Lake Powell

We have talked for about a billion years about getting a houseboat on Lake Powell, but we have just never followed through. This year, thanks to my awesome cousin, Adele (yes, THE ADELE!), we were able to actually go! They have a timeshare on a boat and they just happened to have an opening. It was such a great opportunity that I couldn't say no, even though it meant a couple of days missed from school. (I don't know if I made mention of it here, but I enrolled the boys in an amazing charter school, that I love, but they are very serious about what they do and they frown upon missing school for just about any reason. They would have completely hated me during the last school year and probably would have kicked my kids out! ;) ) Anyway, I "climbed aboard" with no hesitation at all! The trip was planned over conference weekend (something which Gage is still bothered by. I am pretty sure I have already posted about how I keep my kids engaged during conference. He wants do do the conference store RIGHT NOW!!)

I haven't been to Lake Powell since I was probably 14. Luckily Adele and Lynn went out of their way to make sure I followed them from Draper and didn't try to have me catch them along the way because apparently the path to Lake Powell is a national secret, guarded from the unclean masses by a lack of road signs and a complete lack of cell signal necessary for communication or GPS.

We arrived at the boat with our necessary supplies, and probably a few unnecessary ones. I tend to overpack. We parked the boat at a little beachy area. The kids couldn't wait to get in the water. I am pretty sure they only got out of the water to eat and to sleep the entire time we were there. The Lamb family, and the other family we were with were so very patient with my kids, who haven't done much in the way of water recreation, but who wanted to try every little thing. So they tried the tubes, the wake boards and even a little skiing.

Adele taught me a cool way to use my sunglasses as a camera filter. Which was extra awesome because I don't even know what camera filter means... We had lots of beach time.

And lots of various boat time.

I was very impressed. The bugs really seemed very unbuggy. The sun was not punishing. The kids all got along really well, even though my kids hadn't really met or spent much time with the other kids. I took lots of time to myself lying on the upper deck just enjoying nature (no, I did not touch that nasty water, I don't even want to think of the things floating in it!) Sleeping under the stars was beautiful. I don't think I have done that since Jeff and I were dating and we had a little camp out in the bed of my pickup truck. On the way home we all stopped at a little burger place. I guess we took too long loading up and leaving, or we didn't drive fast enough, or something. But those directions back home seemed to still be a national secret of unmarked roads. But along our journey back to something that looked familiar, we saw some cool things that we want to go back and explore more. So next summer we will be taking a tour of Utah to see some cool sites.

That Is Just About Enough Camping

We went camping entirely too much this summer. I know that you camping enthusiasts will say that isn't possible, but I assure you, it is. I swear we went every weekend. And I pretty much hated most of it. The list of things I will do for my kids is appalling.

One of the more memorable trips this year was the camp out with my mom's side of the family. And it wasn't necessarily the camping that was memorable, it was the getting there (and to some degree, getting home.)

First off,the truck gets about three miles to the gallon and has about a three gallon tank. I have very specific rules about gas stations when I am pulling the trailer. No backing, and no angles to start. Add to that, the beast takes diesel and you start to see that the options are quite limited.

We were going up Spanish Fork Canyon, and I started with a full tank. By the time I realized that the full tank want going to get me back off the mountain too, I had already passed all the gas stations. I decided to push ahead, get to camp, unhook and go fill up with just the truck. See, I'm a thinker and a planner.

We followed directions, with Kim and Warren following (or leading, I can't remember and it doesn't matter). We get off the paved road and we are cruising along and come upon uncle Rick. He says we are close, just around a couple of curves and a bridge and we are there. So now we are following him. Going a reasonable speed. He goes around a bend. I swing wide, I always do. Them BOOM it is like a bomb goes off. I gun it, nothing. I hadn't even seen a rock or anything. I look behind me and the trailer is practically resting in the truck. I decide to get out and look. (Rick had continued without realizing I was stuck.)

A kindly old gentleman and his wife come up on a 4-wheeler (I swear, there is one in every camp area in Utah!) And then Warren comes up from behind me, I must have been leading. And not too long later Rick comes back to see where we are. It turns out I hadn't swung quite wide enough and the truck cleared a ditch, but the trailer didn't. The ditch was about 5 feet deep - and empty, luckily.

The old man suggests that we put a rope around the trailer and pull the opposite way from the ditch to keep it from tipping further. Bless his heart...

By this time, there is a huge line of cars behind me. It turns out that there was a ward party up in the area we were headed for. Seriously awesome...this is my real life! I walk away like I had nothing to do with this train wreck. The men decide that we should use the jack (I believe they call this kind of jack a handyman jack or a widowmaker jack) and jack up the back of the trailer until the (excessively flat and bent, brand new) tire is level with where the ground should be and then gun it. Sounds fabulous, right.

