Lake Powell 2008

We went on our annual Lake Powell trip in late August. The kids "had" to be pulled out of school after only the first two days of the new school year. They think that is great until they get back and have to catch up on the three days they missed. They seem to have survived both Lake Powell and the follow up homework crunch. This was Auden's first trip to the lake and, of course, she played a starring role.

Emily and Makana (and half of Matt)

Makana's sister, Jessica, who just moved to Utah and is staying with Em and Makana for a while

Em and Auden chillin' under the umbrella on the top deck of the houseboat

It gets a little crowded inside the houseboat. From l to r: Makana, Emily, Steven, Auden and Grandpa Hout

From l to r: Michelle, Ashley, and LeAnn

This may not look like much, but there is a story: At 8am on a quiet Sunday morning, we heard a giant noise outside the houseboat. We all ran outside to see a huge red cloud of dust at the front of the houseboat where we were tied up. A giant boulder had broken off from the top of a 500 or so foot cliff and landed a mere 20 yards from the boat. Steven was forward on the top of the boat and heard it break off. Thinking it was going to hit the boat (i.e., him) he decided that the best thing to do was duck behind the flimsy plastic lounge chair he was in. The rock was basically pulverized and left only this sand/dust on the shoreline. You can see the ends of the houseboat tie ropes in the picture. Very close call . . . we were all grateful that the worst thing that happened was having to clean up a layer of red dust at the end of the trip. It was everywhere!!

It was a great trip, but as always it was good to get home and sleep in our own beds. I will though, miss sleeping on top of the boat and looking at the magnificent sky late at night. There are always millions of stars, satalites and, of course, falling stars to see.