A Weekend Away...

Chester and Tex.

As you all know, my little brother is leaving on his mission on December 30th. He is going to Philadelphia. We are all really sad to watch him go, but know that this is something he needs to do and he will be a better man because of it. I think he is nervous, but really excited to get out there. Because he is leaving so close to Christmas and this is his last Christmas for a few years, we wanted to do something as a family. It needed to be pretty cheap since we (us and the newlyweds) don't have a lot of money. Kris had gone with her in-laws to Lava Hot Springs in the spring and said that it was a lot of fun. We looked into it and found a house to rent. We bought a lot of food, brought a lot of movies and went to the hot springs a few times. Jack loved going on a special vacation and being somewhere new. He loved the hot springs and I wished that I could have gone in. I probably could have, but I really didn't want to be jumping in and out in 15 degree weather since I wouldn't have been able to stay in very long. The house we rented was perfect. It was really cozy and reminded all of us a lot of my grandma's old house. We loved loved playing "Catch Phrase..." especially with my sister. I think we will always remember her trying to act out "quiet as a mouse..." (those little scramblers), "jolly on the spot..." "domestic goddess" "yanking a old man's chain" etc. No one cares about that, but I wanted to remember. We laughed a lot! We walked in and the first thing Jack said was "This is a cowboy house!" So, my dad made a big deal and called himself Chester all weekend and Jack Tex. I love my family! I hope that we can make this a yearly tradition. We did nothing and ate crap all weekend, but it was so fun to be together!