This is the place, where I am most wanted

Where everything I am comes from

I brought you here so that you might notice
The light in my eyes like the afternoon sun...

-- "Boulder River" Storyhill

We spent the holiday weekend in Okoboji with my family. Loaded up the van, hitched up the camper, and headed north on Thursday. My uncle Bob was coming in, my brother and his fam were in town, all to celebrate an early birthday for my dad who turns 60 this year. Mom work crazy hard arranging and cooking and preparing for this weekend, and we invited all of the extended family and friends to come for barbeque and festivities on Saturday. We set up camp on Thursday, and took the kids fishing to a pond where I spent way too much time as a young man. Thursday night we marvelled at Uncle Bob's camper (which could hold our inside!), and sat outside while the kids ran like wild animals. The 4th found us around the lakes, swimming, eating, entertaining and being entertained by more family, and watched the fireworks over Arnold's Park with 30,000 of our closest friends. The party Saturday was great -- food was amazing, weather perfect, and I can honestly say the weekend could not have been more perfect.

The lines from the song at the top speak of what was going through my mind and heart all weekend. I grew up in Okoboji, and so much of who I am comes from the wide open spaces found there. I was so proud to take my kids to places I grew up going, to camp on the farm with the relatives, to laugh at the stories I've heard a hundred times and to start making new ones. Most of all, I am so thankful for parents who love so much, give so much, and have made me who I am. It is an honor to carry the family name forward, to have uncles and aunts and cousins who are so much fun to be around (and who I admire so much), and to have people in my life that I am crazy about. My hope is that my kids can look back 30 years from now, remember the places and times that made them who they are, and be proud of that as well.