Family Functions

The visits continued, as my parents and Jason and his family arrived. A few days later, Rachel and co. got here. It was the first time we'd all been together in three years (since my wedding) and it was crazy how many kids were there. We had a great time: going to the beach, hiking, playing volleyball and of course, lots of eating. The siblings and spouses even got a night out without the kids and it was delightful and memorable.

Rather than give you a play by play, here are lots of pictures from the festivities.

In order to fit all 21 people for dinners, we had our meals outside.Owen got baptized and the whole family got to be there!

Happy Father's Day, Dada!

The happy losers of the sibling vs. spouses volleyball game

Some of my cute nieces

Cousins playing on a big tree in Beverly Hills

Theresa feeding Owen. She was so sweet.
This warms my heart.
The playroom saw a lot of use. This is before the Brauns even got here!
Gramma rocked Owen to sleep on the beach...on two separate occasions.
Jib-jawing on the beach and assuming someone's watching my son.
Group shot: Pre-Brauns
Hiking with my whole side of the family
Owen destroyed every attempt at a picture of all the cousins
Seriously Owen?

Friends They Are Jewels (cont)

Next up on our visitor itinerary were a few highschoolers (not pictured) from Memphis who came to sing at our church. They only stayed one night but I picked their brains on being homeschooled and Owen wooed them with his adorable jabbering.The next day brought a family we knew from the Calvary Chapel we attended in Texas. Kevin was on tour for his band, so we got to see his wife and two kids for the weekend as well. Owen loved following after their three year old boy, and we got to meet Maddie, their youngest. We had a fun time at the caves at Leo Carrillo and finally got to play Settlers of Catan with the people who had first told us about the game. It was great to catch up with them and see their growing family.
No bib + Go-Gurt at the beach = Trouble.

I improvised protection using my bathing suit top (too cold to swim that day...but brought it just in case). Owen was not pleased.