Our Family History: Westwood Family Reunion 2015

This year for the Westwood family reunion, we went to one of my 4 favorite places in the entire world: Lake Powell (it rates up there with home, temples, and libraries). Lake Powell is where we vacationed every year that I can remember growing up.
I find it interesting how our best laid plans slide right through our hands sometimes. This is what happened with the road trip to Page, Arizona.
I've always wanted to take a trip where we could stop frequently along the way to see anything interesting that came up. We've never been able to for two reasons: Jason has a work schedule to get back to, and also just likes to get to his destination as quickly as possible.
This trip was going to be different. We set aside 2 full days for driving there. We planned on stopping at the Giant Sand Dunes in Colorado, Mesa Verde, and the 4 corners area, as well as anywhere else I decided I wanted to stop just because.
So we left early Thursday morning, July 23rd. We were pulling Jen and Val's waverunner and ski-doo behind their truck (that was the only way to get them there). Everything was going pretty well, Kayla was even brave enough to drive--she need a few more hours of the required 40 practice hours before she could take her driver's test. She was driving us through Kansas when a car pulled up beside us and motioned for her to roll down her window, saying something about a tire. She pulled over and Jason discovered one wheel bearing was completely loose/worn down/whatever happens to wheel bearings. We called Val who found the closest town wasn't too far away, and that's how we found Manhatten, Kansas.

As we were coming into town, we saw this trailer sales places next to a home, and decided to check it out. Apparently, this guy is a farmer who sellls trailers on the side. He was a great help and had the parts we needed. We ate our breakfast there and waited and waited. There was a bolt that was needed, so he suggested we unhook the trailer and head into town while he found it. Jason shared wholesalebolts.com with him and may have earned a new customer! So, we went to McDonald's, then Walmart, then we were trying to think of indoor air conditioned places we could go-- and it hit me--they've got to have a library! We found it with the GPS, and Jason dropped the rest of us off there while he went to help with the trailer. This library was much larger than ours here, so we had a great time exploring and enjoying the peacefulness libraries bring. When Jason picked us up, he said they checked the other wheel bearing, which needed replaced as well (good thing they checked it!), and 5 hours after arriving in Manhatten, we were on our way again.
This changed our plans. We were hoping to get to visit the giant sand dunes that night, but instead we pulled into the campground at 10:30 pm.
Silver lining to our gray cloud: We were passing through a small town in Colorado when Jen texted me asking me where we were. When I told her, she said they were just behind us-- they had seen us turning a corner! They left Missouri 5 hours after us, but then we met together near the Great Sand Dunes! They went to a hotel, and we headed to our camp site. It's an adventure to set up a tent in the dark and after the noise curfew.

When we woke up, we saw that we were camped next to a cemetery- and some really beautiful views!

We broke camp, showered, and waited to meet the Days for the Great Sand Dunes fun!

Happy birthday Kayla! Not only do you get to do the sand dunes with your cousins, but you get to ride with them the rest of the trip!
The Giant Sand Dunes were amazing! We spent a couple of hours there. We had heard that it can be a pain if the sand gets too hot, or if it got windy, but it was a cloudy, cool morning with no wind. It was pretty much perfect.
We had to cross a cold stream to get to the dunes, then it was pure fun from there on out.

The sand was so soft and felt amazing on our bare feet! (This is me and Courtney)

We had sleds and sandboards. 2 sleds and 1 sandboard between us were plenty. It was tiring climbing back up the sand, so it was good to rest a little while waiting for turns.

This probably wasn't on Kayla's doctor-approved list of activities, but I wasn't about to make her miss out.

Haley:

Hunter and Kyle race:

Val:

I <3 these guys:

Me and Jen race:

Kyle:

Rachel sandboards:

Courtney:

Kyle biffs it:

Hunter gave a good effort on the sandboard. It's harder than it looks.

It was a great start to July 24th! We were on the road by 1 pm, I think? Then we were off on the next adventure.
Our next stop was Mesa Verde, however we hadn't researched how much time to plan for, and once we got to the visitor's center and realized we didn't have the minimum 3 hours to spend to drive to the indian ruins, we had to pass it up :-( We did get proof that we made it to the visitor's center, though. At least it was a nice break from driving.
See how excited Kayla is to pose?

We soon discovered how little time we really had, and it was good thing we didn't spend more time in Mesa Verde. We got stopped in traffic for ONE HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES! I've never spent that much time waiting for road construction. It was very frustrating but these dudes chose to make the best of it and do the duck dynasty thing:

We finally made it to our last planned stop of the trip: The 4 corners area. I'm glad we got to experience it, but once is enough. The photo op was the main purpose of all going there. We waited in a long line for these awesome pictures. Worth it!

We got to our hotel in Page, Arizona around 10 pm, woke up the next morning and took the 15 minute drive to this: Antelope Point, Lake Powell! (imagine angels singing).

It took a while to get everything loaded up for 21 people for a week, but then we were off to find a place to park the houseboat! Rachel quickly volunteered to ride the waverunner with Aunt Jess.

Jason ended up being the one to drive the houseboat.

The first day (Saturday) was mostly spent loading, driving to our spot, anchoring everything and setting up. The kids all slept up top, and Jason and I set up a tent for ourselves on the beach. There weren't enough private rooms on the houseboat for each couple, so we volunteered to be in a tent. We loved having the breeze at night and stars above.

Becky was so awesome, she worked to create a play area without weeds. It worked! The kids loved it.

The next day, Sunday, we knew we wanted to keep things low-key for the Sabbath. So we took the 2 ski boats on a trip to rainbow bridge. Not everyone fit in the boats, but not everyone wanted to go, so it worked out.

