Heaps of Patterson's Reunion

Ever since I was a little girl we have been going to the Heap Reunion.  It is held the first week of August up in the White Mountains near Green's Peak.  We decided this year to make it more of an Earl Patterson Family reunion this year.  I was really happy at how many of the family turned out.  We had a great time bonding and getting to know each other better.  My boys had a blast (but we missed Emily greatly)!  It was the first time in a long time that it didn't ever rain.  The boys rode Uncle Don's quad's, found horny toads, carved cool walking sticks (thanks to Uncle Larry), played horseshoes, ran down Green's Peak, chopped down trees and played with their cousins.  Thank you everyone for coming and thank you Ginna and family for all you did.  A special thank you to Mom for the wonderful memory book of Dad that she made.  I know it took a LOT of work.

 

Loaded up to go run down Green's Peak

See how many actually run!

Ryan and Tyler getting ready to run . . .

or should I say "slide" with JoAnn and Leslie!

They made it!

Don took us on the quads up by where we used to camp.  We found a tree that had the Grant's names carved in it and then it said + JoAnn.  You can't tell from the picture, but it was really high up.  The tree had grown a lot.

Annual McBride Reunion

We have been going to Imperial Beach, California every year for the 4th of July week for quite a few years now.  We meet up with Andy and Suzette's families and Sue and Mark's families.  It is such a wonderful tradition that we really love.  With Brad's parents both gone, I think that it is really neat to have this tradition for our families.  

Every year there are amazing sand castles and sculptures done by the family.  Here is an alligator that Brad and Ryan were quite proud of - as they should be!

On the 4th of July, we pack up some food, toys, blankets and chairs, and head over to Coronado.  They city opens up the golf course and tons of people eat, relax and play games for hours before the fireworks ever start.  I LOVE bundling up and watching the fireworks over the water.  It is so beautiful.

This pic didn't turn out very well because it is blurry.  I wanted to put it on anyway because it has a lot of us together.  Brad designed these t-shirts to honor Horton and Marlene and I really like the way they turned out!

You might have noticed that Emily wasn't in any of these pictures.  She was actually in London on her BYU Study Abroad.  We missed her a lot - but she was off having her own adventures!  Here are a few pictures of her.