Boat time--FINALLY!

Last Saturday we finally got the boat out and went skiing.  We met up with Desiree and Nate at Utah Lake and had such a great time!

Brian Buns and I love wakeboarding.  And HELLO--how beautiful are those mountains in the background?!?  Utah is gorgeous.

Desiree and Nate brought their waverunners, which my little Wilbur LOVED.  We got their little guy, Andy, with us for most of the day, and he had me in stitches.  That kid is HILARIOUS.

We had such a fun day!  Can't wait to do it again!  We were hosting couples book club at our house that night and even though we got home 15 minutes after it was supposed to start, we were still the first ones and had a great discussion with everyone about Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers.

Summer Traditions

The Family: A Proclamation to the World states that wholesome family recreation is important in building successful families. I know that by creating traditions that bring us closer to God, we can strengthen family bonds, fortify commitment to religion, and teach important principles.

"Who must know the way to make a proper home,

A quiet home, a kosher home?

Who must raise the family and run the home,

So Papa's free to read the holy books?

The Mama, the Mama! Tradition!

The Mama, the Mama! Tradition!"

I've been singing the song about "TRADITION!" from Fiddler in the Roof in my head all day. That play is about a father of five daughters who vows to protects his family's ideals and traditions despite outside worldly influences. Oh, how I can relate to that.

I believe in family traditions. I love them. I need them.

And for me, one of my most prized, sweetest family memories of my childhood is our summer trips to Bear Lake. I often think about the time up there at the lake, and how happy I was to be with my family.

And so I couldn't be happier when after our most recent trip to Bear Lake over Labor Day weekend, when we were driving home I asked the kids their favorite vacation we'd ever been on. Joey said, "I think it might have been this one!" They love Bear Lake as much as I do.

Here are some of our Bear Lake TRADITIONS:

Games--We often gather around the table to play games. This trip my dad taught Joey to play Chess. He's such a great grandpa.

Homemade rootbeer--my mom's specialty, and everyone's beverage of choice!

Time on the lake. Clean. Beautiful. Warm. Okay not warm, but still clean and beautiful.

Tubing--We were able to meet up with the Kopayghoras who were also up at Bear Lake for an afternoon.

Playing on the beach

The kids bury their dad every year. I always smile at this, because I remember burying my dad as a kid too.

Spending quality time together. This is my sanity. Life is so busy. I came home from this Bear Lake trip feeling completely rejuvinated!

Digging in the sand...

...while being constantly interrupted by Mom, petitioning for another picture!

Wakeboarding, waterskiing, wake surfing (our new discovery of this summer), and knee boarding

We always go get our picture taken up the canyon after church on Sunday.

Riding the four-wheelers

Reading a good book.

More late night games.

Hikes

Golf

And LOTS of food. Too much food. (Is there such a thing?) As a cooking sidenote: I made this peach cobbler on Sunday afternoon. I forgot to bring up a can up Sprite, a key ingredient in my opinion to give it a nice fluffy texture. So I poured a can of Black Cherry soda over the top before cooking. Pretty, and delicious.

None of us spend much time primping or bothering with hair up at the cabin. Brian was the exception to that this year.

*Have you been to Bear Lake?*

*What is your most memorable tradition/vacation from your childhood?*
*What traditions are you creating with your families now?*

9 Lives

Yesterday we finally made it up to Deer Creek Reservoir to go boating, after an hour drive up the canyon with three stops along the way (lunch, groceries, gas).

After we finally got the boat in the water, it wouldn't start!!!

.

We tried and tried everything, then decided to go check out the motor. We lifted the box up, and one of our cats jumped out! That gave us quite a surprise.

.

Any number of things could have happened to her on the drive up, she could have jumped out and been lost forever during our 3 stops, and heaven knows what could have happened to her if the engine had started right up with her right there.

.

This cat must truly have 9 lives.

.

The kids were so cute, they promptly folded their arms and said a prayer to Heavenly Father thanking Him for keeping their cat safe. I thought that was sweet.

.

We discovered that the kill switch had inadvertantly been turned off. Once we flipped that back on it started right up. We ended up leaving Katie in the car for the day, with the windows cracked and a little bowl of water, and she was just fine (although Isabel did insist that we go check on her after the first hour).

.