Sweet Independence

I think most people would agree that Indepence Day is a very high ranking holiday on the fun-charts. For me, it takes a close third-place trailing only Christmas and Halloween. BBQ's, fireworks, the great outdoors, red white and blue, and a little time to ponder how truly lucky, nay blessed, we are to be Americans. This year we decided to escape the heat and head up to Mark's parent's cabin at Panguitch Lake. Over the last two years I have developed mixed feelings for the cabin. It's very beautiful up there, plenty to do, the cabin is quaint and comfy but it has no running water. And being pregnant with Nash took away my ability to stomach the outhouse (scary spiders+pants down/vulnerable+unbearable stench+constantly having to pee=yucky) . I never quite recovered, and avoided going up there the last year because of this. But man, oh man, am I ever thankful that I decided not to let that outhouse ruin a perfectly good weekend away. Mark was so excited when I agreed to go up. And we had a BLAST. Mark's parents, Gail and Roy stayed the weekend as well. On friday evening Gail and I decided to take a bike ride around the lake. I hadn't been on a bike in probably 15 years. I realize now that I have been missing out on so much fun. I need a bike!

Just before our 9-miler around the lake.

Gail mopped the ground with me. Normally it would be embarrassing to have a woman more than twice your age beat you up every single hill and barely break a sweat. But Gail has gone running every day for the last like 10 years or something, so my self-esteem really didn't take a hit. It was a beautiful ride and Gail is always a blast to hang out with. That night they did a little firework show over the lake. How picturesque is THAT? I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

The next day we woke up early to head over to Panguitch for the parade. Gail and I had such a fun ride the night before that we decided to bike the 17 miles through the mountains to Panguitch. Once again, so much fun. I'm so lucky I didn't kill myself though. You get f-l-y-i-n-g down some of those hills. (does it sound like I'm bragging about the distance? don't worry, I understand that riding 9 miles is like the equivalent of running 2, so it's no major feat). Mark, Nash and Roy were supposed to meet us there at 9:30 to bring us some deoderant and a change of clothes. Unfortunately, Nash slept in and they didn't make it until the parade was over. Sad. I had been so excited for Nash to see his first parade, and so excited to change out of that stinky, ugly, neon-pink t-shirt. We had a great time anyway. Roy took us on a tour of his hometown, showing us where he grew up and other Panguitch hot-spots, we stopped at the General Store for a creamie and then finished the morning with a stop by Grandma and Grandpa Wilcock's graves.

Notice the empty street. Oh well, ya snooze, ya lose.

Nash's name-sake. Roy was named after his uncle, Obed Schow, the name was passed on to Mark, and now Nash Obed is carrying it on.
I think it's very sweet that Roy always takes the time to check in on his parents.

We finished up our Panguitch Lake trip back at the cabin with games and a nap during the rainstorm. It was heavenly. We made it back to Cedar just in time to take a quick shower and head over to my parents for a yummy din-din and an action-packed movie. On the menu: Tater Tots and Carl's Jr. six dollar burgers. Perfect. We were exhausted and crashed before fireworks that night. I didn't feel too bad.

My mom always takes at least a couple minutes to make the table look festive. I LOVE her for it.

If Ryan's there, you know it's a party.

Happy 4th of July!