Just remember the Red River Valley...

(photo from the top of mountain)

" Come and sit by my side, if you love me
Do not hasten to bid me adieu

Just remember the Red River Valley
And the cowboy who loved you so true"

For ALL of you veteran readers out there of this blog, you may remember our family reunion trip to Red River two years ago. This past January, we were approached with the option again. We weren't sure how it would work out with the adoption timeline, but...

COOLER weather+fun time with family = sign us up!

We started the trip Wednesday with my mom, Aunt Ginger, Ray, sister Kizzy, her three boys, myself, and two kids. The hubbies had to stay home to work. (I guess people assume Roger used up his vacation time with our 5 weeks in Uganda.) We were toting 5 children, ages 5 and under. Okay...maybe not the best formula for relaxation!

While there we enjoyed time visiting with more family from my mother's side and had lots of adventure.

Day 1 took us up the ski lift to the top of the mountain.
The adult sponsors of the week.

Sisters.

And so (h)umble!

(inside joke!)

All kidding aside, I'm very thankful for both of them!

Making sure the children stay hydrated!
(And keeping them somewhat still for some photos.)

Me and the kids! (makes me chuckle to say kids--plural)

Kizzy and her trio!

This is what I call real life photography folks!

The three "big" boys
(I know F's knees are looking a little "ashy". Give me some time, I'm learning as I go.)

Bear hug, anyone?

Aunt Ginger provided some reading and relaxation techniques for the children before naptime!



Day 2's adventure involved a ride on the surrey! Who am I kidding, this is no ride, it's HARD work, especially with the hills of the Red River Valley! (And some people seem to be better at pedaling than others--another inside joke)

We packed in alot of playground time! The cousins had a great time playing together.
Look at this face, isn't it adorable!

And this one too!

Can you believe Felix is going to preK next year? I have a school aged child! Am I ready for this?
These horses survived many miles of riding! The boys loved saving Cinderella MK from the bad guys on them!

Go Kart riding was a hit!

Day 3, we went tubing down the mountain.
So much fun for the kids, so much excercise for the adults! Hmm...this seems to be a recurring theme!

Of course, we could not miss the "shoot 'em up" Saturday afternoon. Once again, I was amazed that they continue to draw such a crowd for this show.

I will have to wait until I get pictures from Kizzy for group shots of the kids and their guns, ice cream eating, and other fun times had at Red River 2011!

Also, I must throw in that the adults were able to play some games during nap times. I'm not going to go into details, but we'll just say I won far more times than I lost!

A Fabulous Fourth!

Family of Four!

As you can imagine, with almost three years of having Mary Katherine, we've built up quite a few photographs adorning our walls. So now we are in need of "dethroning" MK a little and adding in little Felix.

Here's our first attempt at new family pictures..

They like each other (sometimes)!