Going to Zarahemla

 Where is your seat belt young man!and the owners manual says not to sit so close to the air bag - especially if you are a small person? Ryan tried to drive the car, but I stopped him just in time. We would never have made it to our Zarahemla outing with the kids and grandkids if he had been driving. We had the whole lodge to ourselves this week .

 There was everything from a rope swing over the creek to handcarts to pull on the trail to keep the kids excited and happy. We had games in the lodge at night around a roaring fire as well as meals cooked in the commercial kitchen. I was even able to cook four or five omelets at a time. That was a time saver when you are feeding a small army.

The kids were able to play with each other, eat with each other, sleep with each other, and get on each other's nerves (not so much) all in our own little play room. Whoa! this was sooo much easier than camping. I realized that maybe it wasn't so much the camping that I like as much that I love being with my family. The kids will have to stop me when I get up like Grandpa Blaine used to do at this kind of gathering and say "I started all of this!" I appreciate now how he felt. Janene and I are so blessed to be part of this wonderful family. Our kids and grandkids bring us so much joy, even those who could not join us this week because of other commitments.

We did so many fun things - here is the list - found a porcupine, saw a beaver, watched (big) fish in the creek, chased the girls into the girls bathroom, cooked a Dutch oven dinner, played ping pong, played the piano, had a birthday party for Elsie, went on hikes, scared a horse (that was Mikey), built a hut, built a blanket fort, bounced quarters on our elbows, flipped whipped cream into our mouths (well, sometimes in our mouths, the rest of the times about everywhere else), picked up old bones, watched the stars at night, played charades, played Minute to Win It, played Settlers of Catan until all hours of the night, pulled handcarts, swung on a rope swing over the creek, threw rocks in the creek, floated boats in the creek, watched Great Blue Herons fly over us, watched a neighbor girl ride her horse along the creek, and at least for a few of us, we got to take a nap.What a great time!  We were definitely not in the awful dilemma that our brethren were in at Zarahemla. (see Alma 7-3)