Cabin Fever

I love holidays! Sure - there's the obvious reasons: it's another day off from work to do your own thing. But I've always loved spending time with friends and family during the holidays throughout the year.

For us, the timing was right. We needed a 4th of July since the 4th of June, and we were looking forward to an extra day to chill and not worry too much about all of the peripheral 'stuff' that's usually taking so much of our time and energy.

Wednesday my brother and sister-in-law had their second child - our first niece. Her name is Mia, and like her brother, she's a big baby and so adorable. They're moving out this next week to Oregon - and even though I'm really excited for them and for their career move, I'm pretty bummed that they're leaving. We love hanging out with them and I'm going to miss having him around to hang out with and his family to spend time with.

Thursday we felt like we had to go catch a flick, since there are so many good ones out right now. So we went to Iron Man - and we both really liked it. Surprisingly - Robert Downey Jr was a great super hero - at least a great Tony Stark. We're curious as to who else has seen it and if you liked it - so feel free to comment what you thought about that flick, or if there's another one you recommend.

Friday morning, I started the morning going on a bike ride. The Spud Man Triathlon is coming up soon - and I'm seriously think I might die. I'll be alright for the cycling part - but I only get to get on the bike if I get out of the water alive - which I'm thinking is about a 50/50 chance. Since I wasn't going to be able to train this weekend up at our cabin - I went on a longer ride (about 35 miles) up along Wasatch Blvd, Bonneville Shoreline, and up Emigration Canyon. If you haven't seen it, there's a cool website out there called http://www.mapmyride.com/. You can map out your job or bike ride or hike using google maps to see what distance it was. And it keeps your profile so you can share with friends if you're training with them, etc.

After my ride, we packed up and went down to our new cabin. The folks found a great deal on a big plot of land in Sanpete County about a year and a half ago. They were originally planning on just getting a trailer so we could have a place to stay the night, keep ATVs, go boating, etc. But just like kids, they just kept more excited, adding more and more, and the result is a beautiful log cabin nestled in a little cove overlooking a reservoir and the Manti Temple.

Last weekend, we went up to help move in furniture, etc. This weekend, we officially decided to break it in by having the whole family stay a few nights up there. We had all of the brothers and sisters and nephews there (except for our sister in-law and newborn niece) and of course, the dogs came. Jamie provided us with some great eats.

We were able to hit a rodeo, play a round of golf (Pallisades State Park is about 15 minutes away), play on the lake, hike, and just hang out. The picture above is the view from our front porch. The view is incredible. Now we just need a boat because this lake has nobody on it. We would have had great skiing conditions all day. But until then, we have to find other entertainment around the water. Fishing is no good there (it's mostly full of carp, though there's a lake with some great fishing about ten minutes away), so we spent our time there throwing sticks in and letting our dog swim and fetch over, and over and over again.

We're really excited to have this cabin. It's going to be a great place to get away - just two hours away. We're excited to add to it - like getting some ATVs down the road, water toys, and cabin furnishings. It's going to be a great retreat for us. So, even though we didn't go to a 'firework show' or have a barbeque, hanging with the fam at the cabin was a great way to spend the 4th - enjoying the types of freedoms provided to us by the Constitution and the vision of the Founding Fathers.