We felt so very thankful that we got to have so much family at Max’s farewell.  I looked around over and over and over again this last weekend filled with so much love and gratitude for them and all they did to support and help.

All the in-town siblings plus cousins (even one from out of town) were there from Dave’s family:

We’re missing some of them in that pic and somehow only part of my family made it so we took one after church with them…(minus Josh who went home to change and we missed him, dang!)
I’m sure we’re probably missing others too…trying to get kids in pictures is like trying to herd cats in my opinion…but oh boy let’s take a look at all those wonderful people and imagine in our minds the others who didn’t make the pictures and think how lucky Max is to have all that great support.  
Oh boy.
Family trickled in one at a time until our house was bursting at the seams and it was a giant party.  I have a lot of pictures to share but for today I’m just posting the hike ones we did with two of my brothers (and families) before the other brother and sister got to town.
My brother Josh who is a school teacher here led us to a desert hike that didn’t disappoint (he had done it on a field trip with his third graders so he was our fearless leader).
He led so well that we couldn’t quite keep up…see those little specks on the left side of the pic?  That was the first of our group.

The second part of the group got a little stuck because although the terrain wasn’t very difficult, it’s getting harder and harder for Lucy to see where she needs to step when there are shadows that make the contrast on the rocks hard to decipher exactly where to step.

It’s like ten thousand daggers in my heart but I’m not talking about that today.  Just so proud of her because she does it anyway.

We were also a little stuck because who knew this is a bike trail too.  I honestly couldn’t believe these guys could do this.  Yowzas it scared me a little I gotta be honest!

Jonah took a round with helping Lu maneuver her way over the trail while I held back with the littles.  I love that brother of mine so very much, and love how much he loves Lu.

About half way through Dave and Lu turned back to meet us at the trailhead.  I can’t believe I didn’t get one picture of Dave but I think he planned it carefully that way 🙂

 Josh is always so awesome with the kids.  See him down there throwing rocks with the little boys?  They were in seventh Heaven.  (Not sure what seventh Heaven is but I’m sure it’s a good one 🙂

Camden found an awesome spot to perch himself.  See him clear up there?

 He needs a lion cub…

Ezra was a total trooper except for this one little sadness.

 Luckily Claire was there to cheer him up.

 I should actually say his mom was the real trooper since she carried him practically the whole way wearing slip on ballet-flats.

Seriously I have some pretty incredible sis-in-laws.

The big girls were great helpers with all the kids too.

 (I love that Bennett, my other brother’s son, came early with Jonah and Aja.)

 Jo with two of his girls:

Me with two of mine:

 (and once again, I know, great hiking attire.  ha!  all my girls have stolen every one of my sweatshirts)

 This group made it all the way to the look-out destination spot.

 …and then it was back to Noah and Kristi’s Sprinter for the long ride home.

(There’s Dave, xoxo, and never fear, that picture was not taken while the car was in motion.)

It was a great start to a pretty eventful weekend.

I love the desert.

And I adore this family of mine.

Similar Posts

5 Comments

  1. You're making the desert look pretty amazing right now! Especially compared to this cold SLC weather! And I loved reading your last post about Claire. I think I'll always notice now, through your pictures, the love she has for other people. I bet you're one proud mama! 🙂

  2. I am sorry to bother you with a silly question, but where do you find your long leggings/skinny jeans? I have a hard time finding some that are long enough for me, I got me some long legs too!

    1. Those are Lulu Lemon copies we found in China, but I'm with you, long is tough to find! Tougher than tough! I swear they are getting worse at carrying long/tall sizes these days. Let me know if you find anything great!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *