I skipped a week of writing, and there are a couple of things worth mentioning from the previous week. Bryant Oblad married Anna Lieshman, and we enjoyed a dinner with them and the reception on Friday night. Also, Elise arrived with her boys on Wednesday, May 31. We were excited to see her and her two boys, but missed Andy this time.
Lake Powell:
What a wonderful week of family, sunshine, water and plenty of sand. We enjoyed a great week at Lake Powell with all of our family and even some friends. I know that a lot of sleep was lost by parents (and even siblings and grandparents), but it was well worth it to see the children playing with each other. I wasn't driving home with all of the kids, but I know Max didn't want to see the fun end. He wanted to stay in the motel and go back to the beach. As for me, nothing beats sleeping in my own bed after a week or so away from it. I also was glad to get back to having my own bathroom.
There are loads of pictures from the trip, and I will post several of them at the end of the letter.
We had a few funny moments over the week (call me if you think of more and want me to add them), some fun moments, and some cute ones, too. Elise said I had to tell some of the funny moments that might even embarrass me, so I guess I will (for posterity?)
First, a little background. Our friends Jamie and Kevin Selijaas brought their family and their jet skis and came with us. We went to Wahweap (where I've never been before) because of the accommodations. We usually stay in Hall's Crossing in the very old family trailers. Well, this year, the trailers were updated--but the electrical wiring was different than in the old trailers, so the park people haven't figured out how to connect them yet. We were ready to give up and skip Lake Powell this year, but the Seljaas had been to Wahweap and they found lodging that had three bedrooms per unit (but alas, only 1 bathroom). Jamie and Kevin have a son, Mason, 14; a daughter, Jessica, 18; and a married daughter and son in-law--Katie and Nate. Mason and Jessica are particularly good with the little kids. Due to the fact that for most of the week we had only one boat and two jet skis with a whole lot of people (the whole family decided they could make it this year--for all or part of the trip), we found a spot on the beach and worked from there. There was also a courtyard at the hotel where we were able to use the tables and grill and eat outside every night.
So, one afternoon, Max and Maverick were being pushed around in the Kayak. Elise asked Ori if she wanted to get in the kayak with them and she said, "No. I'm busy playing with my boyfriend." (Mason).
Another conversation was overheard: Doyeon: "Max, you're a silly goose." Max: "I'm not a silly goose, I'm Max."
Roy is known for calling people by names that are not really theirs. Not because he doesn't know who they are, but because he's a little bit weird that way. He said to Max, "Fred, hand me that rope." Max:, "Fred?" Roy: "Oh, I mean George." Max: "I"M MAX!"
Okay, I'll tell one on me. We went on a hike on Sunday evening. The owner of the hotel told us of a hike that was sort of a slot canyon. When we got there we saw it required a permit. Kevin called the hotel owner and asked him what we should do and he said that the place to pay was closed on Sunday, so we could just hike and pay later. So, we did. Some of us had a little trepidation about it, though. We went anyway and had a nice hike. When we'd walked along the bottom of the canyon as far as we could in one direction, Two Navajo's were climbing down a steep embankment towards us. I heard Jamie say, "Kevin, do you want to talk to them?" So I was predisposed to think they might be official. As they got close to us, I said, "We know we need a permit but we didn't know where to pay, so we were just planning on paying tomorrow." They just looked at me and kept walking towards us. I said, "You don't care, do you." I received a small shake of the head. Everyone was laughing at me. I was quite embarrassed. My kids told me it was racist to assume that just because they were Navajo, they had authority to kick us off the trail. Roy said if they were smart they would have just gone along with it and said, "for $50 I'll let you off the hook." That was far more embarrassing than just leaving my sunglasses on all day--until it was far too dark to see much--even then, Roy had to point out that I was wearing them.
One of the most interesting moments happened toward the end of the trip. Because of a trial, Adrienne and AJ didn't arrive in Lake Powell until Wednesday night. We were leaving Friday morning (They stayed and camped until Saturday). It was getting dark when they arrived and Gunnar got his flashlight and went spider hunting. He is obsessed with spiders right now. Within about 5 minutes he'd found about 5 black widows. AJ knocked them down and smooshed them for the safety of all of us. The next night he went searching again. In the rosemary bush were lots of black widows, too many to try and smoosh. This was something that we would have rather been oblivious to, because once we knew we were a little freaked out. We told the owners and they said that they'd sprayed, but we were in the "wilderness" and spiders were just something that we had to put up with. We don't know that we'll stay with them again.
Finn and Maverick looked awfully cute sitting on the jet skis. They loved them even when they weren't going anywhere.
