones.

Apparently, the father of the current owners had a hobby of creating these awesome monuments.  What a fun hobby! 

Did you catch that there was a peacock on top of the capitol building?  I love it when peacocks are allowed to run around free.  I think it is my dream to have a place where beautiful peacocks are allowed to roam free!

Kalen enjoying being the ruler of the rock village!

There were so many cool little villages.

This is my dream!

My mom and I enjoying brunch in a rock hut!

Out in the middle of the pond was another village.

The only bad part about the rock museum was the current owners really let it run down.  It looked like it would have been AMAZING back in its hay day!  Either way it was worth the trip for sure!

I would go back anytime anyone asked me too!   I think the little boys would find this place so fun because everything was just the right size for them!  If we get to go back I will really enjoy watching them explore it everywhere!

Family Reunion: Smiths Rock

After the fun times Tumalo Falls, we spent the day relaxing and playing tennis and having a great time!  The next morning we were off on another family outing!  Smiths Rock.  This one was only 30 minutes away.

It was a total desert landscape... something that Brent and I are very accustomed to.  We found all sorts of wildlife.

What a gorgeous bird! Smith Rock looks like it would be a really fun if you were a rock climber.  I am not opposed to rock climbing I have only done it a few times, so I am not sure that I would rule out the possibility of having some fun half way up the mountain!

Can you tell our family is really into pictures?  I love what Braden is doing!  What a cute little boy!

The whole gang!  I can't believe how big our family is getting!  8 kids, 4 grandsons and 2 parents!  What a great legacy we are working our way towards!

This is inside the "Rock Cave" as it was named by Braden.  The boys had a great time climbing and moving the rocks from one place to another.

Just relaxing!

Maren and I hanging out.  The boys seemed to be so upset that we could climb where they couldn't get to!

On the hike back we encountered this little muskrat.  He would go get some sticks and bring them back to his home.  I think the whole family sat there and watched the little guy (or guys) for ten minutes without complaints!

Other hikers would stop to see what all of us were looking at, everyone was happy to see what resourceful the little ones were.

Brent and I!  Man I love this boy!  He is so amazing!

This is the whole range and another shot of the whole family.  It was a pain to try and get everyone to look at the right moment (especially the little boys), I am happy to report that we did get a few good ones!

Another great morning, but this day had more fund activities to report!

Family Reunion- Tumalo Falls

The family reunion was off to a great start and it only continued! On Friday Morning the whole family (minus my dad, who had to work) were off to Tumalo Falls.  It is about 40 minute outside of Eagle Crest

The falls probably 50 feet tall, and pretty impressive.

Brent spent most of the half mile hike taking nature shots.

I spent most of the hike chatting it up with the cutest little boys I have ever seen!

After we hiked to the top a select group of us hiked underneath the falls. Braden really wanted to go so I got to hold his hand to make sure he didn't fall of the edge.

My mom told Braden that behind the waterfall was magical, he still didn't seem to thrilled with getting wet or being behind the massive amount of water.

It was a great outing.  We were probably only gone for a few hours but it was the perfect way to spend a morning with the family!

Family Reunion- Day One

FAMILY REUNION!  Yes, we are barely big enough to have official family reunions!  This trip was to Eagle Crest, Oregon in Redmond, Oregon.   I had never heard of this place and really didn't care... I was along for the ride and what a ride it was!  The first morning there Toren and Audrey wanted to go for a hike, Brent and I were more than happy to tag along. 

When we got to the top of the mountain, we were able to see 12 mountains.  This is Mt. Hood.  It is gorgeous! It was a shorter hike but just enough to get your blood pumping.

The whole gang at the top!  You can see 3 Sisters in the background.  

We did hit up the pool after but one of the fams favorite spots was in the back of our condo!  The hot tub!

Maren and the boys hung out in the hot tub, while Blake took to the Golf Course.  

Blake to the golf course meant that I got to drive the GOLF CART!  I absolutely loved it.   I drove a little to crazy for most peoples comfort, so I only got to drive one hole.

Maren, Audrey, Brent and I went on a bike ride around the eagle crest complex.  It was HUGE!  What I loved is even with all the houses you still had wildlife all over.  I think we saw 7 different animals!

Day one was pretty incredible.  It was so relaxing and nice to do what ever we wanted whenever we wanted!