after cousin's camp and the quick trip to utah valley for an extended family reunion my entire family made their way back to the cabin for a week together. our dallas family (stephen, rachel and their children) were there which only happens once a year. it is always fun to see them when they come! it amazes me how they do that drive from dallas, texas to the west coast each year and then once in the west they still do road trips between california and salt lake city, utah and the cabin in the middle of utah and vegas as well. they trek serious miles! this time they were on the tail end of their three week excursion and so returning home to dallas they had their mini-van full of things my brother was taking from my parent's home. since my parent's moved from our family home of 30+years they had a number of things they had saved that had stephen and rachel's names on them. most all of it got into the van except two items that my dad pulled out because he just could not part with them: a masters (golf tournament) folding seat and a master's blanket. it was so funny to see him hold on to those items and not let stephen put them in. fitting the rest of the items of randomness in the van was nothing short of a serious puzzle. but with a little help and trying different configurations everything got in plus their four children! i was amazed. that was a commercial for the town and country chrysler mini-van if i'd ever seen one!
during the week my dad was pulling up our back decking because of some rotting support beams underneath. the grandchildren got to help a little. i love when grandpa lets the children help and get involved in such projects. it is real-life, hands-on learning.
mid-week the boys and i drove down to cedar city to spend a day doing some fun things just together. i took them bowling (the bowling center in cedar is a throw back to yester-year which i just loved!) in the bowling center there was no smoking and no one there! we practically had the place to ourselves. it was so unlike vegas that i loved it! we had a great time just the three of us and i loved being with my boys. again i was so aware that our lives are all going to change with a new baby on the way. just having taken jack and morgan that day bowling and creating that memory for me was worth the drive down the canyon and the $5 i think we spend in total bowling!
later at the end of the week rod got a ride up to st. george and my parents went down to pick him up and bring him back to the cabin for the weekend. by the end of the weekend i was not so comfortable because of the altitude and happy to go home! each week i stayed was so beautiful weather wise and the boys were beyond happy to play with friends and cousins but the altitude affected my growing body more and more. it was almost a relief to return home in the middle of august and breathe without effort again.
when we got home we did some back to school shopping (mostly for shoes that had been grown out of from the previous year.) we found great sales at the outlets on las vegas boulevard which helped out a bunch with the cost. i was also able to get to my doctor visits and catch up on my church work responsibilities. it was good to be home. it was hot and i didn't love having to run errands in the heat but being able to breathe properly and being less sore or tight in the belly was a great relief.
i felt like i had hit the maximum of time i could do at the cabin this summer. each week brought new people and new activities. my hope is that my children have really great memories of their summers there. i hope they have clear memories of their grandparents being there. i feel like it has more of my mom and dad in it than their home in vegas has now that their vegas home is so knew to us in the family. the vegas home is super close to us and beautiful but the cabin has so much of my parent's fingerprints all over, in and around it. even when they are not really there with us in person their influence and personalities are felt. it has been such a blessing for our family to have that magnificent place. when i sit in the great room with the doors open, the river running and a cool breeze blowing through, i feel possibly the most peace i've ever felt.
next summer i'll be going back a few years to chasing around a crawling baby and it will be a little less relaxing. but that is o.k. i've had plenty of years relaxing up there now with my boys having grown up so fast! i have an idea of how fast time will go and i look forward to long walks with my jogger stroller and little one seated there in again. the only difference is that this time it will only be a single jogger stroller and not a cumbersome double one! add to that fact--that i'll have not one (just rod when jack and morgan were babies) but three (jack and morgan now) boys able to help me push the stroller! yes, everything will be different with just one baby to manage up there.
(photo: my nephew from dallas asleep at lunchtime. there are so many things that are awesome to me about this photo! 1) he is usually full of energy and doesn't nap really 2) he didn't even make it to the end of his lunch and he is an eater 3) the insect killer box that is on the table with lunch (thank goodness it is only being used to store papers at the time!) 4) that red cup--those are a staple up at the cabin
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