Boards, Boats, Babes

We are holed up here at the cabin for a week while Todd studies for boards, and Lucy and I work on our tans. Okay... just me, I'm not a child abuser.The weather has been beautiful and during the week the lake is quiet. We have been loving every second of our stay up here and are feeling depressed that it has to end. But, we are excited because next time we come up here we are bringing six of our favorite couples with us. I'm counting the days until then.

Gone Fishin'

          This week we found ourselves a fun new hobby. Who knew that fishing was fun? I have caught three fish total in my life, until this week. Combined this week we have caught seven fishes! We have had the most success just hanging out on the dock. We put the poles in the little holders and wait. We then see the pole start to bob up and down, and that is the point where I start screaming and reeling it in while Todd maneuvers the fish into the net. One of us is holding the baby, which makes both jobs kind of tricky (unless we are wearing the baby bjorn-that helps). The first night we took our worms that we had dug up and went way back into a corner of the lake where fish were jumping all around us. It was so still and peaceful, we watched the sunset and fished until after dark.The next night we did the same with my parents. It wasn't until Friday we discovered that dock fishing was the best. My mom gutted the first few fish for us, and then I told Todd he probably couldn't call himself a real man if his mother-in-law had to gut his fish for him. So my mom instructed him what to do, and he took it from there. I'm just surprised at how much fun it is when you are actually catching fish. I have another container of worms in the fridge, and as soon as Todd gets through 20 more pages of studies we are hitting the docks again. Oh, the Holmans will be so proud. Wish us luck.

all 8

We played 

Then crashed

 Everyone came home for the first time in two and half years. It was the best weekend. I have no idea how eight completely different personalities came from the same 2 people. For being two moderately subdued people, they sure created some crazy children. I spent the weekend laughing and wishing that we were able to be together more often. Guy on a buffalo was the running joke of the weekend, Luke told Dad he would give him 20 bucks if he could incorporate the guy on the buffalo into his church talk on Sunday, and he did it.  The first day we met up at Craigos and kicked off the weekend with lunch, the boys then went golfing and the girls went home and tried on dozens of outfits for family pictures. It was so funny to see how different we looked in the exact same clothes. Wait, maybe funny isn't the right word, seeing how at one point I was in tears that my sisters and my mom are a size zero, and I am size... I won't even write it because I may start crying again. It's okay, I will lose the baby weight eventually. 

 We made it up to the cabin at 9:00. We watched the playoffs while munching on junk food for a while and then the you-tube hysteria began. We put you tube up on the big screen and laughed until we were sick over guy on a buffalo, streaking by the quad, and bad lip syncing. I think there was a little Brian Regan in there and a few other ones too, I can't remember. The next day was a FULL day of fun. Luke and Zach tried to fish, the boys wake boarded in the ice cold water (Todd wake boarded fully clothed), we played volleyball, tennis, ping-pong, there may or may not have been a little breaking and entering by Zach and Todd, ate pounds of chocolate, four-wheeled, rode bikes.. You name it we did it. My favorite part was at night we played games. Any game where multiple tuttle and Top Gun references are made, and comments like "the pink panther ate Johnny Depp," "eating hot dogs by moonlight on madison high school" "this shoe is as big as a monkeys face" are acceptable equals a good game in my book. Then we watched Warrior. Saturday we went home and we all went and did sealings in the temple. Pretty cool to have my whole family in the temple together. However, I don't think the sealer thought it was very cool when we all got the giggles during a few sealings. Shoot my ILS strikes again. (inappropriate laughter syndrome). After everyone crashed for a while we all got ready for pictures. I was happy all of the clothes I picked out for everyone worked out and the pictures turned out really cute. I loved my brothers all trying to be serious, and I loved it when Dad was being funny by puffing out his chest and then he tripped on a log and fell backward. Being with my whole family might be my favorite thing in the whole world. I love my brothers and sisters so much and feel so lucky  and honored to be their sister. I sometimes wonder how it all worked out in heaven before we were born, did we pick each other as siblings, did our parents pick us? That's something I want to know someday. However it worked out, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have such a FUN, tight, drama free family. Families like us are rare, and I know I am so blessed to be a part of one. 

Dashing through the snow

  What an awesome weekend we had with our favorite people. It's so fun to have both my little brothers home for a little while. We went on walks, hot-tubbed (I just dangled my legs in), talked, took pictures, watched movies, played cards, watched sports,ate ribs at an amazing little lodge, made fun of each other, got Rhett caught up on technology, and of course snow machined. 

    I'm not exactly sure why I always want to go snow machining with Todd. The ride usually always entails me shouting profanities at Todd and kidney punching him vigorously until he slows down. Our first ride of the year was just this. To get the the trails you cross a frozen lake in front of the cabin... supposedly "frozen". Todd thought it would be fun to go at least 300 miles per hour across the slushy lake. The whole way across I'm screaming and punching and yelling at him for trying to kill our baby, and does he even slow down a bit..... no. We finally slow down long enough for me to bust out my fake cry so he knows how scared and upset I am and he just laughs with his mischievous little grin and says "Oh, I thought you were just having fun." It kind of sinks that after 5 years of marriage, he can tell now when the crying is fake...shoot. After only a few more jumps and turns up on one ski he got another dramatic outburt from me and a vow to never get on a snow machine with him again. Once again, he just laughed. However, he took the second ride easy on me and we had a lovely little jaunt in the woods... and I got to drive across the lake. All's well that ends well.