Lake Powell with the Francis'

The other night, Mike was looking at the blog and said, 'You are a little behind, huh'. Yes.... yes, I am.....so, here is my attempt at a little catching up tonight.

We just had to make one more Lake Powell trip before we called it a summer. This time we headed to Wahweap and took the Francis' with us! We headed out on Thursday morning, they dropped Kash at Grandma's and we dropped Max at Roger & Cozette's. We know he missed being at that house because the kids love him and play with him there! Thanks again, R&C!

We got to the marina in the late afternoon and got settled in the hotel. Nicole and I ran to Walmart to get supplies and food for the next couple of days and picked up KFC on the way home. We stayed at the marina hotel and had 'junior suites' They were awesome! Two rooms with two tvs. The Francis' hung out at our room for dinner. The kids were in heaven!

The next day we were out bright and early. After a little breakfast at the Francis' room, we got on the boat and headed to this great sand hill. The pictures don't do it justice. It was super steep, but we all climbed it at least once. The kids did multiple, including Brandon who I think did it four times. It was super fun to run down or ski jump down.

We stayed and played in the white sand...it was really fine. Almost like the kind of sand you find in those Zen gardens. We met some people from West Jordan who we kept running into on the lake, in town, at the restuarant, at Walmart....

We also met a retired deputy sheriff from San Diego who was really interesting to talk to. We all agreed that this week was the one time you have to come down to Powell. It was perfect!

Cute little Zoe!

A little water ballet from Mike...or a 'howdy' wave....or something....

This game we learned from our West Jordan friends. You race down into the water until you fall in face first.....it was tons of fun.

Beautiful Sydney!

Sydney is 9 years old!

Little Syd Syd.....

She turned 9 on Thursday! She has been so excited for this birthday! She had a friend party planned...which I'll update about later (I'm still behind a Lake Powell post!).

Here's 9 things about Sydney:

1. She is growing up fast, but still hanging on to the little girl. When asked what she wanted for her birthday, she said things like make-up, iTouch, or a doll.

2. She's a smarty pants. She just got asked to attend SEM which is the challenge class for smart kids. She figured out on her own the 'theory' behind multiplication and is teaching herself the times tables.

3. She has a great sense of humor. She will answer the telemarketer phone calls and talk to them until they hang up on her. She asks things like if they like bananas, do they have any kids, etc. She cracks us up!

4. She loves potato bugs.

5. She's a cute little ballerina. She was struggling going to class this past week, but we think it's just because life has been overwhelming and the anticipation of this birthday is too much to handle!

6. She's a cute little tumbler. Doing great at cartwheels, back walk-overs, splits...still working on that back handspring....

7. She loves her family! She always tries to make us smile and is good for a hug whenever we need it.

8. She loves the boat. She loves to spend time with us and also loves tubing. She is a little apprehensive about trying to ski or wakeboard. However, she does snow ski!

9. She is full of enthusiasm and joy for life!

She is an amazing daughter and we are so lucky to have her!

We love you, Sydney! We are so blessed to have you as our daughter! You are very sweet and sensitive and kind and full of spunk! You are an important part of our family!

We love you!

Herriman Fire

I wanted to post this picture I got from a friend's facebook page. A little scary, but beautiful at the same time, right?

Labor Day - S.G. style

We headed to St. George for Labor Day this year. It was nice and relaxing. We shopped, ate sushi, went on walks and spent time together. The kids don't fight when we are on vacation, so we might need to vacation every weekend! On our shopping trip, Mike bought a skateboard for Brandon. Here they are out learning how to ride....

And more love for Powell!

More swimming and tubing....

I think one of the girls had the camera for a bit....

The hotel maids left this cute towel arrangement on the bed and the kids thought that was so awesome! This is just one of about 10 pictures they took of it....The black balloons we put out for Mike's birthday. We also painted his toenails that morning with '40' and smiley faces.....

Aren't they cute!?

Love for Powell, continued...

Lake Powell, continued! Think we were wearing everyone out? Nothing like a nice snooze on the boat....Brandon falls asleep while the boat is speeding down the lake. He loves to sit in the bow, fall asleep and then we have to move him into the shade. We also learned this trip the the nose of the boat is called, 'The Bow' so whenever we would talk about 'The Bow' we say it very distinctly and dramatically.....please contact Sydney if you would like to hear it.

Lots of tubing! Lots of singing and dancing. Mike liked putting on songs like 'Love Story' and 'Party in the USA' and shaking his booty. It was so funny and completely embarrassed Amanda! That just adds fuel to his fire....

Sydney & Amanda doing 'Napolean Dynamite' dove hands...

Mike loves to drive the boat along these huge rocks. They tower over us!

Cutest boy in the world!

Love this picture! Great wakeboarding Amanda in this beautiful red rock country!

Beautiful Lake Powell!

We discovered Cathedral in the Desert canyon and it was unbelievable! Truly an amazing find.

These pictures are from us weaving through the canyon...

Great find, honey!

Amazing! We came to the dead end of the canyon, just big enough to fit the boat. Mike took the kids on a hike to see how much further the canyon went and I stayed in the boat to keep it off the rocks. The bow fit perfectly into the rocks at the end. I had to use the poles (which hold up the boat cover) to keep pushing it away from the rocks...quite an adventure. Mike & the kids loved the hike. It opened up up to a little pond and waterfall.

When they came back, Mike wanted the kids to cliff jump. Brandon wasn't into it, and Sydney really tried, but didn't do it.

Go Daddy!

There goes Amanda! Way to be!

After she jumped, we got everyone in the boat as more boaters (who also cheered when Amanda jumped) were arriving and the small dead end was getting crowded. Exploring this canyon really was a huge highlight of this trip.

We headed home on Mike's birthday, pulling up to our house around 9pm. It was so fun to see how the Francis' decorated our yard for Mike's birthday.

Thanks for a great trip, Mikey! Happy Birthday!! We love you!!!