Christmas in Bear Lake: the arrival

The day after Christmas, we drove up to Bear Lake to spend the weekend with my family. We all happened to be in northern Utah or southern Idaho over Christmas, so we couldn't resist the opportunity to get together for a short time. We all traveled from Spokane (WA), Orem (UT), Blackfoot (ID), Rexburg (ID), Phoenix (AZ), and Nashville (TN), so it was fun, and rare, to be all together. My parents have been building a new cabin in Bear Lake, and although it is about 5000 sq. ft., only the basement is completely finished inside. Which means that 19 people were living in just the basement (although there were a couple mattresses tossed up in the upper levels for sleeping arrangements. Despite the close quarters, it was a fabulous weekend, full of fun and laughter. There was so much going on, and so many pictures and videos taken, that I will have to break my Bear Lake post up into several different portions.

First, let me introduce you to the Piggott family cabin, which we have dubbed The Lodge...

The front (from the street):

The back (from the back yard):

The wintertime view from the rear deck (doesn't that look cold?):

The day we drove up there was supposed to be a cold, blizzardy day. It was very cold, but the snowfall/visibility wasn't as bad as we expected. Still, to be safe, we caravanned up with my 2 sisters and their families. We drove slowly and cautiously due to the road conditions, so what is usually a 3 hour drive turned into 4.5 hours. Not so much fun for the kids... or for me for that matter.
Ten minutes before arriving at the cabin, with the end of the journey in sight, Brennen got violently ill and vomited all over himself and his carseat. Clint quickly pulled into a gas station/convenience store parking lot, and I got out to dig around in the trunk to find Brennen a clean outfit to change into. Finding what I was looking for, I swaddled Brennen in a blanket, scooped him up, and raced across the parking lot in the bitterly cold wind to the store.
When I found the bathroom, I discovered, much to my suprise and extreme irritation, that not only was there not baby-changeing station, but there wasn't even a counter. Only a single, pedestal-style sink. Seeing no other choice, I gritted my teeth, spread the blanket across the cold, filthy bathroom floor (yuk, I know), and cleaned and changed Brennen. The poor little guy was crying, shivering, and chattering his teeth the whole time. When I finished, I was sorely tempted to give the store manager a piece of my mind for not having ANY baby-changeing accomodations. Instead, I merely loaded Brennen back in the car (trying to cover the puke-covered carseat the best that I could with another blanket).
Upon arriving at the cabin, before I could even give any members of my family a hug, we had to take care of business first. Brennen went in the bathtub, his clothes, my clothes, his blankets, and his carseat cover went in the washing machine, his pack n' play was set up, and Brennen was put down for a nap. After all that, I was able to greet my family properly and settle down for what I hoped would be a good time....

to be continued...