Just a thought...

Just a thought to finish off the summer campout.  Eight years ago, the family had another campout, but it was a little different tone.  Eight years ago on August 5th, my mother passed away.  She sent the family away to the campout and only a few stayed behind.  She passed away while they were gone.

So, on Friday, I remembered my dear mother and missed her so much.  She was the best at Spades.  She loved the woods and taught us to be kind to each other, have fun in nature, and - above all- that our family is ultimately all that matters.

Love you Mom.  Miss you.

How I spent my summer vacation

Most family reunions are, well... obligatory get-togethers where you see people you don't know, you do "get to know you" games and talk about people who died long ago who you never meet.

Well, not ours!!  We meet every year for the Biddulph Family Wilderness Survival Camping Adventure Jamboree and we camp in style.  We eat in style.  We play in style.  We end up dirty and stinky... in style!

This post is a little Aiden-heavy with pictures, but he was pretty stinkin' cute.  First off, I must say that we missed the Smeds.  Three of them are in Scotland (jealous) and so we are posting pictures so they can see their Best Buddy.

First day was just Chris, Teresa, Aiden and me.  To be honest, we knew what the next day would bring, so we played it easy.  We went to Friendship campground up by Hyrum Lake and set up Teresa's trailer and our motorhome.  We were quiet and low-key.  The next day brought most of the group.  We figure there were around 40 people there total throughout the campout.

Aiden found the mud.  And he kept shouting, "Mom!! I'm in the mud!!"  It was awesome.  He jumped, sat, played, splashed, and loved the mud.  

Followed by a bath.  By the way - love the motorhome for this reason.  Love the tub and the potty.

Crashed - HARD

This is pretty much how you will find the family at any given time during a campout.  Sitting, chatting, relaxing, playing cards, teaching knitting (okay that was this campout)

Uncle Chris was in charge and he did a pirate theme this year.  It was very fun.

Cousin Anna

Cousins all around watching Chris - and Uncle Bret in the background.  It is a good pic of Bret.

Stockton

Emily or "Emmy Sue"

Gramma Sharon

This was what I saw first thing the next morning.  The guys woke up early, had a great breakfast and went rock climbing.  All the kids went except the babies (4 and younger stayed home).  Uncle Dustin had all the climbing gear and everyone loved it.

Aiden and I spent the time in the river where he found MORE mud.  

The played with his cousins.  I had to put this one in here because Gracie has a wedgie.  It is classic 4-year old girl stuff.  

Aiden found Uncle Chris's pirate hat!!!

Goodbye fun campground!!

Then we went to Hyrum lake the last day!

Cousin Alyssa and Aido

Mud.  Three days in a row.  This kid LOVES the mud/

Baby Olivia.  So, so, so precious.  

Cute Mama too!

Cousin Marshall only 2 weeks older than Aiden.  They played well together.  Marshall runs everywhere.  Aiden just seeks out the dirtiest spot and stays there.

Cousin Gracie playing in the sand.  

We loved being together with the family.  We were reminded by a friend that came to hang out one night that most families can't do this.  Too much baggage or emotion to let it all go and have fun.  We played Steal the Flag and the dads were carrying the young kids on their shoulders (usually not even their own kids) and running toward the goal.  We love each other so much.  We have a lot of chaos and noise, but we love each other so very, very much.