Good Cabins Make Good Neighbors

Everyone should have a cabin. Well, everyone should have friends that have a cabin. Okay, scratch that. Everyone should have a really great friends that have a cabin, a very nice camera, and an invitation to visit the beautiful town of Oakley over the Fourth of July weekend.

At the cabin, there must be beautiful trails,

a rope swing,

(Can I just tell you how happy I am that my girls still love a good rope swing. A few more years and they'll be sitting in the car texting their friends. Don't grow up. Not yet.)

and a river to throw rocks in.

Too small for the rope swing, Jane opts for the thrill of being toss precariously in the air.

Not to be outdone, Ed throws her just high enough to make mom nervous.

At the cabin, there should be plenty of reading material...

and pleasant walks nearby...

where your children can be free to be themselves...

Of course there must be a porch swing...

And if you can manage it, find a small town parade. Nothing fancy, just people in their folding chairs, watching the pretty girls on the horses and catching handfuls of salt water taffy.

Otter Pops would also be good.

After the parade, there must be a chicken chase at the rodeo grounds.

Separated by age, of course...

Or least a 50-cent-piece chase. They move a lot slower than the chickens.

It doesn't hurt if the boys there are insanely cute with their cowboy hats and huge belt buckles.
This summer we haven't had the resources to go on an extravagant vacation, but I've thought about what we have done. It reminds me of Dallin H. Oak's talk, Good, Better, Best. In it he reminds parents that the best activities are often the simplest.

Elder Oaks says:

"In choosing how we spend time as a family, we should be careful not to exhaust our available time on things that are merely good and leave little time for that which is better or best. A friend took his young family on a series of summer vacation trips, including visits to memorable historic sites. At the end of the summer he asked his teenage son which of these good summer activities he enjoyed most. The father learned from the reply, and so did those he told of it. “The thing I liked best this summer,” the boy replied, “was the night you and I laid on the lawn and looked at the stars and talked.” Super family activities may be good for children, but they are not always better than one-on-one time with a loving parent."

Thanks, Scott and Wendy, for inviting us up, being great friends, and for taking such beautiful pictures. It was the best.

On the street where I live

On the street where I live you can wake up see flags at every home, lifted by the morning breeze. Look to the east and you can see the the tops of the mountains, still streaked with snow. Below the snow, pines and aspens soften the edges with folds of green. Around the corner, there is a little park with a hill to run down. Across the street there is bigger park with giant cottonwood trees and a river that tumbles over the rocks, carrying the melted snow.

Walk further and you will see a church where my family can worship, and even farther down there is a store with everything you could want. If you drive a little further you will get to my parent's home where my dad still picks the tomatoes and peppers and pears for us to take home and my mom waits to put her arms around me and ask me if I'm okay. A little further and you will pass my schools and the university where I received and education. Turn west and you will see the temple where I was married to an amazing man.

Return home and you will find three daughters, all unique, all beautiful, standing in the driveway waving sparklers in their hands. You will find enough food in their cupboard and enough places to sleep. You will see their mother, perplexed at the many blessings that surround her, overwhelmed with gratitude for the sacrifices that others have made for this life to be possible.

For my parents, for deciding to have another baby and raising me safely and teaching me well. For my pioneer ancestors who sacrificed their comfort and their lives so that I can worship without fear. For those present and past that have given their lives to protect our country. For their wives and children. For my Heavenly Father, who, for some unknown reason, has placed me here at this time and place, on this beautiful street.