1st Day of School!!

 Cutting our summer short was the start of the 2017-18 school year! The 21st this year. Jax had to wake up at 6:30am and get ready to head out the door with his morning carpool by 7:25. He was kinda excited, kinda nervous for starting Jr. High. Just the week before we were there at the school getting his schedule, walking around, practicing opening his locker, a lot. That helped him to see what it's like. And being with all his friends in so many classes made it easier. 

Creed told me to wake him up in time to see Jax before he leaves. So they were all up and Jax had to hug and kiss them all goodbye. It was cute. Melts my heart. A few minutes later Jax texted me that he forgot his class schedule! Do'h! So I told him to hurry to the office and get a new one before the bell rings. He did it just in time - phew.

Then over an hour later the younger 2 were ready to head out the door. Creed will rule the school this year in 5th grade. He's excited to see his friends again. And is in the portable classrooms all day this year too, like Jax was. He is trying to live up the last of the elementary stuff, like recess. They talk about how he and his friends are gypped out of 6th grade recess and playing because they now will go to Jr. high next year. I think they'll survive.

And 2nd grade for Bodie, happy as can be but always claims to hate school. Last year was a rough ending with his french teacher. But we went to back to school night and saw his french teacher (he already knew who she was) and after the first day said she will be fine. I'm hoping his good attitude will stay and he will be able to keep at this french stuff and be ok.

And my goodness, Rafe in 1st grade all day long! I always said I would cry, and at the school, I didn't cry this year. I have been emotional a few times but not that morning. Which is fine. He wanted me to wait with him in line and had Bodie show him to his line for the first few days, but he got it and did great and is doing great. All the other boys had an adjustment with first grade, coming home tired, and complains of the long long day. But Rafe never has. He's trooper and is glad to be with his little buddy Jude in his class. It's a new French teacher for 1st grade this year, so my fingers are crossed that Mme Botella will be great!

Our 1st day group shot, minus Jax who was long gone to school.

Walking the kids in the morning is a neighborhood tradition, I turned around and Creed was gone. He found his friends, I snapped a picture and he didn't even say goodbye. So I went over and did it for him. Ha! Bo and Rafe were so cute together. They had planned to meet at the dumpster right after school to walk over to where the group meets to walk home. I found a couple friends for them to stand in line with. And then 1st grade marched in and Rafe was gone. He was nervous and brave. 

And after I walked back home, I ate and then had to go back to the school an hour or so later. It was the big Eclipse of 2017. Ha! So the school was going out to watch it with special glasses and I was volunteering. So I got to go see the 2 little boys at their picnic lunch and see the eclipse with the school. It was quite an event.

Then home to make my 1st day of school traditional cookies and before I knew it, Jax was coming home and brought some friends by to have some cookies and quickly filled me in on their day of Jr. high. Then the other 3 boys came home by 4pm and we ate cookies and talked about their first day.

 And the next day (2nd day) I was able to relax in my bed after they all left for school and truly enjoyed my 1st day with kids gone and had a little "me" time. But man, I tell ya, 2:45 comes awfully fast then Jax is out. But he does take his sweet time walking home, so really I have till just after 3. Let my party begin!

Lagoon!

Summer of Lagoon!

Wait, what is this?

Ah, like father like sons...  lol, none of this underwear sporting is surprising to me.

 Here are some glimpses of our summer spent at Lagoon - a lot! We loved having season passes. It was so great, so fun, so hot, so dirty, so tiring, but all of us loved it!

Sometimes we'd take friends with us, and our favorite was to go first thing when it opened at 11am and stay for a few hours, head home around 2, right when it was getting too hot and too crowded. The lines were always short and we'd split up, older boys and usually Rafe and I, sometimes Bodie depending on how many friends were with us.

 Loved all the rides, Rafe didn't do all the "big kid" rides, but Bodie sure did them all! Even Cannibal. He was daring, but then he'd even go around to the kiddie rides with Rafe. And us adults in our old age sure can't spin and so some of the rides like we used to I tell ya! And Rafe had a few melt downs.

