Spokane Pettingill Reunion Part 1

 Becky planned and hosted this years reunion and it did not disappoint. She did an awesome job choosing activities and making meals, and housing everyone. It was just so nice to be together for a whole week. Scott and Sydney announced they are expecting their 3rd baby in February! We started our reunion with a good meal so we were all ready to hit the Hiawatha trail early the next morning. For all the effort into getting up early so we could make our gondola ride in time, things didn't quite go as planned. Everyone got lost on their way to the trail. Stephen and I waited for 45 minutes for everyone to show up, then we all to got our bikes and gathered supplies together. some people had issues with bikes as we set off through the first tunnel. We had some setbacks, but overall it was a beautiful ride! It wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be, but my bum did get sore and so did my knee by the end of the ride. Zander and Lucas left Stephen and I to ride with their cousins so we didn't get any pictures together. The panhandle of Idaho is really breathtaking. the tunnels and the forest, and wildlife we saw was just a neat experience. We didn't make our gondola ride in time before they closed, so we headed back to Becky's to rest, eat dinner, and play games. The kids slept outside together on the trampoline and on the deck.

Becky's House

 After the Watson reunion we headed up north to Spokane to stay with Becky for an extra week before the rest of the family came up for the Kerry Pettingill Reunion. We spent one day resting from all the traveling and Becky, Lance, and I stayed up really late two nights having some good conversations about life. Becky bought shirts for the kids to make their own tie dye shirts to wear for the 4th. We took the kids swimming at the public pool a couple times. I ended up forgetting Zander at the house. We all got to the pool and Becky asked me where Zander was. I thought he had gotten in Becky's car, but apparently he didn't get in anyone's car, so Sydney had to go back and grab him. I thought he'd be pretty mad, but he thought it was funny. There's a first time for everything! 

Becky took us to Manito Park so I could see the Japanese garden. We had a picnic and let the kids run around and play. I took Zander and Hannah with me back to the pond where we saw ducks, turtles, frogs, and a fat dragonfly. It was a good week! 

Scott and Sydney showed up on Wednesday. We took the kids to a Fourth of July parade that was really short, haha, but the kids loved it and got lots of candy. Then we had a potluck dinner at the funeral home in Post Falls with some of Lance's employees and their families and did our own fireworks in the parking lot. Lance also gave us a tour of the crematorium and showed us a cadaver that was to be sent to the university.

The kids had a water balloon fight, and played all day long in the backyard. Becky had just gotten their saucer swing hung back up before we got there only to have it broken again with me falling out of it. I landed pretty hard on my left side bruising my ribs and various other parts of my left side head to foot. It really knocked the wind out of me for a few minutes. 

Watson Family Reunion

 We went to Boise for the Watson reunion this year without Stephen. We stayed in a hotel and had a great time getting to play with cousins, chatting, swimming, and bonding. It was a lot of fun especially for my kids to continue getting to know their cousins and see their great grandma Watson. One of the highlights were the shirts! I was put in charge of doing T-shirts. The theme this year was "Remember When" so my immediate thought was grandma and grandpa's M&M bowl. So we all became M&Ms this year. Everyone loved the shirts and the pictures turned out awesome! We had a talent show one night and Lucas was the opening act with Linley telling jokes. They did great and got some genuine laughs from the audience. The kids' bows that Stephen made were a huge hit for their whizzies. Everyone wanted one and the boys tried so hard to get their own, but no one ended up with theirs. In fact, there were some sad boys who didn't get one and asked if Stephen would be willing to make one for them later this year. The kids got to go swimming twice, once at Vaughn's and once at the hotel.