50 Years of Awesome/4th of July Party

This 4th of July, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of my family cabin. My grandparents, Micheal and Virginia Gooley, built this wonderful place in 1959 and it has been enjoyed and appreciated by so many people. My grandfather and his family and friends built the log cabin, pooling their strength and resources. So much love and care has been put into it through the years. My grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends, cousins and now my nieces and nephews and cousins' children have all stayed here and felt the peace of the cabin and the lake. It's hard to describe just how much this place has meant to all of us. Our lives have been made better by having a home away from home to go to: a place where we can get to know each other better, to witness nature's soft touch, and to feel the love that our big family shares. We are all eternally grateful.

Here's the cabin before everyone arrived:
50 years of awesome!

Some overview shots of all the people that came to the big party! (click on photo to enlarge)

Chicken, anyone?? Watermelon? 14 different kinds of desserts? Yes, please!

We got matching t-shirts for the event. :) Here is me, my Godmother and Mom.


Karaoke time!
fishing. ;)


Here is my wonderful, loving Grandmother with one of the youngest additions to our family, sweet Sophia:



Now it's fireworks time!! :) What a show!

Thanks for a great celebration! :)

I love sunflowers :)

A little get-away

My sister, nieces and nephew took a trip up to our Grandma's cabin. It was great to be up there for a few days. It meant: spending time with family, no tv, bonfires every night, reading books, thinking of the possibilities, kayaking on the calmest of lakes, listening to what the loons have to say, looking at little things, treats, mini-golf, zorbas pizza, fresh air, sleeping well, dreaming, walks in the woods, memories, and feeling refreshed.










Ava is 4 weeks old and this was her first trip to the cabin. :) She's so cute and chubby. It was great to spend time with her.

My Happy Place

As much as I love to travel and see new places, I see how being able to return to a wonderful place is also rewarding. There is always more to explore even in the areas where you've spent a considerable amount of time. Drew and I try to make it up to his cabin at least once per season and each season offers it's own pleasures. In the winter, it is quiet and feels more secluded than ever; a perfect time to watch the deer, and snuggle up with a book. Spring is a nice time to be up north in Minnesota. The air smells fresh, everything is budding and it always feels good to put away the winter jackets. The summer means taking the boat out, fishing, soaking up the sun, golfing, ice cream, bonfires (although we tend to have bonfires in Spring and Fall also), long walks, sunset cruises, swimming, and numerous other summer activities. The Fall, of course, is full of changing leaves, walks through the woods and apple cider. The cabin is just always such a great place to visit. I'm so appreciative that we are able to visit and enjoy it all year.
This most recent trip was a good old summertime one! We woke up and enjoyed coffee on the deck, the lake air blowing over us, the smell and the feel of the sun, the sounds of the birds chirping, and the real feeling of calmness. It is my happy place. No matter what we choose to do with our days up there, it always feels right. We have such fun and peaceful days and nights and we make the most of the time we have.

On our first day, we planted a pretty sizable garden. It was a bit of work, but it felt good and hopefully we'll get some nice veggies out of it. Right after we left the cabin, it rained for a couple days so that was good timing.
After taking a nap, I decided to go around and take close up pictures of life around the cabin. It was a fun little photo project.







Eating is a big part of being at the cabin. We grilled veggie burgers and sweet corn for lunch, eating the veggie burgers on artisan bread with smoked gouda cheese and fresh tomatoes (best veggie burgers ever!). Then it was off to our favorite Longville supper club for dinner. We eat well there and always have enough left-overs for lunch the next day. After a relaxing dinner, we went for a sunset cruise where we got to witness a gorgeous sunset.







Then, of course, it's time for a bonfire. I stuck with earlier project by taking close up shots.

Ahh...Peaceful days...