Brookes Family Reunion

The reunion started out bright and early on Wednesday, June 28th with a hike up to Stewart Falls in Provo Canyon. It was such a beautiful day, and a fun hike. It was fun to get to the end and see the kids get all excited about it! The mist of the fall sure felt good!

This is the view looking away from the fall, where the water was running.

And the beautiful fall. I would recommend going for anyone who has never been. It was about 4 miles round trip, and took us about three hours. We stayed at the fall for probably at least 20 minutes, and we were hiking with around 16 or so kids, some newborns included, and 10 adults. It was a great time! Wednesday evening we had our monthly FHE together!

Thursday started out with us all going up to take a tour of Welfare square. Sorry, we didn't take any pics, but it was all very interesting and informative to see how the church has such a wonderful program in place to help others help themselves. It's just reminds me so much of the perpetual education fund, which I think is wonderful!
Next, we had lunch at a park in Provo, followed by bowling at Miracle Bowl, in Orem. We had a lot of fun. The kids all had great time too! We had to chase Autumn around quite a bit, now that she has learned to walk!



James was so proud of himself and wanted to prove that he bowled a 179!! Wow! What a man! Though, I was waiting for him to do the splits like he did when we were on one of our first dates! Don't think that's going to happen again!

Bowling was followed by a BBQ and swimming at Ben and Misty's (James' bro) house! It was so hot out that I was actually glad that the kids were splashing me!



Friday we went to see WALL E ! It was a pretty cute show, but maybe more for older kids. We had fun anyway.
Next was off to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point! To think that Logan used to be terrified of this shark, and now she acts like it's her best friend! I have been there with my parents a few years ago, and also with one of my neighbors. I really like it. It's got so many fun hands on things to do. I think it was safe to say all the kids had a blast.
After the museum, there was dinner and a game night and Dan & Janell's (James' sis) house. We had a really fun time there too!



Saturday was the big family reunion with James' Mom's whole family. It was a nice shady park, in Orem. We were in charge this year, so his mom wanted to do a carnival theme. It was really fun! We had a nice lunch, and then we had a bunch of carnival games set up for all the kids to play. There were also tickets and prizes you could buy with your tickets. They also had ice cream, popcorn and nachos! It took probably years of planning, and James' mom really did an awesome job. I wish we could have been more of a help. James' family is so creative and thoughtful, down to the last detail! It's amazing, and I am so glad to be a part of their family. Thanks for a wonderful reunion to all those that put forth so much time and effort in it's planning!