A Warm-up for the Family Reunion

Ken was out of town on his biking trip.  Shonna's husband, Blake was out of town for dental continuing education.  So, Shonna put her kids in the van and came down to St. George for a few days.  Michelle decided to join the party with her kids.  It was a great warm-up for our family reunion which would be in a couple of weeks!  How we love to be together!

Shonna arrived on Wednesday evening.  Michelle and kids came on Thursday.  We started the party with a trip to Sand Hollow Aquatic Center for swimming and fun.

Little Gabe- named after my dad.

"Hi Grandma!"  from the slide platform.  All of them love the slide.

The Fearless Foursome ran as a pack, climbing the rock climbing wall, going down the slide, playing tag, and having lots of fun all afternoon.

I got them to pause long enough to take a picture.  Love these kids!

Friday was St. George Children's museum day, after peanut butter sandwiches, of course.

The performing stage is always a favorite of the grandkids.

Caleb reading to the younger kids.

The St. George Children's Museum is a wonderful, happy place.  It's inexpensive, air-conditioned, and full of great fun for kids.

Reading books is always part of visiting grandmas.  I have quite a collection.

For my birthday, Shonna and Michelle took me to Tuachan to see When You Wish.  We hired two young women from our neighborhood to tend the kids and had a delightful Girls Night Out together.

These two are SO fun to watch a Disney show with.  They are so happy and enthusiastic and knew every word of every song.

Treasured memories.  If only Kristen could have been there!

No pictures allowed during the show, but I took this one before.  You can see we had excellent seats.  It was an absolutely delightful show- including scenes and songs from many Disney shows.

The next day was water fun at Grandma's.

Brian came up from Vegas for the day.  As soon as he arrived, he became the target.  All kids against Brian in a huge water fight.  He outsmarted them all by getting the hose.

Their water guns were no match for Brian and his hose.

He turned on the sprinklers and they all had such a fun time getting soaked on a very hot day.

Drying off while eating lunch.

Hannah loved the tomato soup and grilled cheese.

That evening, we celebrated my birthday.  This is the gift from Kristen.  She had Michelle go to Trader Joe's in Vegas and fill three buckets with yummy Trader Joe's stuff.  My sister, Joan and one of Michelle's friends counseled her on what to get.  What a great gift!

Brian barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs and they made a delicious meal, insisting that I not help.  I had fun playing "War" with Kenny, singing with William, and reading to Hannah while they prepared the meal.  Pam also stopped by, bringing delicious food.

Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  Happy birthday to me!!!

Pretty pink roses and a cute photo bomber./

 Later in the week, Pam had me over for lunch.  Pam always makes the most delicious food.  We had a nice time visiting and she gave me very nice gifts.

Enchiladas, salad, bean salad, etc.  Everything was delicious and the table setting so beautiful!

Even without Ken there (he was stuck in an airport), I had a very nice birthday.