A few weeks ago D & I had the opportunity to spend a week on a houseboat at Lake Powell with his family. It was definitely a fun experience, and we always love the fun adventures we get to experience with the fam. This was a first time experience for most of us, but we had a blast & the water was great!! I'll let the pictures tell the story, but be prepared for picture overload!!
Day 1:
Drive down to Lake Powell & pre-board houseboat
What family vacation is complete without at least 1 flat tire? Luckily D & I were following behind Mom & Dad at a nice round 55mph most of the way down so D could help change it!
Definitely a flat!
Day 2:
Make sure everything is ready to head out into open water, and putt-putt along to our 1st anchoring spot
Mom & Dad rented a little catamaran for us to get around in when the houseboat was anchored, and I was on catamaran watch duty first. Don't you love the flip-flop tan line?
Catamaran duty while the boat was moving
Cap-i-tan #1
#2
#3
#4
Every time we beached the boys had to set the anchors. I'm glad I wasn't on anchor duty!
D learned that when your shovel fails, use your good ol' hands!
Our first set-up on the lake with our houseboat & the catamaran.
The 1st night of the trip we pre-boarded the houseboat and slept at the dock, but our 1st night out on the lake we had a beautiful full moon! We stayed at this spot for 2 nights.
Day 3:
Have fun enjoying the water & exploring our 1st area
When we were hot but didn't want to get in the water we'd shoot each other with water guns :)
Mom & Dad chill-axin
Beautiful red rock!
Dad taking the catamaran out for a spin
The 2nd evening on the lake we got to watch a really cool storm. We watched it in the distance for a long time until it finally reached us. It was so pretty & so fun to watch!
It was pretty windy. See the white-caps?
Here comes the rain!!
Rain + Sunshine = Beautiful!
A little wave action on shore.
And after the storm comes a beautiful rainbow!!
Sean & Andrea
Geo
D brought a hammock to set up, but the bars on the top of the houseboat weren't very high, so when he sat down in it he was on the ground. His reaction was pretty hilarious :)
But he's always a good sport!
Snug as a bug!
He finally found a cozy spot for it though :)
This was a frequent occurrence at Lake Powell. Me plugging my nose. With being pregnant & dealing with morning sickness, the smell of the bathrooms was bad for me. Well, bad for everyone, but me especially. Let's just say it was my worst week dealing with morning sickness by far because of the smells. But I still enjoyed the trip, I promise!! 
Enjoying the top-side.
The 4 man raft Mom & Dad brought got a hole in it so D was bringing it around to the back of the boat to patch it up. I looked over the side of the boat to ask him if he needed help & he was right beneath me! It was so funny! I had to take a picture! :)
Gotta be careful on the outer ledge...it's not that wide!
Pretty sunset pics
Lightning was a nightly occurrence on the lake. It is so beautiful though! I'm impressed D got this picture!!
Day 4:Move to another spot & hang out - This next spot wasn't too exciting, so we didn't get many pictures.
Keeping track of mile markers along the way
Not a whole lot to do while the boat is in motion so we found things to keep us occupied :)
Our next set-up. We'll just say the angle of the waves & having neighbors too close convinced us to move the next day again :)
Day 5:Move to another spot where we stay for our last 3 nights
It was a nice spot. Hence why we stayed 3 nights here :)
As soon as the anchors were set, D was looking for rocks! ;) He found a TON of moqui balls to add to his collection at home.
What the moqui balls look like still in the rock. They were seriously all over the place!
And here's tons of them in the water right by the boat.
The happiest couple on earth :)
Sunscreen application took place several times a day. And, of course, no task is mundane for this guy! He makes everything fun!! - These next 2 pics are for you, J Mac!
The houseboat had a slide that was put to very good use. This is D's excited face ;)
One time he went down he forgot to wet the slide again first & got stuck before he could slide off completely. It was funny because he just laid on the slide like this for about a minute before he moved :)
Back in action!
Mom & Dad were going to try to snorkel but the water was too murky. And Dad taught us the best way to protect your skin...cover up from head to toe! The sun won't burn you if it can't find your skin!
The carp were attracted to the light on the houseboat at night or something because we'd see tons of them really close to the boat in the evenings.
Day 6:Hang out, swim, sleep, etc.
Just after breakfast this long horned sheep walked right by our houseboat. It didn't stay long, so D & I went to find it.
Taking a morning hike to go looking for the sheep
The last place we anchored has a couple little canyons close by to explore with the catamaran, so D & I took advantage.
The canyon was pretty narrow.
So narrow we couldn't turn around & D had to back out for a while before we finally found a spot wide enough to turn around again. Going in reverse made the exhaust smell really strong, upsetting my nose and my stomach again. Oh well. It's all worth it, right? We can't wait for our baby!
When we got back from our canyon exploration the slide was put to good use again. I just had fun taking the pictures. I've been trying to take things really easy with this pregnancy because we don't want to take any chances!!
Andrea
Sean
Georgiana
My sweetheart
This trip down the slide he went down head 1st on his back, and ended up in this position going into the water. He slapped his foot pretty hard going in & it was all red for a while. Poor guy.
