Bonding with the Bonds

At the beginning of October we finally took a trip to Arizona to visit my sister Carrie and her family. They have lived there for 13+ years, and we have never been to their house. We seem to always leave the responsibility of travel to them. This time around we decided we could make the trip. Their oldest son Butch was leaving on a mission, and their youngest daughter Camille was born this summer. Two parents, nine kids and eleven guests, it was busy, crazy and loads of fun.

We see the Bonds almost every year, but usually at our big family reunion. It was great to see the kids on their own turf. Their cute (the little one's) and hilarious (the older one's) personalities were a joy to see and get to know a little more. As soon as we got in to the car to make our 12 hour drive home we started talking about how much fun we had and how we needed to make it back again soon.

Camille & KiraCarrie & CamilleKeith, Melissa & KenDave & Stephanie laughing through the night.Gabby, Parker and Cooper playing games.The crew in the hot tub.

(Colton, Saley, Alina, Madison, Greydon, Allie, Parker and Joshua)Colton & ParkerMadisonButch (of course later) in the MTC. (second on the left)By the end of the trip out kids were exhausted from all the playing, laughing, eating and more playing.On the way home we stopped at the damn overlooking the Colorado River. It was very windy and beautiful.

Thanks Bonds, for hosting a great trip. You are an amazing family, full of fun and laughter. On a deeper side, you are a great example to us. Ken and Carrie are wonderful parents that share a great amount of love and laughter with their kids. Your kids are so helpful and mature, yet so much fun to be around. I guess they can go together.

PS. Sorry about the sad pictures. The camera was on its last leg and the photographer wasn't all that great either.