Deso Trip, Day 5

Day five was pretty mild rapids. We were a little behind were we wanted to be so we were up early and trying to get on the river and get moving so that we could get home at a decent time. We spent the day rowing and had a few water fights along the way, which helped make the time go faster. We rafted up for lunch instead of pulling off to save time and got to the take-out around 2:00 pm.

My mom's trailer had broken down close to the put-in when Nick and Joey had taken off to run shuttle our first night. Luckily my mom had a Sat phone and was able to work things out for us to get a trailer to bring the boats and gear home in, thanks to her friend, Lee.

The last day you're always anxious to get off the river and home. Usually by the end of a trip everyone knows how to help and work together to get things done quickly and by 3:30 we were loaded up and headed home.

I was pretty anxious to see Max and Emily. I have the best in-laws in the world, who offered to bring our kids to our house instead of us having to drive the 2 hour round trip to pick them up, so we were able to get most of our stuff unpacked and put away before they got here. Max seemed pretty excited to be home and was his usual self, but Emily wanted nothing to do with me and would cry when I held her. It was pretty late when they got home so after Jeff's parents took off we put them to bed and she had mostly warmed back up to me the next morning and only wanted Mom tonight when Jeff got home, so I guess things are back to normal.

It was a great trip and so relaxing. Jeff did a great job rowing, I was so proud of him! Shannan said to me a couple of times that he looked as happy as a clam the entire time, and I think she was right. I especially enjoyed watching how much fun Kaitlyn and Rachael had. It made me so excited to bring Max and Emily in a few years.

Deso Trip, Day 4

Day four was my favorite part of the trip as far as rapids go. We had Joe Hutch rapid that day, which has become pretty big after a flash flood carried some big boulders into the river from a side canyon last year. It was probably the most technical and scary of all the rapids we faced and I was really nervous to run it. The last multi day trip I went on six years ago my mom, Jeff, and I flipped in Big Drop 2 on Cat and ended up riding through Big Drop 3 on the bottom of our boat. I've been a little scared of rapids since then.

The oarsman decided that Kaitlyn and Rachael should walk the rapid with their mom, and I admit that I wanted to walk the rapid, too, but I felt like I needed to be in Jeff's boat supporting him on his first big rapid. He did so great and hit the rapid just how he wanted to! I don't have any pictures, but I'll post some video that Shannan took when I get a copy.

After lunch the boys were ready to let someone else ride in the duckies, so Vanessa and Shannan took the two man and I took the one man. We had a couple of bigger rapids (Wire Fence and Three Fords) coming up and I was a little nervous being in a duckie all by myself, but I thought it probably wouldn't be to bad since the water level was pretty low.

Wire Fence and Three Fords have always been two of my favorite rapids on Deso since they have some nice big waves. I was getting more and more nervous as we got closer, but kept trying to tell myself I could do it and to just dig in. Wire Fence was big but fun and I thought that Three Fords would be about the same. Three Fords is really close after Wire Fence and as we were coming up on it, Shannan, Vanessa and I were starting to get really worried. The water basically funneled down the far right side of the river, being blocked by rocks all along the left side. As we were coming up on the rapid we could just see a big drop and lots of water spraying up. I thought for sure I was going to flip over as I watched Shannan and Vanessa go down the tongue and drop into the rapid. All I could think was, "Oh Crap!" and then, "Dig In!" as I followed them in. There were some huge waves and it was a fun and bumpy ride. I can't believe none of us ended up in the water and we all three hooped and hollered when we realized we had made it through. A couple of people told me later that it looked like my duckie caught air as I went up that first big wave. It was such a rush! My only disappointment is that I didn't get a photo or video of me riding through that rapid.

That night in camp we got a picture of everyone's Chaco tans. (Except Rachael and Dalin who weren't wearing Chacos.)

Deso Trip, Day 3

The rapids were bigger and funner this day, but still nothing too big.

Our campground that night was by Chandler Falls Rapid and was my favorite of our whole trip. We had a nice sandy beach and played a lot of horse shoes.

Jeff and I beat Dalin and Nick at horse shoes, which was another one of the highlights of the trip for me. They were both pretty cocky about their ability to beat us, which I'm sure added to the pleasure of winning! ;)

Deso Trip, Day 2

Day two we stopped to see some petroglyphs and a moonshiners cabin. We hit our first rapids, but nothing very big. The middle section of this trip is very pretty and we had a great campsite right below Firewater Rapid that night.

