Bear Lake reunion

My dad is the youngest of his four siblings, so naturally my siblings and I are the youngest of the cousins.  Growing up we had lots of parties and get-togethers with the Johnsons, but as the years have gone on they have become less frequent.  Partially because all of our individual families have grown to include 28 great-grandchildren, and partially because half of the 22 grandchildren live outside of Utah.  Needless to say, it has been years since I have seen many of these cousins and I have never met a lot of their children.  Years ago we had reunions up at Bear Lake.  They have evolved from camping at Rendezvous beach, to spending a week at the Bear Lake Training Center, or time at Camp Hunt.  We met again at Bear Lake to spend time together at the beach and enjoy a favorite Johnson pastime-boating.  Thank you to everyone who made this reunion possible.  When we set up camp we looked like a circus.  Look at all of those tents! 

And here is a pictures of everyone saying hello.  It's been years!

We spent the first little while introducing all of the new arrivals and singing some songs together.  The Johnson family has beautiful singing voices and makes some great harmony together.   This is a kandid picture of a four generation shot with my Grandma Johnson (who was the inspiration for this reunion and the star of the Johnson family), my mom, Cambrie and me, as we were deciding what song to sing next. 

After the adults had their fun, Cambrie went straight to work meeting all of her cousins.  Luckily they all played really well together. 

The adults play well together too.  Here is a picture of my dad and my Aunt Maureen on the jet skis.  Still young at heart they insisted on having races across the choppy water. 

A day at the beach includes putting sunscreen on all of the babies.  (Bear Lake seems to be the sunburn capitol of the world).  McKenzie and Jocelyn took loved sucking on the sunscreen together.

Digging holes to sit in. 

Running through the water. 

Playing with the water toys. 

And going on boat rides.  I love it! 

One of our boat trips was a special one for the girl cousins. 

Each girl had a turn to drive the boat.  Of course, since none of them are older than five they couldn't see over the dashboard to tell where they were taking us.  We went in a lot of circles on that lake. 

The weather was unfortunately very unpredictable.  The days started out nice and sunny, but afternoon winds and lightning cut our days short.  The first day we tried to wait it out but all of the static electricity in the air had our hair standing on end and the car antennas buzzing.  It made us nervous and we packed up to head home.  Of course, after everyone had left, the storm cleared up and the lake was beautiful.  We were even able to fit in a few extra skiing runs.

Luckily there was still a lot of sun and we had a great time. 

McKenzie is getting more active every day, and  wanted to play in the sand too.  She loves splashing in the water in the bath tub so I thought the shore would be great.  She didn't even notice the water.  The highlight for her was eating the mud.  (Tamar, does this look familiar?) 

By the end of the two days everyone was tuckered out.  Cambrie squeezed in a nap in the bow of the boat while Hannah was water skiing.  She was wrapped up nice and cozy in a towel when unexpectedly the boat took a dip downward as a wave came rushing over the edge of the boat.  It completely swamped her and was a horrible wake up call. 

McKenzie took what naps she could even if it meant sleeping in her life jacket. 

It was so much fun seeing everyone again and spending time together.  I am lucky to be part of such an amazing family.