A New Little Addition to Our Family

Today we added a monumental piece to our “puzzle” of life . . .

Today we bought a cabin.

Now, you probably already know that it was a conversation about having a cabin together someday that lead us to the marriage talk.

And you probably know that we’ve been looking to buy a cabin for over ten years now.

I’m sure you know we fell in love with Weber Canyon just outside Oakley when we first discovered the canyon almost ten years ago.

You might not know that we’ve had offers on or seriously considered putting offers on 4 or five different properties over the years.

Of course you know that we did buy a piece of land about eight years ago with hopes to someday build.

If you’ve read this blog that long, then you know that we did attempt to start the build process in the summer of 2009, but had to be put on hold when Wyatt decided to start his brokerage.

What you probably don’t know is that last year we discovered a new, and PERFECT location for our little family cabin. It’s called Hidden Lakes in Weber Canyon.

Since you don’t know anything about Hidden Lakes, let me tell you.

Unlike other cabin communities in the Weber canyon, Hidden Lakes has some really, really awesome ammenities. This includes association owned river frontage. (Other communities’ river frontage is owned privately, meaning you can’t technically get down to play on the river). In that river frontage they have built a small “swimming hole” perfect for children to splash and play.

In addition to this the association owns it’s own private lake. The lake is small, the size of Liberty Park’s paddle boat pond. But it has it’s own ‘Tom Sayer’ island in the middle of it, and it’s own natural population of trout for fishing. When we were first there over a year ago, a family had little paddle canoes out for their kids to paddle over to the island, and other kids had butterfly nets they were using to scoop up frogs out of the pond (they caught about three in the fifteen minutes we were there!)

Hidden Lakes also backs up to National Forest Service land (unlike Beaver Springs, where our land is, which backs up to more private property). This means you can go out of the association and go target shooting (SAFETY FIRST!!). There is also, purportedly, a giant rope swing that swings out into the forest. It also means one can ride 4 wheelers out on the trails instead of being limited to just the association roads.

Since we first discovered Hidden Lakes  we have had 1 property under contract, and negotiated for one other one. But two weeks ago we found “the one.”

And today we closed.

It’s a teeny tiny little thing – a true one room cabin. No bedrooms, we will sleep on a pullout couch, and the kids will sleep in a make shift loft built into the rafters. There is an indoor privy, with a curtain for privacy  😳 and you have to wash your hands in the kitchen sink, because the bathroom doesn’t even have a sink (and yes, that also means no tub or shower). There’s also no hot water.

It’s rustic to be sure, but it is also perfect for us at this time in our lives. Wyatt and I both feel strongly that “it’s time” to have this piece of our puzzle. We see it as an investment in our family, in our relationships with our children, and in their personal development and self identity.

We are thrilled.

We would love for anyone who wants to, to come up and enjoy a day with us in Oakley . . . catching frogs, painting, fishing, canoeing, reading, riding 4 wheelers, what ever you want. But don’t mind us if we don’t invite you to spend the night.  😉