 I loved having some place to take the boys this summer. I loved spending time with them. I am so glad we had passes, I can't say that enough. We did Lagoon-a-beach a few times too. And we went up with Greg a couple times. We still need to head up in the fall for Frightmares too.

It's what fun is!

August life

So besides California and Bodie's birthday party we also did other things to fill the month of August. One day before school was to start we headed up to Bountiful to hang at my mom's for a bit. A little QT with grandma. She showed the boys and had them help make lasagna. Since I never do stuff like that. Ha! And we had our last day of our weekly morning track we do at Olympus High with our friends the Davies. And I took a few pictures. Jax wasn't as "into" it this year as in the past. Creed did well with his mile this year, and Bodie and Rafe hardly ran like they used to. They lost their mojo I guess. And we or they had to cancel a few times. But we stuck with it. Lots of complaining and wanting to go home, but getting out and running is always a good thing. So I make them. The sprinting is always a favorite. The one picture Annie was teaching the kids how start a race like the Olympians or real athletes do it. So my boys look almost vertical in the bottom left picture. Fun stuff.

The week before school started we also took a quick trip with the Unguren's up to Silver Lake at Brighton to hike around. The kids had such a fun time exploring. I'm glad we went. 

And the new addition to the MTC in Provo had an open house so we drove down to see that. And I am really happy we did. So glad my boys can see the MTC, where they will go and live before their mission to train and see what it will be like. Jax was realizing in 6 years he will be there. I hope all the boys will remember being able to go and see that one day in the future and maybe it will help ease any fears of the unknown of going on a mission. They all enjoyed it and then we drove through BYU campus and parts of Provo so they could see it. In the picture with the map, we told them how it's where everyone takes a pic pointing to where in the world they are headed on their missions. So Greg is doing Russia of course and Jax and Creed are both doing France, the younger boys are pointing to maybe a french speaking island somewhere, ha!

I had to capture Creed mowing the lawn. He learned this summer and always does the front and Jax does the backyard. 

I also took a picture of Jax because we are so proud of him. He always talks about earning money or what he could do. And this August he decided he really wants to earn lots of money to invest and buy a hand gun pistol like Greg just got. So I helped him make flyers and he took them around and actually got a few jobs. He advertised saying that "are you sick of mowing your lawn, let me do it for you, $15" He is happy camper to be getting real money. The first times he mowed all 3 houses, he hated it and complained how hard and long it took, how big their yards were and how long the grass was and he wanted to not do it again. But the next week he was all about the money again and went back at it. Now he sees that it can be done and he will get his $300 to actually buy a gun.

Now I'm not a fan of kids and guns, but Greg says it's an investment for a lifetime to have, it's better than some toy or video game or some stupid thing. And it will always be locked in the safe and never a bullet in the chamber and never to be carried around. 

The bottom pictures are of our annual back to school pancake breakfast we do. All the boys were gathered around the grill messing around with the left over batter Greg left out. And the last is Creed and Jax doing their brother handshake. It's like 15-20 seconds long. It's fun to watch all their moves. I video recorded it of course. And their shirts are off because at night before bed they "lift weights and do push ups and stuff to get strong".

And at the beginning of the month Greg's bro Rick and Mari and girls came into town from Texas. So we saw them a few times, had dinners, went boating, went to Alpine Days with them and visited. Here's a big group picture of the fam!

Boating a little

In June we boated once, at Lake Powell, July we had an outing to East Canyon and we did end up taking Greg's cousin Chad and Emily and kids boating at Jordanelle at the end of the month. And during that month Greg took the boat up to Flaming Gorge with Creed in tow and joined Jax at scout camp and took them all boating. And this is where Jaxon finally got up and figured out how to wake board!! Yay! And he loves it now. Greg had him keep at it every time we took the boat out. Creed can do it as well, but didn't do much of it the rest of the summer. It's all good though. We are just happy to have them doing something other than tubing. Check out Jax in the bottom 2 pics. We then took out Greg's bro Rick/Mari and girls one night. They had a fun time tubing and being with little cousins Eden and Bo'Eme that we never get to see. And the evening sky is always beautiful!

