Lake Powell

Hole in the rock! You can barely see the hole but it is at the very top of the picture.

2008 Top 10 memories from Lake Powell:

1. Climbing sand hill.

2. Gina's desserts.

3. Guffy loosing his throne in scum.

4. Fan kicking.

5. Sacrament meeting.

6. The endless amount of candy.

7. Stories from when they were kids (don't know how Jane survived).

8. Hole in the rock.

9. Sunset boat rides with Ryan.

10. Dancing.

Hi!

Fred feeding the carp ice cream at Dangling rope.

The last leg of the hill...making a run for the water.

A group of us cooling off after sand hill.

Boat ride

Steph and I

Everybody eating ice cream at Dangling Rope!

Ryan fan kicking!

Jacksons split jump with a fan kick...impressive.

Everyone getting ready to drop it!

Jacksons back flip down

The rest of us running down.

Got stopped for construction on the way up there.

Hi

Brandon fan kicking, so close but not quite there!

Go Bridget...you got it and you have the shortest legs out of everyone!

Another wonderful trip to Lake Powell...every year we get invited to go with the Wright's on their families annual Lake Powell trip. It is a great time. We get a break from our kids, they get a break from us (which they probably need more :-)) and enjoy some time with friends. We play cards, wakeboard all day and all night, tube, eat, layout, read, chat, eat some more, well you get the idea here. Basically do whatever we want for 5 days and sleep as much as we want...its like we are newlyweds again! We come back refreshed and ready to take on life with a new and improved attitude!

This year will all the snow fall last winter the water level at Lake Powell is higher than it has been in five years. A cut off for boats was opened up and a few scenic spots we were able to get to with the water being so high.

We went to "sand hill", not sure if that is the real name but that is what I am going to call it....I really should call it impossible hill because that is what it felt like. It was a sandy hill about 1/2 mile to 3/4 of a mile long. Basically people pull there boat up to the shore and climb to the top. The top is shaded and there are names all over the walls. I didn't bring my camera because I could barely walk up :-). About 1/2 way up it gets so steep the only way you can walk it is on your hands and knees. You feel like you are going to die when you get up there...unless you are Janene (who said, "you guys want me to run down and get you some water" as we all sat there about to pass out"). On the way down Jackson did I think we counted them on video later 10 back flips down the steep part and Guffy did a rolling crash dive. The last 100 yards or so the sand is so hot you cannot run fast enough to the water.

On Sunday after sacrament meeting (always one of the best sacrament meetings ever) we also take a boat ride and then to Dangling Rope Marine. This year we decided to go to "hole in the rock". The picture does not do it justice. I cannot imagine living during this time period...are challenges in life do not even compare. Hole in the rock is a place where Mormon pioneers used dynamite to blast a hole in the rock and then with ropes lowered there wagons down this steep rocky terrain to make a quicker path to Utah (still took 2 years). I didn't climb up it, but a few other people did and about half way up there is a big sign giving tons of information about the pioneers and what they went through....wish I would have went now but I wasn't feeling it then :-).

Another great memory from this years trip is the dancing. If you know the Wrights they hysterical! Anytime a song comes on they can all drop a beat, and I mean drop it. Anytime another boat would come around or we would pull up to the marina we would crank the music and every last one of them would get and drop it like its hot. Especially Jamie, Jackson and Guffy...they have moves I could not even dream about trying to do. The other boats all stare like we are crazy and it is so funny.

Another tradition is fan string kicking....sounds a little odd I know but it is hysterical. Everyone sits around the living room and takes turns trying to kick the short string attached to the fan. Long legs or short it doesn't matter...every has to try. Sounds weird but it is so funny...this has been going on for many years but I decided to take a picture of it this year as proof. No one would believe we actually sat around and tried to do this. Also I snapped a picture of Jackson doing a split kick jump...I know amazing huh.