Carl Webster Reunion-Hanna, UT

August 13-15, 2009 we had the opportunity to go with David's family to a great little retreat called Warm Springs Retreat in Hanna, Utah. David's dad reserved the whole campground for the three days, which included trailer spots, small cabins, pavilion, amphitheater, fire pits, river rafting, a pond with kayaks and paddle boats, and a main lodge. We had a great time with the extended family!
This is David's siblings: Carolyn (Gregg), Wendy (Stephen)& Leon (Janet)

Below are just a few of the 286 pictures that I took over the three days....

The grandkids and the great-grandkids really enjoyed the paddle boats and the kayaks....we had kids try kayaking that were only 5 years old and they were really good!

We had planned lots of fun crafts for the great grand children.....above they are making bug catchers and in the picture below they are making either a sun visor or a princess crown visor!
We had other crafts planned as well, but the kids had so much fun riding their scooters and bikes all over that we didn't get to all of the crafts and games!

The reason for this family celebration and reunion was it was David's Mom's 76th Birthday and we surprised her with birthday decorations, and a birthday cake and ice cream and presents! She said that she never remembered having a birthday party just for her before! Below, the great grandchildren were helping her blow out her candles.....actually I don't think she even got a chance to try and blow them out because the kids beat her to it!

There was a couple of small ponds about a 5 min. walk from the campground and it was supplied with 7 kayak's and 2 paddle boats! Everyone had fun racing the kayaks and paddling around on the pond! Of course, the boys had to see who they could tip over and get soaked! We all had a great time, rather we were sitting under the little canopy while it rained, or being out on the water!

The best part was just getting to know the family members! It was fun seeing the cousins have fun together, and watching the great grand children getting to know each other!

Even Grandma and Grandpa Webster took a turn in the paddle boats......that is pretty brave for a couple of 76 year olds!

Both evenings we had a fire in the amphitheater and sang camp songs and primary songs.....both nights it was raining, but we put up canopies over the sitting area and enjoyed the fire regardless of the weather......Friday night Colonel Cluff (David's sister's husband) did a Patriotic presentation of retiring a flag and talking about his recent visit to the beaches of Normandy France....and then he related it all to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was all very touching....listening to the music "I'm proud to Be an American" while the flag was retired was really special....even the smallest child was so quiet!

Saturday morning we had a great big country breakfast of eggs, bacon, ham, potatoes, and pancakes! Below is all of the cooks in the open air kitchen!

For Grandma's birthday we gave her a Christus Statue and a scrapbook that will eventually hold all of the pictures of the three day event....and in the back of the scrapbook we each wrote a special memory of grandma for her to read! (and cry over, I'm sure) Below some of the cousins are writing their memories of Grandma Webster!

In the pavilion area, there were many, many little chipmunks......the minute we were finished eating (& sometimes before) they would move in and clean up the ground of all the crumbs....the first day we left out some cantaloupe's and bags of chex mix and when we got back from the pond they had burrowed a hole in the cantaloupe's and through the bag of chex mix....after that we made sure to leave nothing out! The kids got really good at setting traps for the chipmunk's...Daniel set a kind of snare and the picture below the kids have a chipmunk caught in the box! Of course, they all wanted to take him home!

We had fun as a group playing, Twister, Kick Ball, Charades....(who will ever forget Leon's rendition of Peanuts!) We were laughing so hard we were all crying!

Friday afternoon we headed to the river that flowed past camp and had fun floating the river and building dams! Below the guys were trying to build up the dam to make the water deeper I guess (it's a guy thing!) Kyle (on the very left-lost his wedding band trying to lift a heavy rock!) Thank heavens his new bride, Chelsea, is very forgiving!

Everyone enjoyed watching the kids having fun!! and the men making fools of themselves!

The adults made kind of a trail to catch the kids as they floated down the river.....they had some pretty cut up legs and feet from the rocks....but the kids had a grand time.....some of there little chins were shaking so bad from the cold, but they would not quit going again and again!

Below, is a picture of the trailer spots....their was 5 spots for trailers with hook-ups, and about 8 different little cabins, plus the main lodge.

Wendy's husband Steve, made a video of Grandma and Grandpa's life and we watched it and Grandpa told us about the various pictures! Grandma and Grandpa were quite a good-looking couple in their day! It was fun to hear the stories of their life!

Below is Grandpa Webster with two of his great grand children going for a walk! Cute Picture!

Jon, explaining the rules of the next great game....he told them all to take a knee! We had some shirts made for the reunion.....and they all really do look like a team!

Alot of the time was just spent visiting and watching the kids play! We had the most amazing food and fun...but best of all was the company!

The campground does not allow 4 wheelers, but Grandpa Webster got special permission to bring a 4 wheeler so that he could get Grandma back and forth to the pond and the river! They were sure cute driving around together!

After three days of fun it really was hard to leave and say good-bye....some great memories were made and family friendships renewed!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Webster for giving us the opportunity to realize why family is so important and how much our families mean to each of us! We had a great time!

Monroe Mountain in July 09'

On July 11, we had a Taft family reunion at Fish Lake........David decided that we would take my mom and go down the day before and stay in Richfield, UT......we got to Richfield just after noon on Friday, July 10th and after lunch and checking into our hotel, we took the jeep and headed up on Monroe Mountain! We were planning a camping trip there for the 24th of July weekend and David wanted to see how the roads were for pulling up our fifth wheel trailer! We spent about 6 hours on the mountain......Mom made a great navigator and we saw alot of deer and elk!

As you can see, the scenery is absolutely beautiful!

The picture above was a elk nursery herd we ran into (literally, they crossed the road in front of us) there was about 30 cows and their babies!

