A Day at the Lake

My life is a gift. I am blessed to enjoy so many wonderful moments with family and friends. I have hundreds of posts to try to catch up on. Things from last week. Things from this summer. Things from last year. Thoughts and ideas I want to share with you. Experiences I hope to document. We just keep living. We keep enjoying these moments. I will document where I can. We love remembering these things.

Saturday, we went to the lake with our friends, Dave and Laurie Okkema, on their boat. Dave has told us before we can borrow their boat, but we love to be there with them. So glad they let us go with them (you may remember, it was one of Britt's gifts to me). Check it out (Oh, and I apologize for the massive amount of pictures; just know there were several more I didn't include):

just hanging out at the beach

the beach is hard to find, since the water has risen so high this year (it is receding a little now)

Garrett popped up on the wakeboard like he has been doing it all summer (we haven't been to the lake since we went with the Okkemas last summer)

He was loving it

Cole also got right up and had fun on the board

He was disappointed I didn't get more video of him, but I thought I got some good pictures

We told the girls they were going to ride the knee board (they have never tried before). They didn't really want to, but I said I would show them how it is done. Well, after I wrecked a couple times, once letting go of the rope because the boat was going too fast and then tipping under the knee board because I was still strapped in, as well as going into the water face first on one wreck (where I wasn't sure how I was going to get back up); I didn't think the girls would be too excited to try.

But Rachel was willing, so we set her up on the knee board, strapped in and got ready to pull her. Normally, we would let her pull herself up, but she is so light, we thought we could just start her out on top. Then waves started crashing in and tipped her over before we got the boat going. We were afraid she would have nothing to do with it after that.

But she decided to give it a try

And then she did it! And she made sure to smile for the camera, so she can share this picture with her friends. Hi, Katelyn!

She loved it!

Okay, Olivia was willing to try also, as long as dad promised not to pull her too fast

She was very serious about getting those straps on, just like her dad told her

And then she got lots of serious smiles in for the camera. Such a cutie!

Laurie spent most of the day relaxing in the water by our beach spot

Dave and Britt hanging out

Snack time

Now, Tyler had watched her sisters knee board while she was back at the beach. So, she didn't want to be left out. (Actually, she took a lot of convincing, but since Rachel and Olivia had tried it, she didn't want to be outdone).

Olivia watches

And Tyler got up and rode for a while

Then we went back in to get the tube. Tyler was disappointed. I guess she felt like she didn't get a very long turn and even later in the day, she said she had wanted to knee board again. Next time, I guess.

We got all three girls on the tube. Britt explained to Dave that this tube is a little temperamental. If you don't go fast enough right off (not fast, but not too slow), the tube will swamp. Well, that is exactly what happened. Rachel and Tyler let go right away, and they were laughing as the tube was pulled away from them. Poor little Olivia held on for dear life as she was dragged along on the side of the tube after it was lifted back up out of the water by the moving boat.

Cole jumped in to help her, but at that point, she just wanted to be off the tube altogether

We dragged her around until we were back to the other girls. At that point, she jumped off the tube and swam back to us on the boat. She still hates tubing. We have never had good success with pulling our girls on the tubes, but Olivia in particular has had some horrible experiences.

Rachel and Tyler were still laughing after the first mishap. They decided tubing was pretty fun (this is not the only smiling shot I took, just so you know)

But then their dad started going too fast for Rachel, and she started yelling for him to stop (see Cole covering his ears)

And pouting, because it seemed like her dad wasn't listening to her (which he wasn't)

And then Tyler decided she didn't like it either

And Rachel begged, and Britt finally stopped the boat

Then the boys went tubing with Dave

They had a blast!

holding on as Britt whipped them around

and around

We stopped for a little while at a hidden cove in the back of a small island (it is usually a bigger island, but the water is so much higher this year). We all swam in the water, and Britt and Rachel and Tyler hiked up over the big rock. The boys climbed up on the other side of the rock and chased lizards. It was a nice little reprieve.

Britt and I wanted to be back in Blanding, so we could attend a barbecue for Tyler Nielson, who is leaving soon to serve a mission in Uganda, Africa. Tyler is one of the young men Britt has been teaching in his Missionary Prep Class. We could have stayed at the lake longer, but there were threatening clouds to the southwest, and we didn't want to end up getting caught in a storm when it was time to go, so we decided to leave early.

Dave's dogs had been swimming in the water, and he had convinced them to join him on the tube. Then, we decided to pull them back to our beach spot. We didn't think they would stay on the tube for long. . .

But they did! We hauled them all the way back

It was an interesting thing to watch

I think they were pretty happy when the ride was over, though

It really was a wonderful day to be at Lake Powell. The weather was perfect. The girls all tried something new. They boys had a good time. The Okkemas were great company. I think the dogs enjoyed themselves, as well.

