Lake Paddle III

Another Lake Powell vacation with the Pace's in the books.   Last year before Covid broke out my school district would occasionally have these wellness/professional development all about mindfulness.

 Lake Powell is an easy place to put these skills of being mindful of the moment and reframing your brain to take in the positivities instead of getting stuck in stress.    As I sat in the open bow of the boat speeding along through the most beautiful canyons with the wind in my face and the hum of the motor to lull me in to the most relaxed state, I mindfully thought of the majestic artful creation of the place and thought if Heavenly Father and Jesus could create such beauty if only I can learn to let my anxiety to and give my will over to them.  I need to not stress so much and let them be in charge of creating the life they designed just for me even if it doesn't go just how I planned.  

Highlights of the trip: Jane and Emily loved learning to wakeboard.   Spencer loved riding in the boat and tubing with Bart and Jane.    Everyone enjoyed our new blow up paddle board.   Cliff jumping and watching how proud 6 year old Avaya was that she was brave enough to jump off the big cliff with the older guys.  Hydro planing in front of Joe's boat while he sped over the bumping waves.   So much undivided time with cousins!

Our days on the water at Lake Powell are by far the best days of the entire year!!  Can't wait to go back again.

  

Re routed weekend

We were planning on going down to California to visit my sister Allyson for a week.  William was going to get baptized and Jane and Aaron signed up for a local sports camp.  Well.....  Allyson calls Wednesday to say her nanny just tested positive for covid and they were all going to get tested as well.   Soon the whole family was in quarantine for 2 weeks, the camp called to say they didn't get permission from the city and cancelled the camps and our vacation was postponed until hopefully August.   After a failed attempt trying to go to book a reservation at the nearest public pool and Bart discovered his work decided to give everyone Juneteenth  the day off I knew we all needed to get out of the house for  the weekend, we thought about other places to go.   We've enjoyed Lava Hot Springs in the past and after a quick call to Sarah and Joe we were set for a weekend getaway to Lava and Pocatello to visit the Preston's.    On Friday we stopped by Crystal Hot Springs.  

Bart's review:   It was O.K. not as hot as Lava Hot Springs but it was nice for the kids to have the water slides to keep themselves entertained.  

We made it to Sarah's in time for a yummy smoked Rib dinner and then was treated to Apple Cinnamon pancakes for breakfast.    She really is the best hostess and cook.   In planning our day to Lava Sarah mentioned this farm in the middle of nowhere with big water slides and a zip line.  It sounded intriguing and soon we changed our plans again and headed out west to Steadmans farms.     I liked the peaceful farm feeling, lack of crowds and space for the kids to run and slide all day.    All of us minus Spencer took a turn on the zipline, although it took me most of the day to get enough courage to do it.  

We left mid afternoon with the intention to stop by Lava on the way home but we left Sarah's house a little too late and Bart didn't want to get home too late so we drove on past the exit and headed home.  We will have to go back to do Lava another time.  

Sarah mentioned she was coming down for a doctors appointment and offered to have the girls stay for a few extra days and then she would bring them home.    The girls gladly accepted and had a fabulous time chasing their cousins around, playing card games with Sarah and Joe at night and even helped Kate run a snow cone stand.