Life is better at the cabin
Last weekend we headed down to my Grandma and Grandpa Hunt's cabin for the 4th of July. It's located on Mammoth Creek in the Dixie National Forest between(ish) Panguitch Lake and Cedar Breaks. If you're coming from the Las Vegas side you get off the freeway at Cedar City and head up the mountain from there, but coming from Salt Lake we get off at Parowan and head up past Brian Head and Cedar Breaks.
We absolutely love it up there! They could not have chosen a better location. It's right on the creek, surrounded by forest, and near the end of a long road. It's so nice to have a place to spend time with family, away from the hustle and bustle of every day life. Each summer everyone tries to coordinate their schedules to get at least one trip to the cabin in.
We've been going there since I was young and I have so many fond memories of four-wheeling, playing on "the island" (which is a piece of property across the creek owned by my grandma's sister Jeannine aka Nini-sticks), running down trails, going for walks, playing in the sandbox, dutch oven cooking, fishing (or people trying to get me to fish haha), mammoth caves, ice caves, reading on the porch, playing games, listening to family stories, looking through family photos, etc. Oh and also, they have cable now. I think my dad enjoys it a bit more now that he can watch football ;)
The cabin also plays a big part in the Bailey family story because it was at the cabin that Justin first met my family. We had only been dating about 2 months when I asked him to come. He told me later that he really didn't want to because we'd only been dating a short time and he felt like it was too soon, but at the same time he knew what I would think if he said No, haha. I guess he figured me out pretty early. Anyway, I think it gave him a bit of a heart attack to meet my entire family right off the bat, but he ended up having a great time. I don't think I'll ever forget driving to the cabin and Justin kept asking how close we were so he could prepare himself. We got there and walked in the door to everyone standing there, eagerly awaiting our arrival. Poor guy. Sorry, not sorry hehe. Luckily he already knew Preston, so that was nice. That was also the trip that Preston and Devin announced they were expecting their first baby! I'm glad Justin got to be a part of that. Preston and BJ have also taken future spouses to the cabin, so my grandma commented that a cabin visit serves as kind of a vetting process. You can tell if someone is 'right' or not by how the cabin trip goes ☺
Anyway, we are just SO grateful to my grandparents for providing such a fun place to visit.
It was a blast taking Nolan there for the first time and I hope he will grow to love the place and all the family relationships built there just as I have. As the family has expanded we've almost outgrown being able to all go there at the same time. But we make it work and love being all together. We were missing Preston and Devin and their crew this time, but we're planning another trip in September. Can't wait!
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Nolan and daddy reading before bedtime the first night.
Nolan, Gp Hunt and I were usually the only ones up in the morning so we got to hang out (and got first dibs on breakfast).
Nolan playing with the new toy Aunt Mallory got for him. It plays Beethoven so I don't mind the music haha.
Gp Mathews loves snuggles from Nolan!
Looking over at his great grandpa ♥
Hanging out with Granky!! He was carefully watching Nolan because he was so worried he'd fall! What a good Granky.
Justin helping Grandpa and Andy fix the seat for one of the quads.
I snuck a shot of my handsome boys all snuggled up asleep ♥
Ahhh! So cute!
We went for a walk and daddy tried out the carrier for the first time. Hot stuff!
SO beautiful!!
Nolan sat there with Uncle Andy for seriously 25 minutes!
My cousin Chelseigh came up Saturday night and loved meeting Nolan for the first time!
Heading out for a ride...from which they came back VERY muddy!
Uncle BJ took Nolan on the swing!
Aunt Mallory must be super snuggly because Nolan was out like a light. I asked Mal if she wanted me to move him, but she didn't ☺
Nolan has been loving bubbles lately!
Sometimes we'll say a word and Nolan will randomly bust out laughing. We've discovered it's a one time thing though and if you say the same word the next day hoping for a laugh you'll be met with his signature you'll-have-to-try-harder stare. This time the word that induced uncontrollable laughter was "Doink!" Check out this super cute video:
Nolan got his first taste of dutch oven cooking. Mmmmm!
We had a little bit of a scare while we were up there. Granky started having a hard time breathing and was really struggling to walk and things. My parents decided to take him down the mountain to a hospital in Cedar City so that he could be evaluated and get some oxygen. My dad stayed with him and Justin and I went home via the Cedar City side so that we could stop by for a visit. Granky is doing well now and has an oxygen tank that he keeps with him.
He loves the cabin and it's really the only vacation he'll take these days. We LOVE having him there and it just wasn't the same when he left. SO glad he's been feeling better!!
Here we are watching the US Women kick butt in the Women's World Cup Final! It's pretty great because I didn't even think Granky liked soccer, but he really wanted to watch the game ☺
Since it was Fourth of July, I'll end with a quote :)
“Oh posterity! You will never know, how much it cost [us], to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the pains to preserve it.”
–John Adams