Shockingly enough, it totally worked, and there is a super cool reminder forever etched in the back door of the trailer when the jack flew after the trailer as it was gunned out of the hole. And no, I didn't not drive it for that part, I made Warren, he is a trooper and I was super done with my ability to "man up"! We got it out of the road so the ward party could pass, then we changed the tire and got to camp.

Whew! Now to unhook and go get gas. No, the dang jacks on the trailer won't work. And before you go blaming me for breaking those in the crash, you should know that at some point, during a previous year camp out, Jeff had duct taped the jack together. So it wasn't me, it may have been the straw that broke the camel's back, or it may have been the 10 camp outs we did this summer, but those jacks were not coming down. And I am now running on fumes.

Rick had also had a flat tire on the trip up so he decided to go and get a replacement tire, and at the same time buy a gas can and some fuel for me. I won't bore you with all the details, but he got a flat coming down the canyon and spent about an hour on the side of the road waiting for AAA. Life is an adventure, and I have had my share for a while.

Grandkids Camp

About a year ago we went to a family reunion at Sally's sister's cabin in the Uintahs. Judy told us about a camp they do every other summer for their grand kids over eight. Sally thought it was a great idea (we concurred). As soon as Jeff heard his mom consider it he started pushing for it, and we both pushed for lowering the age to seven. There is a gap between Gage and the next youngest grand kid of three years, so Gage would be the only kid not invited who would know what was going on (and oh, yeah, the only one of my kids left at home.) Persistence, whining and guilt, mixed with massive amounts of love and compassion paid off, and all of my kids got a golden ticket to grand kids camp.

Aunt Tiff went so that Madison could go (no way was that age getting lowered to 2, but if the momma came, the kid could come!) I am glad she did, because I stole all of these pictures from her Facebook!

They spent some wonderful time with their grandparents and cousins. They played hiked splashed in streams, and did some testimony building activities. I think they all had a wonderful time (even grandpa).

Here are the kids enjoying nature. Gage might be enjoying it a little too much!

It will be a sad day for these girls if Grandpa ever decides they are too big to sit on his lap.

Technically, Gage was only six when grandkid camp started, but he was seven when it ended!!

I only hope I have the whining power to make it an annual camp instead of ever other year.

Children are an heritage to the Lord...

Gage's Birthday

Birthday season was filled with lots of indecisiveness and lack of planning on my part (not really different for me, but the fog made it hard to push through.)

The previous year for Gage's birthday we had rented out a neighbor's backyard pool. Those sweet neighbors offered it to us again for his birthday this year. That made it easy. They have BBQ stuff on site, so a quick trip to Costco for some burgers and a few texts to friends and families was all that we needed to do.

This turns in to a bring your whole family party, so I planned for 75ish people. We had right around that number come. Not everyone swims. There is a lot of visiting and catching up among the old people (like me). But the kids have a great time.

They barely pause for eating and they swim until it is so dark we have to turn the dogs loose on them. (Literally, we turn the dogs loose on them. When the last few stragglers won't get out on the pool, we let out the neighbor's labs who love to swim. It scares the crap out of the kids and they are out in seconds.)

Good times!!

Also, we threw in celebrating my nephew, Marcus, at the same time.

My Birthday/Father's Day

Well, the title says a lot. My birthday was on Father's Day, which really isn't all that unique, it has been happening every few years for my entire life (yep, all 29 years.) The weird thing is, this year I felt even MORE obligated to honor Jeff (as the father of my children) than I have on all the other years the two have happened to fall on the same day. When this would happen in the past I would tell him that the fact that I was born kind of trumped the fact that he was a father. I mean, if I wasn't born, he wouldn't be a father (at least not the father of my kids). ;)

So this year, I found a way to make it about both of us.

First, a few days before my birthday my awesome neighbors threw a party for me and we had a big BBQ in my backyard. It was really nice, and really fun. Here are some pictures I took.

You're welcome.

On Father's Day/My Birthday my mom came up to celebrate with us. I suggested dinner out in Tooele with my grandma because I figured she might be alone and missing my grandpa, too. (Turns out she forgot it was Father's Day and thought we were just celebrating my birthday, which you know works for me because the world revolves around me.)

I chose to have us skip church because I may be strong, but I am not superhuman! (I had actually substituted in Primary the week before, and they were practicing their Father's Day song and the leader told them to point to their dad's at the end of the song. Then she had them practice that by pointing to where their dad might be sitting if he were in the audience. When I saw Gage point at the ceiling, that was about all I could take. Kids are awesomely resilient, but their mama's aren't always!)