Getting tricky!
Falling in!
Mom, Ryan & Geo took the catamaran out to see Rainbow Bridge. This is one of the shots they took. So pretty!
Family photo!
Day 7:
Pack up, venture back to Wahweep & head home
The last night we were on the lake we got an amazing lightning storm. It was seriously the neatest lightning storm I have ever seen. I was woken up in the middle of the night to the lightning flashes going on all around us. There had been warnings of flash flooding in various locations around the lake, but our spot wasn't one of them. Anyway, so we could see the lightning & hear the thunder in the middle of the night. Then the thunder kept getting louder & louder until it started raining on us. No biggie. Even though we were sleeping on top of the houseboat the whole time, we weren't too worried because we had been sprinkled on before & it just came & went pretty quickly. Not this night. It started sprinkling. Then the sprinkling turned into rain that got harder & harder until it was pouring on us!! D & I were sleeping under the canvas covering so we weren't too worried. Mom & Dad were completely exposed to the rain. Shawn was exposed, but Andrea was covered. Dad grabbed a tarp to put over them & Shawn & Andrea moved under the canvas with us. It seemed like a pretty good solution until the canvas got soaked through and started leaking on us. So D grabbed a tarp to put over the 4 of us to keep us dry. Mom & Dad ended up going downstairs because they were still getting wet under their tarp. After a while Shawn & Andrea went downstairs too. D & I ended up being the only ones staying top-side all night. D is my hero, as always, because he stayed up for a while to make sure we were dry. I was so tired I ended up sleeping through most of the storm. Thanks, sweetheart for taking care of us!! This storm was exactly the kind of fun adventure we were looking for for our last night on the lake!!
Our bed set-up the morning after the storm. We put Shawn & Andrea's mattress right next to ours and all tried to get cozy under the tarp after the canvas started dripping on us.
Mom & Dad's wet mattress, even with having the tarp over it.
Wringing out their bed sheets! :)
We tied all the wet blankets up so they could dry out on our way back to Wahweep. Nice way to do laundry on the lake! ;)
Blowing in the breeze.
Digging up the anchors one last time!
Before heading back home, D & I stopped in Page, AZ for some lunch. We passed the Glenn Canyon Dam & had to take pictures :)
One last thing....
I think my blood is sweeter being pregnant or something because I got my very 1st spider bite (that I'm aware of) on the houseboat one night while I was sleeping. I was the only one who got a spider bite. You can see the fang marks!!
And, my mosquito bites get ginormous now!! Anyone else have this problem when they're pregnant?
All in all, we loved Lake Powell. It was a great family vacation. We had great food, tons of fun, and enjoyed being with the fam. We had a blast & can't wait for the next one!! Thanks again, family!! We love you all!!
DARWIN is on his 12th year of teaching, currently at Springville High School teaching astronomy, geology, environmental science, and physics. He also teaches physics at UVU for a 7 week STEM summer school program for junior high students. He also teaches teenagers in our church ward. He's super busy, but still makes time to be an awesome dad and husband.
After dinner we went back to our house and played some Wii. We love introducing people to our favorite Wii game, Just Dance. If you haven't played it, you should try it out! Seriously.
R practicing to be a big sister with a baby doll she found at our house. The doll is heavy like a real baby!
T &R with good friends, Gina & Dal.
I swear R is going to be a professional photographer when she grows up. Here are some of the shots she took with our camera. Remember, she just turned 3!
Love this one! Good job, R!
And of course she & Uncle D had fun playing together!
She'll probably be a good photographer, but maybe not so good with hair dressing ;)
D & I were weeding in our garden one morning & T wanted to show R what a garden was (even though it looked more like a forest than a garden at the time because of all the weeds we needed to clear out) so they came over to say hi and we played for a little while too.
We had a baby shower for T one night, which was really fun, and R got to play dress-up with some of the other girls that came. She makes such a pretty princess, doesn't she?
Another night we had a BBQ at Jimmy & Becca's with some friends. Jimmy & Becca had just won a beach cruiser bike from a work party & we all got to have a try on it. The girls had fun going for rides on it with D.
So fun! I want one now!!
The day before T & R flew home we took an afternoon to go to Temple Square so R could see the temple again. She didn't remember the temple from before. We had a great time, of course! :)
The top of the Conference Center
Top view of Temple Square. R has eagle-eyes like her daddy & could see some of the "princesses" (a.k.a. brides) down on the Temple grounds from way up at the top of the Church Office Building!
Us :)
The park where J proposed to T on my birthday 5 years ago
In one of the visitor's centers they have this new display that shows what the inside of the Temple looks like. I think it's neat they have this display now for people who can't go inside.
And we went up close to the Temple so R could touch it. I love the intricate carvings on the doorknobs & the amazing detail the early Saints put into the building. 
T & R
Adorable R
And us again :)
It was so great to have you guys here!! We can't wait until we get to see you again! Thank goodness for technology so we can still keep in touch even though we're oceans apart right now!!
