The Gifford Family Reunion

These past few weeks we have been in Utah for the Gifford Family Reunion. So much stuff happened I really don't know where to begin. The 1st week was devoted to getting the girls to bond with their grandparents. It took a little doing especially with Iyla but in the end they loved it.
Iyla and Grandpa





Iyla and Grammie



Jacob and I were able to take a day and go to the Salt Lake Temple. It was by far the most beautiful building I have ever been in. If you ever have the chance to go I strongly suggest you do so. We made it a day by taking the "Front Runner" the commuter train that runs from northern Salt Lake valley into Salt Lake City. We had lunch at the Lion House. It is a restaurant that resides in the family home of the 2nd president of the church, Brigham Young. They serve simple , yummy food. The kind your grandma would make. It was really good. The room we ate in had these gorgeous quilts in frames. It would have been a really relaxing lunch except for the HUGE group of young women in the tables next to us. the had just gotten done with a baptism session at the temple.

We also were able to witness Jacob's sister Angel and her family get sealed in the Draper Temple. That was a thrill.

I have to apologise because my mouse it slowly breaking and making it impossible to add anymore pictures. But trust me, they were a sweet family!

The second week we went camping for the reunion. We camped 2 miles up and for this coast dweller, it was very hard for me to get just about anything done. Just tying my shoes got me out of breath. I ended up getting attitude sickness. Not too fun but I still had a good time.

The girls really liked camping. Bella loved being outside ALL the time. She got plenty of sunshine. We all did. With all of my sun blocking we all got sunburned... even the baby. But not to worry, we are all healing up nicely.

I promise I will post more picture when I get a new mouse. Jacob too over 400 pictures of the trip.

On this trip we learned a lot about our family. Here are some of the highlights

• Isabella gets carsick (but cleaning up after that in the middle of nowhere in Idaho with cars flying by at 80 mph is a hair raising experience!)
• I can take a 45 min shower when in a hotel room!
• Jacob is more like his father the he wants to be
• Iyla is quite the escape artist. She can crawl under the edge of the screen house, and make a break for it getting about 25 feet before we realised she was gone!!!
• I am horrible at Skip-Bo
• Isabella likes to dip her apple slices in ranch dressing. She is more like her father every day!
• Iyla should be hired out to help people baby proof their homes. She can show you EVERYTHING that needs moving in 5 mins or less.
• I do not have a career in mountain climbing!
• Hot tang is not as popular as I thought it would be.
• Iyla really does like her bottles warm!!
• Isabella won't eat anything with a smoke taste to it. Thank goodness for propane stoves or else she would have starved!
• Jacob need to work on his mind reading skills. He was never around when I needed him!!

All in all we had a blast. I hope to get some picture up soon.