Bear Lake 2008

Brian's family takes a summer vacation together every year. The first one I went to was in Flaming Gorge in 1997. We all (Grandma, Grandpa, Hal, Kyle, Diana, Linzy, Nicolette, McKade, Dena, Darin, Jed, Janessa, Jake, Brian and me) stayed in a house together, each family got their own room. (Pictured at left is Grandma, Kalvin, Nicolette, Kyle, Diana, and me on the "beach" at Flaming Gorge in 1999.) I heard a loud noise in the middle of the night and thought the house was on fire. After listening for a few minutes I realized that this horrific noise was only happening about every other second. It turned out to be Grandpa snoring two rooms away. Impressive. :) That trip was really the first time I played Canasta with Brian's family. If there is anything I "get," it's card games with house rules. I saw sides of my in-laws that had been hidden up until then. (Dena and Denise at right in Bear Lake 2001.)

By 2000, Flaming Gorge stopped renting out the little homes the government built and we had to find a new venue for the family vacation. I can't remember what we did that year, but I know we were in Bear Lake in 2001 and have spent most of our vacations since then in Bear Lake. (Jake at left going down the slide in 2001.) Sometimes we're in the house, but usually we're in the condos at Ideal Beach. There is a playground and a swimming pool for the kids and so much green grass that we had to find something to do on it. I believe the Frisbee Football tradition was born in 2002. That year it was mostly the men who played, sometimes including Dena, Diana, and me. Jed is in the team photo from that year, but he looks mad so I'm pretty sure that was the year we were trying not to run over him. Two years ago it was Kalvin and this year it was Abby. Frisbee football with a bunch of gorillas is quite an adventure. There is pushing and shoving and tackling. Everyone comes away with grass stains and sore bodies, but it is awesome and it has stuck as a tradition at Bear Lake. This year Jake and McKade got everyone organized and wouldn't let the aunts and uncles out of a tie-breaker game the third night we were there. (Nicolette and Janessa at right a few weeks before our vacation in Bear Lake in 2002.)

Getting a raspberry malt at the Quick 'n Tasty or LeBeau's is also a favorite tradition in Bear Lake. Dena and Grandma claim to have done a taste test and determined that LeBeau's gets our business for having the better malt. We didn't have to wait in much of a line this year because we went on Monday night instead of Saturday night.

The kids (most of them) are old enough to enjoy playing in the lake now. (Grandma & Abby at left sitting on the beach at Bear Lake in 2002.) Kyle and Dena usually end up renting a boat or jet skis to make it fun for them. Brian and I are at the stage of making sure our toddler doesn't drown and introducing her to sand castles and waist-deep splashing.

(Nicolette, Abby, and Janessa at right in 2005.) We only had one night of card playing this year. Trying to keep Bridget potty-trained on vacation (she will pee on the potty at Taco Time in Logan, but she will not pee in the potty at Maddox in Brigham City) and frisbee football almost put me in my grave every night. But we couldn't go without it, so we played the night before we had to come home. Brian and I won - probably because we were the least tired. And probably because we didn't have a giggling Grandma on our team (poor Dena - worst score ever). Everyone brings treats to eat during Canasta and this year it was the sugared almonds we couldn't stop eating. (Grandpa is pictured at left on his way to go fishing in Jackson Hole in 2006. That year we spent a few days in Bear Lake, then drove to Jackson Hole for a few more days. I love that picture because Grandpa had walked in the front door, picked up his fishing gear and headed out the back door without saying a word to anyone.)

We were missing a few of our treasures this year and I'm pretty sure that's why my frisbee football team lost. (I'm sure my skills play no part in that loss.) I kind of figured the day would come that not everyone would be able to be on vacation with the family, but it still feels like it happened too fast. (Brian and Hal in 2006.)

Here are some fancy photos of our 2008 vacation in Bear Lake.