Wedding and Family Reunion in Ashton

Our niece Kristen (Jared's brother Brian's daughter) got married last weekend to a great guy named Jarin (now there's an Aaron, Karen, Saren, and Jarin in the family...). We were so glad we could head up to "the farm" for the wedding and enjoy the rare chance to be with ALL Jared's 8 siblings and most of their spouses and kids. It was a serious house-ful at Grandma Loosli's house. I wish I had a photo of the full group but in the craziness of wedding photography, I didn't think to take a photo of my own...

We had a wonderful 4 days at the farm. We stayed up until the wee hours playing games and laughing until we were crying. We prepared and ate wonderful meals and consumed tasty snacks galore. We waited in line for the bathroom now and then. We helped prepare for the wedding by setting up chairs, tying ribbons on chairs, making mounds of guacamole (the food at the reception was wonderful and Connie's guacamole was something we all could help with), and doing every other little thing we could do to help with the big event. We rode horses (and Ashton decided he's a serious horseman and galloped through the fields with glee until he fell off - but luckily he wasn't hurt). We did the often-annual Loosli Family Fun Run (I was so proud of myself for doing the full 10K this year thanks to some good running partners, some perfect weather and lovely scenery). The kids enjoyed scores of hours on the good old trampoline. We enjoyed amazing beauty. We talked about wedding plans for two more nieces who'll be married in August. We watched Jared and Aaron and most of the men-folk build an exciting new zip line in Grandma's back yard and then watched the kids enjoy it immensely (what a great Father's Day activity to build this and bring so much joy to all the kids! Plus it was a great bonding activity for the dads). 

I'm so blessed to be a Loosli.

Here's the story in pictures:

Making mountains of guacamole (Isaac's favorite thing in the world) for the wedding reception

The lovely wedding on Friday

Getting ready for the Loosli Fun Run

quick snapshot while I ran the 10K. Scenery like this and perfect cool weather makes running so nice.

another shot across the field while running

Building the zipline - everyone surveying how to anchor the pole...

Hay bales - perfect solution for building a platform to reach the zip line

Finished zip line - SO MUCH FUN! (that's Eliza taking her turn -
adults and kids alike rode that zipline for hours on end)

Silas and Oliver with their cousin Logan having fun on horses

The kids spent about 8 hours a day on this great old trampoline and the huge tire swing behind them.

 Ashton is a gorgeous place. These are all just raw photos taken with my phone:

We all stood out there to watch this sunset. Beautiful moment.

Pasture land across the street from Jared's mom's house

Tiny potatoes starting to come up in the fields

Tetons in the distance

Father's Day gifts. Loved being there for Father's day so we could
visit Jared's dad's grave and reminisce about great times with that great man.