Friday morning, Chris and I went up to the Provo temple with John, Angie, Jamis, and Steven for a session. Cristie was attending a family wedding, Atticus is too young for Marcie to leave him that long, and David was up in Alpine trying to wrangle all those kids by himself. Poor guy.
Anyway, the kids were super excited when they heard that we were going to the wedding cake temple. That is what they all thought it looked like, and how they referred to it the whole trip. We passed it often, since our rental house was up that direction, and they got excited every time. They also loved seeing all the missionaries getting some exercise on the big field between it and the MTC. They had never seen so many missionaries at one time before.
When we got home from the temple, we changed clothes and headed over to the park. We were supposed to all have a late picnic lunch together and then play for a while. But it didn’t quite work out that way. Eventually, some other cousins did show up, which made it much more fun for the kids. And eventually there were a few sandwiches eaten, but it was all a bit discumbobulated and HOT. I hate the heat, did I mention that already? 🙂
Anyway, we did try ice blocking for the first time ever. Those suckers can get up some real speed, especially on the steep hills we were on. I only tried it once. That was enough for me. But the kids seemed to enjoy it, as long as they could control the speed! There was also lots of water to play in, which is also a bonus, and kept them cool while we adults sat around and chatted.
That evening we headed over to Steven and Cristie’s house for a Talent Show. 
And just general togetherness. It was very kind of Steven and Cristie to let us invade their home like that. And they had the perfect setup for the talent show, with lots of room for a stage and audience seating. 
Participation was completely voluntary, so Oma asked each person if they were performing, and then wrote up a schedule. So there was time for people to get their instruments ready and in tune.
But mostly I am posting this picture, because I just love the layout of Cristie’s kitchen. 🙂
The show opened with a play, written, directed and starring Ben Charles. In fact, this play won a writing contest at his school in Baltimore, and the prize was having it performed on a real stage by profession actors. Pretty cool! I can see why the play won, it was cute, smart and hysterical!
Ben, the scientist/paleontologist built a time machine to go back and prove that the dinosaur he discovered bones for truly did exist. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a friendly kind of dinosuar. And it had friends!
Don’t be fooled by their cute and cuddly appearance, these dinosaurs were vicious, man-eating beasts!
In fact, they were so terrible, they ended up attacking and killing Ben the scientist.
No one will ever know of his fantastic discovery. 🙁 The end.
Amelia started piano lessons after arriving in Colorado and played “Für Elise” beautifully.
Noah showed off a picture he drew.
Sarah played her violin, that we brought as carry on luggage all the way from Switzerland. Yes, we are mean and make our kids practice their instruments even during vacation!
Then Charlotte played guitar on the Ipad.
She normally dances at the same time, but she wasn’t feeling it this night.
Sam played a special number for Oma on his violin, “Edelweiss”.
Alexandra was very excited to show off her talent, that she had learned with Opa. When he first came to the house, he tossed her a ball and it just bounced off her chest. He told her she was supposed to catch it, and she responded with, “But I’m only three. I can’t do that.” So he taught her how to do something no other three year old can do. 🙂
She was so proud of herself, and loved all the one on one time with Opa while they practiced.
Simon, Isaac and Amelia sang and danced to “Singing in the Rain”. It was really cute. And then they made a human pyramid as their grand finale.
See the iphone in David’s hand down in the right corner? Liz was on Skype the whole time, watching the entire talent show from North Carolina. Technology rocks!
Sophie’s recorder was slightly easier to transport across the ocean, and I am so glad we brought it. She entertained herself for hours playing all the songs in her book over and over. So she was well prepared for this.
Noah decided to do a head stand while waiting for the final act to get ready.
Jamis closed the show by playing and singing “Blackbird”. It.was.awesome!
After we had all said our goodbyes and gone home, it was time for bed. Well, for some of us. I put the kids to bed, said goodnight to Chris, and then drove back over to Steven and Cristie’s, where I stayed up chatting with Adam, Jamis, Marcie and Steven and Cristie until, I think 4 am? It was about 4:30 by the time I got into bed. My favorite part of the whole reunion. 🙂