I was in charge of the Collins reunion this year. We went to Six Lakes in Altamont, Utah. This was our first time having a reunion here and we loved everything about it! We rented two cabins and two bunkhouses plus a couple of families brought their camp trailers. We are getting to be a big group and it is hard to find a place that can accommodate us that is reasonably priced. The main cabin had 5 bedrooms, a nice kitchen, and a basement TV room. The Palmers (me, Wade and Kimberlea, Denya, Britta, and Ryan) (Delwyn and Blake stayed home to work) stayed in the second cabin, which was also really nice. Our cabin had a nice deck with this view of one of the lakes.
It was nice to just sit on the deck, visit, and take in the scenery.
This was the view from our kitchen in the cabin. It was absolutely breathtaking when the sun set behind the lake.
Our cabin had 2 bedrooms and 3 couches that fold out into beds. Ryan quickly claimed this couch for his bed.
Britta was waiting for everyone else to be ready, and she looked so cute doing it, even if she was sitting on the kitchen counter!
The cabin was decorated with lots of rustic Western things. This moose was in the living room.
Wade and Kimberlea stayed in one of the bedrooms.
After we got settled, we went on a walk down by the lake. There were lots of big rocks and we had fun hiking around.
This cute fire pit was made out of an old blacksmith's fireplace and was just down the path from our cabin. There were several seats around it that had been made out of old tractor seats.
This lighthouse was by the lake near our cabin. It needs a little work, but added to the atmosphere.
Troy is always in charge of one of the dinners because he is such a good cook! He has a new smoker and this year he smoked turkey breast and made dutch oven potatoes. It was sooo good!
Everyone loads up their plates. We also had green salad and watermelon.
Some people ate in the kitchen, some people went outside on the deck.
One night after dinner we hiked to this waterfall. It was beautiful!
The lakes were very pretty.
Britta found a way to get down right in front of the waterfall. It was a little tricky, but Wade took this picture of me walking down there.
Sisters make the best of friends!
Britta has grown taller than Denya, and has been for quite a while. She like to pick her up and give her piggyback rides. Sweet, silly girls!
A picture of all the hikers, minus the photographer (aka, me.)
The Collins family loves to play games. Kimberlea passes the disk holder to Vanessa in Catch Phrase, which is one of our favorite games.
Mom loves the kids! Harper and Dyllin, two of the great grandkids, give Grandma some loves.
Tanner, Glenda, and Tara playing Imaginiff.
Most of the kids slept outside on the deck of the main cabin. Haley and Brooklyn look too excited to sleep, there was lots of talking and laughing going on.
Dyllin is 6 and has learned how to read. Harper is very interested in the story. They were so cute snuggled up on the couch reading together.
All of the lakes have canoes and everyone had so much fun on the water. Wade and Kimberlea got a rhythm down and were gliding around the lake like experts.
Colby and Wayden head out on the water.
Everyone loved Greyson and wanted to hold him. Vanessa is such a good mom!
Shane and Vanessa brought their boat. The lakes aren't big enough for motorized boats, but Sand Wash Reservoir is only about 10 minutes away.
Aleice and Justin were in the first group to go boating. They were so excited!
It's fun to be in the front of the boat. When it gets going fast, the water sprays up high and its exhilarating to watch the waves.
The boat can hold 5 people at a time, so Shane, Tara, Denya, Britta, and Ryan went together. I sent my camera with them so I could have some pictures of their adventure.
Cute sisters riding the waves!
Ryan wasn't sure he wanted to tube, Tara said she would go with him and Shane said he would drive slow. Ryan could give him the thumbs up if he wanted to go faster.
He liked it so much, he went by himself and Shane drove fast!
Britta thought it was more fun to go alone than with someone else. She also told me that Denya was the best at staying on.
Wade loves boats and the water. He wanted to knee board so bad!! He went boating with the Lewis family a lot when he was a teenager, but he has only been knee boarding once in the 6 years since he has been married, so it was hard to get up.
He did manage to get on the board a few times, but only lasted a few seconds. He kept trying until his arms were too tired to do any more.
We were the last group to go on the boat, and the weather started to get a little stormy. The wind came up, the clouds got dark, and it sprinkled a little. Shane offered to let me ride on the tube, but I was too cold.
Vanessa knows how to drive the boat and Shane wanted to knee board one last time.
I didn't get a picture of him riding across the waves, but he was great and it was fun to watch him.
There were little lizards everywhere!! One of the kids caught this one down by the water, and it must have been cold, because it didn't even try to run, like most of them did. Troy carried it around on his shoulder like a pet for quite awhile.
Denya got creative with the sidewalk chalk.
Troy found a feather and stuck it in his hat. We called him Robin Hood.
Tara is such a good aunt! She played in the water a lot with the kids.
Brooklyn and Colby stayed on the water until it was almost dark.
We made a fire one night and had s'mores. My camera usually takes better night pictures than this, I'm not sure what happened. Tara had glow sticks for all the kids and they ran around lighting up the yard.
I have never been a big fan of cactus, I just thought they were sharp plants to avoid! I remember stepping on one when I was a kid, ouch! Quite a few sharp prickles that had to pulled out of my shoe and foot. These were really pretty with blooms on them.
These yellow ones were near our cabin.
I am so thankful for my family, and I love these family reunions! I hope we keep having them for many years to come!
