Family Reunion in Cedar City

The Daniels gang

This year we decided to meet up for the annual family reunion in Cedar City. This made the drive shorter for Tiffany and Melanie, but it also took us away from the beautiful blue of Bear Lake. We had a great time exploring Cedar City, but next year, we will be back at the lake!

Grandpa Daniels rented a cabin that was way out west in the juniper trees. It had a fun game room, and the kids could be found playing darts, pool, or air hockey most of the time. They also enjoyed exploring the property. They found an old swingset, but mostly they wanted to climb and explore the hill, looking for old tools or treasures along the way. The adults shared out the cooking and really enjoyed getting together for card games, which turned into massive tournaments that lasted well into the night.

The kids played lots and lots of games.

And lots and lots of pool.

Dad squeezes in all the girl time he can at the family reunions.

Dad and Kate!

We read scriptures together every night. It was awesome!

Kate (and Hattie) asked Mom to push them on the swings a lot. 

There were lots of fun places to explore at this house.

We spent three days at the cabin and did a few adventures together. We took a walk in the park in Cedar City. This short hike led to a nice wide waterfall. Everyone enjoyed the walk along the paved path, and we celebrated with snow cones afterward.

The cousins were all great hikers with us.

The man made waterfall was super cool!

We even got a family pic, which is rare on a hike.

We loved the red rocks and bridges. 

Aunt Tiffany helped Seth do a pull up!

Getting sno cones was the highlight of the hike!

Our other hike was more adventurous. We went and hiked a new waterfall outside of Parowan. All the cousins enjoyed climbing over logs and up and down rock piles as we made our way to the waterfall. We also spotted a hummingbird in its nest. It was a beautiful shady mountain hike, and we worked together to get everyone there. We had lunch at a little restaurant on Main Street, which managed to fit us in despite virus restrictions. 

This beautiful hummingbird was sitting on her nest with two eggs!

Another bridge picture!

We loved the Hidden Haven waterfall. 

Mark piggy backed kids all week long. Hikes, in the yard, the house. He is a great big cousin!

Mel, Tiff, and Mom together on the hike!

Our waterfall hiking gang!

Dad even helped piggy back some kiddos!

Mark loves to hike!

The food was good, but the cinnamon rolls were amazing!!!

Another time we went out to Old Iron Town. We've explored there before, so it was more about showing the cousins around, but we still had a great time. There are some pretty cool artifacts to see, and Grandpa and Grandma made it out to this adventure, too.

Old Irontown is so interesting!

We walked the kids to death!

One day we spent at the cabin playing in the freezing pool, and then warming up in the hot tub. It was hilarious to watch the kids go back and forth. Stephanie also brought the face paint and created some amazing faces. The cousins sure loved being together so much.

One night we had a fire with s'mores, stories, and scriptures.

Ben really loved his s'more!

Seth chose a husky for his face paint!

Dax chose a cougar!

Most everyone wanted to be in the hot tub. The pool was so cold!

Dax tried to go back to the pool, but only lasted a minute.

We also had a fun movie night. We watched two different movies. First, we watched Dad's movie, which he made with the help of the family. It was a hit, and everyone laughed and had a good time. Then we set up the screen outside and watched Spies in Disguise. The kids liked this one a little more, but it had a much higher budget. 

Dax and Kate had the same reunion shirts.

The kids loved watching the movie outside. 

Though we didn't get to put our kayaks on the lake this year, we still had a great time. Since everyone has been locked up in quarantine, it was fun just to get together and see the cousins. That's what our family reunion is all about anyway.

Our family did a small hike on the last day as we headed out of town.

We also stopped for some delicious ice cream in Beaver. 

We sure have fun when we are together. 

Mark's Birthday

Mark is a great kid!

For the first time in Mark's fourteen years we didn't have a barbecue on his birthday. This wasn't entirely because of Covid-19, though. It was actually because we moved the barbecue to July 11, to coincide with Seth's baptism, but also because lots of people weren't going to come because of Covid. So Mark had a different kind of birthday this year.

Mostly the day was spent playing games inside. Mark received some really fun games, and that is one of his favorite activities. It was actually a relaxing day. We also went and played baseball at the fields. This is the other thing that Mark wanted to spend his time doing. It was definitely a different birthday.

Mark really "loves" Dad jokes right now.

It was hot, but we had fun playing baseball. 

Mark played the entire left side.

Mark hit one over the fence--perfect for his birthday.

We ended the evening by watching fireworks in our usual spot at North Point Elementary. There were so many fireworks happening in front of houses that we had quite the show. 

Mark is the best teenager ever. We are so lucky to have him in our family. Mark has such a happy attitude, is a great helper, excels at everything he puts his mind to, and he is a great son. We love him so much.

Mark requested mint brownies for his birthday. 

We bought sparkler candles for Mark this year.

They got a little crazy!

Mark took a few breaths to blow these tricky candles out.

Dad takes the best pictures!

We always take a family picture on the 4th of July. Had to use the tripod this year!

Seth's Birthday and Baptism

Happy Birthday Seth!

Seth had a big birthday this year. He turned 8 years old! He was so excited to be baptized, and to have a birthday. Unfortunately his birthday fell on a Monday, which meant 3 baseball games for Mark and Dax. We decided to celebrate a little bit the night before and a little bit in the morning. 

Seth asked for Krispy Kreme donuts for his birthday treat, which made Mom's life really easy. And we showered him with 8 different presents. He was most excited for the Air Jordan hat and the Dog Man books. 

We had Krispy Kreme Donuts for the birthday treat.

Seth took a few breaths to blow all those candles out.

Seth wears this hat almost every day.

Seth loves Dog Man.

8 gifts for the 8-year-old.

This is his Michael Jordan pose.

Seth and Mom hanging out at all the baseball games.

Seth has become a fun kid to be around. He is always making jokes and being silly. He loves Michael Jordan and argues with his brothers over it all the time. Seth loves to play sports, and is quickly learning on the piano. He is constantly reading, which makes Mom and Dad happy. We love having him in our family.

The baptism was a little different than other baptisms. We had to keep the number to 20 people or less, but everyone else was able to watch it on Zoom. Everyone wore masks and Charlie also got baptized. The baptism was wonderful. The Spirit was still strong and Seth was so happy afterward. We were lucky to have so many people come and support Seth. We had a little BBQ afterward (in place of our usual July 4th BBQ).

Seth and Dad got dressed at home.

This is our family picture before the baptism.

All the Daniels cousins together again!

Seth wore his mask the entire time except in the font.

It was neat to have Charlie and Seth baptized on the same day.

We had lots of family support Seth. Many others joined remotely.

Family pic after the baptism.

We had home church with everyone the next morning. 

Seth got to wave to everyone on Zoom at the beginning and end of the baptism.