Grand Finale

 

For the past few weeks, we have had my sister Anita and her family visiting from Los Angeles. One of the first days Anita was here, we made a list of fun things to do in our area. Day by day, we checked off the items.

With up to 11 children at any given moment, we played at parks, ate ice cream, visited farms, saw movies, built in the sand at beaches and lakes,

 

shopped at the mall, had picnics and barbecues, swam at the swimming pool, went for bike rides and walks, made up songs and games, told stories, started a Harry Potter movie marathon, splashed at the water park, climbed mountains,

 

found waterfalls, and even walked through tunnels.

 

It might be exaggerating to say that we left no stone unturned and no cave unexplored, but not by much!

 

By the time we got to Anita's last day, we were having trouble thinking of something to do.

We finally decided on a visit to Stanley Park . . . something we hadn't done yet!

 

We saw the ocean and the flower gardens,

 

rode the train,

 

and had our picnic.

Afterwards, though, something still seemed to be lacking.

Then we went to my mom and dad's house for dinner, and I realized what it was. We still hadn't ALL been together yet!

When my sister Sheri and her family joined us, we were all there with our mom and dad. We got my dad to take a picture with all the families.

It is not every day we can get a picture like this

 

or this,



or even this!

 

(I think we got a little carried away . . .)

And after the big group shots, the older girls and I couldn't resist going out into the back yard for . . . more modeling pictures :)

 

At the end of the evening there were lots of hugs and tears. We will miss all the togetherness! It is wonderful to have so many fun summer memories, though, and--of course--all the pictures :)