Oh how we have come to really treasure our annual Flaming Gorge Vacation. This year we started out with a little bit of trailer brake problems. But once we got that all fixed then we had nothing to worry about (especially since Troy was able to pull the boat with his friend Clints awesome Diesel Truck.
However the moment we pulled into Manilla, UT where we stayed at the Steinaker hotel I knew we were in for a long night. The spiders came free and there was barely enough floor room to fit our 6 kids. It was by far the worse hotel any of us have ever stayed in. We should have expected it when the room was only $55. Lets just say there were no tears when we pulled out of that place.
Then we were on our way to Mustang Ridge Campground right on the Sunny Cove Shore of "The Gorge". It only took us 3 hours of hard laborus work to set up camp. But once it was up we had lunch and hit the lake for a good tour of the "GORGOUS GORGE". Last year we didn't tour it like we did this year. We had a great time going down all the coves and enjoying the beautiful scenery.
The next day we decided since the weather was cooperating that we should seize the moment and enjoy a white water rafting trip down the Green River. The girls were a little nervous, but were real troopers and everyone was sad to see the 4 hour rafting trip come to an end.
The boys brought their fishing poles and tried a little something something. But found that the kids and the rafting was more entertaining. So they put their poles away and enjoyed the ride.
So If you have never rafted a river you are surely missing out. This is one of my favorite things to do. I was quite disappointed with myself when I jumped in the river to get cooled off and hit my knee on a rock really hard. Wouldn't you know it I pick the one second we floated over a huge rock the only huge rock in that stretch. But it hit so hard I wasn't able to do any wakeboarding the whole trip.
Ya you can say I was really disappointed especially the next day when we took a day of boating. The boys all had some really great rides, did you know that when you hit the wake at the Gorge it is alot more powerful than Utah Lake. Well that is what we believe.
Bowdee rode like a mad man, he cruised all the way back to the harbor that night it was like a 8 minute ride. He is getting so confident on his board. It won't be long before he is landing some jumps.
Really the boys could tell a huge difference in their jumps. Anyway it was a long hard day for me just to watch and not be out there with them. But I made it through and the next day we drove up sunny cove and enjoyed alittle spear fishing and snorkeling.
Troy hit a nice bass and Terrys got away. Bowdee and Treg even netted some guppies and Matia loved watching over them. We pumped up the trampoline and tube and just let the kids swim their little hearts out. Then of course we finished the day off with another great wakeboarding session.
The last day we were all so tired from all the fun we had that we just parked our boat on a sandy beach and let the kids build hot tubs and we snorkeled some more. The weather was great the whole time we were there. Even though I packed enough cold gear for a 5 day Thunderstorm we didn't have to even use our hoodies.
So I guess you can say we lucked out. We even were able to pack up dry tents to avoid later hassels. Yep we even had a few moments to just sit back in the hammock and enjoy everything and nothing at the same time. I have to say the only downfall of this trip was falling to sleep listening to the camp next to us cuss their way through some filthy campfire stories. Man some people can be so inconsiderate. Thank you Troy for bringing your darling girls and having such a good time with us. We hope you will do it again with us next year. We are ready to make the reservations.
So we have been planning this day of boating with my sister and her darling family since the beginning of the year. And I am Glad to announce we actually did it. 
Terry and I headed down to the lake at 9:00am to advoid the Saturday rush at the harbor and headed for Pelican Point because of the wind and choppy water. We had a good time waiting for them to arrive. Bowdee caught a carp with a net it was HUGE. 
Then Treg netted a dead catfish but thought he was as cool as his brother. Matia on the other had just kept buggin her dad to go catch the bad fish and get them out of the water. After Kathy and her family went to visit my dad in the hospital the finally joined us at the lake at 1:00 for a day full of fun. 
First the boys A.J. who is 18 and Todd who is almost 16 took Bowdee out on the tube with them. They had a great time with Terry behind the wheel. None of them ended up wounded and they all held on for some good time. In fact so long their necks started to ache. You see Terry was being nice to them.
Then me and my girls (Karrilyn is 20 and Angela is 14) hit the tube to show the boys how to really hold on. Well we did great until Terry turned the wheel over to my favorite brother-in-law who feels like a brother (Mike) well I am not sure how much experience Mike has driving but wow he was all over that lake flipping us from side to side. I refuse to think he was doing this on purpose. Because I know I am his favorite and he would never intentionally hurt me. I told the girls they should be nicer to him because obviously he was trying to retaliate for some kind of behavior. 
After the girls finally gave up holding on Kathy and Mike went out and A.J. drove them. I didn't want any kind of responsibility when Mike pulled Kathy off the tube. He didn't actually do that but he would have if the driver didn't knock her off the tube. You see he makes sure everyone experiences everything and that includes falling off. 
Then the boys all took their best shot at wakeboarding because he carry no skiis on our boat. Bowdee went first to show them how it was done. And then Todd went and said Bowdee makes it look so easy what am I doing wrong. Well then A.J. went and even though they tried until they had no more strength (which I must say these boys have some endurance). They finally told their dad to try. 
Mike did it of course that man can do anything. Well I threw him the rope and look what happened to his head. I really don't know how it happened but I sure felt bad. But the last time he was in this lake he was rushed to the hospital because of a head wound. I guess I was just trying to make sure he got the experience he wanted. So no it wasn't that deep and there was no hospital runs but I did throw all the mirrors overboard. 
Then we finally got some down time where Kate (a.k.a. Kathy) and I just laid on the tube and talked about life. Kate lives in Cedar City so we don't get to talk alot. She is an angel I know you all have someone like her in your life where they just listen so well and love with all their hearts. 
It was a wonderful day one we plan to do every year. Thank you Glads for coming. We left the lake at 6:30 got home at 7:00 and at 8:00 after I was showered and in my p.j.s my mom called and asked me to stay with my dad at the hospital for the night. He is still having a hard time. He has been bouncing a fever around and his oxygen keeps going down and his bladder is having a hard time getting going. So I went and had a most memorable experience with my good old dad. One of those things I would never take back.