Rachael loved the rapids and just wanted more.

Kaitlyn loved playing games and talking at night in camp. She was always setting up everyone's chairs in a circle and trying to get everyone to sit down and play a game, any game. She didn't care what it was as long as we played something!

The highlight of the day was when we got to see a group of big-horned sheep run down the cliffs close to sunset. I didn't get any pictures with my camera, but it was amazing!

Deso Trip, Day 1

Jeff and I spent the last five days rafting on the Green River through Desolation and Gray Canyons. It was beautiful and relaxing and so much fun. It was the maiden voyage for our boat and Jeff's first time rowing an oared boat. He did so great!

This is the first multi day trip that we've taken since we've gotten married. The last time was in 2003 about a month before we got engaged when Jeff went down Cataract Canyon with my family. It makes me a little sad that it's been so long since I've been on the river, but what can you do when for the last four years I've been pregnant or nursing?

I dropped the kids off Thursday around noon at Jeff's brother's house. I admit that I cried a little as I drove away. That afternoon we took off from my mom's house and headed to the put-in. This is my fifth trip down Deso and was by far my favorite. Usually Sandwash (the put-in) has so many mosquitoes that you stay in your tent as much as possible and are miserable the entire time you are rigging your boat. This trip they were really mild in comparison and I even slept outside on my cot the first night.

It took us a little longer than usual to get rigged and off the first morning since Jeff and I had to rearrange some stuff on our boat. The first day is all flat water so we spent all day rowing and playing in the water.

We had twelve people on our trip: my mom, my sister Shannan and her two girls, Kaitlyn and Rachael, my brother-in-law Brian and his brother, Craig, and Brian's friends/neighbors Nick, Joey, and Dalin, my cousin Vanessa, and Jeff and I.

Kevney Wevney's Wedding

I feel like I've been remiss in my blogging. It seems like whenever I have things that I feel like I "need" to blog about I tend to put off blogging about them. I wish I was one of those bloggers that was great at putting down my thoughts and feelings or that I was good at being able to capture our lives in photos with just the right words to put others into the moment of what goes on in our lives. I wonder if this striving to be better but also happy with who I am is something that I will be working on my whole life.

We had a pretty full Memorial Day weekend, starting with Jeff's old roommate, Kevin, getting married on Friday in Cache Valley. The reception was almost a little mini USU 60th ward reunion. It was fun to see so many people from our single and dating years.

Kevin is such a great guy and Jeff and I are so happy for him and Sara. (We've been hoping for this day for the last 5 and 1/2 years, so Congratulations, Kevin!)

Note: If you're not familiar with the boys from Raymond Court the title might seem a little odd - just go with it. Also, if you know Kevin at all you know his reception would most likely not be very traditional, hence the groom singing "Magic Carpet Ride" in the picture.

Mini Mission Reunion

Last night we got to host a little reunion from Jeff's mission. Jeff and his mission companion, Steve (who after their missions became Jeff's roommate), baptized the Rojas family 14 years ago while they were serving in the Tacoma, Washington mission. Today their youngest daughter, Victoria, is going into the MTC. We were so excited to get a chance to see most of the family and to get a chance to see Steve and his family as well.

We had fajitas with Jeff's yummy beans. In fact Jeff really was in charge of this meal and it was delicious. Homemade refried beans, fajita meat, and guacamole all made by Jeff. We had two more people than I was expecting and I was so impressed that we were able to fit 15 people into our kitchen for dinner. We always love it when we get to see the Rojas family. Even though most of the conversation is in Spanish I still feel so welcome and loved.

Jeff and Steve got to spend a few hours talking with our guests while Amy and I took care of the five little ones. I really enjoyed getting a chance to talk to Amy since I've only met her once or twice but feel like I've got to know her so well through blogging. The kids played great together. They jumped on the trampoline, Blake climbed some trees, and they played in Max's room. Max and Alison had a lot of fun playing with the toy kitchen and were so cute "cooking" for each other. Ali would remind Max they needed to say a pray and Max would pour her some "chocolate". It was so fun to see them all having such a great time together.

We had so much fun and can't wait until the next time we get to see everyone!

Jeff and Steve with the Rojas family.

Cruz, Jeff, Rogellio, Steve

Victoria, Veronica, Soccoro, Miguel

Cruz's daughter Vanessa

The Palmer family.

