Annual Bear Lake trip

We made our 'Annual Friends Bear Lake Trip' last weekend. It was so much fun. It was 48 hours of rest and relaxation with some of the greatest people I know. Most of us met in high school, and have remained good friends throughout the years.  All of us there this year currently live in Utah or Idaho which makes it easier to get together, since no one had to drive more than 3 hours. How did I get so lucky to have such amazing friends??? I love these people! (and these aren't even ALL of the high school friends that I am still super close to -- the rest of them live in Arizona -- but that is a bit of a drive for a weekend getaway!)

We chatted, ate, chatted, played games, went to the park, chatted, went to the chocolate shop, and chatted some more. For the most part I only see these people once a year so there is plenty to catch up on. Of course some high school stories are told and retold, but less than in years past. We mostly had discussions on current life stuff including parenting issues large and small -- many of us are starting to or soon will have teenagers in our homes. Yikes!

One of the best parts about this annual retreat is that the kids just go off and play nicely (for the most part) and leave the parents alone. We will go hours without hearing from our kids. Amazingly the kids (even though they haven't seen each other in a year) reconnect, get along, and pick up where they left off. It is awesome.

The 19 kids -- this represents the offspring from 5 families

Playtime at the Park -- we had perfect weather!!!

If you too were a Mighty Mountain Lion

(ie: you knew me in high school) --

see if you can identify which families the various kids are from:

We had four 12 year olds!!

Renae and Allie were inseparable

Colby with his buddy Kaiden

Sadie and her posse (Luke & Abby)

The view from the balcony -- looking out to the lake below 

The adults...staying up late playing games.

Notice on the clock it is just a couple minutes shy of midnight...late for us old fogies.