Right before school started in August we also headed up to Jordanelle with the Williamsen's - Cam/Amy and kids!  Always a fun time had out on the lake, tubing, playing, snacking. And then in August as soon as the sun is gone, we are freezing and are dying to get out of the water! But we did have a fun time this summer on the boat. We have to get started earlier in the summer to have time to take everyone out that we've been meaning to. Till next season!

Bodie turns 8!

 Bodie felt very special and excited to be able to have his birthday while we were in California. We brought his presents with us and opened those first thing in the morning at the hotel. He got a Nerf Crossbow, scriptures, headphones, a video game, and a few other things. The boys wanted to go swimming first thing before heading into Monterey and hanging out on the wharf. Bodie got a nice juicy crab for lunch. We explored some shore hoping to find crabs and sea life but we also wanted to find a sandy beach to play the day away.

And we sure did find a nice sandy beautiful beach. We spent the afternoon at Carmel Beach. Look at Bodie in the first picture. Being the hulk. Ha! And then being a human barrier for the waves to protect the castle and his favorite are the 3 bottom pictures kinda in a series. He would sit and wait for a big wave, it would hit and splash around him and carry him clear up the beach surfing on his bum. He had lots of sand to wash out at the end of the day. His older brothers were to heavy for doing that.

Best beach birthday ever! We all had such a great time. Bodie and his brothers played hard and loved it all. We grabbed some pizza and cake and had a late dinner back at the hotel.

** Party **

After we got back from Cali, 4 days later we had a b-day party for Bodie with friends. We went up to Olympus Hills bowling. Just like his brothers did. He may or may not have changed his mind a half dozen times on what to do for his party. So I decided for him.

He had a fun time and bowled his heart out. Check out his form?

He had a good group of friends. Girls and boys. I think he said hello to the girls when they arrived and thank you when they left, and that's all that was spoken to them. Silly kid. He wanted blue frosting and thought an 8 sounded great! I forgot a lighter so we had to wait to blow out candles till after we got one when everyone ate the cupcakes already. Oops.

 Happy boy opening presents! And I put a picture of doing a "fake" blowing out candles before the lighter when we sang to him. Jax was my helper because Greg had to work. (although he did show up at the end to say hi) And the lady working the bowling alley was a huge help as well. It got a little hectic with 12 kids to get shoes, and sign up, and get balls for. It all went great! He loved it, I loved how easy it was.

Check out how cute our baby Bodie was! From 2 months to 2 years in these photos.

So-Dang-Adorable! I got all nostalgic looking back at his baby pictures. I just could squeeze him all day. His cheeks, his chub, his little voice. How he didn't crawl but scooted on his bum. So smiley and happy and chill all the time. He was such a delight!

Bodie still is a delight. He can laugh and be silly with the best of them. He does have a shy quiet side as well. And loves to hug and kiss and show lots of love. He can be such a sweet heart. And a mad temper and hits and swings at his brothers! He is our tank. One day he will be able to crush his brothers in brute I think. He loves video games as much as Creed. He likes to play anything with his brother's. It's cute, at recess he's been having Rafe play and follow him around - weather Rafe wants to or not. Ha! He is doing good in school, his teachers say he is quiet in class and needs to really start speaking french, he gets scared and feels he doesn't know it well enough so we remind him none of the kids know it and he has to keep trying. We all take turns helping him with french and he's so good and diligent coming home to do homework and get it done. He takes speech at school and is going to start a reading program. Hopefully he doesn't miss out on too much class time.

He takes forever falling asleep at night and then wants to sleep in come morning time. So I have drag him out of bed. He's getting to be picky about what clothes he wears. He loves to snack on apples, crackers, tortilla chips and chocolate ice cream w/ choc. syrup. Still loves hamburgers and I think pizza. He tells everyone how he loves chicken hearts. He ate them once and apparently loved them to keep talking about it. His favorite lunch at school is chicken nuggets with a roll.

Gosh we sure love our Bodie boy. Our Bobo.
 Although he says he doesn't like being called that anymore. :(

SanFran/Cali/Fog

 Greg had so many Delta sky-miles points we wanted to use them. We thought of just the 2 of us going somewhere, but I wanted to go somewhere with the boys to make memories. Greg goes to San Jose and San Francisco, CA quite a bit so that's where I got the idea. And we did southern Cali last summer. So we made it happen the first week of August.

