GORDON FAMILY REUNIONS ROCK!

My husband's family really does put on a great reunion. We have such a blast even though we do almost the same thing every year. It just never gets old.

BREAKFAST IN THE MOUNTAINS:

Princess P holds her new cousin! Aren't they pretty in pink??

When your mom gives you a tattoo...

Awesome A, Sister S and Elder D wait patiently for their breakfast.

We sure do love cousin time!

The guys gotta mountain bike down!

RED NECK SLIP-N-SLIDE:

One of the all time favorite traditions of the reunion.

Then, because going down on your bum gets boring, we have to go down standing up.

Sister S helps Little W.

Me with my cute boys!

Princess P, Miss G and Miss J- the Middle School girls.

SCANDINAVIAN FESTIVAL 2016

My family has a strong tradition of attending our town's Scandinavian Days over Memorial Day weekend. It is so ingrained that Big C has even quit doing anything else on that day. He actually enjoys my family and extended family and I am so glad because I really enjoy them too. I am very blessed to have amazing family!

Some of my kids (the middle 4) with friends and cousins.

All my kids were home this weekend too, so it was really fun to be with everyone!

Watching the parade for the last time from my sister's old house.

Princess P and her friend Miss K with the vikings!

Some of our family that was there. I have such great cousins! I just love them!

My sweetheart, ready to do the Vike on a Bike race he helped plan.

Elder D was the only other one to race this year.

After a nice day, with a brief rainstorm, BBQ turkey lunch, a little bit of shopping at the venders, visiting with all the friends and relatives we saw at the festival, we had the traditional BBQ at my house with all my family, cousins and friends that were in town. It was SO much fun! Can't wait for next year.

TRAIL GROOMERS UNITE

I'm not sure how your family is about wanting to go work on their time off, but it's not a very popular choice around our house. Big C is helping his brother with the Scandinavian Days Vike on a Bike race this Saturday and felt like the course needed some maintenance. The kids were not excited about it AT ALL, but went anyway...

The happy workers!

A beautiful Sanpete scene. I think I might just have to paint this...

Working the trail. Many hands make light work.

Successful end of the job. We ended up having fun together and found it wasn't bad at all.

MOAB SPRING BREAK

We finally got around to taking our kids on a Spring Break trip. We went to Moab with Big C's brother and family. The kids had so much fun with cousins and we had a great time hiking, biking and camping. I love Moab and especially Arches National Park. If the wind and rain had cooperated a little better it would have been perfect, but we very nearly got blown away and the rain limited our activities at times. I do have to say it was a fun trip though. 

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MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE #5

The Championship Race was in St. George this year and it was fun! All the Gordon family that went down, stayed in the same hotel and we really had a good time! It was SO HOT for October (+80˙), which is great if you want to go swimming, but for mountain bike racing, it is too hot!

The cousins in the hot tub at the hotel.

Supportive parents/spectators/sponsors.

Our Division didn't race until late in the afternoon the next day, so we played around to pass the time.

C Man had a great race! He started at the back of the pack and took 11th out of 50 riders!

Racing hard!

Two of the Freshman riders and one of their coaches.

I'm not sure if C Man wants to do it again next year, but if he does, I'm on board. It was really fun!

MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE #4

This race was in Eagle Mountain. C Man ended up with a flat tire 5 minutes into the race and it took him quite a while to fix it. He had learned his lesson about quitting because of Corner Canyon though, so he finished anyway. He said he started out mad at first because he was in the back to start, but after his flat tire he just had a blast riding and it was lots of fun. I wish he'd feel that way about all the races. The reason he's out there is supposed to be for fun! It was a positive experience even though he came in last.

Crossing the finish line!

Cousin C and C Man! Gordons represent!

Cheering for his team!

C Man and another Freshman on the team.

Support of family and friends! 

MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE #3

I only have one photo from the Moab race too and C Man isn't even in it. Princess P and I didn't go to this one and Big C can't be bothered to take a picture of anything. Here's the family that went. I guess C Man was racing while this picture was taken.

A supportive family- except in taking pictures of my kid. haha!

MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE #2

C Man's second mountain bike race was in Draper at the Corner Canyon trail. He wrecked pretty hard and didn't finish the race. It was a learning process for him and he has grasped the knowledge that you need to finish no matter what in this circuit because points are very important for the overall season. He'll definitely make it to the finish line next time.

The Manti Mountain Bike Team 2015

COLORFUL COLORADO

We had another invite to my BIL's cabin by Dolores, Colorado again this year for Labor Day. We had such a great time last year and the older kids were thrilled to be able to go this time.

Colorado scenery is the best! This is a hike we went on and it was gorgeous!

We hiked to Geyser Springs and it was a little stinky, but beautiful!

One night the kids gathered around the kitchen table and read Sister S's books in different accents. It was hilarious!

At bedtime, the boys would gather round the computer and watch The Walking Dead and the girls would go read.

Big C went fishing again this year and let Princess P catch the fish this year.  

We went to church in Cortez again and some of the kids forgot clothing items...

The cousins in the beautiful valley.

We went to Telluride again and the boys biked up to Bridal Veil Falls again.

What a view! Is it redundant to say how beautiful this country is again? Too bad. I said it.

Art gallery on Main Street. They even had a radioactive cat from one of the photos I talk about in my classes!

Sister S with her favorite bumper sticker. hehe.

The boys ready to bomb down the trails at Telluride ski resort.

The free gondolas are so nice! I love to ride in them and see the scenery and they haul the boys and their bikes to the top.

Main Street Telluride. This place is definitely a family favorite!

HIGH SCHOOL MOUNTAIN BIKING

C Man started racing mountain bikes this year in the Utah High School circuit. It was an amazing program. They said this first race up at Soldier Hollow yesterday set a record for the biggest mountain bike race in the country! It was pretty cool!

C Man and his biggest fan, Cousin W.

He and his cousin, C, both raced and had a lot of support. Mountain biking has always been a big sport in the Gordon family. All his uncles and his dad have all raced at some point in their lives, so he's just keeping the tradition alive. Plus, his Uncle D is one of the coaches.

Lots of family there to cheer him on for his first race!

Lining up for his first ever race!

Aunt N caught this great photo of him on his second lap.

That's one tired, hot boy, but he did GREAT!

Some of the other guys from Manti's team.

We were so proud to learn he took 4th in his group of about 50 boys!

It was a great start to the season!!