Q Reunion

The end of June we met with my parents, siblings, and as many of our kids and grandkids as can make it in K-Town for the annual Quarnberg Reunion. Thanks to my brother Rod and his wife Kim, we always have the best time and the best food ever!

Hillari, Keith, Lexi, Matt, and Amy after a great meal at Rod and Kim's.

Everyone has to get lost at least once on their way to the reunion, and this year it was Lexi's turn. Although she added 2 extra hours to her trip driving around in the mountains, she finally got there and had a great time. Here she is with her Dad and Grandpa.

Amy, Mom, Shell, and Linds enjoying themselves at the fabulous city park. Lots of fun stuff for the kiddos to do, so Mom's can kick back a little.

We ate dinner at Moccasin one night, where poor Hillari had a tangle with some rusty barbed wire. When we got back to town she had to got to the hospital for a tetanus shot. I'm sure she will just use the porta potty next time.

Lexi was so good to help entertain all the kids. She tried to teach them to play volleyball. Then they moved on to kickball. She kept them busy for hours, and they love her.

The swimming pool was the coolest ever! Lots of slides and tubes, and even a lazy river. Everyone had a great time there.

Bampa and Isaac getting warmed up in the sun.

Even though I was sick as a dog all one night, and still didn't feel too great the next day, (hence I look a little awful in this picture) I still had a wonderful time with all my family.

The best parents ever: Don and Phyllis Quarnberg.

Shawn, also known as "The Club Buster", proudly displaying the golf clubs he busted. Each time the guys went out golfing Shawn broke another one of his Dad's clubs. I'm glad Jeff never loaned him one!

My parents and me with my siblings.

Isaac's birthday was on Sunday, so he got to open his present from us before we had to leave on Saturday night. We gave him a Thomas the Train set. He was so excited and loved it so much he carried it around and showed it to anyone who would look, and didn't want to put it down. It was so cute!

Another reunion is over, and it was a great success. Many thanks to Rod and Kim for organizing it, cooking the food, and opening their home to all of us. We did stay in a local motel, but ate our meals and hung out at their house most of the time. They are awesome to put up with all of us! I love all my family so much, and I am so glad we can all congregate at least once a year and enjoy being together. Looking forward already to next year!

Sareny and Isaac

After our road trip to Texas we brought Sareny and Isaac home with us for a couple of days before we went to the family reunion. We tried to do some things the kids would like while they were here and make the visit fun for them. I think we succeeded, since both kids didn't want to go home!

One of the first things we did was have a hot dog roast and make s'mores. The kids had fun learning to cook their own hotdogs and marshmallows. Sareny was very proud of getting the marshmallows just right.

I can't say they actually ate anything they cooked. Like most kids, they thought the fun was in the cooking not the eating.

By the end of the evening they were two tired kids. They had endured the long drive here from Phoenix, gone on a little Ranger ride (which they loved!!) and gone to the store all prior to the cook out.

The great thing about kids this age is that they get excited about the smallest things. They got quite excited the next morning to come out and help me pick tomatoes and zucchini in the garden. Isaac just wanted to pick every tomato, ripe or not.

I love them in their pj's and sunglasses!

We took them on a little longer Ranger ride after that, and they loved it. Isaac did fall asleep before we got to our destination, but he was pretty tired.

We took them over the top of the mesa and down the other side to the Virgin River, which was very shallow, and perfect for playing in the mud and cooling off.

Joe Cool having a good time in the mud! (This is my favorite picture of the outing!)

They could run around by themselves since the water wasn't deep. They had so much fun!

Then a water fight ensued..........which also turned into a mud fight! It started out when Jeff and I started splashing each other and the kids came running to join in the fun.

We all had a great time and were there for about 3 hours! We had a shade structure up in the water, so between that and sunscreen no one even got sunburned.

The next day we took things a little easier. We made a fun craft with stickers and die cuts. Then the kids helped me make cookies. They love that my counter is big enough for them to sit on while they do stuff. Probably not the most sanitary, but who cares? At the last minute before I snapped this picture Isaac grabbed Sareny in a hug. What cuties. They were pretty good while they were here, and I think they enjoyed it a lot.