So instead of church, we went to the cemetery and did a balloon release. (We were talking about balloon releases in my grief support group and I said "Who keeps a helium tank on hand all the time except clowns and widows.") And we also took the bottle of "champagne" Jeff got for completing chemo. It turned out, that bottle needed an actual old fashioned bottle opener, it wasn't a screw top. So after trying everything I could to pry it off, and my attempt to break the top of the neck off by hitting it against a tree, Courtney took matters into her own hands and walked it over to the curb and smashed the top off. It sprayed all over, which I expected, but the kids hadn't, so that was pretty funny. Then I poured it into paper cups, and checked it carefully for glass, and then we had a little toast. There was only enough left after the spraying that we each got a little sip, but that was okay because we all decided it was nasty!

Then we drove out to Tooele to have dinner with my grandma, my mom, and Kim and Warren's family. It was delicious. Here are some pictures.

You're welcome.

I decided since I had the tank in the car, and because the balloon release was just me and the kids, that we would do a balloon release for my grandpa, too, so that my mom and Mia (who came up with her) could participate too.

You have to look harder to see the balloons in this picture, but the sky is just amazing!

Much love to all the wonderful men who have changed my life. My dad, my husband, my grandpas, my brothers, my father in law, my brothers in law, and many wonderful friends. And many thanks to all of those wonderful men who are still showing my kids that there are good men in the world who are here to love and support them and be great examples to them.

(p.s. I am actually 37 years young!)

Things that Happened in May that WERE Jake's Birthday

You see what I did there! ;)

I know we did something for Jake's birthday. And I remember ice cream sandwiches and basketball in the back yard, but I don't think that was the main event...I better check my trusty phone!

Oh yeah, Minute to Win It. This is the only documentation I have. No other pictures or video. But let me assure you fun was had by all. (And yes, I do always nag like an impatient hag in the background on all of my videos...geez!)

All you need for a Minute to Win It party is lots of those red plastic cups and a box of ping pong balls! You can have games for hours with those and a few random things that you will have around your house

I don't know why, but Jake's parties always seem to grow the largest and the most out of control. Maybe it is a boy thing (or a mom who doesn't set limits thing.) But I have learned to be very organized and this party was actually very easy to pull off. Courtney and Tiffany were a huge help.

Jake is a great kid. He is a very deep thinker. He loves to laugh. He adores having the attention on him. He seems to be headed in the right direction most of the time. We are so lucky to have him as an important part of our family.

Happy 10th Jake!!

The Things That Happened in May That Weren't Jake's Birthday

I have been getting all my information from Facebook - but only the photos. I have way too many status updates to sort through to find out what was really going on. But these events were significant enough to inspire me to post pictures, so you now get to enjoy them (probably a second time) for your viewing pleasure: First up, Courtney got her braces off!!! Yay - it actually didn't seem like that long, and in all honesty I have some questions and I think we may end up putting them back on, but YAY they are off for now. I didn't think to take a before picture until she was already lying in the chair, so this one is really flattering: And this one is in the car after. Isn't she so pretty? (So pretty I am going to go out and learn how to use some of these weird looking assault rifles Jeff left behind...) The other "not birthday" May event that I felt was significant enough to merit a post was when the awesome Evan and family invited us to come along on the annual Sand Dunes trip. The date for the large group was up in the air, and no one really knew for sure if it was even going to happen, but Evan said "come with us" even though he had to know that it would be WAY more work for him! What a good sport (and loving, caring friend). We didn't want to be all excess baggage so we did what we could to get ourselves ready. Courtney felt pretty confident she could put the paddle tires on the little bikes. I was kind of pleasantly surprised (until some rudey pointed out that they were on backward.) Details - she knows the mechanics behind doing it, and for me, for this year, that is good enough. I have made it a point on our previous trips over the last 10 years to the sand dunes to never ride. And to be completely truthful I kind of had a secret goal to never leave the trailer except to shower and to make at least one trip in to town. Well, Patty and Evan decided that this kind of behavior wasn't going to cut it this year. They said "You have to ride out to the lake with us". WHAT?!?!?! There is a lake? Who knew? Is it new? No? Awesome! So we loaded up. Most of my family in the Rhino because the 90's just don't have the power for this kind of ride. Courtney and Jake fought over the 400. I can honestly say - I did not enjoy it. I get my adrenaline by waiting until the last minute to complete a project. Nearly falling off 20 foot drop offs is a bit of an overkill in the adrenaline department for me. On the way back from the lake Patty offered to come in the Rhino so one of my kids could take her quad. I don't know if she really wanted to, or if she just wanted them to shut up. But it was very nice.

