Family Time

Sometimes I forget how I love to spend time with my family.  Often, when I go home for the weekend I end up spending the majority of my time with friends instead of being with those lovely people that I love and have always been there for me throughout my entire life.  It's a little ironic how often they end up on the back burner while other things slip up to the forefront.

For Labor Day weekend I went home.  My friend Melissa and I drove up after she got of work on Saturday.  Instead of driving straight through, we stopped at the Iron County Fair.  It was pretty fantastic.  We bough matching earrings for only $1 each.  We were quite excited about it; we even decided to wear them on Monday so we could be matchy-matchy.  Anyway, we had a good drive up and talked a lot about all sorts of interesting things.

When I got home, no one was home because my parents went to the temple.  I was only there for a little while until they got home.  Once they got home I just spent the night with them.  It was so wonderful.  We chatted about life, laughed, and just had a good time together.  I think it also helps that my mom doesn't work at 5 a.m. anymore, so she can stay up later than about 10 p.m. and not be exhausted the next day.  For as long as I can remember, my dad would stay up late, but my mom would try to go to bed early (who can blame her for it--working that early). Anyway, after my little brother got of work, he came and chilled with us too.

We quarreled and bickered like siblings do.  I would poke him and then he'd try to stop me.  He and I were the only two kids in the house for two years before I moved away to college, so we got pretty close, even though Steve isn't a huge talker.  At one point, I was laying across his lap and he decided that he wanted to stand up, even though I was still on him.  Instead of falling to the ground I wrapped my arms around his legs and then I started tipping over, while nearly doing a face plant into the ground.  Apparently my legs flailed around and my dad, sitting opposite us thought I was going to kick him in the face.  Even though I almost died, I loved every second.

Sunday, we decided to go surprise my sister up in Logan!  Only two years apart, we were inseparable when we were younger.  Now, she's up at Utah State while I'm at Southern Utah.  That makes for a long drive if we ever want to see each other!  We didn't spend a ton of time there, but it was still worth it.  John, Mom, Dad, and I drove up, helped her with her new electronics, made spaghetti (her favorite meal) for dinner, then talked a bit before leaving.  It was a quick trip, but wonderful nonetheless.

I did go on a hike with my friends the next morning.  Originally we planned on doing Donut Falls, but instead we went to Lake Mary.  Not only did Melissa and I wear matching earrings (that part was planned), but we wore matching shirts and jeans (that part wasn't).  We were like twins!

I knew my parents also were planning on going on a hike, so right after I finished the hike with friends, I called my parents and learned that they actually wanted to hike in the same area.  Instead of driving back down the mountain, I just told them to come up and I would meet them there.  I sat and pondered for a while, then explored for a bit after that.  I was at a waterfall when my parents called saying they arrived.  I hurried back down and ate a hotdog quickly that they brought up for me and then I took them to the waterfall I found.  From there, Dad started blazing a trail up the mountain.  That's one of my favorite things about hiking with him.  He has a great sense of direction and he finds beautiful places.

I also got to spend some time with my brother and sister-in-law.  I have the cutest niece EVER!  Alexis just steals my heart away every time I see her.  I love going over to their house and chatting and playing with Aiden and Alexis.  It makes me happy to see them.

Over all, it was just good to have some family time.