I love our family so much- immediate and extended. First of all, just look at these precious pictures of my kids that mom took last Sunday! We loved spending the last 9 days visiting with family in Kennewick and LaGrande, with cousins and aunts/uncles who travelled from Eugene, Portland, Walla Walla, and Virginia to join the fun. There was even a picnic with the Burt clan who came from other places, too.
A couple Fridays ago, Eric drove us (thank goodness!) to grandma's place in Kennewick. After working all week, Eric insisted he drive, and an hour from our destination, at 11pm, our front tire blew! I had dozed off and thought Eric had fallen asleep at the wheel because it sounded like when you go outside of the lines and hit those loud grooves meant to actually wake sleepy folk. But instead, I saw Eric leading the car to the left side off the road because the car would go no other way. It turned out being good, since it put him out of the way of traffic while he put on the spare. Half the kids were sleeping and awoke with much confusion. A very nice driver ahead of us pulled over to make sure we were ok. If Eric had not been driving, I would have asked for help! And I probably would have cried =) But Eric is our hero who definitely saved the day in a very less than ideal situation.
We spent the next couple days hanging out with Travis' family at grandpa's home, where there was lots of swimming in the great hot weather, and lots of Kirby video gaming by the kids. Eric and I stole away on Saturday afternoon to check out the new movie theater in West Richland. It didn't disappoint! We watched the latest Star Trek movie and reclined in the leather seats that shook a little during the action scenes. I slept a little because it was so comfortable!
Eric drove back to Missoula after church because he worked Monday and Tuesday. Then he joined us again Tuesday night and we all went to LaGrande on Wednesday morning. It was so nice to see everyone! Nana and Papa are building a home and currently in a small apartment, so Uncle Milo was kind enough to share some of his abodes with everyone. Carley's family shared Milo's cool big cabin with us and Eli's family stayed in a little place on Milo's property that used to be the farmhand's quarters, I think. We swam at the Pendleton Pool Wednesday and Eric walked into the water with his phone in his pocket. It's been dead since, even after the rice treatment, and we paid a big ole' stupid tax, as Dave Ramsey would say, since we hadn't paid the phone off yet. I'm trying to forget the whole thing by pretending that we are rich and that was just petty cash.
Thursday was spent at the Union County Fair, which is now my favorite fair ever =) Cousin Ryley won a blue ribbon for her first quilt that she made and entered. There were cute bunnies that we got to pet, and Avery's favorite-free facepainting! It was my favorite because there was hardly anybody there so I didn't have to stress about losing a child.
On Friday, Papa took everyone on an Oregon Trail hike that was kid friendly. Marie, Luna, Ryley, Gabby, and I opted to go to the salon instead =) It was great. I hadn't cut my hair in a year, or had a blow-dryer for several days, and with family pictures scheduled for that afternoon, it was perfect. Then we had lunch and a Walmart trip. I got the feeling that the Hibbert clan isn't keen on family photos =) We had the perfect positioning of everyone (except for two of my kids who didn't want to cooperate), and then set the timer on the camera right as the sun came out, which isn't good for photos. But I think they turned out pretty good considering we used a camera balanced on a roll of paper towels atop a garbage can.
Friday night we headed back to Kennewick to spend time with Ty's family that came for the Burt reunion Saturday night. It was great to see everybody. Mom shared some pictures on her blog. We used to have big family picnics when I was a kid, and I'm so happy that we started them up again. I tried to do some games with all the little kids. We had 5 out of the 8 kids of Ralph and Lorene Burt there.
After church on Sunday we drove back to Missoula. I'm so grateful for my family and that we have fun together. I love you guys!
