Lake Powell

Right as soon as I felt like we were finally getting somewhere with unpacking and getting settled in it was time to pack up for Lake Powell. Back in 2020 Megan and Mike invited us to go to Lake Powell on their annual trip with Mike's family. But then it was 2020 and so the trip never happened. The following year we moved and so we were never able to make up for the lost trip until this year. Jaden had never been and I have only been once so we were really excited to unplug for a week and enjoy sunshine and water and get to know Mike's parents and sister and her kids better. 

It honestly was such a fun and relaxing week. I read like four books, soaked up the sun and had a blast playing with the kids swimming, tubing, paddleboarding and watching Jaden wakeboard. 

I feel like every family has a Lake Powell horror story and unfortunately we have one to tell now too. Our nephew Parks was jumping off the diving board on the houseboat catching a football Jaden was throwing just like the older boys when he hesitated and lost his balance falling face first onto the swim deck below. It was terrifying. His face immediately swelled and his nose was gushing blood. By some miracle and a FaceTime call with Jaden's aunt who is a pediatric nurse we watched for signs of concussion and none came. We thought for sure that something had to have broken but Angie said that they'd need the swelling to go down before they could x-ray so it was either sit and wait for the swelling to go down there at the lake or drive home and wait it out a couple of days. They decided to stay (after the trip Megan did take him into an ENT who said he was 99% sure nothing was broken, an absolute miracle). After getting some children's Tylenol from the houseboat down the lake from us Parks rested for the night and woke up feeling and looking much better. So much better that it actually became a challenge to keep him mellow and not running around/falling again. That kid has had so many head bonks and injuries it's crazy but he's one of the toughest and most resilient boys I know!

Thankfully that was the most drama we experienced and everything was pretty smooth sailing otherwise. We had a great time exploring nearby canyons and taking in the beauty of the red rocks we probably take for granted yet millions of people travel to come see. 

Mike told Jaden a story about a coworker he had whose mom had always wanted to come visit Utah and see the red rocks. He said when she finally came all she could do was cry at the beauty of it, she was speechless. I thought about that a lot after. How many things have I effectively gone blind to and lost appreciation for because it's just a part of my life and I've let it fade to the background? I pondered that same thing when I went to Georgia earlier this year, I was so in awe at the Spanish moss lined trees and beautiful beaches and kept wondering if the charm was as apparent to the locals. It was a good reminder to me to take in the beauty of our earth and be grateful for the place you live and the place you call home. 

I think overall we can say the trip was a success when Mike's nephew asked if we were coming again on the trip next year. I think I speak for Jaden and I both when I say if the invite is there again we'll take it!

Peaches

• Hanging out in Lake Powell for a week
• Seeing Bullfrog mountain

• Yummy chocolate milkshakes on the way down and back
• Unplugging and having no service the majority of the time
• Reading lots of books
• Soaking up the sun and working on my tan
• Playing with Parks and Crew. We did a treasure hunt one night and made turtles made out of sand leading up to a buried treasure which was a discarded Koolaid jammers bottle stuffed with a secret message in it. When I asked the boys what we should write as the secret message they said "the Krabby Patty secret recipe" that made me laugh hard. So that's what we did! Jaden was our treasure hunter and it actually took him a while to get it dug up. I love watching and participating in the imaginations of kids!

• Boating and seeing beautiful canyons

• Lake Powell sunsets
• Sleeping under the stars
• Playing games
• Eating yummy food and snacks
• Watching Jaden get super into gold on the Nintendo switch they had down there
• Experiencing Lake Powell on a houseboat
• Paddleboarding down a cool canyon
• Sign of a good trip: coming home tired

• Came back to bowls full of tomatoes and a new table for our apartment! The Grantham's had a kids table setup downstairs and we realized we needed something taller to eat dinner at

• Sunday walks in the hollow with my fam

Pits

• Parks' scare falling off the diving board. There seriously were angels up there with him we can't explain how he fell the way he did without breaking something. We witnessed a miracle for sure!
• Jaden got a lil' sunburned on his back. My favorite part of this photo is the leather boat logo printed onto his back from sitting on the seat during a boat ride in the canyons

• Got stung by a wasp picking tomatoes. They are horrible this year!