Every year my family takes a trip up to Bear Lake. This tradition started long before I was born but I've been attending since I was 2 so you can imagine how important this event is to me:)
This year all my sisters and their families made it! That is a feat in and of itself!
There were a few changes this year...some good, some I could do without, but overall it was a family gathering success.
My sisters from out of state stayed in a condo while those of us who live in Utah stayed at a KOA. We would drive to the condo every day to stay at the "beach."
I don't know what your definition of an Ideal Beach is (the name of the condo) but this definitely is not mine!!
Yup it was snowing in July. Snowing COTTON!!
The water was so high this year it covered most of the grass and trees which left this lovely array of rubbish on the sand and in the water. Yuck!
I barely got in the water this year because I was so grossed out by whatever it was I had to step on (looked and felt like cow manure) which is one of the changes I could do without:) (I usually live in the water at Bear Lake). But it didn't stop any of the kids or our boating excursions.
My mom being a super star because I was too much of a wuss to get in the slimy water:)
As you can see, beaching is very serious business. It is fun for me to watch them because this WAS me not too long ago and now my nieces and nephews get to have the joy of endless digging in the sand.
The boat! I have a very special place in my heart for this water craft.
Dad was also a super star and went "simming" with Leilani
Baby Annie enjoying her first time at the beach
Classic. If you know my mother at all, you know this is a special occasion to say the least:)
The floating island.
Part of the fun of Bear Lake is going out on your floaty and...well, floating. We do this until we are all thoroughly fried, and this year was no exception.
We rented some jet skis for a day. So fun! We didn't have the best weather while we were there, (as you can probably tell by everyone covered in towels and sweats on the beach) so having these babies made the waves in the lake not seem too bad.
My family's forte is water skiing. We go to Bear Lake because of the water. Bear Lake water is unbeatable when it comes to skiing on glass. We only got a few hours of glassy water and I only got one good ski in but you can't replace the joy (even just for one good run) of skiing on Bear Lake glass.
Doing hair
Making bracelets
playing games
This is everyone tucked into the condo while a storm passed outside. That was definitely one of the perks of the condo, babies could sleep and people could get out of the wind and rain if they needed to.
Probably my favorite photo of the year:)
This was my first time going to Bear Lake with a child. It was a little strange for me because Bear Lake has always been a place where there are no responsibilities. You could stay out in the water from sun up to sun down if you so desired and usually I did. So being a stress case of a protective mom anyway, having a baby with me at Bear Lake was a big responsibility. But we had fun and Leilani was about as happy as a baby as she could be. She slept well and played hard. What more could you ask for?
This is a picture of ALL seven of the Bishop girls together. A very rare sight. We were pretty pleased to find that we were all gathered together and my oldest sister said, "I feel like we should do something naughty" :) Sitting there and chatting was about as naughty as we got but I sure loving sitting and chatting with my sisters.
This is my dear Aunt Les and Uncle Clyn who came up to spend the week with us. We feel quite blessed to have had the time with them because just a few short days later my Uncle Clyn passed away from a heart attack.
Bear Lake is also a special place for me because that is where I was able to spend the most time with family that I didn't usually see very often. My dad's brother, Clyn, and his family would join us and then my mom's sister, Carol, and her family. I looked forward every year to spending time with my cousins.
Well, time passes and families grow up, get bigger, and move away so we haven't all been together like that for a long time but almost everyone that used to come to Bear Lake was at my uncles funeral and that was a really neat experience for me to be with all of them again.
playing in the court yard after dinner
Thank goodness we had our super heroes there to save the day:)
Leilani will make friends with anyone with food:) My sister Tiffany knows that so she makes sure to always have food when holding Leilani
My mom gave a towel with their name printed on it to each of the grand kids. This is all of them minus two. Dallin the oldest is in China right now, (I know, I'm jealous too), and another nephew Preston had football camp. That's what happens when your family grows up.
It was such a fun trip and such a great time to be with my family.
Here's to many more Bear Lakes!
(my fingers crossed:)
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