Lake Powell

This last weekend we took a much needed vacation and went with the Pace family to Lake Powell for the weekend. We arrived at Bullfrog around 10 pm on Thursday night and set up camp. Cameron and I had our tent. Mom and Dad Pace had a tent. Rhett and Jameson opted to sleep in the boat and Patti and Jeff and their girls stayed in their trailer. It was a fun group. We all crashed pretty quickly after getting the camp set up and the next morning we were up at the break of dawn and ready to have fun.
We got the boat unloaded into the lake and then went out and played on the tube and Cameron and Rhett did some wakeboarding and some waterskiing. We wandered over to some petroglyphs and hiked up to an old kiva and some other indian ruins. Then we wandered back to camp for some lunch and a nap.
That evening, Cameron and I took the canoe out and went around some small islands and explored the shore line. We decided that next summer we're going to do a fifty mile canoe trip. I just need to build up the arm strength so Cameron doesn't have to do all the work.
The next day was full of play and good times and everyone was tired and sunburnt when we turned in for the night.
On Sunday we got ready and went to the Ticaboo branch which is in the Loa stake. President Pace was in charge of sacrament meeting and so the entire Pace family ended up speaking for a little while. It was fun to be in a small branch again and interesting to see all the lake visitors coming in their t-shirts and shorts or whatever they could scrounge up.
All in all it was a wonderful weekend and an awesome vacation. Sometimes it's just nice not to have cell phones and tv and computers for a little while.

Mayhem at the Marriott

The last few weeks have been quite the adventure. On the 9th of this month I went to work as usual only to find out that my boss was fired and we were not to contact him at all. This left me with a whole department to run including two new interns. Well, needless to say the last two weeks have been quite stressful. There were employees to train and summer employees to interview and then hire. There were department meetings and schedules and budgeting to carry out but without any idea where my boss had left off. It was a lot of hunting and guessing and mainly pretending to know what I was doing.
So after two weeks of running around with my head cut off and much thought, I declined the position of recreation manager and opted instead to keep the recreation supervisor position. By the end of the week they should have a new manager who can worry about paying the bills and disciplining the employees and taking the blame for all that goes wrong and I will be back to my schedule writing, worry-free days of fun at the Marriott.
It has definitely been a learning experience and I am grateful for the job that the managers do.

Domesticity

Well, I have done it. This evening I finally cooked - for real!! Even as I write this there are two loaves of bread cooling on the counter in a clean kitchen. The laundry is drying, all the vegetables and cheeses are cut up and in individual containers so that sandwiches can be quickly made and the house is spotless. And I even made some fettuccine Alfredo with meatballs and salad for dinner. It's amazing how much I get done when Cameron goes down to the telescope and I'm not super stressed and exhausted from work!
I think tomorrow I'll make some pepperoni and cheese rolls. Cameron and I are always running out the door to work so we need quick easy lunch options or else we end up with a day like today where Cameron eats his research partner's leftover microwave popcorn for lunch. I'll get this house keeping thing down sooner or later. :)

Leaving the Craziness Behind

Well, this last weekend, Cameron and I decided to leave all the craziness of Provo and Park City and work and everything and get away for a little while. We headed down to Bicknell on Friday evening and had a great time visiting with the family and eating our guts out.

Cameron got to go hang out on the farm and help his brothers and shoot arrows while I went with his mom to the craft store and grocery shopping. Saturday afternoon we went on a beautiful drive with the whole family down the burr trail in Canyonlands.

This is a picture of the Burr Trail switchbacks that we drove down.

Here are some of the cool formations we passed.

And this is the awesome slot canyon he hiked in.

Later that day we watched some funny family home movies together and Cameron and I went on a hike at Sunglow campground which is across the street from their house.

We were able to rest and relax and visit with family on Sunday before heading home. It was a wonderful weekend and nice to get out of the city for a few days.