24th of July Retreat

Our family LOVES the 24th of July because it's the only weekend of every year we KNOW we can count on a retreat from our everyday normal burdens or activities. This year, we left on Friday the 22nd, and spent three nights and 3 1/2 days in Hatch with our Burrows/Tubbs grandparents and family.

I have to admit that I worried if we would make it down this year. I was especially worried about Kaitlyn and how she would do in Hatch. My experiences having her sleep somewhere other than home were a "no go." I didn't know how I would handle her if she didn't sleep. I also worried about her getting into everything. To my surprise, she handled it better than I expected. Kaitlyn was so tired from visiting, playing, and being on the go all the time that she slept great. She got into things, but compared to Danelle at that age when she spent her first year in Hatch, Kaitlyn was easy. I have hope for our future trips to Hatch now. :)

I also wondered if I would make it because I had to make a very difficult decision about my 10 year high school class reunion. I had been looking forward to it all summer. I lost weight partly with this as my motivation. I arranged to go with a friend so that Shayne and the girls could go to Hatch, and I wouldn't be alone at the dinner. When my friend decided not to go, I tossed back and forth about going to the dinner, but ended up deciding that I needed to go to Hatch with my family instead.

Once on the trip, I knew I had made the right decision. Our family that was going to go down Friday night couldn't make it until Saturday all the sudden (so it was just us that night and next morning) and it meant a lot to Danelle that someone watch her big moment in the parade and the races. Since we were there in time for the morning children parade, Kaitlyn got to be in the parade for the very first time and I got to see Danelle win a race. Yes, I had made the right choice to be there for these special moments.

Later that day, more family showed up. It was nice to sit around and visit and Danelle and the girls played and enjoyed the day. Around 6:00 we met at the town hall for a dinner. It was at this time Danelle started to say she felt sick. I have had this experience with her enough to know that she probably didn't drink enough water in the day and her feeling sick and dizzy was dehydration kicking in. I tried to get through the dinner, but Danelle kept insisting she was going to throw up and we had to leave NOW. I have learned that when Danelle says she is sick - to not question it - we packed up our dinners and left as fast as we could. As soon as we got home and I gave Danelle a drink, KAITLYN started to throw up instead! In short, I am glad that we got them home before we had a big embarrassing mess, and before Danelle got to the throwing up part too. Danelle never did throw up; a couple drinks later and she was good as new. Needless to say we were more careful with the rest of the weekend!

Before coming to Hatch, Grandpa said he had a fun surprise for us when we got there. Not knowing what it was, we brought Monyka's fire pit not realizing that the surprise was a fire pit! Everyone agreed it was a fun addition to Hatch. It was fun to sit around the fire and roast smores and tell stories. We stayed up later than most with the fire when Kaitlyn was already in bed.

The next day was "ridin' day." We tried to figure out how we would take 12 people on rides, with only three (sometimes four) running ATV's. We decided that those that wanted the "easier" route would go in the morning with Grandpa through Procter Canyon. Then after a short lunch, the second batch would head up rocky Hatch Mountain. I had never seen Hatch Mountain before, so I went with the second batch. Mom, Dad, Danny, Uurtsaikh, Grandpa, and Danelle went on the first ride. Evan, Monyka, Shayne, Grandma, Grandpa, Danelle, and I went on the second ride. On our ride, we decided to get out the "Buzzer" even though it tends to have some issues. Twice it needed new plugs, but we had a great ride and everyone made it back safe and sound and enjoyed the fire pit, smores, and hot dogs again that night.

We had some fun visiting with Grandma and Grandpa Tubbs while in Hatch too. Kaitlyn sure took to Grandma when they explored the Hatch Town park, and made faces together during the games. Danelle and I enjoyed a hot dog lunch with them, and we had a few very fun visits at their trailer. Jolene brought out some tasty watermelon to share, and Kaitlyn kept me busy chasing her until we brought out some snacks she liked and would sit still for.

Leaving Hatch is usually a very sad time, but this year we caravan'ed behind Evan and Monyka making this another fun part of our trip. Danelle has some walkie talkie's and we gave them one for their car, and we had one in ours. We talked back and forth and had some good laughs along the way. We also had a couple memorable stops; Big Rock Candy Mountain, lunch at KFC, and our couple of fill ups on the way home. Even though it took a little longer to get back, we enjoyed every minute.

Once home, we start saying things like "if we go next year..." but we already know we will be down in Hatch 24th of July weekend like just every year. I am so glad that my children will have fond memories of Hatch and our time away from home together. I hope that we will have many more years together in Hatch.

A thank you to Sarah Cameron, my sister in law, for taking our dog while we were away. We couldn't go every year without her help. It means a lot.