Life is a Journey: 4th of July

Saturday, July 12, 2014

4th of July

The kids (and I) have been looking forward to this weekend since we were last at the cabin for Labor Day.even though it took 2 full days of packing, it was worth it once I smelled pine trees. So many of my childhood memories and family connections are tied up with the cabin and Columbine, and I'm so grateful that I get to take my kids there too.

We left Mesa mid-morning on Thursday, and took a little more time than we hoped getting to Pima, as usual. Once we got up my parent's house I managed to get Shawn down for a nap, Jeremy saw a couple patients, and then we headed up to Safford to have dinner with his mom at Casa. There was a ginormous dust stom on our way up! Visibility was really low. That was fun. I haven't ordered a hamburger there I think ever, but it was easier to avoid dairy and corn that way, and it was super tasty. Shawn entertained us all. :)

We were originally going to stay in Pima Thursday night, but by the time we got there Jeremy wasn't up to unloading half our stuff and loading it again, so after dinner we headed up the mountain. It was a beautiful drive, and we got in shortly before the sun went down.

None of my siblings were able to come up this time, which was kind of sad. At least we had a little more room than usual, which was nice. Shawn and I got the downstairs room to ourselves, and I was relieved to not worry about dropping His Chunkiness up or down those steep stairs. The first night was a little exciting though, since he and I had just gotten settled in and he was asleep next to me when the carbon monoxide detector started beeping. (No electricity up there except the generator, and the gas fridge is in the downstairs bedroom. Jeremy went and got my dad out of bed, and he figured out that the vent pipe had been knocked askew. Once that was fixed everything seemed fine, but I slept with the window open anyway, just in case.

Friday Shawn was up by about 5:15, happy as can be. That often happens at home, but at least there I can usually feed him a bottle and put him in his swing in our darkened room to get him back to sleep for an hour or two. Not so on vacation. But he DID take two fabulous naps that day. :) that morning during his first nap my parents and I took the kids over to climb Soldier Rock. They were excited about that and about riding in the back of the truck. :) Reilly went up the face with my dad, and did pretty well scrambling around, but my mom and I took the two less-agile girls up the back. Katy on top of that tall rock was a nerve-wracking thing.

We also enjoyed visiting with Seth and Courtney (at our cabin and then at theirs) and an afternoon rainstorm that was on and off for about 3 hours and dropped over 1.25 inches. We were so grateful for that rain! (Especially since it meant we got baths Saturday...) Reilly and Jaina were excited to play with their second cousins, Chloe and Logan, and went back and forth between our cabins several times. I got brave and took a motorcycle ride with Spencer, which was fun. He's a pretty good driver for 16. :)

By Saturday it was busier up there, but for a holiday weekend it was really quiet. The potluck Saturday night and church on Sunday were some of the smallest gatherings I remember. Saturday Shawn was up at 5. When we finally got him down for a nap at 8, I went down for one too, upstairs. We both slept until after 10, and it was wonderful. While I was asleep Reilly left with Grandpa to home to Webb Peak. That is one of his favorite things to do at the cabin. We also took all the kids to climb another rock, and they really liked it. Shawn even got to climb a little. I don't know what we would have done without Jeremy wearing him in the Moby a lot all weekend. The kid is heavy (over 20 lbs) and strollers don't really work up there.

Sunday Shawn slept all the way until 6:20. Which meant he was ready for a nap right about when church started at 9. Jeremy and the Moby to the rescue. He got him to sleep during most of priesthood and Shawn was mostly happy during Sacrament. Church was pleasant and even mostly overcast. There were some really nice testimonies. I always love being up there in the beautiful mountains for church. You can't help but feel close to heaven up there.

I'm really glad we were able to go up, and I'm pretty sure it was worth all the packing and traveling and unpacking. :) It means a lot to me to get to take my kids up there where so many generations of my family have spent time each summer. (They are the 6th, since my great-great-grandfather Hyrum Weech) With any luck we'll make it up at least for the day on Labor Day.