July 24th Camping Trip

The following pictures are of our camping trip over the 24th of July!

We had a great camping spot, and great people to go camping with.....besides us and two of our daughters...Amy & Michelle and their families....we also had Ricky's parents, Ricky's sister Dixie and her husband Mckay, Matt & Monique Draper and their two boys, and a guide friend of Ricky's, Tyler and Brittany Watson and their two kids!

Jade and Jake (both 2) have really started to play so cute together....they both climbed up on the 4 wheeler and pretended to be driving and riding!

Bailee (8 yrs old) got her first taste of driving the 4 wheeler all alone! She looked so tiny and cute driving up and down the road! Only problems, is now she wants to drive it all the time!

Above is a picture of our great camp by the quakies and pine trees! We took the jeep out everyday and explored some of the trails in the area.....the first night after dinner, we went out for a ride and we counted 26 deer! Mostly does, but a few bucks!

Above the kids are playing a new game invented by Jon called Monster Tag! The kids all hide their eyes and count to twenty while he goes and hides, and then they go looking for him and he jumps out of wherever he is and scares them and chases them back to the start! This game involves lots of screaming and running, but the kids love it! I thought this picture was so cute with all of the kids with their noses pushed against the ranger counting to 20!

Just some random pictures of the grandkids.....Curtis and Hunter playing cars in the dirt...

while Paxton (below) is having trouble opening his eyes in the bright sunshine!

After Bailee got to drive the 4 wheeler alone....Jon got really brave and let Sage and Kenadee give it a try...below is Sage driving all alone! (My picture of Kenadee didn't turn out so well!)

More pictures of our camp!

Saturday, we took the jeep, four wheelers and the ranger on a ride up to the top of Monroe Mountain.....elevation 11226 feet! The view was absolutely beautiful! We ate our picnic lunch up there at the top...and then the rain started on the ride back down the mountain!

The kids took their lunch over on this group of rocks to eat.....this picture doesn't do the scenery justice...but look two pictures down and see the view that they were eating by! The dark clouds and the rain all around us was so cool looking! The thunder started on the drive back down....that sound rolling across the mountains is so cool!

11226 foot elevation is alittle tough to breathe for David...but he enjoyed the view!

Below, is the battle of who got to ride in the front seat of the ranger on the trip back to our camp....I think the girls ended up winning, but just minutes after starting back, the rain started and those girls where wishing that they had fought for the back seat....there is no windshield on the ranger and they were soaked when we got back to camp! The good thing about it all was that Michelle and the baby usually sit in the front of the ranger and they got booted out to the back seat of our jeep, where it was nice and dry!

When we got back to camp...it was still raining and while everyone got started packing everything up and getting ready to head for home, these two-two year olds found that the rain water was pouring off Grandma and Grandpa's canopy and they were having so much fun standing under the shower! They were drenched....I think Jake stood under there so long that he had a brain freeze from the cold water! They both had to be bathed before we could even start for home!

4th of July 2009

For the 4th of July weekend, we headed up to the Soapstone Basin to do alittle jeeping, and camping with some of our family and friends....Thursday night we had tickets to the rodeo in Oakley! It is a great little rodeo....it moves fast and the arena is small and you can see everything really well. It was raining when we first got to Soapstone, and we had to set up camp in the rain....but just before the rodeo it cleared off and it was a great night! Jason and Erin came up for the first night and tried sleeping in their little tent, but the rain started again just after going to bed and they ended up in their truck! I couldn't believe they didn't come climb into our trailer, but they said that the three of them slept great! Hard to believe that at 8 months pregnant you can sleep great in a truck, but Erin managed!

Jason and Erin cooked a great looking breakfast the next morning!

The kids found this little swing, back in the trees by our camp....they had so much fun with it! Bailee stood there forever pushing all the kids in the swing! Bailee is so good with the little kids!

This is Jake....looking great on the 4 wheeler!

Ricky took us up to this beautiful lake.....beautiful except for the mass of mosquitos ready to eat us alive! With all the rain, the mosquitos are alive and well in the Uinta's!

The ranger riders! The kids usually fight to see who gets to ride in the ranger, but this trip they wanted to ride on the 4 wheelers or in grandpa's jeep.....it is so fun to have the kids going back and forth between the vehicles.....and I learned this weekend that the boys are much, much louder than the girls...who'd have thought!

Michelle with baby Paxton....he loves the ranger rides too!

Sage and Kenadee got all bundled up and ready for a ride in the jeep, and then it cleared off and we were sheading our jackets fast.

The two pictures below are of Jake and Jade after spending the afternoon painting the "fort"...the fort was the area around the swing! The kids all painted and painted.....I can't believe that I didn't get a picture of the final paint job! But, did Jake and Jade paint themselves or the fort? It's hard to tell from these pictures below!

Jade won the most colorful hands award!

There was even time for "some" to get in alittle nap between playing Kick the Can and Kick Ball!
I guess he needed his rest before standing the kids in Kick Ball!

The kids are all lined up for Kick the Ball....Jon (after his nap) played against all the kids...it was so fun to watch!

Jon stood all the kids....I'm not sure who won! Probably the kids, although Jon was pretty good at throwing the ball and getting them out!

Little Jade fell asleep on the ride home, and she slept for quite awhile here on the 4 wheeler while the kids were screaming right behind her playing Kick Ball! Don't you wish we could all sleep as deep as a kid!

We drove home late Saturday night and had a bird's eye view of all the fireworks in the area....from the mountain road we saw, Clearfield's, Kaysville's and Centerville's fireworks....and then while coming down Antelope Drive, we had a perfect view of the finale of Clearfield's fireworks, they were really good....and all of this while towing the fifth wheel and jeep home. It was a good weekend!