So Happy Together!

My whole family, except for my brother-in-law, Spencer, who will be here at the end of the month, is in town. We all got together this weekend at my aunt's cabin near Oakley. This is the first time all of the grand kids have been together - 8 kids, 7 of whom are 5 years old or younger.

They had so much fun playing together. The cabin has a loft set up just for kids. There's a Wii, which my 5 year old nephew beat the pants off my sister in bowling, lots of beds, and no cool air. Isaac was so excited when he saw a bed that was just his size.

My mom, right before bedtime, attempted to gather all of them together for a picture. Look how well it worked! This is the only one that actually has all of the 8 grand kids in it.

We all stayed up entirely too late. I think the kids finally gave in somewhere between 12 and 1 and some of us stayed up until 2. My brother found this ridiculous pair of glasses and had us all laughing hard. I'm sure the late hour contributed to the hysterical laughter.

The first of the kids woke up at 4:30. The morning was beautiful and Isaac and I sat on the deck and watched the humming birds and a family of deer. He was so excited and kept pointing at everything until he finally went to sleep on my lap.

Gradually, all the kids were awake. James, who put Audrey's shoes on before bed, woke up with them still on his feet. We enjoyed breakfast together, had some fun rides on the Ranger, and played some interesting games, which the guys won.

While we got almost no sleep, we had such a good time being together. We had sweet moments during prayers, as the feeling of gratitude we all felt was expressed by whomever was praying, adult or child. We sang together, which I love. Our little family choir keeps growing and getting better as the years go by and there was such a sweet feeling present as we all sang "If the Savior Stood Beside Me", requested by Audrey.

As a family, most of the time we are physically separated by distance. However, we always remain together!