(Our Family at the Lake)

So I asked her if she wanted to drive and she was like "Really, you would let me." As if that would take some of the enjoyment out of it for me. I was thinking "At least then closing my eyes will be less dangerous."

We all made it back to the campsite safely, and not much worse for wear.

And we do want to say THANK YOU to the awesome Wiggins family for being so wonderful to us on this trip, and really for the whole last year. What amazing friends we have. (Evan even said he was up for it again next year. I would like a prescription for a double dose of whatever he takes!) ;)

Relay For Life

TEAM PARTNERS FOR PARADISE IN MEMORY OF JEFF ANDERSON

We participated in the Relay for Life in St. George. My fabulous cousin Melinda, with the help of my fabulous cousin, Bobby decided that it would be nice to establish a team in Jeff's honor. My girls wanted to run with the team. I was going to bake cookies or something - but this was before I was able to rejoin life. (I baked cookies again for the first time - from scratch - in October). So mostly I drove my kids down, and provided some pictures for their posters and the cute booth they made up. The theme they choose was Partners for Paradise. They had a cute island thing going. It would have been super awesome if the weather had chosen to follow the theme. It was sooo cold. And the wind blew non stop. In the end, I wimped out and went to sleep in Adele's nice warm condo. A few brave souls spent the night, and someone was on the track for at least one lap every hour for the entire 24 hours!

I am very excited about doing is again - and promise to participate more fully in some way next year, as I am now back at least among the walking wounded instead of the full on zombie I was at this event! Thanks to Melinda and Bobby - and thanks to all the other family who came out to support this event in Jeff's honor. The theme was Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back ... We have, we do, and we tried! Now we need to continue to do it so others can CELEBRATE, LIVE, WIN My mom forced me to take a picture as if I was actually participating. So there you go. In Jeff's sweat pants and everything. (FYI - this is the same "Hansen Stadium" track that I will probably mention in a future post - maybe about my courtship story ;))

Easter Campout

After a lot of internal debate about if we would continue camping this year, I decided I was strong enough, brave enough, and doggone it...pretty enough to do this. I had a lot of awesome help from some amazing friends (thanks Evan and Dave - not that they will ever read this because guys reading blogs is lame - no offense to guys reading this blog) we got the trailer locked and loaded and sitting in front of the house in the "just pull straight out and stay on the road position". Evan asked me repeatedly if I wanted to at least pull it around the block to get a feel for how the brakes worked and such. I declined. My plan - always go straight, never check the mirrors, just keep going - and never get in a position to BACK anywhere! (FYI - valid plan - totally worked!)

I posted this picture the morning we were getting ready to leave, with a caption of something like "Here is praying that there is a truck driving gene, and that I got it."

And just to be clear, that is not a mini pickup with a little trailer. That is a full size - jacked up - truck with like a 32 foot trailer (or something like that - I forget, and who cares, it is behind me - and I have a no backing policy)

The trip down (and back home) was fairly uneventful. Thus allowing us to have many more camping trips over the summer. However, the complete and overwhelming anxiety every time I pull out of the driveway never did go away. Maybe that is a built in safety mechanism that I should stop trying to medicate away. I did learn to back in to the driveway - and as far as I know, I never did have to back in public (like at a gas station), however, I did have to have a guy come out and watch me once just to make sure that I was clear, because it was a really tight parking lot. I chose my gas stations more carefully after that.

Really, almost the entire trip was uneventful, except for one unfortunate accident that Chad's friend had on one of the motorcycles and ended up with a mangled arm that had to be put back together surgically. I don't have pictures of that (you're welcome) so I will just share a few pictures from the camp out.

Even though I go to all the stress and anxiety of pulling that massive trailer down, my kids love to sleep in a tent. Well, this camping trip, sadly, was the last for our tent. By the last day of camp it was duct taped and caution taped together. (Lucky for us, I found one at a yard sale in May for $5!)

No particular reason for this picture except to say that Gage is a fashionista and I am mom of the year!

The obligatory "can we just go pick up the Easter Eggs, yet" picture.

Courtney with her super clean face from riding dirt bikes with a helmet. I will take the 5 o'clock shadow look though, because it means they are WEARING THEIR HELMETS!!

The dying of the Easter eggs.

The annual "Gathering of trash to make a THE GREATEST HUT EVER"

One happy camper. (Actually, I can't believe there was a picture of me taken that I don't completely hate. I refused to change clothes or brush my hair the entire weekend in protest of being forced to sleep in the wilderness.)

Easter camp would not be complete without collecting caterpillars that then crawl in the trailer and procreate for years to come on all the camping stuff!

When I got home, my awesome neighbors had "egged" my house!