Lake Powell 2024

Another Fantastic vacation at my favorite place on earth. I am sure it is the company as well as the lack of cellphone service, but whatever it is it sure makes me one happy Mama. It was a little different this year without our Dakota, but we still had a wonderful time. Shane learned a new game called "Fat Dog, where you see who can lay in the same spot for the longest, he won multiple times this trip and begged the kids to play it all the time.

I tried Knee boarding, it was fun but hard to get up. I was glad I tried something new.

We brought Grandma Beckys Lilly pad and it was a hit for lounging and soaking and shaving legs.

Our Annual Glow party. This is such fun night where everyone goes off the slide after building our glow jewelry.

Another one of my favorite parts of Lake Powell is the game playing, we play for hours!

Braxton showed off his braiding skills that he usually practices on horses by braiding Kaitlyn's hair. I think he did a great job.

Oh those majestic rocks. They seriously take my breath away. I just put my head in the air and "thank God I am breathing" as I soak it all in.

We hiked to Rainbow Bridge. It is breathtaking. Braxton wore these super shorty shorts with his cowboy boots and we all had a great time teasing him the whole hike.

 

Cam visits Dakota in Germany!! And his European Vacation

The flowers at our Rental, Grandma Jo's house, were stunning this year. I had to take a photo.

I joined a summer hiking group. It was really fun and out of my league. They prefer to race up the mountain and I prefer to hike. I only went a few times but I sure do love all these ladies.

Shane made me this stunning clock so I could know what time it is in Germany while Dakota is on his mission. It was a labor of love and I referred to it everyday. Elder Uchtdorf came to Frankfurt to visit Dakota's mission. It was a very special day.

Wendi was moving away to France to follow her dream of living in Paris. We went out to lunch to say goodbye.

Cameron, Tara, Carrera, and Kiley are off to Europe. Each one of my boys gets to go on a trip abroad while they are teenagers. Kiley and Tara decided that they should take both kids and go on the adventure of a lifetime. While they were already going to be in Europe they made the most memorable stop ever at Dakota's mission. They visited Amsterdam and Belgium, and Germany. They saw so many castles and Ann Frank's house and history of each of the cities. They even splurged one night and slept in a castle. They got to see Dakota they day they arrived and the day they left. The first day he toured them around Frankfurt and the last day they just ate lunch. What a grand adventure!!

My two boys together again after 9 months apart. It was truly a miracle and so good for both of their souls. Connection is what life is all about and this was a much needed one that day.

While Cam was gone, Shane and I took Aile and went to the Weston Family Reunion. We camped overnight in Idaho.

Cam got home and we left pretty quickly for Trek. Shane and I were on the photography crew and walked and walked along with the kids taking photos and making a video at the end. It was so much fun, I loved all of it! It is an experience that I am thankful for each time it happens, hundreds of adults working together to make it happen just because we love the youth. What an adventure.