Cox Reunion in Jackson Hole

The Antler Arch in Jackson Hole

She was really excited about the buffalo until I pulled out the camera

This last weekend was the Cox reunion in Jackson Hole. JD and I were in charge of planning everything this year. So if nobody had fun it was our fault. Luckily, I think everyone enjoyed themselves. We started with rafting the Snake River on Friday. When we left the condo it was rainy and you couldn't even see a glimpse of the sun. When we finally made it to the river the sun did come out and we had a great time. After the river the kids played in the pool and the boys played tennis.


We ate dinner at Bar J Chuckwagon. The dinner was fantastic, the show ran a little long for the little kids but it was entertaining.


Saturday the second group ran the river, yes my mom did go and she loved it. We went into Jackson for a couple hours. We waited for almost 40 minutes for ice cream. The town square was crazy busy. We tried to take Lexie on the Alpine Slide but right as we got there they closed it down because a big storm was coming in. Our plan was to go to Jenny Lake but that didn't happen due to the storm. We just went and played Guitar Hero and tennis back at the condo.


Last but certainly not least was the annual Cox Family Fear Factor. The first part was the rafting, if you didn't fall out of the raft you got to move on to the next round. The second round was the eating round. One group had to eat blended butter, sour cream and salsa in orange juice (this was the lucky group). The second group ate blended squid, quail eggs and salsa in orange juice. Just the smell only was enough to make you hurl. The third group ate blended squid, quail eggs and pickles in milk. We were very proud of mom for eating all of hers and Kim for eating hers even though she is prego. Ben, Brett, Brandi, Kim, Dad, Mom, Casey, Abby, Jenny and Paul (Tori's boyfriend) all moved on to the third round. The third round was double dutch. Nobody had played this since elementary school if they even played it there, needless to say it was hard for most. Paul did really good but there was no way we could give the trophy to someone outside the family. JD also did really well but he technically wasn't in the race. Ben won with three jumps (I told you it was hard, especially because it was dark outside). Ben now gets to display the trophy on his mantel, until next year when he will pass it on to the next winner.


We got up early (by early I mean we left at 6:30 AM) on Sunday to make it to my cousin Josh's farewell. I think I slept through most of sacrament but I did wake up for his talk which was really good.


I hope everyone had a fun time, can't wait until next years!

Mom and Kim trying to choke down the squid and quail eggs

This was the lucky group only butter, sour cream and salsa

Anderson Reunion at Island Park

Katie took this picture for me. She really loved the watermelon.

Last week was the Anderson reunion at Island Park. Lexie and I went up with my mom, Kim, Payton, and Casey. Yes, Casey was the only guy and he loved every minute of it! The first day we went to Yellowstone and hiked Fairy Falls. We did this hike because my uncle Kevin and aunt Paula did this hike 30 years ago on their honeymoon and wanted to do it again. We did not take into account the fire 20 years ago and the fact that it had burned all the trees. Add to this the hike ended up being about 2 1/2 miles longer than we thought. We probably hiked about 8 to 9 miles with no shade and it was freakin' hot. I can't say that I was the happiest hiker, but on a good note Lexie was really good. When we finally made it to the car, I had never been happier to see a car in my whole life. We then decided we would go see Old Faithful. Just our luck, right when we were pulling into the parking lot it had just finished blowing. We were not going to wait for 90 minutes for it to go off again so we loaded up on water and snacks and headed back to the bunkhouses.

The next day we drove to Shelley to stay at my aunt Janel's. On the way we stopped at some waterfalls we didn't even have to hike to. It was really pretty and relaxing.

All in all it was great to hang out with all my cousins and catch up with the ones we don't see very often.

The troopers who hiked Fairy Falls

Pigtails

Lexie's hair is finally long enough to put into pigtails. They are not very big but, it beats having just the one in the middle of her head. She looks so dang cute, I couldn't resist taking a picture.

Progress On Our Backyard

Our new patio!

Our future shed!

We have been working in our back yard all summer and it finally is paying off. Today we layed the cement for our patio and the shed. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. My cousin Jay and my Steve dad came up to help. They did an amazing job. We never could have done this without all the help we had. Thanks to everybody who helped today. When the cement is dry everyone is invited over for a BBQ on the new patio!

Now, we just need to fix our sprinkling system and get our lawn back. I know it looks really bad in the pictures, you should see it in really life! Oh, JD also needs to build the shed so he can park in the garage this winter! I know it doesn't sound hard, but man these things always take longer than expected.

We Teach Them Young

Growing up my mom would give us chores to do around the house. I always thought she was the luckiest person because she had so many kids to clean so she never had to do anything. All moms know this certainly was not the case. None the less that is how I saw it as a little kid. I decided then and there that I could not wait to have kids just so they could clean my house. I am not quiet to the numbers my mom had, but I have started Lexie cleaning already. She dumped her water on the kitchen floor so I made her wipe it up. The only problem with this is, now she thinks it is a game and tries to dump all her drinks on the floor. She will sit and shake her sippy until there is a little drop on the floor, run to get the dish towel and wipe it up. I guess the one good thing is at least she cleans it up!

Snow Cone

Today a little neighbor boy knocks on the door and says "we are selling snow cones for fifty cents, my mom says that's a good price. Will you come by one?" There is no way I could say no. Lexie and I took a walk down the block to buy some. For those of you who don't know Lexie loves ice in any form. We sit on the grass to eat our snow cones. I have probably taken five bites and Lexie is struggling to get any in her mouth because she turns the spoon unside down right before it hits her mouth. She watched me for a minute and then comes over and trades me spoons. She tries mine for a while, realizes it is not much better and trades me back (we traded spoon about three times). She still can't get any in her mouth so she trades me snow cones (maybe thats the problem). She continues to have problems getting as much as she would like in her mouth. She comes over to me and instead of trading spoons she just takes my spoon, sits down and puts it under her leg so I can't see it. She looks at me and laughs as she eats her snow cone. I, then not about to let her get the best of me start drinking my snow cone. NOT a good idea, she tries to do it and yes, it falls all over her. But don't worry that didn't matter to her because now that it was on the ground she just used her hands to finish eating it.

I am just amazed everyday at how much she knows and how much she understands. She has the cutest personality. I just don't think a one year old should be able to tease her mom. We all know that she truely is her fathers daughter.

Memories

Here is a fun little game...Leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time, or a long time, anything you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.On your mark...get set...blog your memories!!

Bear Lake

Lexie and I went to Idaho last week with my mom to help with my cousin Jer's wedding. Poor Lexie has not been home for more than a day for a little over two weeks. She has not had a regular schedule and is really tired of driving.

The wedding was beautiful. Thanks to Autumn for taking all of the kids so we could go to the temple. She had about 15 kids for 3 hrs. She was still alive and smiling when we picked them up which I think is amazing.

After the wedding we headed to Bear Lake for the weekend. My parents, Brandi and Mike's Family, and Brett, Kim, and Payton all came with us. We played on the beach for two days, it was really relaxing. I am really sore from being bounced around on the tube, but mostly from wake boarding. I can feel muscles I didn't even know I had. We took Lexie on the boat and a wave runner, we still don't know if she really liked them because she fell asleep on both. Every night at the lake we were able to watch fireworks on the lake. It was really cool, I have never seen anything like that. I have to say that my favorite part of the weekend was Saturday night when Morris cooked dutch oven and Moe made homemade ice cream. It was the best dinner ever, even right now thinking about it my mouth is watering. Thank you for letting my family stay at the cabin, we had a wonderful time.

Dad and Lexie shading up.

Trying to get all the sand off the girls after the beach,

Kandalyn, Lexie, and Payton