After that it was off to the reunion, which will be my next blog. We had a fun time with two of our grandkids, and decided we will have to make it a tradition. Next year Joshie will hopefully be able to come. We are already thinking of fun things we can do!!

Road Trip

On June 16th we left to go on a road trip to Texas with Hillari and her three kids to visit Holli, John, and Rhys while they were still in Austin. We drove to Phoenix on the morning of the 16th, spent the night there and left at 5:00 a.m. the next morning to head for Austin. I knew going into it that this was not going to be a scenic drive. Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas are just miles of flat desert. I also knew it was going to be long (16 hours) but, my heck, Texas is huge!!! It takes forever to drive across it. For the most part, the kids were pretty good, considering how long they were in their car seats. We only stopped for short periods of time to eat and go potty. It seemed like Isaac was either saying "Mommy, I want to be on your lap" or this classic: (ME)"Isaac, why are you crying?" (ISAAC) "I'm tired" for much of the trip. No amount of reasoning with him that all he had to do was close his eyes and sleep and he wouldn't be tired anymore,worked. He didn't believe us.

It was so fun to see Holli, John, and Rhys, and see some of Austin. It is a really cool town, with lots to see and do. Here are some of the fun things we did there:

This is us up on the stage singing our hearts out at Austin City Limits.

Rhys just wants his turn!

Sareny really got into it, as anyone who knows her well would imagine.

And here we have Sonny and Cher singing "I Got You Babe."

We went to this huge park with this river (the Colorado River, maybe) but not the one we are familiar with, this is a different one, where they have it all fixed up for swimming. The water was cold and a little slimy, but we were hot and it was actually kind of fun. The kids loved it. Then we rode on a little train, but alas I have no pictures of it because it came right after the scare of losing Isaac and I guess we were too crazy by then. Yes, we lost him, or rather, left him behind. We headed up to the train area not realizing that he was not following along. It was pretty scary. We split up to search all the areas and were all praying our hearts out. We were very happy to see Jeff walking back with him.

Sareny in all her glory!

Austin is the state capitol of Texas, and the captiol building is awesome. We did a self guided tour of the place and it was very impressive.

The woodwork and attention to detail was beautiful.

Cute Little Rhysie with his Mom.

The ride home was the worst part of the whole trip. At least on the way there, you have a fun stay to look forward to. This is how we entertained ourselves on the way home. Billy Bob teeth.

We did lots of other fun things, and ate at some great restaurants, but half of the time I didn't have my camera with. Like when we went to the Innerspace Caverns, and to watch the millions of bats come out of the bridge at dusk. Consequently, I don't have all that many pictures.............But we had a great time! Thanks Holli and John for inviting us. It was so good to see you all. And thanks Hillari for inviting us to come with you.

A Fun Visit

In early June Jake, Liz, and Josh came down for a weekend visit. We were excited to see Joshie again. He is growing so tall, and is talking really good now. Grandpa couldn't wait to take him on a little Ranger ride!

First they went on a little short one for Lizzie, who is pregnant, and we didn't think she should go bouncing around on a more vigorous ride. Then the boys went to Redrock. While they were gone to Redrock, Lizzie showed me how to make those cute baby blankets with the mitered corners. Thanks Lizzie, they were fun! (Except for the one I messed up) :(

Josh fell asleep on the ride getting there, but then he woke up and had a grand time playing in the rocks and sand.

What a cute little boy! He has been a little harder to get to know, as he is quite reserved. But he was definitely happy to see us, and was more eager to be with us and talk to us. Of course he likes Bampa best, but I'm pretty used to that. He loves his Grammy too though.

I love him in his big hat! It reminds me of that kid on The Sandlot.

He had fun picking some zucchini in the garden.

I guess we wore him right out, he fell asleep eating his dinner!

We had a nice visit, only it was too short! Thanks guys!