John & Becky Bunting

We got up early on Friday morning and my brother Josh and his cute little family had arrived during the night (by the way today 8/5 is Kari’s birthday - happy birthday Kari, you are an awesome sister-in-law!). Kaci, McKay and Colton all greeted me with big hugs and kisses. Oakley was a little less interested, she likes men a lot better. She even wanted John to hold her.

We crammed our car full of camping gear and started on our way to Wyoming. Packing with my dad is always fun, he really knows how to bring everything and the kitchen sink. John drove and I rode along with my mom and Colton. My dad rode with Josh and the rest of his family. While we were waiting for my mom to get in, Colton was eating a bag of cookies. I asked John if he wanted a cookie and he said no. Then Colton asked, “what’s a quickie”? We laughed so hard at the poor boy. We just laughed at him and he kept saying, “what? I really thought you said quickie.” He is so cute.

Our first stop was in Burley to get gas and snacks. John was really excited that they are building a Maverik in Burley, he really loves their breakfast sandwiches and misses them since they do not exist in California. My mom is glad she doesn’t have to drive all the way across town to go to Maverik anymore. The drive to Pocatello was pretty uneventful, since we had it all packed inside we didn’t have to worry about anything falling off the top of the car.

We stopped at the Sportsman’s Warehouse to visit my brother-in-law Brian at work. It kind of reminded me of visiting him while he was on his mission in Missouri. We are always trying to get him into trouble. We had a great time exploring the warehouse, scaring the girls with stuffed animals and trying on shoes. I got a pair of Timberland sandals and Josh got these boots for a great bargain. Colton, McKay and Kaci enjoyed playing with the guns - in the picture you can see Kaci’s shoes are on the wrong feet, we kept telling her and she kept saying they were right. So silly!

After about an hour and many purchases (including a gun for Colton, a stuffed moose for Oakley, shoes for me, my mom, and Josh, sunglasses for John, a hiker water bottle kit for Colton, and more I’m sure) we were on our way to Arctic Circle for lunch. When he heard where we were going, Colton automatically said, “where the good stuff is”. Marketing really works on little kids. Lucky Colton, he was in our car so he got to order whatever he wanted. If he would have been with his dad and grandpa we all know what he would have had for lunch - the 99 cent cheeseburger.

We ate our lunch on the way to Freedom, and John remembered that he does not like Arctic Circle. It was exciting to be heading for the family reunion. I have always loved family reunions. When I was a kid I liked going to the ranch (a ranch house my grandparents owned in Elba, ID) early with my grandma and getting everything ready. Then as each car came up the dusty lane we were so excited to see who it was and we would run out to open the gate for them. I have so many memories of horseback riding, hiking, swimming, water fights, camp fires, card games, softball, and just talking with my family. We usually had 2 reunions every year and sometimes three.

As soon as we got to the cabin we decided to leave to go white water rafting. My brother, Jeff, was our guide, and it was me and John, Josh and Kari, and my sister Marcy in the boat. The rapids were just about as much as I could handle and only Kari fell out of the back of the boat. Before she even came up Josh and Jeff were right there pulling her back in. It was a fun float even if our boat needed a little more air. We called it The Accordian because it folded right in half over the rapids.

I got to meet two of my new nieces - Paisley (Jeff’s daughter) and Eva (Lindsay’s daughter). They are both adorable! I loved calling Eva’s name and hearing her screech in response. She really wanted her mommy to hold her a lot, but she did let me hold her too. She is a tiny little girl but I know she will be a big game hunter like her daddy. Paisley is a sweet little baby and I put her to sleep three times while we were there. I don’t remember hearing her cry. Kierra loves having a baby sister and was like a little mom to all the kids at the reunion. She wanted to take Eva on a hike but I convinced her not to. When she got back, exhausted, she agreed that it was a good thing she didn’t take Eva with her.

By Friday night everyone had shown up at the reunion. We had representation from all of the families except Uncle Ron’s.

McKae, Spencer, Kaylee, Antonia, Alexandra, Courtney

Kurt, Marcy, Mike, Debbie, McKenzie, Johanna, Kevin, Oakley, Kari, Kaci, Josh, Megan, Brian, Eva, Lindsay, Joan, Steve, Don

Sarah, Staci, Hunter, Becky, John, Colton, Kierra, McKay, Paisley, Jeff, Sheri, Riley

Brandon

Danielle ran away before we took this picture and all my other ones are missing Joan - did anyone get a picture with everyone in it?

We had 38 at the reunion, which I don’t think is even half of the family. We wish Grandma and Grandpa could have been there with us! We had dinner Friday night and visited and went to bed late. I had a cold shower because Lindsay told me the bathhouse would have warm water but it didn’t! Oh, well, at least I got a shower. The place we stayed had a lot of bathrooms, which was really nice. And no one had to camp outside, but Josh and his family did anyway. The reunion was off to a great start!

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