Sumsion Family Reunion

Our first big trip for the summer was to Idaho and Utah to visit the Sumsion side of the family. Nate's oldest brother Grant and his wife Jenny throw a big 4th of July bash every year, and it seems to be a great time to get together with everyone we love, but don't often get to see.

We always stop off at Jason & Adria's along the way. They live in Twin Falls, ID, which is about as far as our kids can stand to ride in the car before they start to totally lose it. Our drive out was 10 hours this time--we made pretty good time. All of the kids did great, especially Syd, who only complained a couple of times. At one point she said, "I'm frustrated being in the car! I need big hugs!" and who could blame her?

The WA & ID cousins always have a great time together. We got in late Sunday night, June 29. On Monday we just relaxed and hung out, which was perfect after a long drive. Then Monday night we headed down to see the new Twin Falls Temple, which will be dedicated this summer. Jason and Adria get to be tour guides for the temple open house, and I think some of their kids are involved in the special temple pageant/celebration for the dedication. It's a beautiful temple.

Here are the cousins all together in front of the temple:



And at the back:

I also love this shot of the boys:



On Tuesday, the ID cousins took us to Hands On, a pottery painting place. Our kids had never done anything like that before and had a great time.

Hard at work:



Ryan and Tyler with their skateboard and inch worm:



Ethan with his mug:



Ashlyn, Natalie and McKenzie with their monster, piggy bank and snail:



Elise with her cat:



And Syd with her snail (a toddler with a paint brush is not necessarily mom's idea of a great time, but it turned out to be just fine):



Before they were fired:



And after:



After Hands On, we all went to see Wall E. The kids had been wanting to see it ever since seeing the first preview for it last year. It was a little different than a lot of the Pixar movies, but really good. I think everyone enjoyed it.

We said a temporary goodbye to our ID cousins and headed down to Pleasant Grove, UT on Wednesday (Jason & Adria were going to be coming down on the 4th). We stayed with Sumsion Family #1 (Grant, Jenny, Seren & Seth), who are always awesome hosts, making us feel right at home. Seth even gave up his room for the kids. Thanks Seth! We just hung out and had pizza and played a little Rock Band. I think that is just about the most fun you can have on a video game console.

We discovered one of Jenny's hidden talents--she can totally rock the drums. Rock hard! Seren's awesome on lead guitar, Seth can definitely hold his own on bass and Grant can do it all. We found McKenzie to be the best singer, while Tyler's expertise is on lead guitar. I loved the drums, but never ventured past the easy setting. I had a little difficulty with lead guitar, but could do bass on medium by the end of our stay. Nate did great with guitar and drums and Elise was great on bass and drums. This game will definitely be going on our Christmas list. We played it quite a bit during our stay. (To be honest, I'm not sure anyone had a better time on it than I did, even if after playing bass on the medium setting for The Strokes' Reptilia my arm cramped up so bad I couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry!)

Thursday we went to see Kung Fu Panda with Sumsion Family #1 and learned there is no charge for awesomeness. Or attractiveness. That was a hilarious movie, which we quoted frequently throughout the week. I think Seren's favorite line is one of mine also, "Po, we do not wash our pits in the sacred pool of tears". Good times.

Later that afternoon we went to see a friend of mine, Chele Thaxton and her family, from my high school/college days and then went to see Grandma Hjorth that evening. She looked thin and frail, but we sure enjoyed spending some time with her. It's really cool to have your children know their great-grandparents. What a blessing.

We had dinner with a big bunch of Sumsions/Platts/Crutchfields over at Rachel's house that night. Thanks for hosting, Rachel!

Friday was the 4th and Jenny and Grant went all out. Every July 4th party has a theme and this year it was space camp. It was nonstop fun for everyone! First, the kids made and decorated rockets out of 2 liter bottles. They did a great job and were very proud of their creations.

Here's Kenzie with hers:



And Tyler:



Seth (what a ham--wonder where he gets that from?) & Elise:



Syd:



Georgia (who was a little camera shy) with Aaron:



Jaxon:



Allie:



Nick:



Katrina:



And Rachel, who had my personal favorite rocket of the day:



Jenny had a special launching pad all ready to go. Everyone had a great time watching the lift-offs. I was surprised how far they actually went! Anyone know whose rocket went the farthest?



After that, it was time for the anti-gravity/velocity training in the form of a ginormous blow up waterslide. Thanks to Grant for setting this up and for being willing to sacrifice the perfection of his beautifully manicured lawn!

There was definitely a bit of anti-gravity:



And velocity:



And a whole lot of fun! These faces should say it all:



Sydney wasn't quite brave enough for the waterslide, but was sad not to be part of the water action...



...until Rachel & Jared came to the rescue with their pool:



And then we moved on to my favorite part--dinner! This year we had pasta and Grant's famous grilled chicken. As always, it was delicious! Just look at these happy customers:





One of the surprise hits of the day was the "suicide soda" that Jenny, our resident mixologist for the day, concocted. It included grape, black cherry and strawberry cream soda and some kind of fruit punch, I think. Am I forgetting anything? Elise especially loved it. I took one taste of the medicinal black cherry soda and decided I wasn't up for it. I can only assume it was improved by the unlikely combo of the other flavors. Shudder!

There was more Rock Band of course:





Here's Jenny on the drums (told you she rocks):


But I think Elise had the most fun with the puppies and baby Ruth. At one point that afternoon, after having already spent a lot of time holding the puppies and the baby, she said, "I feel like I want to hold something cute."

Elise with Muffin:



And Bella (I love how they have the same expression!):



And Ruthie!



McKenzie enjoyed holding the "cute things" too:





And so did Mom! Although, I passed on the puppies--no offense to the muffinator.



We didn't bother waiting for dark to start the fireworks fun. We might have had a bit too much fun since we got a friendly little visit from the police. It helps to have friends on the force, isn't that right Grant & Jenny?



The fireworks always make Mom a little nervous, but Tyler always promises he'll be fine. Famous last words, I think. Isn't that what they all say until they lose a finger?!



Here we are together with all limbs and appendages still in their proper places:



And once it got dark, we broke out the glow bracelets, which seem to always bring out everyone's inner goofball.



And here are the girls with their favorite JoJo:



The next day it was already time to head back to ID. We never seem to have enough time! The kids were sad to leave their UT cousins. They really had the best time. I think they were even sadder to know that we'd be heading back to our own home just two days later. All the way home we had requests for a move to Idaho or Utah. They didn't seem to grasp the idea that their father's job is in Washington or at least they didn't care. They wanted to be with their family!

We always miss you guys! Thanks to all for opening up your homes and showing us the best time! And please come up to see us anytime. Our door is always open.

I have a few more pics from our time in ID, but all this blogging has worn me out! I'll have to do a Part II post tomorrow.