You Lose some to gain some

So summers are always a little sad because Erich is gone so much fighting fire. This year has been no exception. For most of July Erich was crazy busy hopping from one fire to the next. Thankfully to help break up the loneliness Jake and I got to attend a lot of extended family visits. It started with a quick Saturday visit with my sister in law and her boy Rhone who were visiting Idaho from Delaware. Rhone and Jake are only a few months apart and it's fun now that they are interacting more! They were impressive little sharers from capri suns to high fives to sun glasses!

Next up was the infamous Harker Reunion. My mother has 12 brothers and sisters and every year they have big reunion where approximately 200 aunts uncles and cousins and second cousins get together. One of my fondest childhood memories was attending these reunions where I got to hang out with my best friend, my cousin Chelsea. Now that we are older it is still fun to get together and watch our kids become buds. Her little boys are just the sweetest little guys to Jake and Jake adores them! And of course its fun to see a bunch of crazy aunts and uncles. They had a mustache growing contest, pinatas, a giant slip and slide and lots of other random fun.


After the Grand Harker Reunion we had the Reid reunion with my brothers and sisters. It was the first time our family had everyone together (minus Erich) for 3 years. Everyone spoiled me and came to Twin Falls for a couple of days and then we went up to a cabin we rented on Lake Pallisades. It was chaotic and loud and involved a week of very little sleep for a pregnant woman, but it was wonderful. I just love boating and being out on the water; it sure beat sitting behind a computer all day!

After the reunion I met up with my parent for a more quiet and peaceful weekend boating and hiking Jackson Lake. If you haven't been you need to go. It is quite possibly one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. I really treasure the time I get to go camping and boating with my parents. The best part of it all is hearing how excited Jake gets to see his papa and grandma.

And no I'm not quite done. After that my niece and her friend came to stay at my house for a week while they attended EFY, and my in-laws came up to spoil their grandson.

Sadly that wraps up the big family hoopla. At least now Erich is home for a few days, hopefully more.