Lake Powell 2018

 

We need to learn to take our family picture on Day One of Lake Powell Adventure instead of when we are all sunburned and wind blown and sand blasted and funned out.  This is my tribe.  I love my family and this time together is ca-ca-ca-choo crazy (down 7 this year) crazy family fun.  There was tons of skiing firsts, kneeboard, longboard and tube rides.  Jet skies rule.  First year Grandma didn't make it down the slide. Boo.  Food fit for the gods. 

 

 

 
Travis and Nash didn't get there until midweek-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 All because two people fell in love!

Catching Up

We just got home from a wonderful week in Lake Powell with our family!  We were missing our 3 college kids- plus Annee (who had some special life skills classes) and toddler Summer (too little to be safe on the houseboat) but the rest of us had a marvelous time!  I have tons to journal before we left for Powell but this is the logo on our family shirts this year- thanks, Tenillie! 



First of all, T and T's family went to New York (Cooperstown) for a big baseball tournament for Boston.  104 teams.  I'll tell you about it later.  Meanwhile, it was Rylee's last day of school and yearbook signing and she didn't want to miss a thing.  So she got to stay with Grandma.  One of my friends said, "Boy, if I was a teenage girl, I'd want to stay with you- you didn't have a clue where she was all week!"  That is true!  I was sick (with that horrible cough again- I got it coming home from Guat.) and I was usually in bed before she got home and was still in bed when she was gone again!  I would text her from my bed, "Rylee, where are you and do you need a ride somewhere?"  She's a great girl and has a fun, fun life- revolving around her soccer team. Gracie was already out of school and they are in the same grade (different high schools) and we had planned a play date but I sent them out to lunch with moola and then to go get pedicures without me.  I felt THAT sick.....    I did manage to snap a last day of her sophomore year school picture.  Beyond cute!

 

 

That week as well our Tijuana pool was busy with end of the year parties.  I missed two of them (Hallee's and Gracie's) but was there to snap our traditional picture with Addi's group.

 

 

 

Also, somewhere in there between coughing and hacking, I helped with a fun bridal shower for a darling girl in our Ward- Rachel Kirkland.  I filled cute bags with Chick a Boom kettle corn and attached this label for the party favors.

 

 

 I did veggie cups with a chipotle dressing.

 Friend Michelle P. made key lime and raspberry cheesecake and s'more pies in little mason jars.  She even torched the marshmallows on the s'more pies!  Yum!  It was a great party for a darling girl.   Love all the love we share with each others!


Then I'll end with a dog's tail.  A dog's tale.

David and Travis and a couple of buddies go to Delta, Utah almost every week or every other week to rope.  There is a guy there that trains roping horses and they rotate horses through him and buy and sell occasionally.  When they were there a few weeks ago (it's about 2 2/12 hours away), when David was packing up, he noticed a dog had crawled into his tack room in the trailer.  David continued to load his horses and put away everything and shut the tack door.  They traveled all the way back to Draper and stop at a gas station.  Travis remembered he left his wallet in the tack room and went to retrieve it.  Out shot the dog!  It took some doing to get the dog back into the vehicle....and Travis said he'd take the dog home and take care of it until they could return it.  That lasted until the next morning when he shows up at our house for US to take care of the dog.  Now, we are NOT dog people (except for Ben and Susie's dog Bridger, who is their kid so therefore our grand-dog).  I have never even bought dog food, other than treats, before.  I didn't know anything about this dog- potty trained, house trained, name, etc.  It was several days of crazy coo-coo-cachoo.  I fell in love with the dog but that lasted about 3 days.  After 3 days I had had it.  He was soooo needy and every time I went anywhere I was worried if the dog was going to pee all over my carpets or dig up  something or be lost and dog hair was everywhere.  Did I tell you he melted me?  He really was a great dog.  Come to find out, Dan, the ranch owner had been babysitting the dog while the owner was out of town.  Travis called me Saturday night and asked how the dog was doing- and I said I was done with it! I had had a big conversation with "the dog"- saying honestly if I ever had a dog, he would be it.  But our relationship just wasn't working. The dog just looked at me with the saddest brown (ringed with yellow) eyes and whined he loved me.  I just shut the bedroom door and turned away....heartlessly.

  Travis called an hour later and said, "Bring him to me and I'll take him to Spanish Fork (where David was at a roping)- where they would send some roper from Delta home with the dog.  The dog didn't want to go.  He wouldn't get in the car and finally I picked him up and put him in the passenger side- and like a flash, he jumped out the driver's side. It was like a Lucy/Ethel episode.   He just kept sticking his paw on my leg and his nose in my armpit. I felt so bad...but he smelled like a dog.  He was needier than my green plants.  I can hardly take care of myself much less another animal.  It was a good/unsettling experience for me...... Every once in a while I thought maybe I needed a dog but now I realize that my solar flower, Lucy Goosy is enough of a pet for me.

 "Dog Gone"

Wedding Maddness/Bucket

One of my Bff's Chef Valene is hosting the wedding reception for her granddaughter Madelyn (also friend Gail Miller's granddaughter!)  this weekend.  Since Valene was hosting Bucket this week, she chose a wedding theme.  We were suppose to bring our wedding pictures and share a few stories about our love story or wedding.

