Swimming & BBQ Howell Style......

Now that Doug is here at our home almost all of Steve's family decided to come to Utah for a visit. Everyone except Valerie (in Washington) and Randy (in New Jersey) were able to come. He has a huge family! Four brothers and three sisters!

Here is mom with two of her wonderful sons.

Mike on the left and Doug on the right.

This reunion gave cousins a chance to meet for the first time

Nathan getting to know Nova.....

Aunt Veronica with Nova.

Nova is the youngest member of the Howell family and many of us had never met her before. It was fun to see her being passed around to all of the relatives.

Maddison enjoying the swings.....

Madison is growing up way too fast. I remember when she was tiny like Nova and now she is walking around like the BIG KIDS!

Water Fun....

When the kids all arrived we decided to blow up our giant water slide for them to play on. They had a RIOT!

Skylar ....Head first!

After a while of playing on the slide the boys headed over to the pool and left the slide for the girls to enjoy. Here are some fun shots of the girls playing.

Slip slidin' away.....

Anyone for a shower?

Weeeeeee!

The smile explains it all!

They had tons of fun!!!!

The boys hung out in the pool area....

Just relaxing on the rafts.....

They enjoyed playing "King of the Mountain" on this tube.

Sam and Nathan would see how long they could hang on.

Dinner Time.....

Once everyone had arrived it was time to pull out the food. We had BBQ Beef sandwiches, corn on the cob, veggies and salads. YUMMY!

I was worried about where I would put all of these people but the morning of the party Howie bought me this patio set to help with seating. Thanks Doug for helping Howie put it all together before our guests arrived. You were probably beat from your workout with Steve at Gold's Gym that morning and it was WAY, WAY hot outside. It was a lot of work but I appreciate you helping us out. (Doug should have been relaxing on his vacation and we put him to work!) Thanks to Howie also!!! You are a wonderful husband and always lend a helping hand.

My kids relaxing in the shade.....

Yummy watermelon.....Lyssi?

Nova was looking around watching everyone eating and I think she felt jipped! "Hey where is MY food????"

Now she is happy! She finally gets some food.

Well at least her face got some :)

More Time for Swimming....

As soon as the kids finished eating it was back to the pool

GROUP CANNONBALL!

I think they had almost every pool toy inside the pool at once.

Amanda - Goggles and all - set out on her raft......

Karah and her new friend.... JC

Kendra joins the fun....

I forgot to mention that Jan, Kendall and Kendra had been to another reunion and joined us later in the day. I was so happy that they could come afterall. They are so much fun to be around and I think Kendra really enjoyed hanging out with her cousins.

Girls Rule!

Snow cones and RELAXING!

While the kids were busy swimming the adult just sat around visiting and catching up on what everyone had been up to. It was a nice calm afternoon.

Mom, Jan and Kenzie....

I have to tell about how awesome McKenzie is. After dinner everyone was visiting and relaxing and Kenzie came upstairs and helped me clean up. I think we washed dishes for about an hour. Our fingertips were wrinkled up like prunes. She was so helpful to me and I really appreciate her kind and thoughtful heart. You ROCK....Kenz! Thanks a BUNCH!

Debbie.....

Veronica and Mom..... I love you guys!

While everyone was visiting I found Lyssi visiting a nest of ants

She would yank up a handful of grass to feed to them...

Funny girl. This kept her entertained for a LONG time!

Luke wanted us to blow up the slide again but it was time to pack it away so that the grass would dry up a bit for our movie night.

Ash and Tyson brought their projector and speakers to set up a "Drive in Movie" type spot. We hung a sheet on my shed and they got everything wired up and ready to go. Blankets, pillows, beanbags and chairs.

When no one was looking Luke went over to make a few last minute adjustments. He is so funny. He pushes buttons and acts like he knows exactly what he is doing. He would arrange the wires and the speakers on the table "just right".

As part of the group was gathering around to watch a movie outside... the others gathered around the table for the traditional Howell Card Games.

I am not sure what they were playing but I think it was Down the River. A family favorite! I also forgot to mention that Zack (Val's son who lives in Provo) came as well. He is sitting in the white shirt and the hat. We have had him over a few times and it was good to see him again. We also tried to get a hold of Chris (Randy's son) so that he could join us but he told someone on facebook that he was sick. It would have been awesome if he came, every member of Steve's family would have been represented. Maybe next time! Wish Randy and Val could have come even if it was for a day or two.

Now that I look at this hand I think they must have been playing Screwball Rummey. Another family favorite!

It was getting quite late and so we set lights on this end of the yard so they could play cards and the other side of the yard was for the movie. It was nice to stand on the top of my steps that night and see his entire family laughing, joking around with each other and truly enjoying each other's company. Nice night....

As I looked out at the kids watching the movie "Space Jam" I realized they were missing something. WHAT WAS I THINKING! You can't have a movie without POPCORN!!!

I rushed inside to make up some popcorn and pull out some goodies for the card games. I don't remember who took this picture but.... What were they thinking! I look pretty wasted by this time. It was a long night and I am ready to sit down and enjoy the rest of the movie.....

It was a perfect night for a movie.

I love this. Very enjoyable

Thanks Ash and Ty for bringing the movie setup....

It was GREAT!

Amanda looks like she is about to fall asleep but she stayed awake till the end.

She is a cutie

One more picture before she heads home!

Jeff's family, Mom and Debbie stayed at my mom's house for the few days that they were in town. Thanks mom for hosting them. You are awesome.