Merkley Reunion

This weekend was the Merkley family reunion in Colorado!

I will be honest, I had a really bad attitude about it at first. I was grumpy because no one from my Merkley family could come besides my in laws and my little brother Jaden. Not that I don't love them dearly, but I wanted to see everyone! I thought it was going to be super boring. But alas, I was wrong. It was a lot of fun!

Half the family was missing, but I got to know a lot of my cousins-in-law so much better and met some I have never met before. I also got to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Merkley. They are kinda the cutest. They feel like real grandparents to me which I didn't think was possible with in-law grandparents. I met them when I was 19 and even went to the last Merkley reunion 4 year ago when I was still just a girlfriend. They have always been so kind and loving to me. And grandma makes me the best quilts! I love them!

Anywho, we drove to Colorado Friday morning and got there that night. We ate some dinner and talked around the campfire with everyone. Some people were in little sleeper cabins and some wee in tents. Nathan and I decided to be in a tent and it was fun! I haven't been real camping since I was 13ish. So we roughed it. Except for the fact that we had a queen size air mattress and my gigantic, fluffy comforter in our tent. Saturday we ate freaking delicious scones thanks to Uncle David. We swam in the lake and took our rafts. I am a pro paddler. Seriously. There was some lunch and a random rain storm and a drive through the canyon then the adventure of Nathan and I buying 7 million pizzas. We had a fun little family memory time where everyone told stories about Grandma and Grandpa. We all talked around the campfire again and then I showered in a gross bathroom stall thingy. We ate muffins and took off Sunday morning. Sadly, I sucked at taking pictures. Weird, right? I took a lot, just not of everyone. I didn't even get a group shot! Or pictures of everyone who was there. I was just distracted by hanging out with people and NATURE. But here's the pics!

This picture should really just be of me and papa Merkley. Nathan looks super upset.

Random story #1: I had to pee in the middle of the night. The bathroom is way down the road so instead I made Nathan follow me into the woods with a flashlight while I peed in the bushes. TMI? Don't care. Anyway, it was pitch black and it sounded like someone walked past us and we freaked out and Nathan shone the light on the trail and there was a giant buck there! Like.. huge antlers, as big as a horse! It was so cool! And pretty scary because he would rip us apart. But he let us pee in peace.

Random story #2: The first night I couldn't fall asleep because I've watched too many murder shows. But as I was finally starting to get tired, I heard something scream. SCREAM! So loud and it echoed all the way across the lake. And it screamed a bunch of times over the course of a couple hours. Nathan thinks it was some kind of giant bird. I think it was the ghost of a little girl coming to kill us all.

 My personal masseur

 Tessa telling Uncle Brent about her boyfriend

 Tessa and Bella! So sweet.

 Men on the beach. Scoping out the water before we went swimming.

Random story #3: I saw ANOTHER giant buck on our drive on Saturday. I saw him almost get hit be a range rover. He came sprinting up the hill and was inches away from the car before he realized what the heck was going on and tried to stop and he kicked up all this dirt and rocks and flew all the way across the street and hit our car. He was okay, but he sprinted back the other way.

 Jaden teaching me to throw rocks "like a boy."

 This happened during the random, 10-minute rain storm.

 Such a sweet uncle to little Bella!

Random story #4: The second night I slept way better but right as I was falling asleep, a helicopter flew right over us a few different times and a bunch of ambulances drove by. I am pretty sure they were looking for an escaped convicted who was trying to kill us. Do you notice my paranoia? Awesome, right?

I love the way he looks at her. So sweet!

Grandpa laughing as Grandma told the story of the time he left her at a gas station.

He had a really good story.

Nathan calls this look "camping Kaitlin."

Way worse than telling scary stories late at night.

We were seriously right on the lake. So gorgeous!!!

 Random story #5: When everyone was getting ready to go swimming, Nathan asked Grandma where her bathing suit was. Her response: "It's under my clothes. I ave a special suit. It's my birthday suit."

Our camping faces.

Last night in our tent!

I like this guy. Thanks for holding the flashlight while I pee, my dear.