Lake Powell July 2020

Once upon a time we were blessed to be asked to go on a magical vacation with Ed & Britney Hall on their houseboat in Lake Powell. Jake and Alayna and Casey and Alyson were there also. We were nervous for many reasons, we had never done that before, we kept hearing it was so very hot there, and that is a lot of people in a very small space for a very long time.  Well the day came and we had the most wonderful, magical, dreamy vacation we could have ever thought of.  The weather was AMAZING, the company was like none other, and the small spaces didn't bother anyone, because it was not small and we spent each and everyday in the water.  I can't even describe how we will all remember this for the rest of our lives.  We will cherish it forever!!  It was like Corona Virus didn't exist and people were all kind and loved each other and we had stepped onto a little piece of heaven.

We laid out mats on the deck each night and as many people as would fit slept up there.  Almost nightly we received a little bit of rain.  Just enough to drive us inside or under the awning for some of the night.  It was so refreshing. The teenagers chose a different place to sleep each night, sometimes in a boat and sometimes on the deck.  As long as they were living their best "teenage Life" and partying all night long they didn't care where they slept.

Shane had two best buddies on the boat, Kara Weston and Dylan Hall.  They both wanted his attention all week.  Dylan was his right hand man every day.  Shane loved them both so much and had so much fun with them.

We went on this awesome hike called Hole in the Rock.  It was really hot and hard work but we all made it to the top.  It is where the pioneers came down into Lake Powell.  Some of the kids were like monkeys and practically ran to the top, others begged us to let them stop.  It was an amazing view from the top and we all learned how to dig deep and work on our grit.  I love hiking and especially when it is really hard.  The conversations are amazing and the way we have to stretch ourselves is so amazingly good for the soul.  And the view from the top has so many metaphors that can apply to all aspects of our lives.  In fact, we had to keep Ridge and Cameron from disappearing the way they do up mountains by making a rule that all children have to have an adult in order to go up a mountain.  The teenagers were very hesitant about the life jackets 100% of the time rule if you are off the boat, but they adjusted and we are so happy that they all made it back safe.

Honestly I was a basket case a lot on the trip because Braxton has no fear.  He just goes up as high as he can and jumps into the water.  He didn't even care how high it was.  Some of the jumps I thought were reckless and shouldn't have been done.  Although, I did feel that for the most part he respected the adults and came down when he was asked.  He often didn't listen to me, but if Alayna or Jake said it he usually obeyed.  He would come down and say "mom I know you didn't care about that one, you just said to come down because they did." I learned a lot about myself and how soft I am, and how much Brax walks all over me. He thinks he is invincible and I really worry that all it takes is one time of a bad landing or one stupid move and your either dead or paralyzed.  He is an adrenaline junkie for sure!!

Pride rock, where they all jumped off and tried to convince the kids who were too scared to jump.

View from the top of Hole in the Rock

We bought twiner swimsuit coverups.  It was so much fun!!

The whole group.  What a perfect week of our lives. Everyone was kind, helpful, fun, and caring.  It could not have been more wonderful.

We hiked back into a waterfall and some of the kids and adults climbed up it, the ones who didn't stayed back and made mud cakes.  Their creations were very unique.

View of our cove from the top of the mountain. It was a little slick to get up there, so I never went, but Cam, Ridge and Shane went almost daily.

I know that there are about 1000 more pictures that I didn't put on here, but I can't seem to get them to upload, so for now we will love these ones!  Hopefully we will get a book of just this adventure someday.