USU Parents/Family weekend

Luckily I went through some pamphlet from USU to Emmy . . . and it mentioned the Family weekend in September. So I got the three of us (plus Emmy of course) tickets to the weekend, plus to the home football game. It was so great and just fun to be with Emmy. :)

Ben, Lucy, and I headed out from Montrose around 1:30 on Thursday. We met up with Jonas in American Fork at In N Out and enjoyed seeing him and dropping off his bike - as well as grabbing some food, of course. Jonas showed off his crazy new wheels he got . . . fancy!

We then continued our way to Logan. When we got there, we went up to Emmy's dorm and met a roommate or two perhaps. Her place is cute and her roommates are truly adorable and fun. Blessing!! We took the girls out for some Aggie Ice Cream and that was fun. Then we dropped Lucy back off at Emmy's (she slept on the couch in the dorm) and Ben and I made our way to our place - literally a room and bathroom in Smithfield. It was nice though with a private entrance - and just the right price, ha. 

Friday we got up early and grabbed the girls for an exercise class I signed us all up for at the campus rec facility. It was like a CrossFit class - called Aggie Fit. It turned out to be great and I even think the girls had fun. :) After showering and getting ourselves ready, we met back up on campus for our "aviation tour." There were different tours we could sign up for and I chose this one for Lucy's sake. She's wanting to be a pilot and go through USU's program. (I feel badly crushing her dreams . . .but no way we can pay for that!) It was cool. We checked out the bookstore, got Emmy's meds and some Sushi at Smith's, then back to chill - although Emmy's work calle and asked her where she was . . . whoops. There was a misunderstanding out what shift she was scheduled for - so we dropped her off at her on-campus preschool and then the three of us chilled at Emmy's community center (with Lucy and Ben taking naps on the couches and chairs ha).

That night we played some field games on the quad (well, really only Cornhole) and ate dinner - free food trucks, fun! Then we went to play Bingo and Emmy was just one away from winning in Black Out. Bummer, but it was actually fun and I can't remember the last time I played! The girls went back to the dorm and Ben and I headed back to our place.

On Saturday, Ben and I got up and went for a lovely and beautiful run along the Logan River trail. It was perfect. We then picked up the girls and went downtown for the Homecoming parade. It was a lot of fun. Next was brunch, as decided by Emmy ha. We went to a place she had gone when Jonas and Aidan were both in town one weekend - Gracy's. It was a cute place, but not amazing food . . . Then the girls went off thrift shopping, as well as Ben and I. Ben and I just went to one place but lucked out with quite a few items. The girls found things as well at the few places they checked out. Eventually, we met back up at Emmy's dorm and walked down to the stadium for College Football. The Best. USU had their first win of the season and so that was good! It was a lot of fun for sure.

On Sunday, Ben and I grabbed the girls and headed to a nearby chapel of a regular ol' family ward (Emmy's missing the family ward vibe ha). It was the primary program and there were about 35 kids up there - singing their guts out! Loudest/yelling-ist group of kids ever, ha. But it was sweet. We then drove thru the "drive through breakfast" USU offer (bagels and drinks) and then dropped Emmy off and then drove back home to Montrose. It was such a great weekend!

Friday pictures:

Our exercise class ha.

Cool!

College campuses are just my favorite - especially in fall!

Cornhole!

Oh yeah! Friday night there was a dance and a "True Aggie" night. Basically you find someone and kiss them on the A-podium thingy - and then you're a True Aggie ha! The school totally promotes it and has ramps for the two people to walk on (because I guess they don't want you actually stepping on the A-thing ha). It's awkward, but funny! Anyways, Lucy became a True Aggie and certainly didn't let her guy (who was very cute per the girls) know that she's still in high school. Haha. Emmy is not a True Aggie because she's got her Aidan . . . 

Saturday pics:

A picture from our run. :)

Parade time

Go Aggies! Fun, fun!

Last and least pictures from Sunday:

The fall colors were spectacular driving out of Logan. I was so sad the camera didn't do it justice, ha. But whatever!

Anyways, such a great trip and I am so glad we went and got to see Emmy!

Ladies in Lake Powell

I have a good friend, Chris, who has a houseboat and water toys at Lake Powell. She and her husband and their three boys use it probably around 50 days a year. As a result of her last boy leaving the house (going on his mission), she planned a ladies' trip to Powell - lucky me! Six women ended up going, along with Chris' husband Ben. Even though the water is not my favorite thing, I had a wonderful time! Chris did so much planning and practically had everything for us - she prepped all the meals, had lifejackets, towels, bedding, etc., etc. 

We six ladies left on Thursday morning and got to Powell around 4 (it's about a 5-hour drive, but we took a few stops on our way). Ben joined us later that evening. We took the houseboat out and beached in a nice spot, and brought the speed-boat over as well. Ben cooked all our dinners for us, from wraps to chicken salads to burritos and tacos. He even served us up some amazing pina colada slushie one night. Thursday night we all played Secret Hitler and that was pretty great. We all (minus Ben) slept on the roof of the houseboat. They had all the beds/bedding there for us as well - thick twin-sized mattress pads or something like that. I tossed and turned, but it wasn't bad and the stars were amazing!

