Lake Powell

Went to Southern Utah for a Family Reunion at Lake Powell.
Imagine my surprise (and excitement) to find out that we were going to be vacationing for a week on this beautiful and huge houseboat.

Ya, talk about nice. It had 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 3 stories plus the roof, granite everything, the kitchen alone made me feel as though I was in heaven.
It did make it almost difficult to go outside, but we did. In fact, after spending one night sleeping on top of the roof, many beds were left empty for we preferred the open air under the stars.
The kids had a blast, they love swimming, and who doesn't love the beach.

Early on we made it the rule that the kids had to have a life jacket on when exiting the house boat.

We got to the boat on Monday. We had Monday and Tuesday with my immediate family. Tuesday night my brothers left. The next afternoon my dad, Lyndee and Nathan left, so for about 20 minutes it was me, my kids, my mom, LeNae, and Lana on the boat. Then my Aunt Vera and her crew came. Along with some of my Aunt RaNae's kids - Jared & Holly, Mike & Janelle, and Amy, and my uncle Geo's boy Oliver. We then all stayed until Saturday.

On the first day I went Wake boarding. It was really choppy, but hey, I'm an Ironman, I can handle anything, right? I caught the edge of the board and crashed hard, causing me to do a back flip with my head behind my heels. It hurt, it hurt hard, so I was done for the day. Unfortunately I didn't make it to go again the rest of the week. I hope I don't get too scared next time, you know the whole idea of getting back on the horse.

I took the boys cliff jumping. There were some little cliffs, 10 feet at the most, that I took the boys out to. they were climbing all around them, so I encouraged them to jump off of them. Roger didn't even hesitate and kept climbing back up to do it again. Mikey was more cautious. He looked around, calculated his risks, then jumped. They both loved it and just kept jumping in.
When I challenged them to go off a higher cliff I asked myself what I was doing. Yes, now it's good to teach them to do things they are scared of, but am I going to be okay with them doing this in high school off a much, much higher cliff? Oh well, they need to learn, I guess.
William even joined in the fun on one of the last days. I had thrown him off the cliff, which he was not too happy, mostly because he didn't want to get cold. Then after sitting on the rock forever, he stood up, went to the edge, and while counting with his fingers, counted to 15 and jumped off. He loved it and did it over and over.

William also met his "twin". For awhile, William has reminded me (and other people as well) as my aunt Vera's third son, Klint. They have/had about the same build, same hair, and most of all, similar facial expressions. Klint is a good kid, so I would be okay if William turned out like him. 

Of Course what trip to Lake Powell is complete without a trip to the "Hot Sand". This hill of sand is a killer to climb up. My three oldest boys started running up it full speed, once it started getting difficult for them, Mikey held William's hand and helped him up the rest of the way. Grant went up with me. He walked for almost 1/3 of the way, then being so tired, had me carry him. This was extra difficult, so I was grateful when my cousin Jared offered to carry him the rest of the way. We sat at the top and talked while the boys ran down and up again. I ended up climbing the mountain twice, Mikey and Roger climbed it 3 times!

The weather was perfect. Just warm enough, but not overbearingly hot. One evening LeNae and I took my 3 older boys on a canoe ride. We took them over to a place that they could cliff jump. Being in the water and the sun going down did make it a little chilly. Mikey told LeNae, who is one of his favorite people, "I wish I was in a towel, warm on the big boat... instead I'm stuck on this little boat".

After the wonderful week, it was time to leave Powell, too bad. My mom had gotten a flight with her deal, so she had me and my boys join her on the private plane ride home. The boys loved it. Roger got to sit in the front with the pilot. He thought he was tough stuff.

That evening LeNae and I took my boys to the county fair. The boys got to eat, rock climb, see some animals, and ride some rides. Needless to say they had a great time...and so did I.

Visit from Uncle Reagan

Uncle Reagan came to visit us before he started back at school, and boy did we enjoy having him. Reagan is one of the funniest, best people to be around. He is pleasant, and actually very willing to help out. One day he watched the boys for almost 6 hours so Todd and I could go running together (let's be honest though, Reagan and the boys were asleep for 3 of those hours).

We went on the local Bike and Ride train ride. You can ride the train one way and bike the other way for only $2 a person. We do this several times a year. We love it because not only do you not have to bike out and back somewhere, but you get to go on a train ride that is the perfect length and the perfect price. Win Win.
Todd pulled Mikey/Roger behind him on the trail behind bike, I carried William/Grant in the child seat on my bike, and Reagan carried whichever two boys were left in the trailer - definately heavy.
At one point we were following eachother a little too closely. Todd was in the lead, slipped off the trail and fell. I couldn't stop in time, so I crashed as well. I found myself on the ground just in time to see Reagan's bike wheel coming over on top of me. Luckily he was able to catch it from falling on me, but still not too fun. No one was too hurt. Grant was a little shaken up, but for the most part we were laughing at ourselves. The rest of the ride Mikey kept on reminding Todd to ride in the middle of the trail.

