4th of July Weekend

On July 3rd and 4th, we went to a family reunion for my mom's side of the family. There were about 70 people there (many I didn't even know) and we had a great time.

It was Olivia's first experience with camping and she did great! My three sisters and I all set up our tents in the same camping area (our tent is on the right). I was glad that Olivia slept well and didn't keep them all up during the night.

We didn't realize this until seeing the picture when we got home, but it looks like the mosquitoes liked Olivia just as much as she liked being outside.


It was fairly cold at night and in the morning, so we had to keep Olivia bundled up. She didn't mind at all.

Olivia was so content.

Olivia and I shared a sleeping bag. It was one of the best night's sleep that Olivia has had (and consequently that I have had) since she was born.



Sometimes it's just so hard to wake up when you're camping!


It was nice to be able to use my parents' trailer for certain things, like feeding Olivia.


And giving her a bath. She wasn't sure what to think about that little tub.


But it is a Larson family tradition that each kid take a bath in the tub during his/her first time camping. The bath made Olivia's grandma and her aunt Sharesa really smile!


Overall, Olivia really enjoyed just being outdoors and hanging out with family. It looks like her Aunt Lauriann enjoyed hanging out with her too.


My grandma was the only person from her generation to come to the reunion. And she was a good sport and camped like all the rest of us!


We spent a lot of time at the lake during the family reunion. On Saturday morning, Daniel and I went for a practice open water swim. The water temperature was surprisingly bearable.


We had a fun time paddling around in my Uncle Kurt's canoes. He brought 8 canoes and 30 life jackets to the reunion, so there was never any waiting around. This is the coolest looking canoe--a nice fiberglass one that my brother-in-law John painted.


Another fun activity was the bottle rocket contest. Everyone was welcome to turn a 2-liter bottle into a rocket.


Each rocket was filled with a little water and then my dad put the rocket onto a "launching pad" and used 50 lbs. of air pressure to shoot the rockets high into the air.


After pressurizing the bottles, my dad would quickly get out of the way before the string was pulled that released the rocket from the launching pad. Each rocket was timed, and the winning rocket was in the air for over seven seconds. Daniel punched it out on his calculator and figured that the winning rocket must have reached at least 197 feet. What a nerd...


Probably the highlight of the trip was the Dutch oven cooking contest on Saturday night. Each family prepared one or two Dutch ovens for dinner, and everyone got a taste of each Dutch oven. All in all, there were 19 entries in the contest.


For my entry, I cooked chocolate chip cookies. I used the Neiman Marcus recipe with a few improvements of my own (like using three different kinds of chocolate and sprinkling sea salt on top). I was surprised at how well they cooked in the Dutch oven.


My parents, the Dutch oven masters, cooked a lasagna.


When the prizes came out, my cookies received second place! I was awarded an Orson H. Gygi wire whisk. My parents came in third place and received some cute tablecloth holders.


We had a wonderful time at the reunion. It was nice to spend time with my extended family, and we are so glad that Olivia was a happy camper. :)

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On Sunday, July 5, we went up Millcreek Canyon to Daniel's grandpa's cabin to eat Sunday dinner with Daniel's family. We kept Olivia in the patriotic dress she had worn to church.


Once again, she loved being outdoors in the cool mountain air.


After dinner, Olivia enjoyed watching her aunts Whitney and Amanda play cards. She was enthralled. Olivia especially enjoyed watching her mom get defeated at every game she played.


We had a wonderful Independence Day weekend and we're glad we were in Utah to spend it with our families.