I had the boys each do a little info report on some of the stuff we were going to see. Just so they'd know. Ha! They were all happy to see the stuff they learned about. Jax did Alcatraz, Rafe did Golden Gate Bridge, Bodie did the Muir Woods, and Creed did Big Sur. Rafe took it all very seriously and certainly has a brain to remember it all for everyone. I love that!

Now for the picture show...

Bodie's selfie skills on the plane! And we flew into Oakland, just so we'd be over there and could see the LDS Temple on the way into SFO. The boys saw parts of the ghetto of Oakland and then were really impressed with the temple. They loved the gold on the spires. We walked the grounds and enjoyed the views. It's a really neat temple.

 After we dropped the luggage at the hotel we drove into the city and Bodie was excited about all the hobo's he saw. He has this thing with them since he was one for Halloween last year. I don't know why. 

First stop - Lombard Street! Of course crowded and fun to drive down the curvy street. Bodie is kissing Rafe in an old retro rail car we rode, but in the wrong direction and it took us a while to find the right pick up spot, which was the wrong spot after all. So we sadly didn't get to explore China Town like I had planned. It was going to be so great. :(  We had tickets to ride the tour ferry out on the bay. So we headed to that in the afternoon. I was so excited for this adventure because we'd be on a big ship/boat, on the ocean, under the famous bridge and seeing Alcatraz. The boys would love this highlight! And as we were waiting to board, I noticed some fog coming in! Ah! Of course, we get out there and it's a thick foggy cruise! I was so so upset and bummed. But we did it anyway. It was cold and windy. But the fog horns on all the ships we couldn't see were cool for the boys. It was clearing a little around Alcatraz so they could see that better and then after we stopped and enjoyed all the sea lions and dinner at Pier 39.

 After dessert we headed back to the hotel going through the closed up China town and Union Square areas, but not before getting our Full House or Fuller House on! The boys love that show, and I grew up with that show. So we had to see the Painted Ladies at the Alamo Square. A few photo bombs during Greg's selfie with Jax. Ha! And we tired to hold still for a picture, and that didn't work so we tried jumping. And that... didn't quite work either. Why did I do a whole collage of this spot? I dunno.

Day 2 - Heading to the Muir Woods we luckily were able to see the famous bridge today. No fog! I was happy. We stopped at both sides to get pictures. Man I had to live it up while I could. A big thumbs up from everyone on seeing and driving across the bridge. The last picture is actually later in the day down at Halfmoon Bay Ritz Carlton on our way to Monterey. I'd heard about it so we stopped to check it out.

Parking was a joke at the Muir Woods, but we got a close spot luckily. I was prepared for it to be cold, but it ended up being very nice so I carried jackets and we all didn't need our pants after we all changed just for that. But it was cool to see the forest. We felt like we were in Return of the Jedi on the Forest Moon of Endor. Ha! Again, with the photo bombing kids. Geesh. Just as they were getting tired and their feet hurt, we were done and headed back to the car. Then we had a late lunch in Sausalito and drove a couple hours down Hwy 1 to Monterey. Loved the scenery on the highway.

We dropped bags again at the hotel there and grabbed some dinner and enjoyed sunset on the beach! Such a pretty night. It was at the Asilomar Beach area I think. 

We really liked our hotel. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn. The boys swam every chance they got. And they loved the smores at the pool every night, and hot tubing.

Day 3 - Bodie boy's big birthday! We brought his presents with us, so he opened those first thing in the morning at the hotel. You know, everyone brings a Nerf crossbow in their luggage right? 

This day we went to Monterey and strolled along their Fisherman's Wharf and had a nice seafood lunch at a place on the pier. Rafe and I had pasta. :) Then we walked around and drove over to Lovers Point and Pacific Grove, reliving our Honeymoon spots. They charge money now to do the 17mile drive and Pebble Beach, so we took an alternate route and made our way into Carmel. We knew just the spot to go play on the beach. The last picture is back at the hotel for a late pizza dinner and celebrating Bodie turning 8 with an oreo cake!

