Aspen Grove

One of our favorite family vacations when I was young was going to Aspen Grove.  Then, 5 years ago mom and dad took all of us kids and our families to Aspen Grove for a big reunion.  We had so much fun that Kaelyn and I decided we wanted to go back again with our families, and mom and dad came along too! :)

So, we made the drive to Utah, and anxiously looked for our cousins when we arrived at the family Camp Saturday afternoon.
We checked into our cabins, which are exactly as I remembered them from when I was 14 and there with my family!

Addi and Ryan had lots of fun flying around on the cabin broom.

After unloading our stuff into the cabin, we headed over to the main quad area to sign up for all the adult sport tournaments.  Tough things like badminton, shuffleboard, tennis, horseshoes, etc.  :)

I'm there all of 5 minutes, and I hear someone say, "Kathryn!!!"  I look over, and there is my next door neighbor dorm mate from Freshman year at BYU,  Diana Call Ferre!!  She lives in Chandler, AZ, and was up there with her family the same week as us for a vacation!  Holy cow!  This was going to be fun! 

Diana and I

Then, I am looking at my competition for the women's singles tennis, and there is a lady standing next to me looking as well.  We figure out we have to play each other in the first round of tennis.  So, we start talking and I ask her where she is from.  She says Laguna Niguel.  I tell her we are from Mesa, does she know anyone from Mesa?  She pauses and says, "Well, do you know a Steven Wade?"  My jaw drops, and I say, "Well yes, my brother in law is Steve Wade! How do you know him?  or is it even the same one?"

She then tells me they rent their house out while they are away, and the Wades from Mesa rented it.  When she told me they listed it on Craigslist, I knew it was Steve and Shauna, because Steve is the king of Craigslist!  Small, small world!!  Kinda crazy!

Then, later that night I realize one of the families there is a couple that met at BYU and I had a class with them when they met.  In fact, the guy asked me out on a date and I had to tell him I'm sorry, I'm married!!!  Awkward!

Well, he never talked to me the rest of the semester, but I watched him and the girl sitting across the room from him talk and flirt, and they ended up getting married, and there they were at Aspen Grove 20 years later with 4 kids just like Lane and I!  Crazy crazy crazy!  He never did let on that he remembered me or anything.  I'm hoping not!

I did say I wanted redemption from the last time we were at Aspen Grove.  We went 5 years ago, when I was 1 week from delivering Addi.  To say that I was a huge whale would really be an understatement.  And of course, the first night there, I see a guy from my freshman year who was totally in love with me.   I'm sure he wasn't feeling bad that he was too short for me when he saw how large I got when pregnant!  Ugh!!

Here's who came along:

Mom and Dad (obviously)

Kaelyn and Scott's family

Our family!

The week is packed with fun things to do, and as a mom and dad you don't have to lift a finger!  It is a true vacation!  We had so much fun doing so many things.  Sadly Kayla was only there the first couple of days.  She spent the rest of the week at EFY, much to the dismay of all the older teenage boys at Aspen Grove! :)

Conner and Dad doing "Minute to Win It"

Me with my coveted paper awards!

Our little billy goat climber Savannah

The Bug!  I could eat this kid up!

Lauren and Savannah waiting their turn

One of the highlights for us adults was taking a Communications test to tell us what kind of communicators we are.  There are 4 different "types" of communications.  That was hilarious and insightful.  Boy did we learn a lot about how to talk to our spouses/siblings/kids in a way that they understand.  We had a good time laughing at how spot on some of the typical traits of our type of communicators have!  Does that make sense?  Needless to say, I am an Expressive.  Hmm, I don't know how that's possible because I rarely express how I feel or my opinions! ha!!!

And here's a huge collage of lots of stuff:  groups, leaders, Family Follies, climbing wall stuff and more.  I'm still waiting for Angi to send me more pictures.  She is the family photographer and got some good pics of us while they were up there one day with us.

Sorry this collage is too small and you can't see anything.  Ugh!  They change Picasa and Blogger on me!!

But, it was seriously so fun.  I recommend going with friends or family.