The Cabin

After St George, we headed to Jeff's family cabin for a week with the family. Our whole family loves the cabin and the kids talk about it all year around. It was a great week with almost all of the family in attendance (we missed Allen and Dennis). Unfortunately, I don't think anyone thought to get a picture of all the grandchildren. We have a new addition since last year and the oldest will be gone on his mission next year so it would have been a good shot.

We started the week with a visit with Aunt Dottie and Uncle Rod as well as Balloon Glow. We then enjoyed time with the cousins, rides on the zip line and the motorcycles/ATVs, hanging out on the hammock and swings, Grandma's treasure hunt, reading (I think I read at least 4 or 5 books during the week), playing cards, Grandpa's dutch oven cooking despite the rain, building forts, good food, guitar lessons with Auntie Ruth, trips up the hill for cell phone reception, trips down the mountain for wi-fi, and fishing.

We spent the week sleeping in a tent. I was a little worried about how it was going to work out but besides being cold the first night, it was great. We borrowed a large tent from Dottie and Rod and were able to fit two queen size air mattresses, a twin mattress, a pack n play plus most of our luggage. The kids slept great for the most part as well. One of the first nights, we took the kids out to the tent to put them to bed. As usual, they asked for a story so I told them the story of how Jeff and I met and fell in love. Of course since it was my story, I put my spin on it and got some laughs out of everyone. Then Jeff turned the tables and told the story from his view and of course embellished a few of the details. By the end, we were all laughing pretty hard. It was a good family memory for me even if it meant it took a little longer to settle the kids down for sleep.

We ended the week with the 4th of July festivities. Friday night we hit the kids' rodeo. The kids surprised us all night. First, Ellie surprised me when she didn't want to participate in the small animal (rabbit) chase. Next, Paige and Kate surprised me when they caught rabbits. The arena surprised me by having wi-fi so we could enjoy the rodeo as we checked our email. Seth surprised us by signing up for the sheep riding event. He really surprised me when he stayed on for 6 seconds or so and was one of the best in the group. Finally Kate surprised me when she cried/whailed for an entire hour because we gave her rabbit away to someone we didn't know and she was never going to see it again. Luckily the lake had their fireworks that night and we were finally able to break Kate of her sadness as we enjoyed the show.

Saturday we attended the 4th of July parade and festivities in Cedar City before heading back to Las Vegas for another visit with my brother and family and then enjoying swimming (in the kids' clothes) and fireworks with Jeff's grandma, aunt and uncle and cousins.

It was another great week on the never ending westward vacation. I am so glad my kids love their cousins and were able to get a chance to really enjoy each other. I'm also glad I really like Jeff's family.

Chase woke up at 3:30 this morning before eventually falling back to sleep on the couch with me and Noggin sometime between 4 and 5. He also got stitches today after falling in the shower. These events add up to a tired mommy so the cabin pictures will have to wait to another day (hopefully tomorrow).