Continuing our busiest summer on record, Jen and I packed the family up and headed down to Mora, New Mexico for her family’s annual reunion. It was a quick trip (July 6th – July 8th), and involved almost 14 hours of driving, but it was well worth it.
Pulling into the campsite, we immediately noticed how the area has been receiving lots of rain over the past couple of months, with everything very overgrown and lush. The pop-up had no problems getting back to the site, and it sure helped at nighttime to be able to put the kids to sleep on a bed, as opposed to a leaking air-mattress like we’ve done in the past.
It’s always nice to know that no matter how busy everyone gets, that we’ll get to see our family at least once a year. I would have to guess between 40 and 50 family members made the trip this year, and every one of them loved seeing how much Cameron and Ellie have grown, as well as meeting CJ for the first time. Jen and I were lucky enough to have some very nice talks with some of her Aunts, Uncles and cousins – and get filled in on what everyone else has been up to.
As always, the food was plentiful (and quite tasty!). And aside from one of the nastiest rain/hail storms I’ve ever experienced (while Cameron happened to be on a hike in the woods with 16 other family members), the weather was great.
And like every other year, the kiddos favorite part of the trip is when the pinata gets brought out. Spongebob was the unlucky fellow this year, and since there were 6 kids taking swings, it took less than two rounds to completely blow him to pieces! A special thanks to Uncle Walter and Aunt Demi for always taking care of this part of our trip – it is such a great memory for the kids 
It was so great seeing everyone…we can’t wait until next year!!
Take care,
Love,
MJCE&CJ
We are a family of five, living happily in Colorado. And since we find ourselves running out of hours in the day, we built this little site to keep friends and family up to speed on what's going on in our lives.
What a brief mentioning of the freak hailstorm…it really was quite an adventure! My family takes a family hike every year, and this year the estimated four hour hike got chopped down to two hours, with 45 minutes of it spent weathering the worst storm I have ever seen roll through there in my 28 years of attending the family reunion! The adults on the trip ended up making a shelter in the middle of a road by forming a circle and putting three raincoats over the top of them. The three young kids who were on the hike (Cameron being the youngest) were in the middle of the shelter, protected. They stood like this for 45 minutes!!! Needless to say, they were cold, wet, and tired when they returned. Matt and I spent about 30 minutes of the storm driving up and down the main dirt road hoping to spot them. At one point, we had to pull over under a tree because we couldn’t see through the hail that was coming down so hard. We were afraid our windshield was going to break! After we learned what had transpired on the hike, and that everyone was fine, we took a big sigh of relief. Cameron had his first adventure at the family reunion! I would love others who were actually there to comment on the hike, but seeing as very few of my family members visit this blog, I expect that there will be no other comments from them.
What a shame…this whole posting is dedicated to them! We had a great time, and can’t wait to see everyone again next year!
What a wonderful group of pictures. I know the kids will always have special memories. My goodness,Cameron, Eileen, and CJ are changing. Can’t wait to see you all. Thanks for the update.
Love, Mom
The only reason I didn’t expand on the storm, is because I knew you would do such a better job than me
It truly was a terrifying storm. You forgot to mention the multiple lightning strikes we ‘saw’ the same time we ‘heard’ them!! You also forgot to mention that Cameron absolutely LOVED the hike and thought it was the coolest thing around!!
)
Anyway, thanks for expanding a bit (I love ya!
What an extended family you all have!!! It sure looks like everyone had lots of fun and excitement!! It’s very evident on how much Cameron & Ellie enjoyed the whole thing!!
Love, Uncle Charles & Aunt Kathy