The final activity of our summer sojourn was the annual Bayles Reunion in Mancos, Colorado, on the ranch where my dad grew up. I always look forward to this reunion because these are the people that helped raise me. When I was a kid, most of my aunts, uncles and cousins lived in Blanding - so I was surrounded by family. Now, three of them have moved out to the ranch and each year there are over 100 of us that get together. I love that my kids get to know these amazing people.
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| Sleeping Ute |
This is the view from the ranch. It is Mesa Verde, which is known for its Native American ruins. This sight is always beautiful to me. It reminds me of my granny and grandad. Coming here makes me miss them.
These saddles were a big hit with the younger crowd.
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| Jalen and Kieran |
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| Jalen & Baylie |
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| Baylie and Tatum |
Walmart Body Bumpers were so much fun to watch. I think I need to get some of these.
Each family had a specific color of bandana so we could tell who belonged to whom. We were yellow.
Water balloon toss.
The main thing my kids wanted to do was to ride horses. Some people went tubing down the river, but my kids were all about the horses. They got to ride as much as they wanted.
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| Steven with Jalen on Lunchbox (that horse ALWAYS tries to eat) |
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| Baylie on Brownie with Uncle Lyman |
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| Gary with Baylie |
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| Jalen and Grandad |
Even I got up on a horse - the first time in probably a decade. I was actually quite proud of myself because I was able to pull myself up on the horse. A few years ago, I wasn't able to do that. I was definitely out of practice, but it was sure fun.
Jalen loved being able to play with his buddy Nash. Nash used to live in North Augusta, but now he lives in Utah. They were excited to find some "baby pigs" in the hay. They were actually baby mice.
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| Baylie, Thomas, Asa, Nash |
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| Jalen and Nash on the tractor - they tried to start it! |
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| My dad and his brother, Lyman |
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| Tuckered out |
One of the favorite activities for the kids is fishing for crawdads. I've never wanted to go. I've either sent David or my sister, Tiffani. This year neither of them was at the reunion, so I had to go with the kids. It was really windy at first and our bait just kept floating back in. We finally figured out that we needed to tie rocks to our lines. Then we started catching tons of them. I was grossed out at first, but by the end, I was pulling them out with my hands. It was pretty cool. I still didn't eat them though.
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| Before and after |
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| Uncle Eric and Uncle Mark - my dad's brothers |
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| Uncle Dennis, Uncle Mark and Uncle Lyman - my dad's brothers |
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| Aunt Sharon and Uncle Eric |
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| Aunt Mikki and Aunt Julie - my dad's sisters |
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| My cute parents |
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| Aunt Cathy, Uncle Dennis, Steven, and Uncle Eric |
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| My dad, Aunt Cathy and Uncle Dennis |
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| Katie, Christina and kids |
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| Mark and Alivia |
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| Brandon, Uncle Lyman and Corby (now known as Corbin...) |
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| Alivia with her grandparents - Sheri and Steven, and Baylie |
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| Mad roping skills (it's not easy to rope yourself) |
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| Grandad steps in to give a hand |
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| New way to play corn hole? |
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| Uncle Eric's spurs - I think he may sleep in spurs and a cowboy hat |
More views of Mesa Verde. My granny used to quote from Psalm 121:1 "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help."
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| I love this cool tree in my Aunt Mikki's yard |
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| Apparently only Eeyore and I like thistles |
On the way home, the kids and I hiked up to Wilson's Arch. Can you see us?
I love my family so much. I have always been proud to be a Bayles and to have the strong heritage that I do. So much of who I am is because of these people.
Tomorrow we head home. We are ready to be back in our little house and in our own beds. We also miss David. It will be good to be back in South Carolina, but a piece of my heart always stays in the west.
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