powell power

Isn’t it gorgeous?!?!?!

I used to be a little put off whenever I heard people rave about Lake Powell. I’m a Shasta girl at heart and when I moved to Utah I felt like that was all I ever heard. “Lake Powell this. Lake Powell that. Have you ever been? That’s not where you houseboat? Oh…poor girl. You’re missing out.” Everyone I talked to seemed to undermine my Shasta experiences because A. they hadn’t heard of the lake and B. because they hadn’t there was no way it could compare. Well, I decided to develop a few ignorant biases of my own and, before I knew it, I’d subconsciously decided Lake Powell was overrated.

Well, just over a year ago my boyfriend’s family decided to take me. Parker had grown up camping out by the lake and just loved the place and (because we were both in the stage where neither could do any wrong) I decided I’d just go ahead and love it too.

We had a really wonderful visit—tons of boating, lots of laughs, and an infinite number of “ooo’s” and “ahh’s” over its scenery—but outside of the good company and great vacation I’m not sure I was sold on the lake itself by day one. It seemed choppy, crowded, and (from the stories I’d heard and the overturned houseboat we passed) a little dangerous too.

BUT (and this is a big but) I do love it now. Yes, it has its moments where conditions aren’t perfect, but so does every other lake. By our second day there last year I knew I’d found a special place—a place I’d love to come back to time and again with family and friends. And, as luck would have it, that’s what we did! The great friends that gave me my first taste of Powell became family and have brought me back for Round 2.

Lara & Kirk invited us down on their annual neighborhood couples’ trip. What a fun time! First of all, I’m so impressed they all collaborate and make this happen. And second, they’re all so much fun! They laugh and tease and joke and love and cuddle and made us newbies feel so welcome. Lara & Kirk spent the few weeks leading up to the trip giving us the scoop on each and friend and it paid off. I had everyone’s name memorized about 10 minutes into the trip because their descriptions were so spot on. It really made me laugh. I’d love to hear Kirk give our bios someday…

In addition to the nonstop water activities, laughs, and sun exposure we also had another big reason to love this trip—WE CAMPED!!! for the first time this summer! in our new tent! And oh boy was it awesome!

We BBQ-ed up of the yummiest kabobs (thanks to Kristy & my dad for the marinades and Tristan for his garden-fresh veggies!!!), wakeboarded until the sun set, rub-a-dub-dubbed in the lake, took a midnight swim, and even woke to watch the sunrise. Falling asleep to the sound of the waves on the shores and a blanket of stars up above was, to me, absolutely priceless.

Me not quite ready to be up and/or face reality. I wanted to forget fall semester and stay here forever!

And another perk to camping—it earned us about 6 extra hours on the lake!—which left us lots of time to talk. I learned a lot about Lara & Kirk and their life together and hearing about it all made me so excited for the future. It’s so neat to see where they are in life right now—in a happy home with 4 adorable little boys, fresh paint, passports with stamps to the neatest places, the “tuffest” boat I’ve ever seen, and even a “dirt-bag” (it’s a joke) dog. It’s everything you’d ever imagine when you think of building a life with the person you love and I’m excited for the day when we’ll have all that—when we and our friends will be able to afford couples trips to the lake, when we’ll have stories to share about the funny thing our kid said at football practice, or when we can say we’ve seen Les Miserables in London. (I know it sounds superficial that all I’m talking about are things, but I’m just trying to paint a picture of what comes to people who live their lives well—who love their families, serve others, work for everything they receive, and stay close to the Lord through best and worst of times.) Anyway, I just started thinking about that day and wanting to be there—wanting to have it all now or at least have a sneak peek at what it will be like.

But hearing them describe their life leading up to this also made me treasure the time Parker and I have together now. This is the time to grow and learn together and take life by storm. It’s our time to decide who and what we’ll be and become the people who will raise those children, take those business risks, and stay so in love through it all. It’s our time to realize how incredibly compatible we are and how much potential we have as a couple. And it’s our time to go without for awhile so, when we do have it all, it will mean that much more.

Even though they weren’t there with us, I learned a lot from Tristan & Kristy too. Hearing Lara & Parker reminisce about their childhoods and being with them on the days before and after our trip made me love their parents even more.

Watching Tristan with his grandkids makes my heart melt, and hearing about the ways he worked to make his family vacations the best makes him that much sweeter. I can just picture him working up some creative way to tie the pedal-boat to the truck just because he knew the kids would love it. And it's equally as easy to see him convincing Kristy to buy the springy tree ornaments because he thought they were so neat-looking and knew she'd love them too. I about died when he used his headlamp to pick squash for us at midnight just so we could skip a trip to store too. Generosity is never in short supply with the DeMilles and I know Tristan is a BIG reason for it.

And Kristy—WOW! When Lara thought back on how her parents ever managed to do camp-outs with all 7 kids I realized how often I fail to realize what a feat it would be to be a mom to so many. 7 doesn’t seem like as much now that they’re grown, but one day, not long ago, they were babies and toddlers and teenagers all at the same time. She did it all and still does. She lets her children live their lives but she’s always there to play mom when they need her. She makes back-to-back trips up north to help with wedding pictures, tend kids, move furniture, deliver cookies, or do anything else you need her to. She stays up late to make potato salad because she knows you’ll want another side dish and makes her grandson’s favorite cookies just because he asked. She thinks a year ahead for Christmas (i.e. NYC) and brings home the cutest finds for each and every one of us, always making sure to never leave anyone out.

And when you say thank you, neither one lets it stick, because in their eyes their acts of generosity are simple and small and what any person would do. And I know they think, if they could, they would do so much more. But I’m not really sure what else we could ask for. It blows me away and I hope, someday, they’ll realize why we can’t ever say thank you enough. Parker and I are so grateful for them and I really, truly hope they know it.

And now that I’m done with my super-sized tangent…here are the highlights I figured no one would read long enough to see:

1. Kirk’s impression of Eminem (we thought he was impersonating a robot)

2. My impression of Sugarland sounding almost as pitiful

3. Midnight swims in birthday suits

4. More than one full moon

5. Racist jokes

6. Wakesurf crashes

7. Secret boat alterations

8. A boat that can’t reverse left

9. People’s issues with peeing in the water

10. And the reason why all the men are now scared to jump off cliffs

It was the best of times!

finding nemo

The final entry to our California adventure—hallelujah! I think I’m beginning to realize the reason all wise bloggers keep their posts short, sweet, and to the point. I babble on and on about the same thing for days, and that’s what it takes to write it all too…days and days and days.

Parker and I cruised up the coast from San Diego to Long Beach to meet up with my parents for their last few hours in town. We strolled along the pier, admired the lighthouse, found an ice cream shop (of course), and tried to make the most of the last of the time we’d have together.

It’s funny how hard it hits me every time I have to say goodbye to my family. The gap between now and Christmas isn’t long and I’ve done it a million times, but it still makes me sad to be so far for so long. But, what can you do? Let’s just hope this semester flies by…

We snapped a few last pics in front of the Queen Mary, hugged goodbye and sent them on their way before heading over to the aquarium. My family took a trip there on Wednesday as we’d made our way into town and insisted they treat us to a visit as well. As if they hadn’t done enough for us that week!

Parker’s always said something he admires most about my dad is the generosity. He’s always looking for ways to give others a bit of happiness on his dollar. He says the memories are worth so much more to him. As much as I tease him for being a giver to even the biggest of money-grubbers, it is definitely one of the reasons I love him most. I had the best childhood a daughter could ask for, and I’m not sure when his days for helping his little girl are going to end so I can finally try to return the favor. Thanks daddy dave for being so good to us always!

So yes…after the goodbyes we headed to the aquarium which is, as my family assured us, super neat! Parker had never been to an aquarium and was eager to see all the “big stuff.” We pet jellyfish, baby sharks, sea anemones, urchins, stingrays, you name it! We had to eye the bigger fish from afar, but the eels and sharks were so dang creepy I’m actually kind of glad.

I only wish the same rule didn’t apply to the sea lions and otters. Oh man they are so stinkin’ cute! My sister begged my dad to have and otter as a pet…an idea he entertained until he found out they eat 25% of their body weight every day…and I even found another Parker there who I’d be happy to snuggle up with for a night (minus the fish breath). Parker loved the fact that his seal was “kissin’ his guns” in the pic too. Funny boy…

Fun Facts:

Did you know…otters have over 1 million hairs on every square inch of their body? Every inch! Craziness…

And, did you know…there are fish that are sex

changers?! Girl fish become boy fish when certain environments or situations require it. Weird…fish are weird.

Exhausted and a little on edge from our nonstop activities, we decided to head to my brother’s place in Aliso Viejo and take the rest of the night off. We had the yummiest paninis at the Panini Café and made another pit stop at, you guessed it, Yogurtland!

We had Harry Potter to keep us company on the long ride home and it’s cute to see how, little by little, Parker is becoming a fan just like the rest of the population. J He listened to it to and from work every day this week and would ask each night whether we could have Potter time. He is just as stinkin’ cute as that seal that bears his name. Maybe even cuter…

It was hard to come back to real life. I wanted to stay and soak up the sun on the beach forever. Maybe someday that’ll be our life. ‘Til then, we’ll enjoy these vacations and treasure these memories. Thanks everyone for a killer vacation!

sweet life in San Diego

So I decided to steal our beloved cousin's blog title for this post because, well, Amber & Paul really are living the sweet life. Every time I glimpsed the ocean from the freeway or drove down a lane of palm trees I couldn't help but think how amazing it is that people really live like this. Vacation to us is just the everyday to them. Lucky ducks...

So yes, as the title implies, our Friday down in Southern California took us way south...all the way to San Diego! It really took me by surprise when Amber pointed to a cluster of lights just across the bay and said, "And there's Mexico!"WHAT?!?!?! Mexico?! For some reason I never really believed the maps I'd looked at were to scale. Once I let that super-fun fact soak in I entertained the idea of going south of the border...only long enough for Amber to give us a recap on most recent activity with the drug cartels. I suppose that trip will have to wait...

REWIND...so before any of this went down Parker and I woke up bright and early (ish...we were all pretty tired from Disneyland) to the Hooters logo gleaming in the morning sun. We packed up the posse and headed down to Laguna Beach to catch breakfast. Well...our late start put us there closer to brunch time, and I guess for Laguna Beachers that equals lunch. With our initial plans shot, we cruised up and own the street trying to find something that looked reliable and appetizing. Then we saw it...WAHOO!!!! Wahoo's Fish Tacos. Thanks to Dave's love of the place, our delectable dish in Hawaii, and my brother's subsequent stamp of approval we were in business!

After lunch Parker and I decided we'd best be on our way to San Diego. Our whole premise for this trip in the first place was, of course, to be here for Garrett & Tanae's wedding. Garrett trained Parker out in the mission field and the two have been the best of buddies and roommates up at BYU ever since. He's one of the sweetest, most genuine guys I know and is a large part of the reason Parker & I met so many months ago...so, big kudos to him. We're so happy he found the same happiness we did with Tanae. She's sassy and fun and so down-to-earth just like our Garrett and definitely puts us 3-for-3 with this summer's match-ups (i.e. We like both the husband & wife—1. Kayla & Michael, 2. Bennett & Natalie, 3. Garrett & Tanae. I don't know how people do it when their spouse's old buddies have crazy counterparts...eek).

The sealing was absolutely beautiful! We spent quite awhile waiting to be led to the sealing room (almost an hour! apparently the SoCal temples take things at a more leisurely pace than our turbo-temples here in Utah), but being able to be there and see Garrett & Tanae joined together for time and all eternity was worth every single minute. Not to mention the fact that it finally gave me an excuse to see my fairy tale temple in person. It's absolutely breathtaking even with the scaffolding...especially when you first spot it from the interstate. Oh my...it was a sight to see!

