Priest Lake

August 8-16 we went to Priest Lake in northern Idaho with my sister Joan's family. It's the same cabin where we went for Christmas, and it's a pretty darn long drive. The first few days were sunny, gorgeous, and warm, and the cousins had a great time together in the sand and water.

(This is me, showing my sister my back diving technique.)

We rented a boat one day—a day it was cloudy and rainy with brief rays of sun.

Water skiing! I love it so.

The kids loved tubing.
And Libby learned to ski. That's my girl!

The rest of the week was cloudy and cooler.

But it didn't keep the kids out of the water, and every time the sun peeked out from behind the clouds we rushed down to take advantage of it.

Blaine taking Jackson and Macklin out in the kayak.

The swimming dock

The floating island

We had a totally fantastic trip—so relaxing. The kids all got along together so well, and so did the grown ups. What's not to love?

Party ANIMALS

I really want to make the long breaks we take from school fun, instead of just lounging about doing nothing day after day (which is, alas, our usual M.O.). I think we've done pretty well this break. :) Of course we had the great trip to the cabin for Christmas, and last weekend we went ice skating at a rink in Provo (a 2002 Olympic hockey venue! *fanfare*). Last night we had Emma's local school friends—not the boarding students, who are still at home for the holiday—here for a night of games. It was nonstop laughter and soda and pizza and they had a great time. And today we're going to SLC to my sister's house to play with her kids, their Christmas presents, and their Wii. Tomorrow we'll go with sister's family to an indoor swim park, the kind that has a current pool and indoor water slides and all those things kids turn on and off and spray each other.

Next Tuesday it's back to the regularly scheduled program, but for now we're still living it up. And I think we've had a great vacation. :)

Emma's birthday was Monday. She had probably the best birthday a 15YO can possibly have. Her main (only?) gift was a new cell phone. It's way nicer than mine! And she loved it. Then later in the day her cute little used laptop that we bought used to try to get her through the school year finally, after several pricey repairs, had something go wrong we weren't willing to pay to fix, so we ordered her a brand spankin' new MacBook for school. It arrived yesterday. Can you imagine a 15YO girl more electronically blessed? Neither can I.

I'm off now to pack my little bag and drag my swimsuit out of the cobwebby corners of the bottom drawer, so I can have another adventure this weekend. *waves*

----------------
Now playing: Sia - Breathe Me
via FoxyTunes

Ringing out the old

Here we stand, almost at the very edge of 2008, and how quickly it has passed. In some of my resolutions so determinedly made last January I made great strides, and in some not at all. In a few things the landscape looks about the same as always, and in some so different. But this year has been very good to me. Here are a few of the things that I consider the great blessings of 2008.

• My husband and children. Always they top the list. It is my highest honor and blessing to be mother and wife to this crew of amazing people.
  
• Emma's entry into the academy. I honestly thought I'd homeschool forever! Despite my initial reticence, it has turned out to be one of the best decisions we've made, and she is doing better than I would have dared to dream.
• Our fabulous Christmas at the cabin in Idaho, and our other wonderful trips to Zion National Park and Kodachrome State Park.
• Paying off two car loans in entirety.
• Having a really good group of friends here in Fairview, people that we care about and have fun with.
• Despite the economy, Blaine's company is doing terrific business right now and his job is as secure as it can be.
• Getting out of diapers completely and totally.
• My strength training program—it rocks given that I work out at home with only eight-pound hand weights.
  
• Finding Eat Stop Eat, which has changed my perspective, my motivation, and my hope.

Yes, I'm another year older. Yes, I have a few regrets, but more things I pat my own back over. It's been a lovely year, and I go into 2009 with my arms wide and a smile on my face.

Tomorrow when I flip the calendar page, I'll probably also take down all the beautiful Christmas cards we received. So here is a blurry photo of the calendar and card door, before I have to make it bare again. Happy 2009, everyone!



----------------
Now playing: Syntax - Pride
via FoxyTunes

"Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home."

(quote by Matsuo Basho)

We're home! We slept in our own cuddly little beds last night. We had the best cabin Christmas. Click on any photo below to go to the photo stream and see many, many more.

Tuesday 23 December: We drove through a couple of snow storms on the way up, but even so it wasn't bad driving. There was snow on the roads, but our 4WD totally handled it. Sometimes we had to drive slowly, sometimes we could almost travel 65MPH, and we made it from Salt Lake City (where most of my family lives) to the cabin in one long day. We unloaded the car and trailer and then crash-landed into beds, exhausted.

Wednesday 24 December: Woke up to a few inches of new snow. We did our minimal Christmas decorating—put up the small tree, a few ornaments, and the one string of lights, put the presents under the tree. And then the kids went out into the wonderland of snow, which they did every day. We decorated a gingerbread house, which we ate that evening (Christmas Eve!) while we watched a Christmas movie.





So many presents...

...we even had to stuff them around the back of the tree :)



(this one is after all the kids were in bed and all the presents were out)

Thursday 25 December: Woke up to a few inches of new snow, and it snowed all day. Christmas morning was wonderful, everyone was thrilled with their presents, which is always a relief for the parents. They played happily for an hour or two, and then bundled up and went out into the snow again.












Friday 26 December: More new snow that continued all day, more playing with toys, more enjoying the cabin.









Saturday 27 December: We'd gotten at least six more inches of snow, so we all went out for a last romp. Then it was indoors to pack, clean up, and make Christmas cookies. :)







Sunday 28 December: The first morning we didn't wake to a layer of new snow, which was great since we'd plowed out the evening before in preparation for getting the car and trailer back out of the driveway. We left early and started the journey home. Near the cabin it was snowing lightly, but within an hour and a half as we approached Coeur D'Alene, where Blaine's grandparents live, it was slushy rainy snow. The further south we went, the warmer it got and the rainier it was. If someone were telling me this as a story, I'd think, that makes for easier traveling. But it didn't. It was slushy and way more slippery than just the snow was, and we went slower. By afternoon it was clear we wouldn't make it home. So we decided to stay in a motel. This is a pretty rare thing for the kiddles, and they were excited. We got a "suite" (which is two queens and a pull-out bed in the sofa *eyeroll*) and watched a DVD before sleeping hard. This was the one and only time during the trip we had internet access, and Emma was so excited to check her final grades for the semester. She got all A+ again, all seven classes and both extra-curriculars. SO PROUD OF HER.




Monday 29 December: Breakfast, driving, picking up everything from Salt Lake we'd accidentally left on our way through, visiting family, and then, home. We had to shovel out our walks and driveway before we could even pull in and unload. It was a lot of happy, weary Ls that finally flopped into bed yesterday evening. :)

So glad we went, despite all the work it was to pack everything up there and back, and the long, long drives.