Visit to Grandpa and Grandma Hales' House

 Jane with her awesome uncle Joe

 The highlight of Blake's entire trip...driving the riding lawnmower with grandpa

 We had a two day family reunion up at the Heber Valley Girl's Camp.  It was gorgeous up there!  

There was lots of bubble blowing, hiking, even a treasure hunt that led to a sucker tree!

There was also a gigantic game of twister, a nice devotional by my aunt and uncle Calli and Steve, ghost stories at night, and tons of other group games. 

 Volleyball for the teenagers.

 The Newlywed game.  My mom and dad and sister Melissa and her husband Brandon got to participate.  It was pretty hilarious.

 This was early in the morning.  The air was so fresh and cool.

 Our early morning hike through a gorgeous meadow and then pretty shrubbery and trees.

 This was a different hike that we all took that same afternoon.  Such a gorgeous view up top!

 Natalie loved holding the baby kitties at Grandma's house.

 The first day of the reunion, there was a waterslide at my parent's house.

Luke was so nice to help Blake up the ladder to the waterslide multiple times.  Blake made him hold him on his lap the first time down, but after that, he was fearless!  The kids played all day on it.

 Jane loves Grandma...

 ...and dollies.

 After having a BBQ at the church pavilion with the extended Hales family, there was a movie night for the kids in Great Grandpa Hales' backyard (and another movie for the adults inside).  Cars played on the projector screen and the kids got to sit in their own cars (cardboard boxes) while watching it.  It was so cute.

 This was inside our cabin at Heber.  There were three cabins for all of us with lots of wooden bunk beds.  Let's just say that not much sleep happened that night....for the adults.  The kids seemed to be un-phased with sleeping on a board.  My air mattress deflated about an hour after laying down, so it was quite the restless, uncomfortable night.  Morning was a welcome sight.

The kids had fun playing on the bunk beds.

Maryanne made the kids each their own fun pillowcase and filled it with bubbles, lipgloss for the girls, a small toy for the boys, and glow bracelets. 

 Melissa didn't stay for the whole time at Heber camp, but she came up one night for dinner and games.  Jane just loves her auntie Melissa.

 We were spoiled with a full kitchen!  Needless to say, we ate really well there.  My aunts Maryanne and Debbie planned and carried it all out. It was a blast.

 Without sidewalk chalk how do you make a hopscotch on the pavement?  Why, you just grab a rock and draw it.  Blake and Natalie had fun learning to play this game.

 Back at my parent's house, the girls gave each other massages with lotion.  I had to laugh.  They put the sunglasses on and my sister Alice told Natalie, "If you're really good, I'll give you candy when I'm done".

 Candid moment with Grandma, Priscilla, Emmy and Jane.

 We didn't see a whole lot of Matthew while we were there since he was working the 12 hour night shift of cherries and slept most of the day, but we enjoyed what little we did have him around.

 Jane wasn't quite sure what to think of the kitties at first, but she ended up warming up to them a little too much.  I had to watch her closely or she'd pull their fur and poke their eyes.

 Sweet little girls-Emmy, Natalie, Jane, and Abby

 Natalie is a total animal lover.  She kissed and hugged all the cats before we left.  This was her favorite kitten named "Sweetie-Belle".

 Uncle Thomas and Jane.  As long as I was in the same room, she just wanted me.

 We had a fun evening teaching Natalie how to do cartwheels on the grass, since we don't have any at home.  There were lots of tears, but she made some good improvement.  The little girls were sweet to keep giving her pointers and encouragement along the way.

 We paid a nice visit to my Grandma Heelis and ended up getting to see my uncle Steven, aunt Cherene and cousin Mitch too.

 We of course had to spend an afternoon at the fun Payson pool.

 Playing with Thomas again-this time distracted by his hat.

It was hard to say goodbye to these wonderful people.  We always miss them so much, and wish we could live closer.  I was especially emotional saying goodbye to my sister Melissa, since she will be moving to California after the summer and don't know when I will get to see her next.