The Young and the Restless

Family Reunion 2018

A few years ago we decided to take turns planning the annual family reunion. It was Janessa's turn last year when we went to Pinetop and this year it was my turn. I love the idea of taking turns planning so that we can experience new places. Although planning a reunion with this many people is a huge undertaking, but thankfully with 10 kids plus mom and dad, it means we only have to plan it every 11 years. Moab is somewhere I've always wanted to go and since it is centrally located it was the perfect choice. We stayed at the KOA campground and the swimming pool was our saving grace in the summer heat. I loved seeing all the cousins playing together creating memories to last a lifetime.

For meals we had everyone on their own for breakfast and lunch then two families teamed up to do dinner each night. It worked out perfectly.

It was fun celebrating Connor's birthday the first night we were there.

We got there Thursday afternoon and spent the day setting up camp and swimming. The next morning we woke up fairly early to explore Arches National Park before it got too hot. Thankfully the morning was overcast and made for the perfect hiking weather. The trail is across the red rocks without any shade, so this would have been brutal if the sun was out. This is a shot of Balanced Rock on the drive up to hike Delicate Arch. So fascinating to think how this was formed like that and how it manages to stay balanced. I don't think I would like to walk underneath it. Just sayin'.

Kylie, Jayden and the older cousins decided they would rather sleep than hike. I'm glad Maddox and Ryder were up for an adventure. They had fun with Brenton, cousins always make hikes more fun. It was a beautiful hike, though. I can't get enough of the red rock.

It was cool to come up over the hill and see the Delicate Arch. Clearly this is a popular tourist attraction and we had to wait in line to get a photo under the arch. It was nice just being able to relax and chat while the cousins climbed around.

 

On the way back we started chatting with a guy who had just done the Fiery Furnace. I had wanted to do it, but you have to purchase a permit. He said his permit was good for the rest of the day for up to 10 people and let us have it. I was excited to be able to explore just a little bit. It's very easy to get lost in here and we didn't have a lot of time so we just hiked in a short ways. I would love to come back with a guide who knows where he's going. Even with Ranger Todd (also known as Matt Gibbons) as our guide, we were a little stressed about losing the trail, because there isn't really one clear trail. There are small little camouflaged arrows posted on the rocks and Mady made our own little trail markers, but it would have been nice if we were with someone who knew the way and could take us all the way into the slot canyons. But the parts that we did see were really cool and thankfully shaded, at this point it was getting pretty hot and I thought we were going to get heat exhaustion hiking in the open terrain!

I wish we had more time to spend in the park. There are so many other cool hikes and arches to visit, we will definitely have to come back!

We came back to cool off in the pool and play card games. The boy cousins always had a game of Black Jack going on and it was hilarious hearing them say things like, "hit me, I've got 20k". Ryder was quite the card shark.

We ventured down to main street, which getting that many people to move in the same direction at once was a feat in and of itself. We sort of took over the local froyo joint. Why yes, everyone crammed into that small store just happen to be related.

That is a whole lot of Jolleys. And I love it.

That was our first stop and the dad's took a unanimous vote to take the kids to the park. The kids had the best time climbing on the playground and playing football while the girls strolled around buying souvenirs and checking out the charming shops. It was a win win.

Grandma was so cute and bought geode rocks on amazon. The plan was to go on a hike where they would be hidden and the kids could find them. We kept running out of time to do the hike part, so instead she scattered them around the park and the kids gathered them Easter egg hunt style. If you know my boys, you know they love rocks. It has always been their dream to find a real geode. Even if Amazon isn't really considered their natrual habitat, they were still so excited and loved having a souvenir to bring home. Such a fun day.