Up North We Go

Last weekend our amazing realtor whom we love offered us the use of her cabin up north.  It was so generous of her and we politely accepted. :)  It was great to be among the large pines and for it to actually be chilly in the morning and evening.  We still didn't need pants or jackets though.  The cabin was AMAZING and we really relaxed, it was wonderful. 

Checking out her sliver

The girls had a blast and got along very well

In the main room there were two very comfortable recliners where David and I spent most of our free time.

We headed out for a morning walk and within 50 feet Natalie tripped and scraped both knees, both palms and both forearms.  Luckily we have a first aid kit in the car for these occasions. 

After our walk, we had a Cheez-its and strawberries picnic in the loft while we watched a movie and Anna napped.  Can anyone guess what movie it is?  (hint: it's about a brown-haired princess who loves to read and a figurine of her is on the floor next to Natalie).  Behind where I'm taking a picture is a really comfy futon that the girls slept on.

We went on a picnic for lunch at a local park.  There were several elderly motorcycle gangs there and their conversations were funny to listen to.  By the way, this little girl is heading down the road of daddy-worship...

That afternoon David, Cyrena and I played our favorite card game...Skip bo Jr.  You have got to check it out!  We play it a few times a week and it's perfect for Cyrena's age.  She got it for her birthday from Grandma Barb.  Again, we broke out the Cheez-its and added some chocolate to the mix.  Cyrena had yet to be initiated into the 'eat candy while you play games' routine....she was pretty darn happy about it!

That night we drove 25 miles further north to Snowflake to see some of our favorite friends- the Ordyna's!!  On the way in, we stopped to check out the Snowflake temple.  It is gorgeous and sits on a large hill overlooking a beautiful valley.  It looked busy; it's always great to see a busy temple.

It was wonderful to see the Ordyna's.  We hadn't seen their kids in almost 4 years!  It was fun for us all to reconnect.  Cyrena and Jarom were born just weeks apart and they picked right back off where they left off when they were 18 months!

David and Jake have always enjoyed each other's company.  They worked for the same company for a few years when we first moved to Arizona.  We call him the gentle giant, we're big fans!

Alyssa has always been a role model for me.  So many times, when I'm having a hard time with something, I ask myself, "what would Alyssa do?"  I'm not kidding, I really do!!  She's the mother of 5 great kids, and look she even gave me a break and held my chubalub! 

We had a great weekend.  Thankfully time went slowly so we got to enjoy every single minute.

David's favorite quote of the weekend (recorded for journaling purposes):

As we were walking into the park for a picnic, some people had started BBQing.  

Natalie:  "Wuss that fells, dad?  Cokgogs?"

translated:  "what's that smell dad?  Hot Dogs?"

She says "wuss that fells?" very often, especially near the meat department in the grocery store.  She's got quite the sense of smell I guess.  And it really really makes us laugh.