We changed into swim suits in the rental van and enjoyed the whole afternoon at Carmel Beach! Greg and I went here on our honeymoon, but it's a lot more crowded now than in February. Ha!

The waves were incredible and big. Freezing cold water. My feet went numb. But building a giant sandcastle with motes to keep the waves away until the tide came in was the fun. Kinda a beach tradition now. What a fun dad they have! I love the top right picture where Creed looks like a seal. He's being a human barrier to stop the waves. Man, those waves!

Rafe prancing around all day having fun, Bodie had fun surfing his bum along the shore as the waves were strong enough to lift and push him all the way, Creed is the no fear all in wave jumper, Jax likes the waves too but I think loves finding shells more.

Day 4 - Big Sur! I didn't realized until the night before our trip that there was some big landslides in Big Sur and they closed the highway and parks. The State Parks I was planning on going to! So we didn't get to see any waterfalls, or purple sand, or hikes. Boo! But another thing happened! More freak'n FOG! Agh! We woke up to Carmel in the fog! What! Why? Curse the fog!

The sightseeing we could have seen, just imagine?! So we drove it, and I was so sad and bugged. I kept having Greg pull over so we could jump out and try and see something gorgeous. Ha! It was kinda mystical with the fog. We did get to see stuff up close, but everything in the distance of course was covered. Then after a while we were far enough south the fog lifted. You can see us above the fog in the one picture. That was kinda cool. Anyways, our day of Big Sur was only a few hours then we bailed and headed back up to SFO to the airport hotel to fly home the next morning.

Our family on the beach in Carmel-by-the-sea! Such a great day that was! And then or last night at the hotel, swimming, showers, and a movie. See the boys on the bed together. Let's get a close up. So cute. 2 slept on the bed, 2 slept on the floor, they all rotated and took turns every night. Greg and I always had a bed of course.

Yay for San Fran, Monterey, Carmel, and seeing and enjoying our Honeymoon spots with our 4 children! So glad we went. I hope they always remember this trip and the bonding we had. Not all the fighting. Boy they were on one I tell ya.

Some of July

 The 4th! We love the 4th! We had just returned from Lake Powell and normally always have our annual big neighborhood/family/friend BBQ fireworks party at our house. And this year Greg and I both said and were thinking at the same time... we were wanting a break from it and kinda burned out and wanted a year off. So we last minute decided not to do it. 

But we did our usually Millcreek parade in the morning with the Davies. We relaxed that day and then for dinner we went over to our neighbor/friends for a little BBQ and then headed to Holladay City's concert in the park with Peter Breinholt (from Greg's collage days) and a Firework show. It was low key and enjoyable. But, in the end we all missed our big annual 4th of July party a little. Traditions can't die I tell ya. So next year we'll be back at it.

I don't mention on here much about all the time and effort that Greg spends with the duplex's we own. He's had them since after he graduated college and we keep them as investment properties. And this year he had to re-roof one of the units. And there's always repairs, vacancies to fill, lawns to mow/trim once a month, and now he can take Jax down to help some with that. Always something on our plate and 2 other duplexes with 4 other households to take care of besides our own. Anyways... I'm showing the picture of the roof to show it was done and mention all that Greg does.

The next pic is Greg's dad's side of the family. His Aunt Ami and her children and grand children. They are all older, so her children, Greg's cousins are more like Aunts/Uncles and their kids are more like cousins. We don't see them very often but we did have a potluck at her old house that was fun to see everyone and see his Uncle Herm's old baseball stuff.

And then a gorgeous sunset one of the boys told me to get a picture of. And then another capture of a typical summer day at our house, the boys enjoying their video game time together. 

We took a quick camping night up to East Canyon with the Unguren and Wheeler families. And Bodie tried wake boarding!!?! What? I know, out of the blue he said he wanted to try. I think after just being in the water all day in Lake Powell he was ready and thought he'd give it shot because he was feeling brave? I was so proud of him for trying. Wow. All the kids chill'n in the tube.

