I arrived at the cabin at 5PM on Wednesday afternoon. Carol's late husband, Robert's daughter was there with her two kids, a one year and a three year old. They'd been there for two days visiting. Carol, Tessa and I cooked steaks on the grill for dinner, then visited until bedtime. Tessa and her kids left the next morning after an early breakfast, leaving Carol and I alone for the next 24 hours to play cards, drink cokes and enjoy the view from the balcony of the beautiful cabin overlooking the entire valley and lake. However, plans changed that next day.
While talking with Doug and telling him how wonderful it was, on Thursday evening, I said, "Man! I wish you could be with us!" He agreed. He gets away so very little. I always get to play. But, I had the commitment with Denise. Doug mentioned that this would have been a great weekend because he was off work, both girls were not scheduled, and he had no church obligations because of General Conference. It really was a perfect opportunity. And Carol has not used her cousin's cabin in seven years, the last time we were all there. I thought about it all night long and just felt sad that they missed out on this opportunity. When Doug called at his morning break, he mentioned it again. I told him that I had been thinking about it too. We decided that if Denise was okay with finding someone else to go with (and who wouldn't want to go and see Luke Bryan!?), I would stay and we would plan the weekend for Doug and the girls to come and join us.
I called Denise and told her that it was totally up to her, that if she wanted me to come, I would. But, that this was a perfect opportunity for Doug and the girls to join us too. She said that she would just go with her husband (and ended up inviting her sister instead). She was glad that Doug could get a chance to "play" too. So, once that decision was made, we made a huge packing list and food shopping list for Doug and the girls and for Carol's daughter, Madi (who did most of the shopping and gathering). Carol had planned one more night at the cabin with Madi and her daughter Makayla. She had not planned on staying through Sunday evening. But, this was too good of an opportunity to pass up!
So! I texted the girls. They cried! They were so excited! Doug got off work and they all checked everything off the buy, pack, load list and headed over. We had the time of our life! The weather was amazing. We saw sleet, hail, rain, thunder and lightning, sunshine, wind... you name it. It had snowed on the last Saturday, as Carol drove through the canyon. It was wild! But, it was beautiful!
The cabin overlooks Bear Lake and the whole valley because it's so high up on the mountain. It's a crazy winding road that you drive to get up to it. The view is beautiful. SPECTACULAR BEAUTIFUL! The cabin is fantastic! AMAZINGLY SO! It was absolutely a perfect weekend! I missed Quayd quite a bit and shed a few tears, watching the missionary choir singing at the Saturday afternoon session of LDS General Conference. I also cried as I pulled the cinnamon rolls out of the oven. I knew that he was missing them. But, it was wonderful!
We played cards non-stop all weekend! Until my hand hurt from holding them, we played. We ate and ate and ate fabulous meals and wonderful treats to our hearts content. We won't mention the amount of diet coke that was consumed, but it was definitely our fair share and more. We loved every session of conference. We talked and told stories and laughed and remembered old times with Jon and his pranks. Just a perfect weekend. Carol and the girls went to the beach with her little granddaughter, Makayla, who is six. Doug and I sat out on the balcony and watched the most amazing rainbow I've ever seen after quite the storm.
We just had a ball. Every minute was perfect! I took a ton of pix. Sadly, no one wanted their photo taken because of the fact that we were not getting dressed to just relax and chill....
Carol and I chilled playing cards the first two days alone. What a blast to just sit and talk. We never run out of things to say. Carol has been reading a fascinating book about killer whales and their mistreatment, which she shared quite a bit about. We loved just watching the boats come in and out of the marina and just gabbing. Most of the time we had a Diet Coke in one hand and a hand of cards in the other. What more could a girl ask for?
This is one shot of the main floor of the cabin. It's incredible!
If we were not watching conference, we were here at this table playing games, games and more games... usually teasing and laughing!
The girls enjoyed Razor rides and it seemed to start to rain almost everytime anyone got on it. Tanner, Carol's son, brought a friend up for some four-wheeler rides, as well, on Saturday morning. They only stayed for a quick bite, after their fun in the hills. LOOK AT THAT STEEP DRIVEWAY. You literally can not see over the nose of your car when you pull down it. It gave Carol trauma and me something to tease her about all weekend! (You can't tell at all by this photo, but I've NEVER seen a driveway as steep as this one in my life.)
Lots of pingpong and more teasing.
As Doug and I sat on the balcony, watching this amazing rainbow, he commented,"Babe, we are just a blink on this earth. It's been here for millions of years and we are here for such a short time." We had quite a conversation about "making our mark". Sights like this remind us of who we really are and that a loving Heavenly Father truly exists!
One highlight for me was watching these young missionaries, who are currently in the MTC, performing in the choir for Saturday's session of General Conference. That cute blonde smack dab in the middle is our neighbor/Quayd's friend, Elliot. What a joy to see him singing! I was thrilled for the missionary moms who had the comfort of seeing their sons and daughters for just a second, as they sang their hearts out.
I could have snapped a shot every two minutes and they would have all been so different!
Zulu loved the view, as well. He spent much of the time "watching out" for us.
Doug and I opened the windows and watched the sunrise as we woke up. We both got up and walked out on the lower balcony to watch it for 20 minutes. It was a splendid sight. Here's just a few of the shots I got!
Just peeking over the mountain.
The entire sky changed each minute!
Here's a shot from the road down below of the front of the cabin. It's so pretty!
A shot of the back of the cabin. The bay window on the far right is the dining room and the big game room is upstairs above the garage on the far left of this shot. It really is a splendid cabin.
But,truly, it could have been a tent, located where it is and would have been fabulous with this view! Again, a perfect weekend! Life is good!
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