#dfr13

The 2013 Dixon Family Reunion commenced in the Arizona mountains from July 25-29. On Facebook and Twitter, all posts related to the reunion were followed by #dfr13.  It was a thing, so I'm doing it one more time.  (Sidebar: Eric's mustache was a joke, and we unanimously agreed that he looked ridiculous.)

We stayed at Stone Haven Lodge in Show Low.  It was amazing.  One of the little kids' favorite activities was taking a bath in the jetted tub (one of four) every night.

Almost everyone came: my parents, four of my siblings, and their spouses and children.  The only one missing was Sister Holly Dixon, who is a missionary in Derby, England. We missed her!  Dad made us all t-shirts to commemorate the event.  The yellow jeep on the shirts pay tribute to Dad's Yellow Jeep Project, which he has launched as a weight loss motivator.  Anyway, we all posed for a picture on the steps.

That day we also played games with whipped cream and marshmallow guns (not together).

We also enjoyed some minute-to-win-it games.

The 1500-piece puzzle was fun.

The boys especially loved a bunch of other games.  I was a big fan of corn hole.  We also played Jeopardy and Mad Libs, courtesy of yours truly.

We ate a lot (a lot a lot).

I took a nap and read a book.

Myron took the kids shooting.

We went to a rodeo in Snowflake on Pioneer Day.  We were determined to wait out the rain, but after getting thoroughly soaked, we left when the lightning got too close.  We were bummed.

A fun part of our trip to Arizona was taking the kids on an airplane.  We flew from Denver to Phoenix and then drove three hours to Show Low, and vice versa.  The older boys flew a couple of times when they were little, but the younger kids hadn't been on an airplane before.  Every step of the trip was an adventure.  Our travel days were still long, but every moment of frustration was mitigated by the fact that we weren't jammed in a van together for hours on end.  Hooray!

So thank you, dear family, for a fun weekend.  We thoroughly enjoyed spending time with you for a few days.  It's a rare treat for us to see you, so thanks for making the effort to come!  Next time in Colorado, OK?