Baxter Family Reunion

Right after we spent a few days with the Rasmussen's, we drove up to Oregon for Jon's family reunion. We hadn't been able to go very often when we lived in Ohio, so it was great to be there and enjoy all of the Baxter/Bowen group.

Jon's sister Beth and his aunt Chrisanne were in charge of it and they did a fabulous job! They had fun ideas and made it so nice for everyone. They were able to reserve "the Lodge" - a lodge that Jon's grandpa & uncles helped build and where they stayed for lots of youth activities. Jon and the older kids were going to sleep there on Friday night, but there was a race early on Saturday, so decided not too. Then on Saturday night, everyone else decided to not sleep there, so the kids were disappointed by that, but we had fun hanging out at the lodge and visiting.

Grandma's swing is always a hit!

Our niece, Gracie

Lindsey, Kate, Danny & Jack wading in the stream by the lodge

Kate getting bug sprayed

Chrisanne & Beth - thank you again for a great reunion!

On Friday night, we had a ton of different kinds of popcorn! This family is amazing at making popcorn and it was fun to try so many kinds!

The kids before the 5K race - Jack, Danny, Lindsey, Hannah, Emily & Kate

Kyle & Tyler

Jon ran the 1/2 marathon and did great! He's run this one several times. He ran by us during our 5K walk, so this was the only picture I got of him. After he finished, he walked up the road again to find us.

Beth, Sarah & I decided to walk the 5K with all the kids - 9 of them! We had 3 strollers and started out pretty strong. But, we ended up being quite the sight! Beth was able to go ahead with Emily, Lindsey & Jack. I stayed with Sarah and we did our best to get our 4 little ones to the finish line. We had Gracie & Hannah in umbrella strollers most of the time. Kate & Danny walked/ran a lot and had a short turn in the strollers. With a little less than a mile left, my mother-in-law drove by and we loaded Kate & Danny in that car and finished with the two little girls. If there was ever a scene that would remind you of the Clampetts running a 5K race, that was us!

This is Sarah taking Gracie's shoes off. She started with them on, then took them off to run in just socks and then decided that she wanted her shoes back on with no socks.

This was a tender scene - Danny & Gracie holding hands

Thankfully, there was ice cold water & watermelon at the end of the race!

Jack won 1st place for his age division

Emily won 1st place for her age and Lindsey won 2nd

This is a picture of Jon giving himself IV fluids after his race. He wanted to see if his recovery was quicker that way. His idea is to do it after a marathon in October and he tried to teach me how to start it. Thankfully, his sister Rebecca was able to get it started.

It was great to be in Oregon! We loved seeing our family there and spending time with them!