Alison, Steve, Blake, Amy, and Tyler

California Trip, Part 1

Well, we've been home over a week and both of my sisters have posted about us coming out to visit so I figure I better stop being lazy and post about our trip to California. Jeff and I decided that he should stay home and work since he needs all of his vacation time this year to learn how to row so we don't die on the Grand Canyon next year. :) I was a little nervous (actually, a lot nervous!) about driving all the way to California without any other adult to help me with the kids, especially after my last trip out to California which involved a lot of puking. I have a friend that lives in St. George so I decided to break up the drive on the way down. We took off around 11:00 am on Thursday morning and made it to Danielle's house at 4:30 that afternoon with just one stop in Nephi for lunch. The kids did so great in the car and then we were able to spend the evening playing and relaxing at Danielle's house. Danielle and I went out to dinner (with Emily in tow) to Olive Garden while her husband, Stu watched the rest of the kids. I had so much fun hanging out with Danielle, something we haven't done much of in the last ten years.

The next morning we headed out for sunny CA. The kids were great again, and minus some crazy wind and a scary (to me) drive out of the mountains, the trip went really smooth. We got to Shannan's house about 4:00 California time and began soaking in the warm weather. We spent most of the next week with me relaxing while the kids played in the backyard. Shannan's house doesn't have any stairs so I didn't have to worry too much about Emily and I really enjoyed being able to send Max outside to play. We have got to get our backyard usable this summer because what is the point of having a back yard if you can't use it! We also spent a couple of mornings at the park.

Max and Emily had so much fun playing with their cousins. Max seemed to really like Rachael and was always hugging her or trying to wrestle with her. Emily loved carrying around any purse, necklace, or bracelet that she could find. She also got a new nickname, Squanto, from her Uncle Jim. I think because of her short, squatty legs. Jim kept telling me how cute Emily was and it was fun to watch her playing with him.

I brought out my Cuddlebug machine with me so that I could do some crafting with Shannan's girls. We bought some foam crowns and sticky back foam sheets that we used to cut letters and shapes out for everyone to decorate their crowns. Kaitlyn and Rachael had a lot of fun picking out shapes and colors and running the dies through the machine. Shannan's girls are really into princesses and have a lot of princess dresses and I wondered if Max was going to spend the whole week wanting to wear princess dresses, but they only got pulled out on our last day there, but it was long enough for Max to try to stake claim to the Cinderella dress, which he wanted to bring home with us. We had so much fun hanging out with Shannan and her family. I'm sad that we don't get to see them more often, but it was fun to get to go out to visit and enjoy their warm weather.

All That Jazz!

Jeff and I got invited today to go to the Jazz game. Can I just say that it was SOOOOO fun!?! We got to watch the game from one of the luxury suites, we ate yummy food and some REALLY yummy white chocolate covered popcorn, we got to hang out with friends, and the game was very exciting! The Jazz did end up losing, but IN THE LAST SECOND! Come on, how excitting of a game is that! What a fun night out. (Oh, and we had such a cute babysitter who I felt so good about leaving my little kiddos with. Thanks for letting us borrow your daughter for the night, Lesley! And thanks, Candie for a wonderful night!)

Family Pictures

A few weeks ago my high school friend Natalie took family pictures for us while she was visiting her family in Utah. I got my disc in the mail today with our photos and I am so excited! I just LOVE these pictures. Natalie is an amazing photographer. I wish I knew a bunch of people in San Antonio so I could spread the word. If you look in some of the pictures you can see that it was snowing. Crazy Utah weather! Because of the weather, Max wasn't being too cooperative, yet she still got some great shots of both him and Emily. Can I just say that these are my favorite family pictures I've ever gotten!? Thank you so much Natalie! (You can check out Natalie's website here.)

Enjoying the Unexpected

I have decided that sometimes the best trips are unexpected and unplanned. They just happen spur of the moment, with a whirl of packing (with a baby, you always have to pack, even if it's only for half a day) before you head out the door. We hadn't planned on doing anything special today, but we ended up taking off right after lunch to go and visit two of my friends from my home town. It was fun to just hang out with some friends that I haven't seen in a while or very often in the last ten years and get to spend a little time gabbing about everyday life. My friend Apreal had a baby boy, Carson, two days before I had Emily so we had to get some photos of the two little cuties. Max, of course, found some cars and planes to drag around, even making a line of cars in the toy room. I didn't happen to get a photo of the two oldest kids, but the two little princesses are Apreal and Raquel's second kids, Kimberly and Bailey. It was a great day, and all the more fun because it was so unexpected.