Family...Family...Everywhere!

My family moved from Utah to Washington when I was almost 7 years old. Since that time, I can remember traveling all over the Northwest attending family reunions every year. It's something I have always looked forward to - and this year was no exception. Every year, a different family is in charge of the planning and this year, my parents took on the huge responsibility of finding a great location, making a menu and doing the grocery shopping and cooking to go along with it, planning fun activities, and most importantly - getting as many people to come as possible!!!

This year our family reunion was about an hour and a half North of Spokane in a small town called Cusick. We stayed at the Ruby Creek Lodge which is located right on a very slow moving river - so the kids were able to play in the water and they had a great time. My parents were generous enough to take all three kids over with them on Wednesday so they could get as much out of this vacation as possible (since it's our ONLY vacation this summer). Unfortunately, since Jim and I had work and school, we weren't able make the journey over until Friday night and ended up arriving around 1:00 am Saturday morning.

The River Where The Kids Lived All Week

My Dad brought over his little boat and pulled the girls around the river on an inner tube. We weren't there to see it - but apparently that was the highlight of the weekend for them. Thanks Dad!!!

While we were there - we also decided to celebrate my Dad's birthday (July 17th) and Kayla's birthday (July 11th). So we got a cake and some presents and we were able to celebrate with the whole family. Our birthday pictures didn't turn out so well - Jim's camera decided to focus on the people in the background and/or the grass so the people/objects we were trying to get in the pictures were blurred out, except for this one:


While I LOVED spending time with my family and relaxing on the river, one of the best parts of our trip is that Jim's brother and his family just recently moved from Illinois to Spokane in May. It had been many years since Jim was able to see them and I had never met them, so we invited them to come out and join us Saturday. They have the most adorable 3-year-old little girl named Miranda (I asked her if I could pack her in my suitcase and take her home - after thinking for a second, she told me "no" because I would squish her!) and a 9-month-old son named Matthew. They all came out to the river and we had a great time - Miranda especially loved the water. On Sunday, we had to check out of the lodge by 11:00 am, so on our way home, we stopped in Spokane and spent the afternoon with Jim's brother and their family some more. We took the kids to Riverfront Park where we fried, but had a great time!

Pictures Of The Kids At The Park

Family Picture - Summer 2008

This Is The Other Brown Family - From Left To Right:
Matthew, Jenny, Miranda, David

Overall, we had a great weekend and wish it could have lasted much longer. It was quite a long drive for only a couple of days - but looking back, I would have to say it was well worth it. It's definitely a trip we'll have to make more often in the future!