Family Fun in Yosemite

There were eleven of us that went camping in Yosemite this year. Our family of seven, my mom and Jay, and my brother, Bryce, and his wife, Chareen. We had a lot of fun, laughed quite a bit, and created some priceless memories. Here's all eleven of us with Yosemite Falls in the background.

Our family of seven, why do my kids keep growing up? They looked smaller when I took this same shot in 2007.
Here's all of us in front of Yosemite Falls.Our family

My kids being so silly!Thank goodness the girls were strong enough to hold up this rock as we hiked around it.Aren't these boys adorable?Meal time under the dining fly. It rained a lot so while we were there so we appreciated the shelter. We always had plenty of food though.

The pool at Curry Village was pretty cold. We tried it out anyway. It was good training for my upcoming triathlon.
Adorable smiles!This guy is pretty adorable too!

Our last group shot in the meadow across from El Capitan.
We all loved seeing the rock climbers on El Capitan through the telescope.Riding the free shuttle buses throughout Yosemite valley was very convenient.

Our family on a bridge by Bridalveil Falls.
In front of Mirror Lake

We would have liked to have spent more time river rafting, but it was very cold. Lloyd did manage to take some of us across the river to a small island by Swinging Bridge. Here he is with Cameron.

Katelyn and Conner had their turn too. Conner loved it!Here I am with Lloyd. I'm not very good at rowing. Lloyd was great to take us all out and back from the island.

Overall, it was a fun and memorable family vacation. Here are our top 10 memories from our 2009 Trip to Yosemite:

1- Bryce's funnel cakes (best I ever had)

2- Rain (lots of wet and dirty clothes, we had to wash our sleeping bags at the laundromat after the trip)

3- Watching the rock climbers on El Capitan (so intriguing)

4- Mom's trip to the medical center for a broken blood vessel in her eye (luckily she was okay and it healed quickly)

5- Pizza from Curry Village (Lloyd and I were too tired to cook after hiking Half Dome)

6- Elmer (you had to be there)

7- Bear sightings (we saw five different bears)

8- Lloyd and I safely hiking Half Dome (someone died there four days after we hiked it)

9- Camping in the valley (we had to reserve in January, but the price and location were just right)

10- The hot shower after hiking Half Dome and swimming in the cold pool (we were only suppose to be in there for five minutes, but we took a little longer - the hot water felt heavenly)