My only regret from our visit there...our decision to change in the car. We put up quite a few blankets and parked in the furthest corner of the temple parking lot, but apparently it wasn't enough. One of Tanae's uncles leaned in during the group picture to say, "Quite an interesting changing room you had there today...." It took me a moment to register what he'd said, but the moment I did all that kept racing through my mind was my 5-minute-long attempt to wrest myself into my dress. Just lovely...exhibitionist DeMilles in the parking lot. Can't wait to see what we pull at Jared & Brooke's bash this October! J...oh boy. You just wait.

We delivered our pilot-buddy Adam to the airport after all the celebrating and then finally made our way to Miss Amber's. I've been waiting SO long to spend quality time with this cousin who's spoiled us so over the last few months and intrigued me with all her adventures. And let me tell you...our visit exceeded every one of my expectations.

We started off the night with pizza on the pier on Coronado island. Amber pointed out her work to us and happily answered my million questions about what had brought her to this paradise of a place. I marveled at her story-book love story (Paul propose in Costa Rica...WOW!), the many perks that come from working at a Marriott resort, and the fact that her husband swims with the dolphins on almost a daily basis. I'm not sure which was better that night—the conversation or the food. I was just so intrigued by Amber, her life, and each and every slice of BBQ heaven on my plate.

Then, like the cherry on top of our sweet sundae, fireworks burst out over the bay. WOW! Amber played us for a bit by telling us she'd had it all planned, but soon divulged that it actually had been a pleasant surprise to her too. Either way, we still felt too spoiled, especially when she insisted on paying for our meal. Amber! That's when I realized how deep those Bodily roots run...Kristy, Karen, Ed, Stella, Brittney, Robert...all some of the most generous people I know! I feel so lucky to be a part of their family and worried at the same time that those are very big shoes to fill. Wish me luck JJJ

We stopped by the Coronado Cupcakery on our way out to satisfy my sweet tooth. I swore I couldn't eat another bite after dinner, but the sight of the store about made my eyes bug out of my head and I knew I had to have one. Parker & I had agreed to share but I lost track when I started eating mine and, well, it took awhile for him to forgive me. Really though...who could complain about having a black-bottomed-belly cookie/brownie monstrosity to themselves??? You tell me...

Back at the house we eyed Amber's "domestic" piranhas a little suspiciously...I swear one hissed at me through its little buck teeth...and laughed at the story of how they'd come to live there. Apparently Paul has a way with finding all things free and/or deals so amazing the people might as well have let him walk off with their firstborn child too. Then...the moment came.

I've been dying to meet this character for the last few months. I've read blog after blog about her antics and showed her picture to Parker nearly a dozen times. SADIE!!! Amber & Paul's adorable miniature doberman pinscher.

Oh my goodness she is CUTE! I loved her to pieces before I even knew her and I love her even more now. I've never been a huge fan of little dogs (because most seem to yap or have mashed faces that look like the product of a serious collision with the fence), but she is a keeper! She's super fast, makes cute little noises, and kept us on our toes all night. Plus she is most definitely the product of her parents...little miss personality!

We wrestled and laughed and snuggled and played all night long. Too too fun! The only issue came when we had to partLLL I miss her already!

Luckily Amber & Paul took our mind off of the goodbye by taking us to this super-cool beach-front restaurant called Kono's Surf Club. The queue for food looper all the way outside the doors which made me even more anxious to see what was in store. Obviously Amber was not exaggerating this place's popularity, and when we got our food we knew she hadn't mislead us about its YUM-factor either.

I had an entire spread of every breakfast food you could ask for one my plate and Parker's baby looked liked a swaddled newborn. WOW! By the time he had downed his food baby we were all stuffed to capacity.

We decided to walk it off down the pier and chatted and laughed the whole way. Paul is way laid back and super funny—it's easy to see why Amber loves him so much. He taught us a thing or two about dolphins and helped us spot a pod a few hundred yards off the pier. I've swam with dolphins, kissed a nose or two, but I don't think I can say I've ever seen them in the wild. It was so neat!

The time came too quickly to say goodbye. I wish we could've stayed and played longer, but I figure that just gives us even more reason to make a return trip soon. Thanks so much Amber, Paul & Sadie for sharing your sweet life in San Diego! And congrats again to Garrett & Tanae. We love you all!