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At the beginning of August we traveled with my whole family to Arizona to attend my crazy family reunion. There were literally 1,000 people in attendance, it was the biggest turn out we had ever had! My Great-Great-grandparents lived on 160 acres of land that eventually the government gave to them under the Homestead Act. Every two years we gather together to enjoy the evergreens, red dirt, camp fires, ghost stories,learn about our heritage, and get to know the other 900 people we've never met. I never realized how AWESOME it is that my g-g-grandparents had such an amazing vision of bringing their family together at such a beautiful place, its such a crazy legacy that they have built and provided for us! I feel completely blessed to be a part of such a huge family that believes in holding together!

In the following images you will notice a ton of DIRTY FACES! This is when you know your kid is having a good time at the reunion, when he is covered head to toe in red dirt! Hudson was definitely one of those dirty kids!
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During the day the there was what was called "village time" where everyone could go around and learn about how things were done way back when... Here's hudson getting his face shaved at the barber shop.
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Milking a cow!
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Trying to catch a chicken!
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Jill is probably going to hate me for posting the next two images, but I had to, they make me LOL!
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Making a rope!
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Roping cattle!
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One of Hudson's favorite things to do at the reunion was to ride on the "train" someone had put together and hooked up to a golf cart.
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Believe it or not, Hudson took this shot!
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My favorite shot from this series, isn't this land beautiful?!
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We hiked up Sierra Del Trigo, here's Kenny and Justin almost to the top!
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Kenny and Jill's victory jump at the top!
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On the ride home:
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Comments
Kristin said:
How fun is that? Looks like a super pretty place. What a fun idea to do all those old school things. Great pictures as always! Fun post!
(08.25.08 03:30 PM)
nate kaiser said:
great pics guys...and congratulations about breaking down barriers and posting some nipples on your blog ;)
(08.25.08 03:37 PM)
Alicia said:
Ahhh! What an amazing day! How awesome that your family does this! Note to self: have a large family so they can have large reunions one day.
(08.25.08 03:52 PM)
Amy Martin said:
Um, wow! That's such an awesome experience! You're so blessed to have such a huge amazing family :)
(08.25.08 04:29 PM)
angel swanson said:
soo jealous of your big, beautiful family! can't wait to have one of my own. ;-) xoox
(08.25.08 07:03 PM)
Lara @ Southern Weddings said:
What a fun reunion! Such great shots. I love Hudson trying to catch the chicken... he is so full of happiness!
(08.25.08 07:37 PM)
Mands said:
Huge fan of your work and these are just pure fun!
(08.25.08 08:01 PM)
Cathy said:
1000 people?!?! And I thought my family was big. Wow. Great photos as always :)
(08.26.08 03:06 AM)
Elise said:
I like the victory jump!
(08.26.08 08:45 AM)
sandra said:
look it's ur mom! Hi mom... i love your family.. looks like you had a blast!
(08.27.08 12:35 AM)
Caroline Ghetes said:
Okay, the photo of Kenny & Justin where he is pointing to the sky and getting his 'you know what' twisted just cracks me up. What a wonderful photo documentation of the event! Very cool!
(08.27.08 05:32 PM)
Roger W Ellsworth said:
You guys didn't tell me that you were related to dwight schrute. Didn't he have a sawmill? oops, nope...it was a beat farm. Dont' worry, a sawmill is cooler than a beat farm any day. From the engagement pics of your cuz with the trees, it looks like you've got alot more cuttin to do. Favorite pic is for sure the Justin glasses on the road one. It's the type of picture that inspires a song about all the sites his glasses have seen while he was sleeping. Just throwing it out there for anyone to take. (cricket sounds) But nobody cares (cricket sounds). good night.
(08.27.08 10:08 PM)
ksen :) said:
okay... it is official. you guys have seriously the cutest kids ever... so neat to see them grow in the different posts!!! looks like a kickin' time too. ;)
(08.28.08 01:11 PM)