THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

8/10 - The reunion started to come to a close today with the departure of Matt, Suzanne & their family, and Camille, Sam & their family. The rest of us had one final night to really live it up in Driggs, but before Matt & Camille took their families from us - we put all the effort we had into getting photos with all 14 grandkids, with Grandma Lydia and Grandpa Warren. The above shot was one of the best that I got - where at least you can see all the kids (whether they were actually looking at the camera or not). Needless to say, these photos took some doing & some bribery by fruit leather. The photo below is of all 14 grandkids in order of birth...the challenging part was getting the kids to stay in their spots while we organized, but we did get the picture & that's what mattered.

LtoR: Rachel, Jonah, Cade, Luke, David, Regan, McKinley, Joshua, Reyna, Seth, Nathanial, Sage (she's hidden a little), Ethan & Lydia.

Following the group pictures - Camille and Matt loaded their families into their respective vehicles and were off. Matt's family towards Cincinnati and Camille's family towards California. It was so much fun to see the cousins playing together and making memories - that's what these reunions are all about.

Photos: Matt & Camille, Grandpa Warren with Regan

Scot borrowed a fishing boat from his buddy, Gary Bebee, so that the remaining boys (and Rachel) could go fishing on some local streams tonight. The younger kids had a fabulous time playing in it, and it looks like they caught a couple of real big suckers (just kidding Jared & Scot).

Photos: Jared & Scot with Rachel, Ethan, Sage, Luke & Seth in the boat, and Scot with Ethan

Mid-afternoon came and we all decided to venture up to Grand Targhee for a little outing and potentially a little hike. The unfortunate part of this story is that they had closed the Resort for a Bluegrass festival and weren't letting anyone in who didn't have a ticket - the farthest we got was a scenic lookout. It was beautiful - but not exactly what we were looking for. We let the kids out so that they could run around for a few minutes while we made plans for a new destination. Ethan grabbed onto Jonah's hand and they walked around for a while together. He was in heaven.

Ethan admiring the view of the Tetons

Following our outing, we wrapped up the afternoon with a bubble party on the front steps. Grandma Lydia brought all sorts of fun bubble blowers and the kids played with them all week long. As you can see from the photos - Ethan is still working on blowing from the proper distance when operating the blowers on his own. At least he had a good time, right? Thanks Mom & Dad for making this reunion so much fun! It was great spending time together as a family - it's been far too long since we've all been together. We're looking forward to seeing you all again, hopefully next summer.

Photos: Ethan's attempt to blow bubbles, Grandma Lydia, Luke, Aunt Sarah & Luke dancing (after Sarah's jog), Grandma Lydia with Ethan, Seth & McKinley