Summer recap

We were gone almost all summer, seriously.  I think we were home a total of 10 days in between mid-June and the first day of school.   My mom shattered her ankle in May and so I packed up my kids and headed up to Bear Lake to help her get thru the summer.  We were also gone for two family reunions during that time.  My mom manages cabins up there during the summer for family vacations.
 

www.bearlakelodge.com 

It was a good year, meaning busy.  She was short on maids so while I went and cleaned places every day she would keep an eye on my kids while doing paperwork.  My oldest is pretty good about babysitting but they all get tired of each other after spending all day together in a smaller place.  Thank heavens for DVDs, video games, books and Bear Lake raspberries.  The first month she needed quite a bit of help because she was still in her wheelchair so I did most of the cooking as well.  She tried to do as much as possible but it's hard getting around with a wheelchair.  She's recovering much faster than we anticipated.  She can now walk around a little even though she has 15 screws and 2 plates in her leg.  It's truly been a miracle.

During Raspberry Days we had a 2-day break so we went and enjoyed the festivities.  The kids were happy about that.  The beach was almost nonexistent this year because of the high water levels and it was COLD.  We went to the beach once and that was enough, I didn't want to go again.  We got to do a bunch of "firsts" this year like ride the big bike, have shaved ice, enjoy the parade, shopping, ride the race cars, and go on a 10 mile hike.   (My boy scout is passing off his hiking merit badge so I was his travel buddy - since then we've done two more 10 milers and are doing the big 20 miler next weekend.)  We forgot breakfast and remembered after mile one (should've gone back.)  2 hours later we got to the KOA market and loaded up.  At mile 8 we found a bush of wild raspberries and thanked heaven for the angel that planted it.  LOL

Also during the summer, my cousin Loren got married to a sweet girl named Samantha in the Salt Lake Temple and they had their reception in our backyard.  We got home the day before to clean the house and left the morning after for Bear Lake again.  Super fun party - I would totally do it again.  Isn't she gorgeous - what a lucky guy!