the three day all-nighter

AKA family reunion. My mom's side of the family all got together to have the annual family reunion. And I will be the first to admit that I was one of the few who was lucky enough to get an adequate amount of sleep. (perks of having a baby and getting one of the few secluded rooms. ha) But, for the most part, by the end, everyone in the family was a zombie. This cabin we stayed in was a big fan of "open-concept". That's great and all unless it entails 30 people sleeping in the same room- 26 of them being children. Oh, and the fact that there were 3 bathrooms for 40 people meant that every time you had to go it was like waiting in line for soaring' over california at Disneyland. Only in this case, the end result wasn't nearly as thrilling. Regardless of these few setbacks, we had a blast. 

A few of the highlights from this reunion: playing card games like there is no tomorrow, going on a run with my favorite running buddy, jane's first steps, swimming, the family devotionals, micah's awesome slideshows.

Oh, HI! Did I mention that my baby finally took her first steps? Big fat deal if you ask me!

Jane also was quite fond of her little cousin friend, Hayden, who was born on the exact same day as her. Let's not bring up the fact that he was running circles around Jane as she took her wobbly first steps right before chickening out and purposely plopping her bum right down to the floor.

Those babies though....they were kinda a hit.

"could jane get any cuter?!" - me, the biased momma

"no! well, actually ya. if she got rid of the mullet" - a biased but truthful great grandma

agreed. that mullet will be given a farewell party in the very near future.

on saturday, we rented out an awesome swimming pool. it was perfect for our family. jane was in her version of complete heaven. My little water baby. 

 ^^ the rock wall champ, corinne.

 ^^ this child. I mean....come on!

Later that day, after the pool, we broke up into groups and performed skits. Does anybody like skits? No. Do we always do them anyways? Yes. But they are a classic and it just wouldn't be a murdock family reunion without them!

 ^^ best part, i think everyone would agree.

Ok. now that the skits are over with- onto the family pictures!

Would ya just look at that beautiful pot of smiling skittles?

perfection.

 No words for how much i love these families.

 ^^ cardboard missionaries all around. classic.

 ^^ Don't mind me, i'll just be flying away with my hair wing-dings.

And the two wonderful, beautiful, amazing, inspirational people who started ALL of this blissful madness. :)

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE being the oldest cousin? I've been able to watch all my sweet cousins grow up before my very own eyes. What used to be reunions full of diaper changes and toddler tantrums has now turned into flocks of teenagers giving each other makeovers and giggling til the wee hours of the morning. There is a batch of 8 teenage girls who have not only grown up from the little babies I've always known them as, but also surpassed me in areas such as beauty,  intelligence, and hair-doing. ya know, the ones that matter. I mean would you look at these girls?

We all went to a random ward for church on sunday. You couldn't have pried those teenage boys' mouths shut if you tried. They didn't know what hit them! My sweet sister is the one of the far right. Here is another one of her: POST BRACES!

Her genes were a bit more favorable in the looks department, obviously. People kept getting us mixed up the whole reunion and I was like...here this should make it easy for ya: I'm the one with a baby and a bald spot. (ya, bald spot, remember?)

So, we just got back from what will hopefully be the end of THE big fat ridiculous road trip era. I love them and everything but umm...i'd like a large break please and thanks. 

I am so blessed to be apart of this wonderful, inspiring family and I know that having their support and love for the past 22 years has played a great part in making me the person that I am today. Also I wanted to mention that EVERYONE on this whole side of the family (and most of them on my dad's side) came to my wedding. Even though it was not even a little bit convenient for any of them. That means more than anything to me!