And the end of July I took the boys up to Alta to hike Cecret Lake again. But it was too crowded and the ranger sent us to the lower part (where all the wild flowers are anyway) and we did that for a bit. It started out rough, as you can see Rafe in picture 1 - everyone else looks silly too. And then compare to happy Rafe in picture 2. Phew, he cheered up. And I also got a speeding ticket in the canyon that day. :(  Grrr.

The Uinta's Trip

 This year we were planning our usual camping trip up to Black's Fork River in the high Uinta's that we do with Greg's Bangerter family. We try and go up Wed. night after work and come home Sat. or Sunday. Anyways, this year I shopped, cleaned, and packed us all up. Boo-ya! Greg got home from work, he delayed us an hour or so. But it's ok, we had just had dinner and were ready to hit the road. 

We've been having issues with a glitchy brake light on the the trailer. So we stopped to put air in the tires just up the street from our house. And Greg decided to check the brake lights one more time. Then... randomly he pulled into gas station, and looked at something and decided to pull away. But, before he did that he hopped out again, walked to the back of the car and smoke was coming out, he saw the electrical line and went to grab the plug into the car and burned his hand on the electrical wire that was melting and burning. I heard him yell, so I jumped out and saw the smoke, and then the sparks! So he kicked the wire from the plug to the car. And one side of the electrical line fed to the trailer propane tanks, and the other end traveled under the length of our car undercarriage. So I'm about to panic about the sparks causing a fire or explosion with the propane tanks (and then of course the whole gas station) and Greg jumps down to check the line under the car. Ah! Of course the sparks and electrical wire burning under our car, traveling passed the fuel tank to the engine with oil and we'd just had an oil change and they spilled some oil in the engine! I honestly had a few quick images of me whisking my children out of the car before we all exploded and died.

But, the electrical wire fire/sparks stopped just like that. I don't know why, but it was no longer burning. Well, maybe I do know why. It smelled really bad and he double checked and then drove home and broke the news of not going up camping that night until we fixed the hitch wire etc. 

So the next morning bright and early, Greg headed down to U-Haul and had it fixed properly. And we finally headed out late mi-morning to start our camping trip.

I know that's a long saga, but I wanted to remember it. I will forever remember the feeling of complete Gratitude I felt. It was very clear to me how we were protected and I just felt so incredibly relieved and blessed and happy that things worked out the way they did and how it could have been so much worse. Like really worse. Greg was too angry that night, but boy howdy, I sure noticed the feeling of higher help from above. The boys knew it too. We talked about it and it was a neat feeling. Whenever we go on any road trip we always say a prayer in our car and our prayer was heard for sure.

 Ok, down to picture business. The picture of the burned up wire. And the next day we were getting close and passed through hundreds of sheep along the way. Creed's saying hi to them out the window. Ha! (and the only picture I'm in and I took it)

And then we pulled into the camp area. And we backed the trailer in our spot, it only took like a 49 point turn to do that. And for the record, the last couple years I've mentioned to Greg that perhaps we need new camper trailer tires. They are old, should we replace them? The tread appeared to be fine, no cracks, he always said their fine, blah blah. Sure enough, not fine and we had a flat. We got our spare and that was bald as could be. And then Greg realized the other tire needed to be replaced. So he got logs to prop the camper up and took all of the tires and drove to Evanston and back and changed all the tires. What a great guy!

I do feel bad we didn't get our Wednesday night, and Thursday was spent driving and settling our camp spot. And our entire Friday was spent dealing with the flat tires/repair so we didn't do any hikes or fishing that day. So that left Saturday for any activities with Greg. But we tried to spend our time well. I entertained the boys in the mountains! Ha!

The older 2 boys both were so happy to have knives this year and they sat whittling for hours. They made themselves wands. Like Harry Potter wands. Ooh, and look at the sunset sky!

Bodie teamed up with cousin Lucy to build her Fairy Village. They loved it and were so cute. Great village too! Jax starting a fire with an audience I guess, amongst the wood pile Abe cut. And we did the Bangerter group camp fire songs and stories a few evenings. And I took them over to the old little log cabin Abe and Greg built several years ago. Still standing. Although the back half of the roof was off. And they found some animal bones inside.

