In July we had a big family reunion with all the Anderson side of the family. Everyone came to Utah and we spent a week together. We did lots of fun activities together. Here is the family picture we took of all of us together.
One highlight of the reunion was our 4th of July party. We had a water party with my Mom's big blowup slide. We played lots of volleyball, which was awesome! We also played some minute to win it games and had lots of yummy food. And to end off the celebration we had fun with the fireworks. Here are a couple of pictures we took with with sparkers.
We also went to a lake and had fun paddling around in some canoes that Papa and Gram brought. We had a fun time at the zoo together. It was really fun to see all the family members who live out of state. I thought the reunion was a lot of fun.
Another highlight of the summer was our family vacation to Los Angeles. We drove there and stayed with my cousins Stacy and Pierce Thiot. They live only about 5 miles from the beach, which was perfect! We spent most of our time at the beach, which was so much fun.
The water was cool but comfortable and the sand was soft and nice. We did lots of boogie boarding and digging in the sand. The kids loved finding baby crabs in the sand. Dallin was really good at boogie boarding, I was impressed!
Stacy is a photographer - Red Poppy Photos by Stacy Thiot - so we had her take some family pictures for us while we were there. We ended up with so many great shots. I am going to print up the collage of pictures above to hang over my fireplace. And this one of me and the girls to hang in their room.
We also went to the Santa Monica Pier, which was really fun. They had rides and lots of carnival games. We played lots of games and had a great time.
And now the kids are back in school. Dallin is in 4th grade and Shelby is in 2nd grade. Cody and Darcy are both in preschool. Cody goes M,W,F and Darcy goes M,W. So for a couple of hours on Monday and Wednesday I am alone. It's kind of strange, but also good.