Our Vacation

Well, we had another adventure at Lake Powell. Unfortunately it ended a little short. It could have been worse. We all got our tans perfected, and swimming out of our systems. We tested out our fishing lures and we came to our second to last day.

The motor boat was pulling up to the houseboat a little faster than usual. Collin (my 10 year old brother) reached out to slow the boat down. Jeffrey and I were there watching as they pulled in. Collin's hand was smashed between the boat and the houseboat. His poor little hand popped open like a large blister. To spare the graphic details, My mom held his hand tight to try and stop the bleeding while my dad and Cody gave Collin a blessing. They contacted the offshore marina to have paramedics waiting. Amber went along with them staying very calm helping out a lot. They arrived at bulfrog bay with paramedics ready to asses. They immediately called for life flight, with how much blood Collin had lost, and he was showing signs of shock. Can I just say his hand needed more than just a few stitches. It was such a blessing though that more damage wasn't done, not a bone broken, just a little nerve damage to his pinky so far. Collin is such a strong kid. If this were to happen to Jeffrey.......who knows how the outcome would be. By some miracle they let my mom go with Collin in the helicopter and they rushed him to Primary Childrens (which was another miracle, they didn't just send him to the nearest hospital they sent them home where friends and family could help). Collin endured a 2 1/2 hour surgery where his hand was stitched back together. The only thing Collin was worried about was the pink nail polish on his toes......ooops :) My dad and Cody and Amber came back to the boat to fill us in. The next morning we packed up to come home. We had a safe trip home. Until next year......maybe.

Here is the giant pile of stuff we packed into the houseboat.

Jeffrey was in the water the minute we arrived. He stayed in the water pretty much the whole trip.

Ty and Jeffrey, trying to talk each other into jumping in first.

This was the first spot we ended up at. Knowels canyon. High orange rocks surrounding us. We had a nice sandy beach at this spot.

Jeffrey and Mike working the kaiac.

Jeffrey and Zach on the "motorcycle" as Jeffrey would call it.

I love that you can let yourself go at Lake Powell. :)

Mike has his fishing face on.

Collin has his happy to be at Lake Powell face on.

Cody and Jeffrey, swimming buds.

Amber and Kylee slept on the water tramp, oh so cozy. Until Cody let them drift into the open water. They woke up really confused.

Boys + Toys = FUN!

On the motor boat for a ride.

Ty found two scorpions under a rock he lifted. As he put it, it made his day. It was pretty cool.

Collin and Jeffrey coloring on the way to our new spot.

Shorts a little high there bud.

PROOF! We did catch a fish or two. The only picture we got was of Mike skinning the poor thing. We thought we would have one more day to take pictures of the fish we caught, but the trip got cut short.

Cody showing off. (as usual)

Cute Ty and Ky

This was our favorite spot!! We were lucky to find it. Surrounded by rock, clean deep water. Just amazing!

Grandpa and Jeffrey hiking.

We got to go to Bulfrog Marina to cool off a bit and we got to call and see how Katie was doing. Katie was just fine and we got some special treats to tame the heat.

Sam is such a great Lake Powell dog. Constantly in the water, keeping an eye out for things on the beach. And that is pretty much it! The next day Collin was life flighted to Primary Childrens. Collin is doing much better. He has a long road ahead of him, with healing and therapy.

Good ol' Lake Powell

Well it's about time for a vacation!!! This will be our first for this year!!! Lake Powell is our Cabo San Lucas :) Never been? You have to see it to understand its beauty. There is no place in the world quite like it. We get there and load up the house boat with nothin but food, drinks, a few water toys and our fishin gear, and head out on the water. We head either up or down river looking for the perfect spot to set up camp and anchor the boat. Once we scout out that perfect spot we settle right in and make it our home for the next week. Swimming, fishing, boat rides down the different canyons, finding Indian ruins, a trip to the Marina for more ice and a snack or two, layin on top of the boat, watching the millions of stars overhead, falling asleep with bats flying above. And much much more.

Come on fish!!!
Mike is so excited to put his fishing lures to work, he can't hardly stand it!! He checks the fishing reports every day, making sure he's got the lucky lure. After a good dinner all fishing lines go out trying to catch the "big one" and believe me those stripped bass and cat fish can measure up. We only hope to catch enough for a meal on our last night.

We are headed here

we will stay on one of these (not quite that big)

Mike will catch a lot of these

we will ride through the endless canyons on one of these
Katie will stay home this year thanks to this lucky lady

Shelley you're the best! Thanks. And Grandma Badger thanks to you too :)

These cute girls will keep Katie busy and give her lots of attention.

