Our escape from home....Bear Home

After we thought everything was over with all the fertility stuff, we decided that we needed to escape.  Originally we were going to stay in the city at one of our favorite hotels for just one night.  But then Kaye called and offered us her cabin for the long Memorial day weekend.  She knew that we needed to run away from everything!  We jumped on her offer and blew off all of our other responsibilities.  Matt even came with us.  Mom, Dad, and Marilyn came up too.  Kaye and Allan joined us for a couple of days.  It was a piece of heaven to escape everything.  I told Kaye that her cabin is very healing!!!  Our hearts have been so sad!  I was able to get back on my bike and go for a couple of beautiful rides.  The peace, solitude, and beautiful scenery were just what we needed to start to mend our hearts.  May 24-27.

Kaye called mom and told her that the cabin is pretty booked for the summer but there were a few days still available.  At first I just didn't think that I would pull it off but then I decided to drop everything and make it work out.  We always love our time in Bear Lake.  So Mylissa did the same thing.  Shantelle couldn't come with the new baby.  Mom and Dad came up on Sunday and stayed for just a day.  But Marilyn came up and stayed the whole time with us.  We stayed June 20-24.  On Friday, I went for a bike ride heading south along the main road.  On my way back, before you get to the main part of town, I came around a corner and saw a big moose crossing the road.  At first I thought that someone's horse had gotten out.  Then it registered that it was a moose.  Once it crossed the road and was farther away, I grabbed my phone and took a picture of it.  It was so awesome!!!! When I'm on my bike, this is one of my favorite views.  It's closer to the south side but I always stop and just enjoy the moment.  

On Friday afternoon, we took the kids to the "beach."  We love to go to the north shore.  We were worried with the weekend it would be busy but it was perfect!  The majority of the people were packing up to go home.  We went around 4:00 and at first we thought it was going to be too cold because it was around 70 degrees.  But the kids loved it!!!  We stayed for two hours.  The kids played and played in the water and sand.  They were coated in sand by the time we left but they had big smiles on their faces.  I was going around taking pictures of everyone and then Marilyn said "we need a picture of you to prove that you were here too.  So I love the picture of Marilyn and I.  It's a "Shantelle close up."  

 One morning after breakfast, I took the kids on a little hike.  We went exploring on one of the trails behind the cabins.   It was perfect because we saw Mom and Dad coming up to the cabin.  They stopped and gave us more water. About halfway through our adventure, we came across a little river.  The kids were so hot so they cooled off in the river.  We played in the river for over a half hour.  The kids would throw a rock to Sophie and then she would try to find it.  Then they found sticks for her to retrieve.  Everyone was so happy playing in the river, especially Sophie.

 Everyone was really dirty by the end of our hike.  Our shoes were caked with mud.  Everyone had to get in the shower afterwards.  But it was a very fun adventure.  We had a beautiful view of the lake!

 I love this picture of Bridger and Julianna.  Bridger LOVES to go out and look for animals.  We didn't see too many animals this time.  We saw just a few dear and then I saw two moose.  When we were driving back on Saturday night from Megan's wedding, a moose crossed the road in front of our car.  I had to slam on my breaks but luckily we didn't hit it.  The boys thought it was really exciting.

We celebrated Marilyn's birthday on Sunday.  We fixed a really nice dinner for her.  Sweet mom made her lemon pie since that's one of her favorite desserts.  It was fun having mom and dad come up even if it was just for a night.  We gave Marilyn a ticket to a soccer game.  We also celebrated Dad's birthday so he finally opened our present.  I've been teasing dad about it saying how excited he's going to be.  I told him that it's not a want but definitely a need.  We got him a head light.  His face was priceless. He didn't know what it was.  I told him he can use it when he mows the lawn and waters his flowers in the dark.