Just What the Doctor Ordered

To celebrate the 4th of July, the Kiefer family rented a cabin in Brianhead, UT (near Cedar) and brought the BIG TOYS to play with! The timing could not have been better.

Dan has been having an especially hard time with everything right now. The stress of losing Ty, fighting through finals, moving, and jumping right into working at a law firm in two different locations caught up to Dan last week. He doesn't like to admit this, but he was struggling. After turning in a difficult assignment on Friday, Dan and I were ready for a relaxing weekend in the mountains.

The BEFORE shot: clean and ready to roll! We couldn't wait to bust out the four-wheelers and buggy.

I've said this before and I will never stop believing in it: There is power in recreation.

Dan's troubles eased the moment he arrived to the cabin. I, on the other hand, started to slip. Being around kids seems to trigger me sometimes, especially being on a family vacation. I tried to imagine what it would be like to have Ty with us and I ached for it to be real. Dan knew everything would be ok once we loaded the four-wheelers. And he was right. From the minute we jumped onto the ATVs, I was laughing and smiling as we tore through the trails. Layers of dust powdered our faces and filled the cracks in our lips. I could feel tiny grains crunching between my teeth.

We immersed ourselves in nature for 4 hours. Amazing!

Family and recreation... The perfect remedy.

Pictures cannot capture the beauty. There were forests of aspen and pine, meadows sprinkled with yellow and purple flowers, curvy mountains with red, white, green and brown...

 This is the point where even Dan couldn't help sing, "The hills are ALIVE!" (And he adamantly refuses to watch The Sound of Music with me) In all seriousness, driving through this gorgeous scenery felt like being in a movie.

We all felt a little more in love...

 Jake and Carrie

 Ryan and Megan

 Dan and Erica

 The Sis-in-Laws!

 Dan can't help himself: He feels compelled to throw rocks down hills and see how far they can roll...despite how often I chastise him about leaving nature as it is.

 I love this grove of aspens. Supposedly, Dan's rock made it all the way down the runway through the middle of the trees. He still can't believe I don't care.

Lunch break!

(Stay tuned for part II)