The Cabin
In the 1970's my dad bought some property in Provo Canyon above the Sundance Ski Resort. The first couple of years Mom and Dad put up a tent or backed their camper onto the lot and stayed there occasionally during the summer.
Then one year my dad bought a 'cabin kit' - kind of like Lincoln Logs - and he and my brothers put together a simple 3-room cabin with a small deck. It had lovely view of the north side of Timpanogos with one of it's waterfalls. My mom and dad used it for several years, taking friends and family there for fun weekends, dinners, game nights, and holiday get-togethers. Then they decided to sell it and buy a condo in St. George to use as their winter home and make more great family memories.
Well the new owner, a man of means, should I say, from back east, bought it and made a few changes.... and he offered it to our family when he wasn't using it and when it wasn't being rented out. I hadn't been there for years and neither had my dad, so in November Sara and I took grandpa back to see the 'cabin'. It was an amazing coincidence that the man who did the original remodeling, and a friend of our family, was there in the driveway working on something outside. He recognized my dad and invited us to walk through. It now has three stories, four bedrooms, four bathrooms, kitchen, dinning room, upper and lower deck, hot tub, family room, game room... Get the picture? Sara and I thought how great it would be if we still owned it. But selling it made other important things possible.
My dad was a humble printer from Southern Utah but he made a lot of great things happen for our family throughout his life because of his hard work, common sense and thriftiness. I don't know a greater man.
We had an early St. Patrick's Day Party last week. Sara would have been happy. We're trying to carry on the party tradition without her and it went pretty well. Stephanie had crafts and a treat: sack puppets and green rice crispy-cornflake goo stuff. It looked weird but tasted good.
One two three - now everyone don't look at the camera.
So first you open the glue stick...
...then you hold your finger here for 20 minutes.
Uh...where does this piece go...?
No mom, put it right here. Good job.
