The Reunion

(me with my nieces--I did Mary's make-up & hair....)

This past weekend we had a Fowler Family Reunion in Cheyenne, WY---some of us hadn't seen each other in years, so it was great to get together again!

It was a total of 10 adults, 11 children and 2 dogs in my parents house for three days. Needless to say, it was noisy! However, I had a lot of fun.

We went to Snowy Range in Wyoming for hiking and fishing on Saturday and that was pretty cool. I will admit, I'm not much of an "outdoorsy" person, but even I could appreciate the scenery and nice weather. I have some great pics of the hike and fishing below.

I decided that instead of making a long blog entry about the reunion, I would just include some highlights (I'm stealing the idea from my sister-in-law's blog, Andrea ;)))

So here goes:

The memories I will take away from this reunion are:

1. The makeovers---two of my nieces (15 and 11 years old) allowed me to do their hair and the older niece, both hair and make-up. It was fun to try out my "beautification skills" on someone else and they both loved the results. Afterward, the younger nieces wanted to give ME a makeover..needless to say, I looked like a "lady of the night" when done, but it was fun to let them try their hand at make-up on a "grown-up"

2. The adoration. :) It was wonderful to be adored by some of my nieces and nephews. That is one privilege of being the "cool aunt"--

(All my nieces and nephews)



3. The bugs. 15 mosquito bites left me itching and scratching most of the weekend. We did see some pretty cool bugs in the mountains, and one of my nieces, Syd, loved to pick them up and play with them. Needless to say, she was in charge of the worms for fishing.

4. The dogs. I had my little Beau along for the trip and my brother's family brought their mini schnauzer as well. At first they fought, but after taking them on a walk together, they were fine...mostly. At least they would hang out together without fighting even if they didn't play together.
(Two of my nephews with the Fowler dogs)


5. Old habits---it's funny how when you get together as a family that even as adults you fall into your family "roles" ---my younger brother and I were definitely bossed around a few times by some older siblings. That's okay. And for the record. I *did* help clean up and prepare stuff...just not when everyone else was around to watch me. ;)


(Pic of Patrick and Kristen (two of my siblings) after Patrick got a hold of my camera)








(Pic of my sister Jama and brother Dave--just watching the chaos unfold)

6. Blessings---I have some pretty amazing family members. It was great to see them all together again--my parents did a pretty darn good job raising us.


(Pic of Mom & Dad)



And here are some pics of Snowy Range...it was beautiful---even with all the bugs.