Happy Fourth!

As usual, we went out of town for the 4th of July. Last year we went to Vernal to mix it up a bit, but this year we went back to our usual stomping ground of Bear Lake. Not only did we stay the weekend, but we stayed the entire following week, so we were up there July 1-9. We would have stayed until the 10th, but I had to return for a mission reunion on the evening of the 9th. It was such a much needed vacation though, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Lake is finally back up and it's not a half mile hike to the water. I love going to the Lake, but I think this was the most fun I've had there in years.

The weekend started off with my family coming. I had more cousins with their families up there in probably 5-6 years. We actually had full house in the cabin - that doesn't happen very often. We even had enough kids to use both dorms - that never happens.

There were a lot of kids for Kyson to play with but the first day he chose to play with David, until David got in trouble for throwing rocks, so Kyson couldn't play with him for a little while. Then Josh arrived on Saturday morning. When Josh got there it was like heaven parted its clouds and sent down the perfect playmate for my little boy (and husband).

Kyson was exposed to baseball for the first time, by playing with my uncle and cousins, and we had a killer fireworks show on both the 3rd and 4th of July. I bought $50 worth of fireworks in Evanston and ours were the

lamest of them all. Luckily we had my dad light them off so he looked like the fool instead of us. People would expect it from him so no one thought twice :).

One of my favorite parts was walking with my husband. For about a month, I've been walking 4 miles a day, and I had a goal to continue doing that while on vacation. Kris helped me achieve that goal and it was so wonderful to have an hour away from the kids every day to talk. Sometimes we took Kodi, but she wasn't as disturbing as a talkative toddler.

At one point, my dad suggested we go four-wheeling and I was invited to go. I invited Kyson

to go with us and we set out on a fabulous adventure. When choosing a four-wheeling partner he chose our family friend, Wes - not his mom, not his grandpa. Unfortunately, it started raining. It was the only day it rained up there and we happened to be up in the mountains on the four-wheelers with a 4-year-old. I was worried that Wes would get annoyed if Kyson started crying or complaining, and I was worried Kyson would never want to go four-wheeling again. It was FREEZING! As luck would have it, I was worried for nothing. Kyson loved the rain and was a better sport about it than the adults. By the time we got back to the truck, we all were drenched from head to foot. It took me the entire day to get warm again.

I think there were three reasons why this particular trip to Bear Lake was so enjoyable for me: 1) I went at the beginning of the quarter so I wasn't stressed about schoolwork, and I didn't do any. 2) Because Josh was there, Kris came out and played with us at the water. 3) I got to walk with my husband every day and have an hour of alone time with him. I believe for these three reasons, I'd repeat that trip in a heartbeat - even the less than ideal moments.