Every time we were on the boat, and Roy was driving, Max would ask, "Need help Papa?" Usually Roy would say yes and let Max help drive the boat.
Ruby was also darling. She and her family were only there from Saturday until Tuesday afternoon. She loved the kayak. I'm pretty sure she thought it was hers. She was in it for most of the day. Matt rowed her around until his knees got too sore (it wasn't very large). Then he realized she was just as happy when he just pushed her around. Crista said that everything she thought Ruby would love, she hated (like being in the water), and everything she thought she'd hate she loved. Even Greta did pretty well, due to all the shade that The Selijaas' and Dan had brought along.
Effie was darling and loved both the sand and the water. She would just roll around in the sand without concern. It was in her hair, her ears, and probably lots of other crevices as well. I have to feel for Ori, Effie, Nick and Sara. They're all so fair, they have to wear hats, sunglasses, and long sleeves to avoid burning. Later in the week, Ori and Effie wore leggings to keep the sun off their legs, as they'd started to burn there.
There were a few funny potty stories, too. Yuna came running to Jieun to tell her she need to go potty. Jieun told her to just go in the water, so she ran to the edge of the lake, stooped down, and peed right there. Ollie peed in the lake, too, but he used the boat as his platform.
One evening Kevin jokingly asked his son, Mason, if he wanted to play poker. He kind of responded, but not really, then Katie said, what about strip poker. Mason more animatedly said, "Yeah," Then his mom said, "Oh, you really want to see your sister naked?" That certainly put him in his place.
One afternoon, Kevin took Elise back to the hotel because Mav was feverish and she didn't feel very well either. She gave Kevin her military ID and military pass so he could get Roy's truck back into the park (she'd helped us avoid the fee because of her military connection). When we arrived home, I got the two cards out of the truck and gave them to Roy. Later that evening he came and asked me where they were. I told him that I'd given them to him. We looked all over for about 20 minutes. Finally I started retracing his steps. I found the cards in the fridge between 2 individual packets of guacamole.
I didn't mention Hyeji. I don't have any funny stories about her, but I did notice how much she's growing up. She was a peacemaker with everyone and was very helpful. Gunnar is also growing up. He was helpful, too, for the short time he was there.
When you have a large family there are going to be incidents, funny, annoying, or worse, but overall we had a great time together.
When we arrived home, I had one day to get my relief society lesson put together. Luckily, I had it mostly planned and written out because we were super busy. I had a Cook Family Organization meeting first thing, Roy had a HAM club meeting. I had loads of laundry (both meanings), and a very dirty floor. We had to clean the boat up (Dan's family came over to help), and so the time to work on my lesson was short. Crista came over to hang out while Matt went to a company dinner at the Grand America Hotel. His boss was a candidate for Entrepreneur of the Year. He ended up winning, too. After Crista left I put the last of my lesson together and finished after 11. Then, of course, I had a hard time sleeping because I was nervous. It went well, though. Elise and Jennie sang "The Family is of God" to set the tone for my lesson. They both have beautiful voices.
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| Jennie and Yuna |
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| Dojin |
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| Dan and Dojin |
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| Jennie |
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| Hyeji |
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| Jieun and Yuna |
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| Ori |
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| Hyeji |
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| Doyeon |
Jieun really wanted to go on a hike, but she needed at least 1 adult per child, so Katie, Nate and I went with them. Below are pictures of the Lower Antelope Slot Canyon. It was beautiful, but there were lots of people and we had to wait, even though we were on the 2nd tour of the day. We had 3 men from Holland and a couple from Quebec in our group. Behind us were a group of Koreans. Dan spoke to them. They were excited that he knew their language.
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| Caitlyn, Sunday evening hike |
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| Mason, with Ori, Doyeon, Max, Hyeji, and Yuna. All the kids love him. |
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| Roy and Catharine, Sunday evening hike |
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| Nick and Effie |
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| Crista and Greta |
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| Yuna |
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| Hyeji and Roy |
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| Sara and Effie |
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| Jieun, Dojin, Jamie, Greta and Mav and Matt |
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Me. I finished the book the first day, which was good
so I could be of more help :) |
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| Elise |
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| In the hotel with Effie |
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| Greta and Hyeji |
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| Caitlyn |
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| Jieun |
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| Caitlyn |
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| Crista |
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| Dan |
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| Max |
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| Elise and Mav |
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| Mav |
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| Crista, Matt and Ruby |
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| Ruby |
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| Hiking with Ruby and Hyeji |
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| Ori |
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| Matt and Ruby |
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| Roy, Elise, Mav, and Sara |
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| Gunnar and AJ |
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| Gunnar |
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| Finn |
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| Gunnar, AJ, Ollie, Adrienne, and Finn |
