Lake Powell in September

As fall approaches and the stores are putting out their pumpkins and Halloween crap, we fight off the "end-of-summer-grouchies" with our last trip to Lake Powell of the summer.  We were blessed with great company (my family) and great weather (which is a crap shoot in september).

Our first day was the only day we had that was cool and windy.  The men are always so good to check the anchors and make sure the boats are secure.  They take great care of us! 

(note the tower on our boat...sadly buried now at the bottom of bullfrog bay...a moment of silence, please...)

The kids found something to do, of course, and they all set out to build some awesome sandcastles.

My sister-in-law Christie.  She is so great to help with the food and cajole me into a tube ride...we had a great time and came away with only a few sore spots and bruises this time.

Grandma and Grandpa Taylor enjoy watching the grandkids during their evening swim.

Matthew and cousin Abby are snuggled up in layers for the boat ride.  It is a little chilly in september and this is the worst part of it...having to wear a sweatshirt and blanket in the boat!  We braved the "cool breeze" though and drove to Escalante.

Sisters!  We haven't been on a Lake Powell trip together in ages.  I really enjoyed spending time with her and her kids, Sami and Danny.  We can't wait until next summer when we can initiate her new hubby, Matt, to the Taylor Family Lake Powell Trip.  And no, Kathee, the gas attendant didn't really care to see your engagement ring (shesh...show off!)  Love ya!

La Gorce arch...one of the beauties of Lake Powell.  The scenery at its finest!

Sisters that pee together, stay together!

We all had to take turns peeing in the still waters of the canyon because it was WAY too chilly to "go for a swim"

Ready for a hike!  Mark (my brother) and his daughter Abby are preparing for a Cody adventure up Explorer Canyon in the Escalante.

An amazing wall of color.  It was gorgeous.  Where is Matthew?

The surviving hikers on what turned out to be the hike from HELL.  We baptized my family with fire with this Cody Adventure and I am not sure we will ever be able to talk them into going on another one.

Well, we did find some petroglyphs!  They were cool, but worth the hike? Get back to me on that one when I recover from dehydration!  Surprisingly enough my dad (who is in his 70's) kicked everyone's butt!  (and also kept us from kicking Cody's).  In Cody's defense though, we always go on these hikes blindly with little information to follow, so they really are adventures, exploring unchartered territory!  Come on guys, give it another chance!

I am usually game for a good Cody Adventure...but you can see that I cast my vote on this one...thumbs down!

Grandma and Grandpa Taylor.  Lake Powell is so much fun with my mom and dad.  Mom plays cards and does activities with the grandkids while Dad entertains us with his great outfits and positive attitude on the hikes.  We love you!

My nephew Jack was booked as this year's entertainment and he did his job very well!  There is just nothing cuter than a 3 1/2 year old boy!

Father and Son...skipping rocks

And, of course, what trip to Lake Powell would be complete without a flat tire? (along with the woes of running out of gas....and our water pump going out on us just as we are putting our boat on the trailer....)  Cody can fix anything and is incredibly handy to have around, especially at times like these.  He had that tire changed in 15 minutes flat!  ooh, and he is sexy, too!

Ahh...the memories!  That was such a great trip!  We were lucky to have my brother Mark, his wife Christie and their kids, Abby and Jack join us from Michigan.  My kids love hanging with their cousins.  When we get together for family gatherings, the tales of Lake Powell are always brought up and laughed about.  I hope my kids have those same memories....

A Cody Adventure

ad-ven-ture n. 1. an exciting and dangerous undertaking 2. an unusual, stirring, often romantic experience --vt., vi -tur-ing to risk; venture--

ad-ven-tur-er n. 1. one who has or looks for adventures

A typical "Cody Adventure" is exploring the wonders of Lake Powell.  With a little bit of research (done by Cody) we will set off for a hike to find Indian Ruins, a lost cabin or an obscure waterfall.  We have found some amazing sites! (although, we never found the cabin)  I know I speak for the whole family when I say that these adventures are amazing!  We stop and catch frogs of all sizes, and have even caught a few with a tail.  One time we had to smear our skin with mud so the biting flies would leave us alone--that was an adventure...not really stirring or romantic, but certainly unusual.  We even made it into the Salt Lake Tribune on one of our adventures!   We have hiked over rocks through narrows, muddy "quicksand" streams, found lost sand dunes and discovered many weathered waterfalls. We start off with lots of water bottles that mom usually ends up carrying along with everyone's shoes. Matthew promptly takes off his shoes (I don't even know why he starts out with them on) and transforms into a "digger".  We still have yet to figure out what an actual "digger" is, but we have gathered that it is something similar to part indian, part animal.  Dylan, Cody and Matthew take the lead while Alec and I always bring up the rear.  We have great conversations, see amazing wildlife--well, tracks of wildlife, frogs and lizards.  We call these "Cody Adventures" because they are always cool and always Cody's idea. (If they are Caroline adventures, we usually get lost) Anyone is invited who thinks they can make it (be advised that we have almost killed 2 friends, Chase and Austin).  A fair warning!  Never fall for any of Cody's "short cuts". We have stopped following him on those...

pictures taken 2006

Our "decked-out" Dog

Our dog provides the kids with hours of mauling fun.  What good is a dog if not for free entertainment? and, of course, plenty of snuggles, loves and begging...not to mention the horrible breath in your face while you are taking a perfectly good nap on the couch.  We have the most lovable dog, Goldie.  She is the most mild-tempered dog but her laziness kills us with laughter. She is part golden retriever (hence the name, Goldie) and yet she did not inherit any "retriever" whatsoever.  One trip for the ball and she will run away with the ball so we will not throw it again.  OR she will lay the ball and herself at your feet and look up at you like "I am SO tired from laying around all day, pleeease can you just make me beg for some cheese and we will call it a day?"  Her habit of finding even the smallest piece of blanket hanging off the couch, or an abandoned coat, jacket, etc. and sprawling on it makes us laugh every time.   She will, however, go on walks forever.  I think her secret plan is to pee all over the neighborhood.  But we love her.  We hit the jackpot with her when we brought her home from the Humane Society.  She is the most loving, patient dog who loves the kids as much as they love her. Goldie's favorite things are LOTS of rubdowns, meeting us at the door after a long day, a good "Cody adventure" and any people food that we will give her.  While shopping for school clothes, the kids came across some dog-wear they just had to have.  We threw in a matching collar and decked-out the dog when we got home.  Her first outfit!  Goldie is so adorable!  She puts up with a lot from us, but I think she loves it!

Ultimate Summer Fun

I had to post our first family picture at Lake Powell!  This is by far our favorite family vacation spot.  Where else can you get away from it all, be in the water and the sun, waterski and spend time together as a family?  It contains all the elements we require for fun!  Throw in a couple games of B.S., lots of junk food, a "Cody Adventure" and a full moon and we just can't ask for more.

Intro to Us

So I guess I am starting a blog...I have been thinking about it forever and now I am finally here!  I think I am the last one in my family to get one, so now everyone knows I am the least technologically advanced.  While I am putting things together, I have been thinking about what titles, songs, words, etc. encompass our family.  I came up with "perfectly us...unglamorous", lyrics from the artist Lori McKenna. This summer Cody and I ventured up to Snowbird for the Bluegrass Festival.  It was amazing, by the way, but what we really went up there for was to listen to Lori McKenna.  We were not prepared for how much she wrote about our life.  She played a new song "How Romantic is That" which made us cry it was so close to our life.  So if you were wondering why those songs were on my blog, there you go!

The Jackson 6, who are we?  Well, I will just let you follow along with our life and you will see that we are just perfectly us...unglamorous!