Riley Reunion

This last week we were lucky to have 3 of Keyan's brothers, plus his dad, come down to Florida for a "reunion."  We missed having his other 3 brothers and his mom come down to join us, but we realize Florida is far from Utah and it takes a lot to be able to travel here.  We are grateful for those brothers who did come.  So, to start off the pictures, here is a big RILEY sign that Nick dug in the sand right below the condo we were staying in.  It's hard to get the perspective of how large it really was......it was built to last!

The Riley men started off the week by going on a deep sea fishing trip.  No one got sick being out on the water, but as you can see from the picture of Isaac, the water was pretty calm that day.  They did bring back a small catch, but winter is apparently not the time of year to catch a ton of fish.  The charter guys said this had been their worse fishing day all year.....but the guys still had a fun time out there.

Darren, Keyan, Isaac, Lyrad, Ernie, Nick

This is definitely not a record breaking catch!

 The next day was the shooting fest up at a friend's property.  I think this was probably the most looked forward to event by the brothers.  Darren took charge of the event, educating all on guns and gun safety, but all of the brothers seemed to have a vast knowledge of guns.  We all tried our hand at shooting.....some more enthusiastically than others. 

Ben was the only one under the age of 17 that kept up with the brothers......he just kept shooting and shooting.

Ernie, Nick, and Lyrad waiting for the clay pigeon to fly.

Doesn't Eliza look like one of Charlie's Angels?

Madi looks tough....Stay out of her way!

Elyse got some extra help from Uncle Darren.......together they made a pop can fly!

Mara and Grandpa Riley taking aim.

 

The shooting lineup.

Sam had a great time collecting bullet shells.

He had even more fun pulling the trigger!

A quick game of beach soccer to keep everyone warm.



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Pat, Sam, and Darren



We are glad Uncle Darren is an engineer, he was able to fix Sam's kite so that it would stay afloat.

Madi and Eliza.........it still takes me awhile to tell them apart.

Isaac was not deterred by the cold water.

John was loving the beach.

He loved it so much, he wanted to get in more appropriate beach attire!

Josh looks like he's stretching before a jog on the sand.......he must have watched his mom jog every morning on the beach.

Julie and Molly......picture perfect.

Ernie, Molly, and Nick

Keyan was excited to play photographer for Nick's family.

 We went on a Dolphin Cruise and before the excursion, I wondered, how can they guarantee that we'll see any dolphins?  Do they track them?  Feed them? Have beacons on them?  I guess it's just experience, because we saw a lot of dolphins.  I actually think they were the same ones we saw over and over, we just followed them around......but it is still really cool to see dolphins up so close.

Yes, it was cold!

Josh and Ben were up to some creative playing.....I heard them calling each other Commander and various other names.

Darren.....enjoying a Titanic moment.

A pod of about 4 dolphins.......at one time we saw about 8 of them altogether.

Cute hat, Eliza!

The kids all got their chance to drive the boat......here Elyse is in charge.

Lyrad and Alicia..this is actually the shot after the one of them kissing.......their kids weren't too thrilled by the spectacle!

The seagulls were well trained to come take food out of your hand......here Pat holds it steady.

Here Julie invites a seagull to come......I'm not sure if one ever did, but she kind of looks like the Statue of Liberty, don't you think?

Nick and his crew

Our crew in the captain's quarters.

Pat and Darren......it was great to get to know Pat......she is a lovely person.

So, this is Aero, aka Rachel, but everyday she had a shirt or something on it that said Aeropostale, so I guess that's her new name!

Sam and Isaac basking in the sun.

 It was great to have everyone together and to get reacquainted.  I am impressed by the caliber of the ladies in this family.....the Riley boys have done well.  It's good to see strong families trying to do what's right and teaching their kids to do the same.  We are excited by the prospect of having Lyrad and his family out here in Florida next year........we hope the Air Force will let our assignments overlap for at least a year so that we can hang out together.  We've never had family so close, I think it would be great. 

Start planning the next reunion.......Reno?  Augusta?  Santaquin?