I was so excited to be there, and I just couldn't get enough of the scenery.

The other boat with Rachel, Brinkley, Doug, Mandy, Jess, Trent & Dalton.

I was so excited to show my kids this place (except Kayla couldn't come because of her ankle).

Because the water level was low, we had to walk quite a way to the bridge, which was a nice hike (except for Hunter who didn't have shoes, crazy kid).

First glimpse:

When I was younger, the water was so high, you could actually jump off the cliff under the bridge, but not now. It's so beautiful!

Cousins: Hunter, Dalton, Kyle, Brinkley, Rachel, Courtney, Haley, Alexis.

On the way back, we ran into our cousins from Utah! I couldn't believe it! We knew they were coming to Lake Powell, but were staying at a different part of the Lake. They happened to be at Rainbow Bridge at the same time as us! Jess, Ramey and I were the best of friends growing up. It was so great to see her again.

I felt bad that Kayla had to miss it, but when we got back, she seemed to be doing just fine relaxing with Aunt Jen:

And that night we fixed her favorite spagetti dinner with birthday cupcakes for dessert.

Scott and Becky had researched some hikes in the area. The tricky part is, you never know what you're going to get, because the water level is probably different than it was whenever the research was done for the hikes. Jason and I were lucky enough to have Scot and Becky as our guides on Monday for this slot hike. I was unsure because I hate gunky water, and we had to go through some on the boat, then when it got shallow and narrow, we had to go as far as we could on waverunners, then the hike begins. In the picture below, Becky was so proud of me for walking through the gunky water and not freaking out, she had to take a picture (for the record, I had water shoes on, and would not have been as brave without them). I hate weeds in the water!

After the gunky water though, we were rewarded with this beautiful path, mostly shaded, along a nice sandy stream that weaved through the rocks. I was so happy to be there with my big brother.

We finally had gone far enough that we were satisfied. We had no way of knowing how far the trail went, and we had a group waiting at the boat, so we turned and headed back.

Tuesday we took the houseboat to dump and refuel (the kids on top were complaining of the smell) an we found a new campsite. That evening we had an awesome family talent show.

I love hearing my Dad sing and play guitar:

Hunter's was too, er, funny to post;

These three had been planning to teach a dance, but had technical difficulties at the moment, so they sang:

Then they got their technology working and this is probably my favorite video of the evening:

Me and my sisters did one too. Only with them could I do this...

This is our new campsite. It was so beautiful for hiking and views:

I think it was that evening that a group got together and went skinny dipping. This is something that has never appealed to me, but I had no problem with letting the girls go.

Doug took Kyle and Rachel fishing every night. Then they started just fishing off the end of the houseboat. One night, Doug got a hook caught in his hand. We were all pretty worried because of his health issues. I wasn't there, but I heard this story after. After a while of working at it, Jen said, "You might think I'm weird, but can we say a prayer?" Nobody protested, so she began. During the prayer, Trent was still working on the hook. At the point in the prayer where she asked for help with hook, it came out and Trent interrupted the prayer to say "I got it!" Jess, who doesn't pray said, "amen!" That's the only "Amen" you'll ever hear me say! Doug then requested prayers that they'll catch lots of fish! We were all grateful that he was okay and continued praying that there would be no infections.

They kept fishing and they had such a great time with Doug.

One other event was on Wednesday, I think. A bunch of us went exploring in canyons, and we found one that got pretty narrow, and we decided to see how far it went swimming.

It was wild. It kept going and going and going. It got narrower and narrower until we could stretch our feet to one side and our hands to the other and shimmy along.

I loved being on this adventure with such a great group. Amazingly, no one got tired. We estimated we swam for a mile each way (not straight abviously, there was a lot of floating, shimmying down the rock, and sharing life jackets).

Dalton kept us entertained, that kid.

We got back just in time for a family picture. Look at that backdrop! It was even more beautiful in person. I love these people like crazy.

The Westwood Cousins (minus Braden & Stephanie, and Jacob, who we missed).

Mixed in there was lots of random awesomeness:

Kyle, Rachel, and Haley

Scot, Becky, and Alexis

Courtney and Kyle

You know the scene in Disney's "The Little Mermaid" where Ariel comes out of the sea onto a rock and her hair is blowing in the wind? ...Courtney's hair:

Their was lots of waverunner riding with me and these 2 girlies:

This new skidoo was the most popular. It really gets going fast.

Jason took Kyle and Rachel tubing behind the waverunner:

Courtney and Rachel:

Dalton and Kyle tubing

Val, me, Haley, Becky, Lexi

Brinks got up on the ski skimmer!

Kyle and Hunter hiking

Jess, me and Trent

Kyle took me on many rides on the waverunner. He couldn't drive by himself in Utah, but he could drive with me. He was a crazy man!

Expert ski instructor grandma tried to help Rachel ski.

She made it, however brief it was!

Kyle got up on the wakeboard!

I skied too, but I didn't make it too long. This is a pretty funny video. Jess was using my camera that she hadn't used before.

The cliff jumping:

Kyle

Insane Kyle:

Not-insane me:

Rachel:

The crew: Val, Dalton, Kyle, Hunter, Rachel, Courtney, Haley

And oh, the scenery!

When I'm at Lake Powell, I feel very close to God. Surrounded by His creations, there is no doubt He is there. I do not believe this kind of beauty just happened without His Hand.

We left the lake on Thursday afternoon and traveled to Grand Junction to spend a day with the Davis family. On the way there, we stopped at a Subway for dinner in Monticello. I looked over and saw someting that looked like an angel Moroni. It was an Angel Moroni!