Hells Canyon

 

On our way home from the reunion Kyle decided we should check out Hells canyon. I think he liked it just for the name. Doug Holladay said it was awesome. It was beautiful and the girls liked it. Not quite what we expected and according to the map the road went through. It had since washed out so we ended up doing some back tracking. We were so late that we decided we were to tired to drive any farther and camped at some campground on just before immigrant springs. We put up the tent and had kids in bed in 20 minutes. In the dark using the headlight for light. Good times!

This is just a few of the shots from the reunion. That is our tent we stayed outside which was nice. Kyle decided to camp away from the other tenters. He wanted to be under the trees. The adults were teasing Kyle and said, that is where the snakes are. Well, Lydia heard this and Kyle picks up a seed pod and says see the snake. Well, Lydia wakes up in the middle of the night standing up and screaming at the top of her lungs pointing to Belle's head. Saying something about a slug or snake. Thank goodness we were away from the other tents. Serves them right for scaring a 4 yr old.

We had a wonderful time as always at the reunion. See you all next year here in Washington.

Fireworks Fun

 

On the 4th the weather was bad in Nampa. So they decided to wait and do the fireworks during the reunion. It was a wonderful show. They did a great job! Kyle was able to get some great Pictures.

Visiting the Killions

 

Our friends just moved to the Boise area a few months ago. He just finished Chiropractic school and bought a practice in Eagle. So we decided to surprise him and walked in to his practice. He knew we were coming soon and was pleasently surprised. We then went to his house with him and the girls all played. They have 5 girls too. Becca and I worked together at Dr. Brians a long time ago. We had babies together. Steve and Mike (Kyle's brother) were unseperable in High School. So Kyle and Steve have so many stories of when they were younger, Steve was at their house all the time. We love them. The girls get along so well.

Our releif Society President is Becca's Mom. A funny story (I'm in Primary) so when we got there Sis. Lonyd was there and had been there a month. I didn't even know she had been gone.

Becca and Steve came over on Saturday to the reunion and played all day on the inflatables too. They were so excited to see Grandma Hoisington. Steve and Becca thanks for visiting with us!

Inflatable Fun!

 

Doug and Judy hosted the Reunion this year and they have all these inflatable toys. So Saturday the kids spent the day playing on water slides and enjoying each others company. I applied sun screen a few times but they still all burned a little. Lydia stayed on them the entire day! The other kids came and went just playing in the yard. It was so nice to catch up. Thanks Doug and Judy!

Reunion Trip Camping

 

We decided to stay at Immigrant Springs state park on our way to Nampa this year. We also decided to stay in a cabin and not our tent. It was a duplex of sorts us on one side and Janene and her family on the other. It was fun! Rex made ribs for dinner and the kids just played and played and played. Those boys are so active. Janene you do have your hands full. Poor Edmund fell right on his face I felt so bad. Lily did well with sleeping with us and all. It was a lot of fun! We'll have to do it again sometime.

A stop on the drive

 

This year we had the family reunion in Idaho. On our way there we stopped at this park for lunch. It was in the 90's and pretty hot. We bought lunch and took it to the park to let the kids play. The kids thought it was so cool that there was a merry go round. They had fun the only problem it was pretty hot because of the sun. Lilly fell and got a slight burn on her knees. It was so sad. As you can Gabby is reading her book and the other kids just having fun. Janene and her family caravaned with us so there is a couple pictures of her kids in this collage as well.

Smith Family Reunion

Well a few weeks ago we had the Smith family reunion here in WA. Every year it is either here or in Idaho. People started to arrive on Thursday mainly the Holladay Clan. They stayed at our house and put up tents in the field. Some of Kyle's siblings also stayed in tents here too. Along with Kyle and the girls they love camping and loved camping with all the cousins in our yard.

On Friday, we spent the day at Tj and Danielle's home. Where they put 2 of those inflatable water slides up for the kids and the adults all hung out and visited while watching all the kids. They also did a pinata.

Saturday was the big day and was at our house. We ended up counting approximately 80 people here. The kids swam, played on the big toy and tire swing. Played with each other and just hung out. There was a lesson on raising the bar which was our theme this year. All the kids learned about the stick pull game, Went fishing for Candy and just had fun. Gerene and Brenda did all the food with help from the family. Saturday night was the big feast. Barry had some friends that do BBQ come and BBQ for the family it was delicious. We did our annual salad pot luck everyone brought a salad for everyone to try. They were all good also.

Saturday Night was the best for all the Dad's and a few Moms (ages ranging 18 to 34) They had a spit ball fight that went on for hours. All around my yard. One of the kids went out on the porch and we could hear them say were playing go away. It all started when people were going and getting Slurpee's at 7 eleven because it was hot. They sell these metal Slurpee straws so all the cousins bought them. That is what they used for their spit ball fight. I didn't join them it's not my thing. It was fun to watch my husband playing with his sister and brother and cousins. After the kids were all in bed. We all went down to the fire and just hung out and visited and enjoyed the campfire. It was the best!! We can't wait until next year. See you all in Idaho.

