spontaneous weekend!

On Saturday morning, I dropped Zeej off at work and before I was a block away, she called and said that she wasn't supposed to work.  She'd read the wrong schedule.  Doug called two seconds later to say that he was almost done working, so we came home, loaded up and headed up to the ranch for a spontaneous weekend.   We had plans on going up for Sunday afternoon already, to meet with the family, so this was perfect!  An extra day at the ranch is a wonderful surprise anytime!  

We connected with Alan and Jill, who texted that they were already planning on going up, and they insisted that we join them!  Doug and I had decided that we would go to the ranch by way of Bear Lake, so that we could A. take a drive through Logan Canyon and B. see where all the smoke is coming from because the news reports that the mountain behind Beaver Mt. Ski Lodge is on fire.    So, Alan and Jill came here, we loaded up and headed on our way.  What normally takes two hours took us five.  We had a nice drive through the canyon, then stopped near Beaver Lodge and watched the fire fighters and helicopters pouring the water on the fire.  It was heartbreaking to see these beautiful mountains covered in smoke.  We'd see a tree go up and the smoke turns instantly black where the tree is burning.  It's incredible to see.  We do understand that they are letting a lot of it burn because it's nature's way of caring for the earth, but still.  It's so hard to see those flames and the smoke-filled skies.

Oddly enough, we are standing there watching the fire with Alan and Jill.  A big truck drives up, pulling a four-wheeler.  I'm blind and seriously stared right at them before everyone realized that it was Clint and Denise, who were up the canyon for a ride.  They pulled off and we all visited for an hour while watching the fires and helicopters.  Ironically, another truck pulled up and the driver got out.  He turned out to be an old neighbor from Smithfield.  Odd place to meet old and new friends.  
 We also were surprised to find an old pay-type phone on the top of the mountain.  You don't see payphones anywhere these days, but to find any kind of phone up there was even more surprising.  My cute favorite niece Jocelyn went and tried it out to see if it worked and it did!

 There were lots of games and food, as usual.  My favorite nephew Jake managed to get a perfect Zero score on Quixx.  He was quite proud!

Alan demonstrated how to cut a watermelon, like on Pinterest.  He'd figured it out, out of necessity at another family gathering, long before it was a popular You-Tube. 

The purpose of the family meeting was for the cabin to be "dedicated".  A prayer was said to ask Heavenly Father to protect and bless the cabin and to dedicate the cabin as a place for those who enter it with peace and love.  Doug's mom had asked Doug to offer the dedication prayer, following a family council, where we discussed more details about the cabin situation...there are still a few outside/structural things that need to be completed.

 We stood all convened outside for a few minutes to look at the structural challenges, affected by the flood and made some decisions about what still needs to be done soon.

 It never ceases to amaze me just how Doug and his siblings can have a meeting where, even though someone might have a difference of opinion, it's never expressed unless it is tactful and respectful.  I saw no differences of opinion during our two hour meeting.  Everyone expressed their thoughts and suggestions and all were considered and discussed.  His family really are amazing.  At the end of the meeting, one of his brothers shared a crock pot of homemade chili, which was a perfect way to end the meeting before a two hour drive home.

We pulled back into Logan after 10PM and were very quick to unload, put away, have prayer and get straight to bed.  It was a perfectly wonderful spontaneous weekend!

Life is good!