The Cabin...

Out of the last 7 years we have gone up to the Debry cabin in Montana six times. It is one of our family traditions that we all look forward to. We always have a blast! This year was especially fun. We usually do a good balance of fun activities and relaxing. This year we (at least some of us) went fishing (good thing Rob was there to fish the kids out of the river!), hiking at Crazy Creek, playing in the mud, going off the rope swing, horseshoes, church, giving a concert for "the aunts", playing games, and of course, our day trip into Yellowstone. The boys even watched the kids so the girls could have lunch at the Beartooth Cafe -- oh the rum poppy seed cake!

Like every other year, we continued the tradition of playing Guesstures. And like, just about every other year, the girls skunked the boys! After being completely dominant in the first game, Mark decided we should do "double or nothing" for the lightning round. In this lightning round, our spouse would select the cards we would act out and set them up for us so that we would not see what was on the card until the timer started. Super fun! Again the girls rocked and we more the doubled the boys points. (I am pretty sure that is not what Mark meant by "double or nothing" --ha ha!)

We gave the chance for the boys to redeem themselves when we took them on in horseshoes. Ken brought up his horseshoes and the boys decided that would be this year's project: to make horseshoe pits. Despite the swarms of mosquitoes, we had a blast playing. In both games, the girls had the lead most of the time, with the boys coming from behind and squeaking out the win right at the end. Good thing, I think if we had skunked the boys at horseshoes too, they would never play another game with us. :) I see a new game tradition in the making and I even received my horseshoe nickname of "Carli Sliders" because of my impressive horseshoe throwing form. At least that is what they said...

The kids had a wonderful time playing with their friends! They got really dirty. What kid can resist a giant mud puddle? They loved playing out in the tree house and up in the loft. I am not quite sure when they slept because they were up late every night and up early every morning so they would not miss a moment of playing opportunity.

I too had a wonderful time playing with my friends. The Allreds and DeBrys became family to us during our years together in Colorado. It is so great to reconnect with them every year up at the cabin. Their friendship is so precious to us. We also love it when new families join us. This year the Wagners came up and it was great getting to know them better. (It also helps that Brenda is an awesome Guesstures player!) I love the time we get to spend together. Especially if that time is after we put the kids to bed and we are relaxing and talking on the best and most comfortable couch ever!

Now the countdown begins for next summer and when we can go up to the cabin again...

If you want to check out more pictures from our trip, click here for the gallery.