Later the crash actually had a positive effect. We had been trying to convince Mikey that it was time for him to learn to ride his bike without training wheels, but no avail, he was too scared of crashing. After our group crash Mikey realized that it wasn't all that bad and was then ready to try riding his bike.Another day Reagan and I took the boys over to Kirtland. It is a great place.

We found Reagan's future house. We sure did have a great time with Uncle Reagan. We love you buddy!

You Will Be Missed

My mom went to visit her parents this weekend. She kept saying how she just felt very strongly that she needed to go visit them. She had a wonderful visit with them, having one of the best nights with them last night.
This morning my grandfather went back to live with his Heavenly Father. I wasn't too surprised, for when we saw him at Lyndee's wedding Todd had commented that my Grandpa wasn't looking too good...he was on his way out. Todd was right, for this morning he had a massive heart attack.

Just some thoughts about my Grandpa:

Roger PeartRoger was a true cowboy who worked hard everyday. He owned a ranch where he raised cattle and had many horses (as you can imagine, it was every grandchild's dream and joy to visit Grandpa's ranch). He would act tough, but he forgot that that never works when you lovingly hand over little candies to the children. My favorite were always the Root Beer Barrel hard candies.

Anyone that ever knew my grandpa liked him. He was very personable, always willing to help where he could, very sensitive to the needs of others. He was involved in his community and world around him, being the mayor, bishop, and held other leadership positions.The one thing that my Grandpa loved more than anything was his wife, Ivy. He was the ultimate sweetheart. He loved to dote on Grandma. My mom would tell us stories of him surprising my grandma with a diamond ring inside a chocolate box on Valentine's day and other romancing that he accomplished. A note was often left for my grandma, reminding her how much he loved her. I always would see him grabbing my grandma's hand as they walked. He loved her dearly and gave her anything her heart desired. They were schoolmates, and were married for almost 60 years!

Grandpa was a dancer. We would have family parties and he would dance the jitterbug, or other couples dances. He would dance with his favorite, his wife, but also would dance with his daughters, daughters-in-laws, and granddaughters and anyone else wanting to have a good time.
He always wore suspenders. I don't know why I bring that up, it's just something I always noticed and how I now picture him. Hope they have suspenders in Heaven.

Grandpa had a great sense of humor. He could laugh at about anything. I will always remember how he would watch the Rodeo Bloopers and he would just laugh and laugh as he was watching these cowboys getting thrown around. He really enjoyed life, worked hard and tried to make everything alright, but at the end his attitude was always one of joy and humor. He always said, "A man worthwhile is a man who can smile when everything goes dead wrong".The chair that my Roger is standing on is Grandpa's chair. That is where he would always sit. If anyone was sitting in it when he came to eat, they were quickly moved. As a child I would love to turn from side to side in it as it could swirl all the way around.My Grandma fixes a feast for breakfast every morning, and Grandpa would be right beside her helping her. His job was to man the skillet. He would fry the bacon, eggs, and pancakes. He did a good job. He always had a coke, even at breakfast, and the fridge was always filled with them.
Grandpa was one of the worst drivers. He never got too hurt, but to ride with him would cause all sorts of anxiety. He never used his blinker, would often cut people off (I remember this one time in California...it was pretty hilarious). He would sit at an intersection or pull out of somewhere when he wanted. His attitude was, "it's my turn" regardless of the traffic laws. Even with how uptight we all were, my grandpa would remain calm and in control, even when people were cussing him out and flipping him off. Nothing really ever made him too mad.

If you wanted to know how to travel, my grandpa was the one to talk to. He would always travel with a box, filled with crackers, cheese, nuts, a roll of paper towels, and a steak knife that was held in a sliced hole on the fold of the box and the flap at the top. If you traveled with him, he would always make sure you had all the food that you wanted.

Speaking of food, he loved McDonalds.

My grandpa was a righteous man. He loved God and served him well. He baptized me, and gave me several blessings when I was growing up. He was always an example to me, and to everyone around him. As Todd pointed out, the last place Todd saw my Grandpa was in the temple.
Grandpa, we love you and are going to miss you dearly. But we know that this is not Goodbye, but rather, See ya later. You had a good ride.

Anyone that knew him, would you please leave a comment telling a memory or story of Grandpa

Tour it Tuesday

Remember Nae's Room?Well, let me introduce Roger's RoomWhile my mom and sisters were visiting, I had them help me redo this room. So glad that we did. The extra help helped me get it done and I love that after having this room look so badly and disorderly for a year, it now has a purpose and is no longer a junk room.
I got the blanket and this book shelf from TJ Max. I love the colors. Only downside of the bedspread is that they only had a twin available, so I bought some material and am going to add to the sides of it.I got this material to make curtains. Isn't it so cute.Put this table in the corner. Roger loves to sit at it and read stories.Now I need some help. I have some blue paint, I want to do a line of blue paint but cannot decide if the stripe should be connected to the green, or if it should be spaced from the green. You can see somewhat of an example in the next two pictures - imagine the blue painter's tape as blue paint.And the dresser, doesn't look much better. After I decide how to finish painting the blue, I should be moving the paint out.