Ahoy, Smith Maties

Saturday the last day of our reunion was the Pirate Day. They must of spent hours upon hours putting it together. It was by far the best treasure hunt I have been on yet. It all started with our dear Cousin Doug starting out our hunt with a story of Captain one Eye Smith the following is his story




The Legend of Captain “One Eye” Smith’s Treasure

Long ago, around the 17th century, King Phillip II of Spain was in the waging war against France. King Phillip had lost one of his strong holds, and now the advancing French army was threatening his treasury at San Sebastian on the shore of the Bay of Biscay. King Phillip ordered that his treasure be loaded on a ship and moved to his Southern command of Lisboan. As the ship set sail it was spotted and trailed by a man who did not care for the war but only the prospect of lining his pockets with Loot.. It was the Famous Captain “One Eye” Smith. Captain Smith knew the ship must have a valuable cargo since it was leaving the treasury, and by the depth it sat in the water. Captain Smith ordered his crew to follow the ship from a safe distance. Later in the dark of night and in the blinding thick fog Captain Smiths’ crew attacked and boarded the King Phillip’s vessel. It was a fierce battle but captain smiths’ crew came away with the king’s treasure. They set sail for their hideout while the king was informed that his treasure had been stolen. The king was so furious that he sent an armada after the pirates. The pirates narrowly escaped their hideout and were being chased by the king’s ships. They sailed for months but the king’s ships were always visible on the horizon. Then one night there was a violent storm. When the sun came up in the morning land was visible on the horizon and the king’s ships were nowhere to be found. Captain Smith knew it would not be long before the king’s ships were hot on his tail so he found an inlet and sailed his ship up a river, which is now the Snake River. They sailed up river for two days until they came to modern day Melba, Idaho. They then went inland about ten miles and buried their treasure on the top of a hill. The captain mapped out the exact location. The crew then made its way back to the ship, and set sail for the ocean. As they were about to exit the mouth of the Snake River, there was a huge explosion and debris from the ship flew into the air. The king’s army had found them and they were sitting ducks. The ship was being blown to pieces. Captain smith flipped his ship around and sailed back up the river. But the King’s navy was gaining ground on the wounded ship. As they were about back to the Melba area, the king’s ships had closed the gap and were now fire ring the cannons at will. It was too much for captain Smith’s ship to handle. The only hope of escape was for the pirates to abandon the ship. They all jumped and swam for shore; even the captain with his treasure map in hand. The king’s navies had launched their dinghies and were in hot pursuit.. As the pirates made it to the beach, musket balls filled the air. As the pirates were about to make it to the safety of the trees the captain was hit numerous times. He fell to the ground and was finished. Two pirates saw the captain fall and grabbed the map from the captain’s bloody hand, and ran for the trees to hide. They were now the only two survivors. Because they did not trust each other they decided to rip the treasure map in two pieces and bury them in separate spots. They also left clues to find the map pieces.
After they buried there map and clues they decided to try and escape. When nightfall came they swam out to one of the king’s anchored ships and took control and sailed away into the night. The pirates never came back, as they were too busy visiting every pub they could, spreading the legend of Captain “One Eyed” Smith.


Tug of War for who was to walk the Plank!


Walking the plank!


The pole vault to get to the next clue!



Then there was a walk in the muck to look for the ducks.



Then to another Clue!



We finally found the map and put it together. Then we had to follow the coordinates with a compass to find the treasure.




Digging for Treasure.


I think we found something!





We made it to the treasure and now we had to dig it up. The kids started digging but it was to tiring for them so the adults helped. It was so big that it probably took at least 20 minutes.(They used a bulldozer to bury the treasure) They finally get it out and it is filled with treasures indeed. (necklaces, rings, pirate swords and eye patches and much more) We all thought it was great! It was a lot of fun! Thanks Dustin and Judy and everyone else for all your hard work.

All of our little Pirates and More from the reunion

Waterslide fun on the Fourth of July

 

 

We woke up on the fourth and we all put on 4Th of July T-shirts. Thanks to Walmart and their $2.50 shirts. We ate breakfast and went on our way to getting ready for the water park. Bathing suits, sunscreen water socks and some good clean fun.

We ate lunch at the park in the motor home. Then we all were able to get the group rate and we were in. My girls do not do water very well. So we were worried we wouldn't get our monies worth. It worked out great the kiddie area had it's own slides and squirting things. Lydia and Gabby loved the lazy river. Belle and Miley hated the river. Gabby and Miley liked the big water slides. Gabby decided to go on the slides with her cousins. She had a blast.

It was so much fun I think we will do Wild Waves next Summer.

The Fireworks at the Reunion

Reunion Tent City

We made it to Nampa on Thursday and it was hot close to 100 degrees. We set up our tent in the yard of the Holadays. Along with 5 other families. To counter the heat Kyle bought a fan and an extension cord. Which worked well. It was so fun to camp with all of the family.

 

Once we were settled and ate we found out that Cousin Doug was doing a Firework Show that night. So we all lined up our chairs to watch along with a whole bunch of people from their ward. They counted at least 30 children and that didn't count the adults. After the firework show. All of the kids were able to do some Sparklers. It was a lot of fun. Lydia slept most of the show on Grandma's lap.

Camping Fun!

We went on a trip to Idaho for the Smith Family Reunion (Kyle's family)(Yes he is related to Joseph Smith) So on our way to Nampa we camped in Pendelton,OR. At Emmigrant Springs State Park. We camped with Kyle's brother and his kids and Kyle's Mom. (His brother's wife had to work) It was alot of fun!!