First Cabin Trip of the Summer

We've had our cabin for over ten years now.

(This is a familiar scene: arriving back at the cabin after an outing to the beach, to get shakes, to hike Limber Pine, or to attend the Garden City visitor's ward; everyone piled on the steps by the door--waiting for Mike to come with the key while simultaneously making it impossible for him to get to the door with the key. [At least they aren't shivering in the snow in this particular shot of the door crowding.])

It's fun to think that it's been a part of our family for the entire lifetime of five of our kids. (And more than half the lifetime of the rest.) Fun to think of how sleeping arrangements have shifted as more bunkbeds have been added and fewer pack-n-plays have been needed. (For the longest time we had so many babies and toddlers that we always had two portable cribs at the cabin.) Fun to think of all the babies who learned to crawl down stairs at the cabin (because the staircase has that turn half way--creating a place to practice with a shorter distance to potentially fall than at home, and carpet at the end of it to boot).

But never has it seemed quite so difficult to get up there as it has recently! So many older kids now with jobs and obligations, so many middle-aged kids with FSY's and camps. Oh, we've gone to the cabin plenty of times without our entire family. Abe was on a mission for two years after all. And when Abe and Daisy are down at BYU for the school year, they can't always make it home to go with us. But with all ten of our kids finally together for an entire summer, I imagined us just all being up there multiple times together! However, after putting it off for a month and a half because of one conflict or another, we finally determined we would just have to set a few dates on the calendar and stick to them--even if, sniffle, it meant leaving some of our older kids behind.

Sadly, as it ended up, neither Daisy nor Goldie could come up for our first Bear Lake trip of the summer. (But it was high time! Usually our first trip of the summer falls over Memorial Day. Not in mid July for crying out loud!)

I came up initially alone with just the youngest seven. (Just. Ha.) All the while considering how strange it will be to have that group be the only ones living at home come late August!

Mike and Abe joined us the following evening after they both got off work.

(We recently went to a crowded aquatic center. Those green swimsuits I'd purchased for Jesse, Anders and Hans turned out to be great for spotting them all quickly each time I was doing a head count.)

Here they are playing some game Abe created with rocks and ... more rocks.

(Anders is doing "the floss" below.)

And even though we were very sad not to have Daisy and Goldie with us, it was nice to come home Sunday evening to the delicious dinner they had ready and waiting for us!