There is nothing like getting away from the world for a while and just floating on a boat. I still can't quite believe our summer is almost over.

Grandpa Lee's Pancakes at Grandpa Lee's Cabin

My kids (Olivia, in particular) have been asking quite often when we are going to Grandpa's cabin. We used to go up there more often in the summertime. Of course, when Grandma Carol told us Grandpa Lee was going to be making his special sourdough pancakes Monday morning, we were all over that.

It has been fun to have Jennilyn and her fiancee, Todd Shipley and her kids plus one of his visiting. We also had a good time with Ryan and Kynzee and their kids, as well. They left Sunday. I think I have a few pictures of them at the parade Saturday, which I will post eventually. I am all out of order now.

Grandma Lee was having a ball (although the small children on four-wheelers were making her nervous)

A rare moment that Joe got to sit down. The 24th celebration in Monticello was a busy day for him. He is president of the Lion's Club there, and they sure kept him busy.

Olivia, Hunter and Carter. I sure enjoyed seeing J.C.'s boys, too, even though we missed him and Lori.

Kaiden and Alex

Garrett, Cole, Carson, Alan Shipley and Brad's back

Lacey's daughter (I am sorry, I don't know her name), and two of Sunny's girls

Cole with his dog. You didn't know we had a dog? That's another story and another post for another time. Yes, we now have a dog, two cats, and a chinchilla. I will explain about the chinchilla later also.

I just wanted to say what a lovely afternoon it was at the cabin. There is definitely something magical about being out there, especially for the kids. And of course, the sourdough pancakes with buttermilk syrup were pretty magical, too. It seems like they always taste even better when they are out at the cabin. We can't take these moments for granted.

Becky and her family are moving to Alaska. We have taken for granted for a while now how lucky we are to have cousins on both sides of our family living close by. We loved being so close (not just that we live close and are in the same ward, but our kids have been good friends with their cousins) to James and Becky and also J.C.'s kids living in Monticello and then here in Blanding. But times are changing.

It is so nice to celebrate little moments like these, when we can spend time with those we love who will soon be far away. Thanks, Grandpa Lee for your hospitality. Our lives are blessed.

Summer Rain

I LOVE summer rainstorms. This has been kind of a weird year for summer rain. We either just get it at night, or it pours so hard it is dangerous to be out in it, not to mention the scary lightning we have recently had as well. I like the kind that falls in a light mist, cools you off without freezing you. Like the rain we had on Monday, before it got crazy later that night.

The girls loved jumping on the wet trampoline

they had a blast out there

It is fun to watch them fly!

All kinds of fun going on in Grandma's backyard

We love a good summer rain here.

Celebrating Tyler

Tyler just turned 11.

Here she is opening her birthday presents

Her friend Jade got her this one (she loves the girly stuff)

And this little summer dress is adorable (if a little too tight to fit over a white shirt, which is what we, her parents, require)

This is what she wanted (well, her second choice after an i-pod touch)

And this is Rachel, furious because Tyler got cool presents

(this is the pic I was talking about, Chrislynn)

Tyler's birthday breakfast was waffles made by her dad

blowing out the candle

Tyler is growing up. She is becoming a mature young lady. A few weeks ago, she announced to me that she was going to let the kitten have her baby blankets. The kitten lives outside. By giving the blankets to the kitten, she is practically throwing them away, because I won't let them come back in the house now. The blankets are the shredded remnants of a baby blanket. The baby blanket actually belonged to Olivia, I think, but Tyler commandeered it after her own blankets became little more than rags. Well, this blanket had also seen better days, but it worked for the soothing that Tyler sought. She will be embarrassed when I say this, but when she was tired or stressed, she held those bits of blanket and sucked on her two middle fingers.

Not anymore. I did not impose this on her. I did not "accidentally" lose the blankets, in order to try to help her out of that habit (although I have considered it). She decided on her own she didn't need them anymore. And no, she does not sleep outside with the kitten now, either.

Maybe part of that is she now sleeps with the lovely new quilt my mother helped her make at the 4H Quilt Camp. Whatever the reason, she is happy and blanket and finger-sucking free. Yay for growing up and still being happy and beautiful!

I love my Tyler. She is my oldest daughter, probably the most like me. I know she is aware of me, as her mother. She wants to help me to be happy. She wants to be a good example for her sisters, though she doesn't always know how. I am always praying that I can know how to be the mother she needs. She is amazing to me. I hope she knows I love and adore her. She is beautiful, inside and out.

Tyler loved her birthday. She got presents, a parade and fireworks all on her day. It was wonderful!