Garrett Family Reunion at Duck Creek Village

Last weekend after work on Friday, Nate and I were able to drive down to Cedar City area (specifically Duck Creek) and enjoy a family reunion with my Garrett extended family. Starting with my dad's parents, their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren made for quite a party. There were about 60 people there, all sleeping in 1 building (except Nate and I, and one cousin/spouse camped outside). 

The family reunion was perfectly planned with just enough group activities and just enough free time that we didn't get too overwhelmed either way.  

Saturday morning was started out with decorating t-shirts. Because Nate and I forgot to bring some shirts for us to decorate we got to help some of the younger cousins instead. I helped Ann make a butterfly and Nate helped Luke make a baseball jersey (with Garrett and #10 on the back)

I just adore this picture of Lecia and Grandpa.

After we were finished decorating shirts, we all went on a short hike to Cascade Falls. Aspen even got to enjoy the hike with us. Along the hike there were lots of beautiful views to be had. We even stopped to get a group photo (which was not taken on my camera, but can hopefully be added later).

As you can tell, there were a LOT of us.

After the hike, we stopped by Navajo Lake for some lunch and some fishing. Aspen of course went straight for the water, no matter how muddy it meant he would get.

Most of the cousins really loved playing with Aspen, only a few were scared.

The lake was surrounded by purple flowers and beautiful trees.

 Saturday evening was spent playing games with each other, watching a crazy local 4th of July parade, and acting out different versions of the 3 little pigs. Our group got the version of "cowboys" and decided to have a stand off between 2 wolves, and added a few "horses" and southern accents to make it more fun. The night was filled with lots of laughter, and after the skits we sang some silly songs as well.

Saturday was my lovely mother's birthday so we all celebrated her (and my grandpa who turns 80 at the end of this month). We had some delicious cake and ice cream and sang to them.

Sunday morning we drove to the town of Hatch for sacrament meeting. Nate was a little disappointed that testimony meeting was as normal as it was. The rest of the day was free, so after a delicious lunch of baked potatoes, a few of us (ie Mom, Dad, Nate, me and Grandma G decided to head to Strawberry Point). Darin told us that Strawberry Point had beautiful views, and it definitely did not disappoint. We were awestruck by the beauty of the red rocks, rock formations, and the green trees surrounding.

 After visiting the point, we dropped Grandma back off at the lodge and headed to Mammoth Cave (actually lava tubes) with Darin's headlamps and headed in for an adventure. The caves apparently have about 5 or 6 different ways to go through, but according to a fellow traveler one of them was the best, so we picked that one. We headed through with our lights, although very dim. The ground was rocky, and after walking a ways we were greeted by mud. Our fellow traveler was kind enough to help us find the way out, as we had to crawl along a bunch of rocks. We all got VERY dirty on our hands and knees, and I almost lost a shoe, as it came off in the mud. We made our way out, happily to be greeted again by the sunshine.

The entrance to the passage way was blocked off by bars, with one little opening to crawl through. The opening gets closed in the winter to protect hibernating bats.

showing off their dirty hands.

My almost lost shoe.

After exiting the cave, we decided to walk a little ways, to dry the mud on our shoes, and to look around at the scenery. Along the way my dad found a horned frog, and although very pretty he was very slow, so Nate caught him.

Nate found some lamb's ear, and we all decided to be sheep.

Monday morning was the 4th of July, so none of us had work (hooray!). After packing up our stuff, we (my parents, Nate and I) decided we'd spend some more of the day together. We headed to the beautiful Cedar Breaks (like a small Bryce Canyon) and enjoyed each other's company as we hiked around enjoying the scenery. We found a few trails to walk on, but because of the late snow this year they were partially covered in snow, and trees had not been removed from the path. Nonetheless we enjoyed ourselves greatly.

Nate is trying to be like Aspen.

Aspen loved running in the snow.

 After we finished at Cedar Breaks we headed towards Panguitch Lake. Our stomachs were starting to growl, so we stopped off at a small place for some delicious burgers and shakes. Then headed to the lake. Nate and I finally decided to blow up our little raft (I got it for Nate for Christmas) and we loved it so much, we wished we'd brought it out sooner. My parents were happy to enjoy from the sidelines, and were kind enough to watch Aspen as we paddled about. Aspen could NOT stand being away from us, and seeing us enjoy the water without him, so eventually they let him come  swim a little with us. He wanted so desperately to be near us, but he got so tired swimming along, so he'd go back to the shore to rest every few minutes (smart pup)

 We wanted to fish from the raft, but it was too windy and started to rain, so we began to pack up our things. The rain soon stopped, so we fished a little from the shore. After hearing that the fish were biting on worms, we searched the dirt for worms. Nate found one, and soon after had a fish on his line. We didn't plan on keeping the fish, but it got too shocked in the catching of it that we had to keep it, or it would die anyway. Aspen was kind enough to fetch it for us as it floated a little away. Eventually I also caught a fish on some orange power bait.

My parents enjoyed Sudoku puzzles while we fished. Here, Aspen was wet, and they weren't too happy that he wanted to cuddle with them.

Because we kept Nate's fish, we had to keep mine too. Both really good sized.

Although I probably forgot a lot of fun things we did this weekend, we had an absolutely wonderful time, and we were so happy we got to spend it with so much family. We were especially happy to spend so much of the time with my parents and really enjoyed the crazy adventures that we had with them.

We hope we can enjoy many local activities with the family that lives close to us, and travel to see those we love that live farther away (my parents and Anthony, Jana and Zoe). Until the next family reunion (in 3 years). We love you all.