Epic Adventure

The logo that my friend Carrie and I designed for the tee shirts for the kids

Ah, the Tetons and Yellowstone! It holds a special place in my family's heart. We've gone there every year (ofttimes more than once) since Rachel was barely five weeks old. This year's trip to Wyoming was different -- it was the Miller Family Reunion. What does this mean? It means that Brad's parents, siblings, spouses and all the offspring that comes attached will descend on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem AT THE SAME TIME. If you are wondering about numbers, that means fourteen adults and seventeen kids, ranging from ages 16 to five weeks old. We celebrated a birthday, a wedding anniversary and a baby blessing the week we were there. There was so much to do and so much to see!

But today, I will just focus on the photo shoot we had on August 2nd. Since it wasn't my camera that took the pictures of the group as a whole, I'll just showcase the pictures of the kids and the events leading up to them. I think that they are a good indication of the general mood of the whole trip.

First there were the parents directing the children as to the behavior that was expected of them:

 Then there was the selection of where to place the camera:

and the arrangement of bodies on the "Miller Fence". (Family pictures have been taken in front of that fence since Brad was a little boy. Needless to say, it was a requirement to take a picture there.)

Taking pictures with seventeen kids with a huge age range? Not an easy task.

Reagan, Campbell, Lucy and Kate were about done.

Then somebody (me) had the bright idea that everyone start crying. Then they wouldn't stop.

All the cousins in order of their birth, except for Sadie (17) who was carefully held by numbers 1 and 2. Campbell needed her mom.

Just the boys.

Just us.

Ooh, the Tetons are so pretty!

The five oldest

My goofy girls.

 It was fun, if a little tiring.

If pictures aren't enough to show the chaos that was involved, I took a video of all the grandkids crying, some for real and some for dramatic effect.

 

Stay tuned for more of the events of the week...