 On our walk back to the camp area Bodie is pointing to g-pa/g-ma the incredible looking sky! Have you seen a shadow in the air? It was really cool looking. The sun behind the cloud, but then a weird shadow being cast from I guess part of the cloud? Anyways, we all oohed and awed.

It was a small year for Greg's immediate family. Laura and Alisa's families didn't come. But we did have our friends Spencer and Celeste come. We relaxed, wandered and explored, waited for Greg, ate snacks and good meals, napped, hiked a little, fished once, went gun shooting, sprayed bug spray constantly, threw rocks in the river, sat around, visited and always enjoyed the nature we were in. 

Then we came home, unloaded the camper, and the car, then took showers, did laundry, put supplies away, and cleaned up for days and blah! I hate all that part! SO MUCH WORK! Camping is so much work. Is it worth it? Of course it is. We do it, we will always do it.

Lake Powell 2017

 The big Lorenzon fam does Lake Powell...

Greg's whole family (minus -Rick and fam in TX.) stuffed our cars full and headed down to Wahweap the last week of June. 25 of us in all. Andrea and Abe had a houseboat time share for us to all share and use. We opted to sleep in a tent on the beach instead of with everyone all crowded on the top deck. (and Jax sleepwalked last time) We stayed 2 nights at the farthest back you cold go in Gunsight Canyon and then fell in love with West Canyon so we up and moved the houseboat to that canyon for the rest of the time.

Here is the week in show of pictures.

These next 2 pictures are taken by our bro-in-law Nate Ries. Captures Lake Powell perfectly. Ay? He has so many incredible ones I couldn't decide. So I grabbed some of the first few I saw.

Here's a little of Creed's week. Wake boarding, fishing, napping, claiming his king of the boat spot at the center bow, tubing, cliff jumping, kayaking, it also included eating and snacking a-lot.

And Jax's week had swimming, kayaking, skinny dipping (yes holding up his suit in the picture - copying exactly what Greg had just done of course), hiking, eating, visiting, and enjoying the incredible scenery.

 A group escaping the sun and watching an afternoon movie, Bodie enjoyed it and cruising on the boat all day, swimming like a fish, jumping off the house boat, kayaking, tubing, eating, playing with cousins, laughing, and did I mention all the snacking.

 Rafe also had a blast! Throwing mud and rocks, fishing, swimming, watching his brother's, chill'n on the boat all day cruising around, slept by mom like a rock, applied lots of sunscreen, ate well, played with cousins, and trying out a little of all the activities. We got a kick out of Greg showing those trying wake boarding how to place their feet. Ha!

Our red rock wall view out our tent window's every morning were incredible. Almost as incredible as all the stars we'd see all night. And look at Greg's happy face while driving the boat. Loving that we are in Powell. And a selfie of us cruising at sunset, because that's what we do is take selfies. :)

On our way into Kanab on the drive down a big billboard say "Lake Powell - The Greatest Earth on Show" I loved that! So true. It's an amazing part of our planet. The earth you see is unbelieveable. The water, the cliffs, the reds and oranges, the white, the sunsets and rises, every inch is a sight to see. I'm so glad we had the chance to go down there and see it and experience it.

 Greg likes that picture of us all on the boat. It's a good capture. And or only family photo is us doing a quick video clip of the dab. I did a still shot of it.

I made a Lake Powell video to music and gave a copy to everyone. It was a lot of work, took a few days and lots of hours here and there. But we had so many pictures, I just had to.

It was a good time, lots of people, lots of food and meals, tons of sunscreen, broken A/C, ice, drunk tons of water, got heat stroke everyday with a migraine. That was not fun. It made the trip difficult for me. I hate how my body and head overheat so easily. My circulation is bad, in the winter my limbs are always freezing and in the summer I overheat. Ugh! I hate it. But I enjoyed seeing all the kids having such a grand time so I stuck it out. Greg's sisters were so helpful in trying to help me cool down.

Um what else, oh yes, Greg and I never ever got a chance to get on the water behind a boat. Wait, I did go tubing with the kids once. But no skiing or wake boarding in the warm water. That was a bummer. There's always next time. And my kids will be older and then we'll all be having the time of our lives. Oh and I'll be sure to not go when it's 105 degrees!

The End!