Reunion Week

Last week, Chad and I had back-to-back family reunions--mine, in the Ragged Mountains of Colorado, and his, at Zion's National Park in Utah. I had been looking forward to this trip for such a long time. I wish it wasn't already over! Here are some highlights:

1. Seeing baby Clara! Oh, I have been so antsy to see her since she was born 4 weeks ago, and I was so happy Elise and Sam were able to bring her to the reunion! She is such a doll.

And just look at how much she looooves her big aunt Cammie! (har, har)

2. Being in honest-to-goodness MOUNTAINS. I am a mountain snob, I admit it. But living away from the Mountain West has me utterly convinced that the western U.S. totally has the corner on mountains. Mmmmm.

3. Hiking. I particularly enjoyed "the Narrows" hike at Zion's, because we got to tromp through lots of knee-deep river, which was refreshing. Also, the canyon views all over Zion's are just incredible.

4. Most of all, being with family. I could go on and on about hikes, and mountains, and bla bla bla, but really the best thing about our trip was being with the fam. I am the oldest of my siblings (my youngest sister is 10), so I constantly feel like I'm missing out on them growing up. (missing one year of kidhood is like missing 10 adult years! they change so much!)

Chad is the youngest of his siblings, so a totally different feel for me. I adore his sisters and all of his (um, our?) cute nieces and nephews. I just wish I had more than a couple of days to get to know them better.

And now, just like that, we are home again. Back to the grind, but feeling a bit refreshed after a wonderful vacation.