The Edgleys: December 2016

Shew - I don't know exactly what it was, but Lake Powell was MAGICAL. Literally one of the best vacations we've done. There was something about this place that really spoke to me- definitely want to make this an annual trip!

We went down to do the Lake Powell Half with our good friends, the Genry's. They rented and brought an RV and it was a first time camping trip for them. They're always a good time to be with.

Aaron stopped and grabbed some grub and came back to the car like this. Love his playfulness.

Pulling up on the beach at Lone Rock was interesting. SO many people, but you literally pulled up RIGHT ON THE BEACH!

A few things that were HIGHLY entertaining were the yoga couple from back east who impressed us with their intense couples yoga routine in their underwear day and night. We got a whole lot of laughs from watching them. Their romantic expectations may have been dashed by all our kids running around them while they did their moves, but it sure was funny.

On the other side of our camper was an Asian family, with a man from German who was their kind of tour guide. It's an interesting situation- this single mom with 2 kids, hired him online to come along on this roadtrip with them and help setup, drive, take down and teach her kids German along the way. Aaron and I were sitting by the beach at night and along comes this German guy, and strips down to nothing on the beach and jumps in to bathe and comes back up to the fire. With a full moon out (in the sky and on this guy), there was a pretty clear view. We had a good laugh about that too. In fact, I think the people watching was one of the best parts of this trip!

The view while laying in our bed in the camper

The sunset was AMAZING. It made me SO reflective and grateful to live where we do. What a beautiful part of the world- and we're just a couple hours away!

The kids were so funny about building their own fire the whole time. They were cute watching play together. I love that our family of all boys can get along so well and learn how to play with their family of all girls.

Morning snuggles in our tent camper

I love these two!

Cam and Josie brought their boat and gave us a fun tour around where we were. So amazing to go into these canyons to explore. Again- SO SO magical and beautiful! The water was a tad chilly, but we happily got in to wake board, tube and surf

These two 3rd graders are super fun together!

Gavin would do this cute thing where he'd rest his head in his hands while out there. He's such a brave boy and is happy trying things like this!

We finally got Jaylen to give the Zup board a try! He always says no and won't give anything but the tube a try on the boat, so after much persuasive conversation he gave it a try. I chatted with him about doing hard things and being willing to get outside your comfort zone to do new things. We identified some things he didn't want to do at first, but after doing loved them! (This is a common thing with him) I was impressed to see him sort it through in his mind first and decide he'd try to do something uncomfortable to him. And, of course, he did awesome and LOVED it!

I loved figuring out surfing better and trying out the wakeboard, that I haven't done for over 12 years! I love challenges like that!

One of my favorite things is surfing with my kidos. Jaylen gave it a try with me, but we weren't too successful since it's basically like fitting an adult in my lap, trying to get up. I was proud of him that he tried! Gavin LOVES it. He's so funny. He gets so giddy and enthusiastic while we're surfing that it fills my heart. "Mom, we're doing it! I'm such a great surfer. I'm doing it!! Mom, Mom... this is so awesome. Look Mom, I'm surfing!! I'm so good at this!"

The kids most favorite thing on the boat is when they all get to jump on the tube. Aaron joined them for a round and they couldn't be more excited. They're so lucky to have such a fun dad!

I loved hearing the constant giggles

Jaylen is starting to get the crazy "trying to impress" boy thing going on. He was super silly trying to stand and rock the tube. He finally hit a wave right and went flying. We loved it.

ANOTHER magical sunset!!

Josie and I were up early and headed to go run! We drove to Page, Arizona to start. Wow, we couldn't have had better weather!

Most definitely the prettiest half marathon I've ever done! I loved the mixture of trails with road. It was the best race- I couldn't get over it the whole time- just LOVED it!

I was surprised to see how well I did, since I had just done the marathon the week before, stopped the porta potties, stopped and took pictures and just had fun with it. It helps to just relax and have fun!

We did it! Aaron and the kids came to the finish after Josie finished. I finished and went back and found Josie and finished with her. She did SO good! Only her 2nd half marathon and only after 5 months of having a baby!

It was priceless watching Aaron on the Zup board that we use for the children. It's hard to get him up because of his size usually, but the Zup made it doable!

We found a fun place to jump!

The Gentry's left Saturday night. We stayed another night so we could go see Horseshoe Bend and play on the paddleboard and beach some more. I'm so glad we had that extra day together with just us. It was great to relax and be with each other off grid for a bit.

It was a STEEEEP drop off. A little scary when that close to the edge!

It got super windy and the sand would whip ya pretty good!

Sunday was amazing. It was a rare morning that Gavin woke up first, so we went out and snuggled and watched the sunrise. It was a truly amazing 5 minutes or so when the colors in the sky were so bright and vivid while the sun was coming up. It was a very sweet memory made, snuggling my Gavin on the beach, watching the day begin. After a bit, Jaylen came out and we played Mancala and some games on the beach. Such a sweet morning. After the sun was up, everyone was up- I went on a paddleboard adventure out and around the Lone Rock. I literally shed tears going around the rock. I couldn't believe the emotion I had, just thinking about how beautiful our world is and how lucky we were to have adventures like this. I'm so appreciative for a healthy and able body that lets me explore and do what I love. I laid on my board out in the middle, just looking up, having a deep spiritual experience- feeling so grateful for what I have. I was surprised by the experience, and deeply grateful.