Back at the end of July, following pretty fast after the Eyre Bear Lake reunion, Dave and I got to head to another lake for another reunion. This time with the adults of his side of the family. And this time at a glorious wonderland called Flathead Lake.
I’ve been pining away to go to Flathead ever since Dave went for a fundraiser years ago and came back with glowing reports. Dave’s sister bought a place there before they got their mission call and left for three years. (Remember we got to visit them in Sierra Leone? It was the most incredible adventure!)
But now that they’re back, they have been loving being able to put that gathering place at that gorgeous lake to work.
They invited all the Pothier adults up at the end of the summer and everyone jumped on, which was very smart of us all :).
All nine kids and Dave’s parents were able to make it. I am the luckiest I get to be counted among these people. It is so much trickier to gather now that so many of us have families that have grown up so much, and are having kids of their own. I think there are 44 grandkids and in a couple months a new baby will bring the count up to THIRTY great grandkids. Woah! So this time with adults was pretty special.
And let me tell you what: that lake lived up to the hype. We basked in the glory of that special place on earth.
Even our journey to get there took my breath away.
So many fires going on at the time made for a pretty smokey and moody view.
Loved reuniting with everyone that night.
What We Did at Flathead Lake
Gathered together in that beautiful spot we surfed our little hearts out.
The guys played a lot of bucket golf…
Which turned into a pretty healthy competition with Dave’s dad taking the win.
Lots of talking and teasing going on in this family.
We took some group pictures. Here are the nine kids all in order of age:
And one with their parents too:
Had to do a little shot of the in-laws too, and one with the parents:
Isn’t it so cool what can happen when two people work hard to create a family? These two have worked so hard and infused so much love into their job as parents.
And all of us with adult kids know, that job is never done.
In other lake news, the neighbors took us on rides on this pretty cool contraption:
Evenings at Flathead Lake
At night we played games and one night Steve pulled out a video from our reunion back in 2021. Back at that reunion they had divided us all into different random groups and everyone had to make a TikTok. We were laughing so hard we were crying watching all those memories from five years ago, our kids all grown up so much since then.
Recommendation: DO THAT AT YOUR NEXT FAMILY REUNION! Makes the best keepsake.
A lot of the time we just stared out at the beauty of the lake.
Everyone helped make delicious food. I mean, when you’re grilling you do need at least 7 or 8 people to keep you company.
The light was so pretty we had to take another photo. I mean, when do we get together with this whole group? Never.
Took a sunset surf run.
Sunday at Flathead
On Sunday I loved going to church with everyone, plus so many people Christy and James have as neighbors.
More bucket golf against that breathtaking backdrop:
A boat ride to explore a bit:
Beautiful ladies:
In the summertime, on Sunday evenings, neighbors gather at rotating homes to have a little devotional together. Amazing, right? We got to gather with them right as the sun was sinking on the horizon.
Someone let us pick cherries in their orchard.
Boy howdy, those things were incredibly delicious.
I was reminded again that gathering with family is so important. Being together gives us a chance to celebrate the good and also get into needed, bonding conversations that help keep relationships going.
Thank you for cradling us so well, Flathead! And thank you, James and Christy, for providing such an incredible gathering spot. Love you!!
Flathead lake is one of our favorites!