Friday we got up early to get the smooth water for water surfing. Chris beautifully showed us how things were done! Then each of us (minus Jody) gave it a go. As expected, Brianne and Jaymie were awesome. They both have experience with wake-boarding and/or snowboarding and they just did great. Heather gave it a good try or two or ten, but wasn't able to get up. I managed to get up on my try and stay up for a few minutes. But I wouldn't call what I did actual surfing . . . I was too far out from the wake and just couldn't get over to it . . . so I just hung out in the choppy area of the wake, haha. It was fun, kind of. Not totally my thing but definitely fun to try. I tried a couple more times but didn't get back up. Oh well, it was a one-and-done kind of thing for me!

We went back to the houseboat for lunch and relaxing . . . Jaymie, Heather, and I paddleboarded to a really beautiful inlet or cove or something. Too bad none of us had phones for pictures. But it was so pretty. Later that evening went back out on the speed boat. Heather and I ended up jet-skiing (into another super-cool cove) while the others were surfing and watching surfing (Jody was a hard-no on trying. She had neck surgery in the past and didn't want anything that could mess that up.) It was a cool evening. Back to the houseboat for dinner and hanging out. Oh that night there was a huge lightning storm near us - it never came right over us, but it was close. And the lightning went on for hours and hours . . . almost all night! 

On Saturday we were up early as we had a big day planned. Our first stop, about a 2-hour "drive" (boat ride) was to Hole in the Rock. This was where a group of Mormon pioneers created a crack in a 1,300 sandstone rock crevice to get down to the Colorado River, where they were to eventually establish a settlement. It took them 6-weeks, at what is now Hole in the Rock, to blast and hand-dig a crevice wide enough for them and their wagons and cattle to get down. They lowered the wagons with heavy ropes and locking chains (for the wheels) - 83 wagons. Over 1,000 cattle. And no one died. It took us about 1 1/2 hours to climb it, just one way. I thought no way when Chris told us it would take us about 3 hours to do it all. But she was almost exactly right! Chris stayed back on the boat and Ben came to guide and assist us. It was good he was there as we used him quite often - knee boosts, hand holds, etc. It was really cool.

After that, we continued south into Lake Powell and made our way to Rainbow Bridge arch. (We stopped right before this at an old dock for this area and enjoyed a yummy lunch!) Because the water levels are so slow, we had to hike about 1 1/2 miles to the arch. Chris later shared an old photo from maybe the 1990s in which boats could drive right up to the arch! Just crazy. It was hot, but dipping our shirts in the water sure helped. The arch was very impressive! It was definitely worth doing. 

We then made our way into Escalante Canyon and, again, it was a beautiful area. We got to Gregory's arch and drove the boat under it - usually the arch is completely under water . . . Then we made our way back to the houseboat. It was about 80 miles total of "driving" and was just awesome. The speed boat is amazing and has like everything - bluetooth speakers, phone chargers, water holders, all sorts of fancy seating, and more and more. That night was watched a movie on the roof before bed and it was just a great day.

I needed to get back on Sunday - 1. for a Stake meeting and 2. because I worked the next day. The rest of the group stayed and came home on Monday. But Chris and Ben rode me out to the dock (Hall's Crossing) and I had a nice drive home. It was a fantastic trip and I was so grateful to go with those gals. :)

Pictures in mostly-random order!

Fun time on the jet ski!

Beautiful sunset!! (But looks like a sunrise!)

The night sky was beyond cool.

That's the houseboat beached at our private little spot. It was nice being there in the off-season.

Ben our boatman. The boat was sooooo nice!

Jody, Heather, and Chris. It could be a little cool, shockingly, at times. 

This is atop Hole in the Rock crevice, looking down into Lake Powell.

Past the crevice, in the more open area - Brianne, Jaymie, Heather, myself, and Jody.

Starting the climb up!

This shows a good idea of the crevice - and also shows Ben helping tie-up/anchor the boat at Hole in the Rock.

Yay, all of us! Front row: Jaymie, Heather and Brianne. Back row: myself, Chris and Jody.

We would hop in the lake a lot - so fun!

Rainbow Bridge arch was quite spectacular!

This was Gregory Arch (maybe? Maybe Stephen? Ha), which is usually under the water! We took the boat under it and then swam in the area for a bit. Cool, cool.

The link to a video of my attempt at water-surfing. (It's blurry and I've tried for way too long to fix it . . . so blurry it is!)

What a trip!

HOCO 2026

 Lucy's Junior Homecoming dance! Lucy had a good time and went with a senior, Chazz. They aren't an "item," (haha, how old am I?!) but decided to go together (or maybe friends assisted what that . . . I am not sure how much they were talking/texting before this). Chazz was/is a nice young man, plays football, and treated Lucy well. But . . . they were a bit awkward because they really don't know each other well. Also, this was Lucy's first high school dance not going with ex-BF, Patton. So that was a bit tough, I think. All in all, Lucy had a good time - but didn't love it. She did love her dress, though, ha!

Lucy with her good friend Lizzy.

Lucy and her best-friend Ruby.

Beautiful girls. I think it's funny that I didn't get one with their dates. Haha.

Happy HOCO. One more to go!