My cute little niece Emily...
Mitchell, Vincent and Spencer being cool!
I will give a quick recap of the rest of the trip.... actually this is quite long! Sorry, but this is my journal for now...
Day 5 was nice and relaxing. (We were sad that Cindy and Spencer went home!) We went 4 wheeling for a few hours... Scott and Julie rented another 4 wheeler so more of us could go out. It was so fun! The kids played outside and worked on their fort! It was pretty amazing! They worked so hard and it kept them nice and busy!
Mom and Dad took some of the kids out exploring for aggots?? Not sure how to spell it, but they are really pretty rocks buried in the earth. The kids were in heaven, digging all around. They brought lots of them home! All the parents were so happy! haha. Jenn spotted a great place to take some pictures... so we headed out in Dave's truck to take some family photo's... we just wish everyone was there!
Julie and I
Scott and Vincent
Grandpa and Scott
My mom even went for a ride!
The kids were yelling at Dave to drive faster! Don't worry, we didn't drive very far or very fast.
The whole gang that was there that day
Silly Tanner and Dallin...
Julie, my mom and I went out for a drive and at one of the lookouts we saw a fox! So cool!
He finally went to bed around midnight and when he woke up he started at it again and he did it!! He said he dreamed about it!
Day 6...
We packed up and cleaned the cabin and headed up to Lehi. We went to Cindy's house for a family BBQ. Everyone was there! So fun. All 7 siblings and all of their kids. 20 of 22 grand kids! (I am sure my 2 brothers in heaven were hanging out with us too! We missed Kevin and Curtis who are both on missions right now. And we missed my brother in law Gary who is pretty sick.) We had a big surprise for my parents... my dad's 2 sisters came from Bellevue, WA for the big party. My parents were so surprised! My dad cried! so cute. We had a great time catching up with everyone and the kids all got along so well. Then we drove up to Todd's house in Midway to sleep. David and Scott and their families stayed there too. Slumber Party!!
Surprise!!!
Aunt Janet and Aunt Doreen
Day 7... lots of driving!
We woke up and drove to the Ochre temple open house. It was so beautiful! But very crowded! I was disappointed on the reverence in the temple... or I should say, lack there of! It was hard to feel the spirit of the temple because it was so crowded and noisy! But, it was still nice. I decided I need to go back after it is open to see it better. We had a big group and we kept loosing our wheelchair people everytime they had to take the elevator... that was frustrating. Oh well... We left that temple and went on to Temple Square. My parents were taken back in time to their mission on the square. It was cute to see them get so excited about things there.
Not sure where Mitchell was for this picture??
After we got kids situated all the adults went to dinner in Salt Lake at Tucano's... it was yummy! It was nice to visit with everyone!
Day 8...
The big 50th anniversary party. I tried not to get too stressed out... Luckily there was lots of help to get everything all set up. Here is the invitation I made...
My cute family!
The whole family except Kevin, Curtis and Gary... we missed them!
My Family!
I love this picture of Mitchell hanging out, waiting for things to get started...
he loves to play his guitar!
Lots of family and friends came!
My dad saying a few words... (look at my mom looking so cute at him!)
The grandkids sang a song... then the kids all sang a fun song that Mark wrote... then the boys sang a song that John wrote... This was a big thing since we aren't really a big singing family... my cousins got that talent... after that we let people share memories about my parents. It was really great to hear from some of their friends from their mission and lots of old family friends. I was surprised how many people that I grew up in Bellevue with, now live in Utah. It was so fun to see so many of them. Lots of cousins came too! It was so great! I framed about 30 old pictures of my parents and had them on all of the tables. They were so cute.
(Yes those are goldfish in the vases... since it was the Golden Wedding! Tanner's idea!)
Day 9... final day... A Westra family trip would not be complete if the guys didn't go golfing... I am so glad they took a camera along!
My cute dad! Golf is his passion! All my brothers wish they were as good as him!
Todd, David and Mark
Scott decked out in his finest golf attire!
After golfing we all went to my sister in laws parents pool. We had a great time! The guys played a big game of basketball and no one got seriously hurt! (can you see how intense John is? I wouldn't play with him... my brothers friend Rebekah was the only brave girl to join in the game.)
After swimming we went up to Todd's work and had a family talent show! It was so fun.
The girls reenacted a dance they did 10 years ago!
Dallin and Brendon did a cute lip sync... we sang a song that John wrote... i will have to see how the video of it turned out and possibly post it...
Marks family did a fun glow stick dance!
Silly photo's! We had a great time being together and I hope we don't wait so long to do it again!! I love my family and I am so proud of my parents celebrating 50 years!! 
8 comments:
It looks like you had a GREAT time!! I am so glad that you were able to all be together as a family. It will be something that you will never forget.....especially your parents. I loved the "holy cow" t-shirts.
Wow...it looks like you guys had a great time. It is pretty amazing that so many of you were able to get together to celebrate your parents 50th. That is so wonderful. What a special memory.
What a great entry! I love all your pics. If I ever organize a family reunion, I will use you as my consultant! :)
i'd say the highlight of everyone's week was the backstreet boys dance being reborn. we'll do it again in another 10 years!
p.s. i cant get over how hot we are in that family picture.. HOLY COW!
so, who planned all of that?? nine days, with that many people.... i'm stressed just thinking about it!!
I'm so impressed with the great 50th party for your parents. I'm sure they just got their pay-back for raising you all!! Just wanted to tell you about the Root Beer---there is a store in Temecula that has over 200 brands of root beer. Brad stops by there every year and gets 25 or 30 different ones and they have this tasting party. It's tradition now, & everyone looks forward to it. So, if you love Root Beer, talk to Brad!
What a fun-filled week you had! Great photos! Jake really had a great time with Mitchell at EFY!
We lost Jared in his wheel chair at the temple too. I spent most of the tour looking for him and his cousin. I was never really scared just concerned. Luckily when we went it wasn't so crowded and I think if I wasn't so worried about where the heck Jared was I could have felt the spirit. Plus I think that before a temple is dedicated it is not the same.
Glad you had so much fun. One of these days my life is going to calm down and we have to do lunch.
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