Heppner Family Camp Out 2017

 While Michael and Josiah were at summer Boy Scout Camp, the girls and I headed to the annual family camp out at the ranch in Heppner. We rode ATVs to look at the beautiful views and saw a lot of wildlife along the way.

 Stacie and I with our dad. We've been so blessed with an amazing dad who loves us unconditionally and isn't afraid to tell us.

 Hailey was spoiled rotten by her cousins as usual. She was old enough to really be able to play with them this time.

 Cousin Jacob and Rina, walking to the creek. 

 Cousin Asher enjoyed taking Rina for spin in his little battery operated side-by-side. They were so cute!

 I took my nephew, Elijah, and Rina for a slow ride through the camp.

 My niece, Lily, and nephew, Asher, just loved my brother's good friend, Ethan. He was so much fun! He would take them to the pond to go fishing.

 Hailey, enjoying a nice cup of cocoa to start the morning off right. We enjoyed sitting in the shade of my sister's vintage trailer. Having an awning was awesome!

Rina wanted to clean Aunt Stacie's trailer. Hope her clean streak sticks!

Selfie on Aunt Stacie's bed! Love my nieces, Lily and Jessica, so much.

 On the way home, we stopped by the Heppner Cemetery to see the "Days of Sorrow" mass grave and monument. There was a flood that wiped out over 200 people in that town in 1903.

Whole families were wiped out. It is a super sad story told best in Peg Willis' book called Rise Above.

We also saw this interesting headstone. 

My sister and I always wanted to stop and see the mass grave and we finally did it. It was super sobering to be standing there. All the sorrow and heart-ache caused from that flood was just horrible. 

If you are ever in Heppner, Oregon, be sure to stop by their county museum and check out the display on this subject. 

It was another Heppner Family vacation for the books. It seems like we're getting fewer as the teenagers get older and more busy with jobs and camps, but the younger kids and us adults have so much fun. We look forward to next year's camp out!