Valene also shared ancient trivia about weddings (flowers to cover up the smell since people didn't bathe) to the wedding cake (meaning good fortune and fertility.)  She also recently learned from her sister Janet (Voila!  that we visited in France when she lived there)- how to make French pastry cake and she made EACH of us a cake, in a box!  Such a fun afternoon with women I love.

Valene also made salad Nicoise- meaning tiny bundles. (usually Nicoise has tuna but Valene did shrimp! It was delicious!)  Orange rolls and the Beck Famous Party Cake for dessert.

 

 

 

Here is what I shared about our love story (both taken from old journal writings)

This one is from the journal entry Letter to My 17 year Old Self-

Remember how worried you were that you would never be able to settle down with "one" person? How boys tell you that they pity the guy you will marry because they know you’ll never be faithful. Don’t worry. You can. And all those lists you made of what your dream guy was going to look like, love to do, etc.? Nope. None of it. Except the most important part.

Dance a lot. I know you dance a lot but I’m telling you.....dance a ton!!!! Get all the dancing you need for a lifetime out of your feet right now! I know it is really hard to believe but you are going to marry someone who doesn’t and can’t dance? I know, I know.....it is shocking, isn’t it? I was shocked myself, as well. And guess what? You will survive. You will love a non-dancer in the most marvelous way!

It may behoove you to pay attention to how sports games are played. Learn the rules of football and basketball. If you would but TRY and learn the rules and plays, trust me, your life will be filled with a little less head-bashing. I know your dad and brother don’t watch football and basketball on t.v.......so you don’t know how many games can be played on television on just one Thanksgiving day. It is truly mindboggling, so be prepared and practice not letting your eyes roll back into your head.

 

and from another entry. 

Summary: And even though he likes horses, and I like poetry, he talks "torte" in his legal profession and I bake them, he loves watching ball games (endlessly) and I watch cooking and decorating shows, he’s really athletic and I’m, well... not so athletic, he’s brilliant and I’m scatterbrained, he’s left-brained and I’m totally right-brained, he thinks we need a dump truck, I think he’s nuts, he’s traditional and I’m a little bit funky... and we really don’t have that much in common...

except love, and respect, and humor, and living well together, with the same values, trying to be nice and honest with each other and others, not to mention doting on our wonderful family....and realizing

that we’re extremely blessed. I remember when I was young and would try and cut out my first Valentines, free-hand. The edges were always out of sync- one side lopsided, the other side ballooned. Love can be that way sometimes. But how much easier, when you fold the paper in two, and cut both sides together. When the core is the same, how beautiful the result.

Guat's Up!

 Our van we spent many hours in!!!  Loved our driver Philly (Philamondo)  Years ago Ryan used to work for Book of Mormon tours- taking tours in Central and South America with Dr. Joseph Allen.  When Ryan quit to take another job, Dr. Allen had to go on Ryan's last tour in his place.  Their van was hijacked and Dr. Allen rough-housed, Philly was the driver and got shot in the leg and another tourist, a dentist from Ogden was actually killed.  (from a news source: 

Brett Richards of Ogden was killed by armed bandits in Guatemala who ambushed the tour bus he was riding on with 12 other Utahns. The assault on the Book of Mormon tour bus took place in a remote area about 125 miles west of Guatemala City.  Richards reportedly was killed as he tried to stop the bandits from attacking Joseph Allen, who was the leader of the tour.)

 

One of our first stops was in the little town of Panicita. (needs correction) where Josh established a library  for his Eagle Project.  The library is still undergoing "remodulation."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Our second stop in that small town was part of Ryan's First Desk project- which delivers and replaces desks for various villages and schools in several countries.  It was fun to help deliver them!

 

 

Of course, all along the way we had magnificent food!!!!

 

 
 

 

Next stop was Hobbittenango, which I've already written about.  This is the volcano that flew shortly after we left.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 My goal on this trip was to take a picture of Heidi with her eyes opened.  It is impossible for her to smile without squinting her eyes.  I took a hundred pictures without success!!!!

 

  Finally we arrived at the Maya Jade- just in time to release turtles on the beach.  They were ready to go!  Always a treat!
 

 

 

 My best open-eyed Heidi picture.

 Pool time, Beach time.  Hammock time.  Heaven.

 

 Okay- more great food from Ryan's restaurant, Habernero's.  These were shrimp tostados that were killer!!!

 

 

 

 

 This little guy on the left is Lehi (pronounced Lay-Hee)  Son of dear friends Henry and Gladys.  Ryan was able to baptize Lehi when he turned 8 and was able to ordain him a deacon (yes he's 12!!!) on this trip.
 

 

 

 

I forgot to mention that niece Cami and her friend Sia and also Wes, niece Ashley's hubby and son Krae also joined us at the Maya Jade.  Cami is spearheading a medical clinic down the road from Ryan's with a medical team from Idaho. 

 

Our last day, we hit church a few hours from Maya Jade, then headed back to Guatemala.  Unfortunately a few hours after our arrival, "it" hit me!  I've never gotten sick during any of our travels but this hit with a vengenance.  That night our dear friends Angelica and husband and mom, Olympia, who were close to Ryan so many years ago on his mission- were joining us for dinner.  Everyone else had a good time and I loved they stopped in to see me and give me a hug.

 

Blessed during the plane ride home, since I was sick....but it hit again as soon as I walked into the front door.  But I'll take that....and a few days to let it wear off.