GREENBEZERKLEYWELL REUNION

What do you get when you put 9 Greenwells, 6 Merkleys, & 6 Beazers together in one house in Erda, Utah? The Greenbezerkleywell Reunion of course! Mix in activities, games, food, limited sleep, warm weather and you get a whole lotta crazy goin' on!

July 1st and we hit the road bound for the reunion. We didn't get very far very fast though. It took us about 7 1/2 hours to drive the 3 1/2 hours to Reno. Everyone had the same idea we did, get outta town. Therefore we stopped to rest and gear up for the remainder of the drive.

The week was full of adventure! Sunday night we got to go next door to visit the neighbor boy's 4H animals!

Funny thing was, you couldn't distinguish between the baby goat's cry for his mama and Jonah's!!! Maaaaaaa! Maaaaaaa! Jonah was not a fan of the goats that night. After the goats we went on a walk through the neighborhood to see the animals. We saw chickens, turkeys, peacocks, horses, goats, lambs, llamas, dogs, a cat or two and a few of the locals!

This is a small amount of the loot from the Tooele 4th of July parade. I'm not sure who had more fun the kids, or the adults. We were a noisy bunch to say the least.

Then we rented out the cousin's gymnastics studio for a few hours one afternoon. Hey, Hey, we're the Monkey's, people say we monkey around.........

Dallin got dizzy, Jonah was very Zen and they all had a BLAST!!!

See, the craziness is taking effect!!!

Lauren was preparing herself for one of the times we went swimming. When we went to the indoor pool Todd, Jennifer and Alexis went over to do the diving boards. When the rest of us saw, we headed right over. I said to Lauren, let's go off the highest one (she's never even been off a diving board before) and up and off she went in a flash. She was the first one off the high dive that day and didn't bat an eyelash!

A hike up to Timp Cave was in order.......

Dallin and Lauren love all their cousins, but they have a very special place in their hearts for cousin Derek. He is an amazing and patient :-) cousin.

Dallin also has a special bond with his Uncle Brad.
We made it up and down Timp and to the end of the week!!! What a great reunion!

Gone in a flash!

June was one of those months where you are planning for and looking forward to things and then you look back and realize that the whole month flew by in a flash. Girls Camp was the huge event that month but along the way we fit in many fun things.

The first event for June was the end of the school year for Dallin!! His class had a fun little graduation ceremony which they did early for him because we were headed out for another fun event on the actual last day of school. Congratulations on completing the first grade Dallin!


Next we headed out for a fun beach getaway with friends. Summer forgot to show up so it was a little chilly and rainy but not enough to dampen anyone's spirits.


Then there was more fun and silly times with some friends.

Lauren always has time to fit in a few crafts in her busy life.

Jonah decided to try walking in someone elses shoes for a day. He thought it might be fun to see how Dallin and Lauren's shoes would feel.

Then one day he must have been really hungry so he got himself a snack. That is a determined baby. You can put things far out of reach, but he seems to have go-go Gadget arms, and a chair always helps. He was so pleased with himself.

The Johnstons invited us along on trip to Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville to pick Ollalieberries. I have heard all the folklore surrounding the amazing taste of these berries and the stories are true. These berries met their reputation head on. The little pickers got busy picking and eating and saving some to store up for winter. Dallin and Lauren love the book "Blueberries for Sal." They kept talking about how they were picking berries like her so that we could store them for winter. We were just planning to make jam. We did make one batch but with Girls Camp looming days away we smashed the rest and froze them where they sit today (August 14th) waiting to be made into jam. Hmmmm, something for me to do when school starts.

Jonah was trying to escape his stroller prison. It wasn't working out so well. Nor was having him grab the thorny berry bushes while we tried to get enough for a few batches of jam.

Then off I went to Camp. Leaving Todd with work to do and three monkeys to tend to. I don't think they really missed me all that much, they were having fun with Daddy. I'm glad. Things were wet and wild in the backyard sprinklers.

Here is a photo of the 4th year hikers coming back from their 3 day trip. I sadly don't have very many photos of camp. The one I really wish I would have had taken was a photo of our camp presidency. I loved working with those ladies.

I love girls camp. I love being up at camp for a week with the girls and feeling the Spirit along with them. It is selfishly a boost to my own testimony. Besides that it is a lot of hard work getting it ready for an entire stake but a whole heck of a lot of fun too. We had a fabulous week filled with many small miracles and lots of good times.

After camp it was on to getting ready for the next adventure in Utah..........

Last of London

One of the days was set to be rainy, no surprise for London, so I headed to the British Museum with the intent to stay as long as I felt like it and not a minute longer. I am totally amazed by that museum, thier collections were incredible.

I was quite intrigued by the Egyptian exhibit. They had this body, skeleton, and mini sphinx that had been excavated from various burial sites.

More interesting things from the museum......

Can you imagine potty training using that contraption? Thank goodness for pullups and real toilets!!

Another underground photo. They only say "Mind the Gap" on certain lines now. I was a little sad to not hear it all the time.

Todd had a free day before we left so we went to Hampton Court Palace. I have to admit we are slightly obsessed with the Tudors. There is just something so intriguing about them and their whole saga. Scandalous. Go ahead, ask us anything, and we'll probably know the answer :-)

This is a really cool way to do a family tree. Maybe when I have my own walls to paint again someday I will do something like it.

Todd out carousing with his buddies......

The Courtyard at Hampton Court.

Todd was in a stupor considering how much meat could be cooked there. The prospect was a little too much for him....mmmmmm, Meat!!!!!!!!

And yes, we are brilliant! We were able to find the center of the maze. It took a few minutes though. Don't follow me, I have not a clue in the world how to not go around in circles. We were thinking how we needed Dallin and his uncanny ability to find his way through mazes (he lead a bunch of adults-not telling who-through a difficult maze at the age of two!!!)

And now our last day. Of course we had to cram a quick trip to Notting Hill and the Portobello Road Market in before we left. C'mon, it was a Saturday.

Yes, I do love that movie!!!

Two last shots out our hotel window and that's all folks!!! Off to the airport and back home we go.