Bear Lake!

We just got back yesterday from a trip with my family to Bear Lake.  My parents and all of my siblings with their families were in attendance.  We all pitched in to stay together in a 3 bedroom condo right on the lake.  Be prepared for picture overload, but some of my favorite moments of the trip were not captured, such as our late night conversations that had most of us crying we were laughing so hard, huddled out on the deck watching the storm over the lake, and dancing with Michael Jackson on the Wii with my sisters. 

On the way up to Bear Lake, I took this pic of a moose that we were lucky enough to pass by just as we were arriving.  It was a fun beginning.

We took the kids out for their first time mini-golfing, right on the resort, and got to play with cousins Tanner and Lauren.

Chad and I tried really hard to teach them proper technique but to no avail.

But they had fun doing it anyway.

Afterwards, we went for ice cream, well, the kids and Jeff had ice cream.  Chad, Abby and I couldn't because of our weight loss challenge...grr.  Let's just say it was a hard weekend to be on a diet!

One evening we were able to let the kids play out on the huge lawn before the storm rolled in.  Actually, it stormed 2 out of our 3 nights as luck would have it, but they were beautiful to watch.

Aunt Midge even did a game of duck-duck-goose with the kids.

While the men threw the football around.  You can see we were right on the beach, and had a beautiful view of the lake everyday.

Sam was dared by his Aunts to climb the pole, which he did without any hesitation.

Tanner and Keek watching TV.

Rob was so nice and went out to throw the football with Sam.  He was also a huge help to us with Jack, and would take him out for walks around the resort, just the 2 of them.

Chad's Braves were on TV on one of the days, and he didn't move much from that chair during those hours.:)

The last full day we were there was spent on the beach and in the water.  Somehow I was able to keep enough sunscreen on Jack so that he left without a single sunburn.  I was very proud of myself.  (Me and Chad, however, are a different story...ouch!).

 Chad was nice enough to bury Sam alive at Sam's request.

Emmi thought it looked like so much fun that she wanted to be buried too.

Then Keaton wanted a turn.  Keaton is always teasing and wrestling with Jack, so we thought it was hilarious when Jack plopped down by Keek's head and started slapping his face just as soon as Keek laid down. Keek was laughing pretty good too.  You get him Jack! 

But the funnest part of the day would have been the wave-runner.  Chad and Jeff went in together and rented one right on site.  Our 2 families had 8 glorious hours and many many rides to share.  Sam and Emmi both were scared at first, but eventually liked it, although Sam only wanted to ride with me... Yes, I ride slow.:)

Keaton by far was our little daredevil, and loved doing "turns" on it with his Dad.  Then, later at the outdoor pool he was going face first down the slide and doing front flips off the side of the pool.   

Meanwhile Sam was all about digging holes on the beach, and ended up falling in one of them. 

And everyone was getting a kick out of Jack, who kept putting a bucket on his head. 

That was it in a nutshell.  I can't wait to see what happens next year!