See ya! Tons of pictures to come!!!

Wedding Flowers

This is what I have been busy doing. A few more weddings to go in July. Thanks for spreading the word! More beautiful pictures to share. Here is a glimpse. Go check out my Business Blog at www.gardenhousefloral.blogspot.com

The wedding reception was at a beautiful home up on Suncrest in Draper. It is a whole different world on the mountain. We had fog so bad you couldn't see 20feet in front of you. Rain poring harder than down in the valley. Just crazy. And the brides family was all from Sunny California confused by the strange weather. The weather was unexpected, but the flowers loved it and the pictures prove it.

Party Hard

Our Sankt Hans Aften Party was a hit. The longest day of the year. No RAIN can stop this party! It was cold enough to see our breath by the end of the night, but we still had a record number of people.

We had a variety of preformers.

Tents set up all over the yard. Making the total of tents a whopping 6. Thanks to all who helped with that.

Constantly on the run!

Goofy

Bonfire

We have proof

Hail in the summer. It can happen. Man, we all saw some storms this past week, but the hail caught us by surprise. Not to mention the crazy winds, and loudest thunder I have ever heard. I think it is a fun change from our HOT summers.

SURPRISE!!!

Surprise is right! Zach swears we didn't trick him. He says he knew the minute Cody offered to take Zach for a ride in his new JEEP on a rainy day. Whatever! We all know we tricked him. He loved it.

Fun and Games

We played Gestures, which I sucked at by the way. Cody and Mike both rocked it by getting 10 by the time ran out. I just had to post Cody's serious skilz.

I made some freakin HOT soup, hence the look on Mike's face. It was just a vegetable beef soup on a rainy day, but it was delicious!

Graduation 2009

Ty leaves for Utah State University today. He doesn't seem old enough, but he is definitely big enough. He will train and play football up in Logan until he goes on his mission. I am proud of him. He graduated Seminary and made it through High School. Go TY!

I made Tyler a Lei for Graduation. I didn't get a picture with him wearing it, but I staged it in hopes that I can sell them next year.

Opposites

These two are different they are not the same.

Katie is our messy one not a care in the world.

Jaffrey is spotless on his second peice only a few drops on his shirt.

Night and Day I am telling you that much.

MAN!

Both of my kids this weekend. Gosh! First Katie biffed it on the stairs at Grandma Badger's house. Katie got this huge goose-egg on her head. It went away by the next day. Jeffrey here fell on his face at Grandma Larsen's house while being chased be his Uncle Collin. I only hope his face goes back to normal. He bit his top lip really bad and got a bloody nose. Poor kid, he didn't know what to think.

Katie's looked something like this.

Not a whole lot

Over Memorial Day weekend, Mike took me shopping. Yep, me. He sent me into at least 5 different stores to pick up some summer clothes including the dreaded swim suit. But I did find a cute one at Target! And I found lots of cute stuff for Great deals. One of the places we went was SAVERS where EVERYTHING was 50% off marked prices. I usually buy my kids shoes there, so I wanted to check it out. Oh, my gosh!!! Everyone and thier dog was there filling their carts. I found four pairs of shoes and two outfits for Jeffrey and spent $12 woo hoo!

Jeffrey found two large feathers at the pond by Mike's work. He found this cool way to wear them. He stuck them in his new crocs and walked around thinking he was pretty special. Silly boy.

Do a good deed.
I went to buy flowers for a wedding on a Saturday which is a fairly slow day for my wholesaler. The people there like me. I am never busy enough to stop and talk like the other crazy ladies who they deal with. Monica was a little stressed with being at work on the holiday weekend. We talked as I loaded up with flowers. When I was about done she asked if I had any use for an orchid lei.......? Um...... yeah! She told me to go in the cooler and grab it, it wasn't likely to sell and she knew I would appreciate it. It made my weekend! I didn't go out and show it off. But I sure enjoyed wearing it around my house and just enjoying it. Someday Hawaii.......someday. Monica probably doesn't know that made my day, but who does know when such a simple thing will make someones day. So do a good deed.

Weddings!!

Check out my Garden House Floral blog for more pictures. Heidi's wedding turned out so beautiful. I did another simple wedding also on my business blog. And a few other fun things.

A special thanks to my Mom for always being willing to take my kids when I have a wedding. She would do anything to help. And to my husband for being so supportive and positive when it comes to my business. He watched the kids all day Saturday when he would much rather have been fishing on the holiday weekend. He even gave Jeffrey a haircut while I was gone.