Lake Powell!

4 elements: water, air, fire, and earth. This last weekend we went to Lake Powell and experienced something from all of the elements.

Air: On Friday we went down to my parent's house to borrow my dad's truck and boat for the trip. So we were outside getting everything together and didn't realize until we got into the truck that the trucks air conditioning wasn't blowing cold air. Not the best thing to happen when its almost 100 degrees outside! We thought it might get better when we started driving, but it didn't. So the whole drive up and back we were very hot in the truck. You know its really bad when you sit in traffic for an hour and then you realize that it feels cooler outside then it does in the truck! We made the best out of it and realized that if we drank a lot of water and rode with the windows down then it would be fine. Makes you appreciate the luxury we have of air conditioning...especially in Arizona!

Earth: We left the Marina on Saturday morning to drive out and find a fun spot to put the houseboat. Driving in Lake Powell is such an experience. It's so pretty!! It was so nice to watch the sunset at night and you don't realize how amazing it is until you are in the middle of it. Certainly takes my breath away!

Water: Of course we went wakeboarding! There were a lot of fun things to do: wakeboarding, wakeskate, surfing, jet skies...you name it, we had it. Kris was definitely in heaven. He said that he was even proud of me that I could actually wakeboard...that's right, I got a little air. :) We were all sore and tired but it was so much fun!

Fire: Every year its a tradition to do a "tumbleweed fire". I was told that this usually happens at the end of the trip but they decided to do it on Sat. night. A few of us stayed at the houseboat while most of the guys went off to do their thing. We were just sitting there when we saw the fire and heard yells, screams...honestly I don't remember the exact sound but it sounded like something was going on. Here is our view...Some of us that were on the houseboat started running out to make sure things were okay when we saw some people on their way back. My cousin Ryan said that he was burned and that he wasn't okay. We got back on the houseboat and realized that his legs were burned from the knees down. My cousin Taye is a nursing student at NAU so she started telling us what she needed and we all set out to work. We got things together, gave him a blessing, and luckily one of us had some vicodine on us. So we got him clean, wrapped up, and drugged up. The next day they went into town to take him to the hospital. They came back saying he had 2nd degree burns and that they wanted to see him the following day to follow up. So on Tuesday they made the trek back into town. The hospital had a burn specialist come in and they realized that the burns were more 3rd degree and that he needed to be flown back home to Utah, because they were worried about the circulation in his legs of driving back. So as of right now he is in the Utah hospital recovering and they are doing skin grafts on him. After this experience I have come to appreciate even more the power of prayer, the priesthood, and how a family comes together when someone is in trouble.

This trip was certainly unforgettable in many ways. We love you Ryan! You are in all of our thoughts and prayers, please us know if we can help out with anything!