Cabin Adventures

We just got home today from a little trip to the cabin. We were only there for 2 nights and it just wasn't long enough. By the time we were all settled in it felt like it was already time to come home. I was telling my mom the other day that the cabin is finally fun again. I went through a period when the kids were just little, where it seemed like all I was doing was keeping them from eating the dirt and they never slept well which meant they were tired and cranky...and so was I. Now Jordan is getting to the age where he can do more things and it is so fun to watch him playing and doing all the things I remember doing as a kid at the cabin.

We went on a hike to Boulder Cave. I wasn't sure how the kids would react to being in a cave, but they loved it. When we got to the end Jordan wanted to walk back through it to the entrance and then we turned around and went back out again. The whole time he was shining his flashlight all around and said he was looking for dinosaurs.

He found a "not so comfortable" rock recliner for a little rest.

Collecting baby frogs at the lake

Megan was actually adventuresome and went on a ride in the kayak. She usually doesn't like trying new things so we were pleasantly surprised. Whenever we ask her if she wants to ride a horse her reply is always, "No, I ride stroller.

Even Baron is smiling in this picture!

Other activities that we didn't get pictures of included: Andrew took Jordan shooting for the first time, our nightly hikes to the river to wear the kids out before bed and seeing 30 head of elk peacefully grazing in the meadow...that is until Jordan started doing his elk call, which scared them all away.

Memorial Day

We spent Memorial Day weekend up at the cabin, which was kind of a celebration for us because Andrew had just finished his last quarter of school. The weather wasn't the greatest, but we still had a lot of fun and the kids actually slept great this time which has never been the case in the past. I think we'll be seeing a lot more of the cabin this summer than we have the last couple of years...in fact, we'd live there all summer if it were up to Jordan.

It's so nice having older cousins around. Megan just adores them and loves the attention they give her.

Here's Jordan with his bucket of dinosaurs. This is actually the bucket of dinosaurs that began his whole obsession. Last 4th of July Jordan discovered these dinosaurs that Grandma got as cabin toys, and we've never been the same since.

Megan tried on every boot by the front door, until she settled on these as her favorite pair.

I promise Andrew and I were there too. For some reason, we just never seem to end up in the pictures. Andrew spent the weekend helping my dad with all sorts of projects, including fixing plumbing problems, cutting down some dead trees and clearing the horse trails. As for me, I just enjoyed the fresh air and loved watching the smiles on my kid's faces as they played and did manage to slip away for a little while to enjoy a nice, quiet walk in the woods. It was a great weekend!!!

Marianne's Make-A-Wish

When Marianne received her prognosis back in June I was talking to her on the phone and asked her, "Marianne, what do you want your Make-A-Wish to be?" Out of all the things she could have chosen to do and all the places she could have gone, what she wished for did not surprise me at all because it's probably what my wish would have been too. Her wish was to spend some time at the cabin with all of her siblings, their spouses and Mom and Dad.

This past weekend we made her wish come true and had a blast doing it. The weather wasn't the greatest but it really didn't matter because we were together and that's what it was all about. We played games, went on horseback rides, the girls went to breakfast at Whistlin' Jack (a tradition we've had as long as I can remember) we laughed, we cried and just enjoyed being together.

The highlight of the trip was we had a campfire on Friday night and shared our favorite memories of the cabin and our testimonies with each other. It was a tear-filled, spiritual night where many special words were spoken that I will always remember. We then watched a video that Jared had made of Marianne's life. We had to hook the projector and laptop up to the generator because of the lack of electricity at the cabin. At the very end of the video there was a touching song, "Please Remember," by LeAnn Rimes. It got us all crying and then the generator ran out of gas. We all just started laughing and took a brief intermission to fill up the generator and dry our eyes.

Thanks for the fun time everyone, thank you to Grandma Erin and Auntie Sarah for taking such great care of the kids while we were away, and thanks to Marianne for having such a fun Make-A-Wish that brought us all together.