The best week of summer, in my opinion, is the week we spend at cousin ski camp and Diamond Lake. This year seemed like a trip full of miracles. For Sam, one of the miracles was attending Gonzaga basketball camp. It worked out perfectly to attend a few days before family reunion and even the flight didn't cost any extra to change. It was also a miracle because Sam had been in the ER twice the week prior with terrible abdominal pain, what we thought for sure was appendicitis. It might have been the same bug that put Mom Lundberg in the hospital a couple weeks before. Either way Sam lost 10 lbs and was pretty puny when he left with a bag full of prescription drugs. He made it to Sunday, but the pain came back and thankfully he had friends and cousins to help. It turned into a pretty fun week with Jack and Lane and a real confidence builder.
Mom and Dad's flight was cancelled on Tuesday after a horrible day of waiting in the St George Airport, so we flew out together on Wednesday morning. Tony's BFF Dale (Angel of Endicott) drove us from the airport to the Costco so we were able to squeeze in a quick visit with him. After a big ole shopping trip we picked Eliza up at the airport and headed to my happy place. The temperature this year was over 100 most days, particularly ironic because it was cool and rainy in St George. Everyone arrived by dinner time, set up camp and dined on Jill's yummy salad and pizza. Churros that night were a hit, although not as tasty when they are a few hours old. All the kids were in the water by 8:00 on Thursday and the skiing, wakeboarding and AIR CHAIRING began. The water was perfect for cooling off and I swam the river with Jill in 45 minutes. We were all excited for Jake and Callie to arrive and Henry and Ollie were happy to be spoiled by all the cousins. The Chiliquiles for breakfast were not as delicious camping as they are at home, but Kimberly's Thai chicken wraps were perfect in the heat.
That night Jeff read Grandpas patriarchal blessing and it was a tender time to see how the blessing was fulfilled in his life, as well as a motivation for the kids to receive theirs. We also made brown sugar boba milk tea with whip cream and it was delicious! Friday we made the water obstacle course and Jeff and Dustin learned their lesson trying to sneak up on their wives. Stacey broke Jeff's tooth with a paddle and Dustin ruined his phone in the water! That will teach them! Kimball, Corbin and Lane discovered a new zip line on Friday night and several boats wen to go try it out. Tony and Sophie got left behind, buyt they had fun on the next trip. Jeff and Stacey made Posole to die for-it was even better than the steaks the visiting Moses Lake YM canoe group offered us. We had our traditional "join the family" ceremony and served frozen hot chocolate and popcorn. There were an especially plentiful number of tadpoles this year, a lack of bees, and a moderate amount of mosquitos. The water was very high, so we barely had a beach, but made parking boats so easy. Unfortunately we also had a flood in the cabin (and broken lightbulbs) and plugged plumbing. This caused some stress for Jake and Callie and Cameron, who graciously spent the morning snaking it and removing the toilet. I also loved seeing the nature critters everyone made from pinecones, sticks and moss. We added googly eyes and they were so cute! Once again the George board was some of the best money we spent.
On Saturday we all went back to the zip line that Kimball, Corbin and Lane discovered. It was scary to do it, but even more terrifying to watch tiny Sophie drop from that high into the water. We packed up camp and said our goodbyes, with the perfect lake begging us not to go. Another wonderful year of CSC. We missed the Trippys (they were at the Stenson Family Reunion) but happily the magic of CSC is still strong.
After a very long hot ride in Kimball's car running the heater full blast to prevent overheating, we arrived at Diamond Lake. It was gorgeous. The water was 82 degress, the trees were green the boats all worked and as usual, Andrea had the best food. We surfed and swam and skied. I still can't seem to master the surfing, but I haven't given up trying. I also wrecked hard on the ski for the first time in years. Knocked the wind right out of me. Sunday we went into Spokane for church and especially to see Andrea's remodel. It is beautiful and we were enamored with the stunning yard. Sadly when we arrived a freezer door had been left open an an entire side of beef had to be thrown away! One of our happiest moments was having Cooper and Max join us for dinner. Most of the Blughesworths hadn't seen Coop since 2019. It was a healing happy night with basketball and good food. Aniother miracle that happened that night was that Eliza got to process and talk through her deicison to either stay in CA or move to Orem and attend UVU. She has vacilated, but with the input of her Blughesworth family, she decided UT was something she wanted to try. I think Jake and Callie might have applied a little nanny pressure as well. On Monday we had a perfect lake day with huckleberry ice cream to top it off. Jack and Sam spent a lot of time and money together and we all couldn't believe it when Jack bought a lego set and stayed up all night putting it together. It was fun to send that picture to Jackson in Denmark. On Tuesday aftrnoon Jason and Tony dropped Jeff and Betsy off at the airport and spent the evening at the pickleball playground. Eliza and Lily went to get their nails done. Jack and Sam went bowling and Anna and Luke spent the afternoon with his grandparents. That meant that Andrea and I spent the most delicious afternoon reading, napping and talking. It was a taste of what retirement might be like. Next year I hope Andrea will let me stay a few extra days.
One other highlight of our summer was the visit from the Winward family. We hosted a puppy shower for Rebekah and her new puppy Latte. It was fun to shower her with attention and gifts because I know how painful it is to be barren. Tony was so excited to take everyone to the lake with the surf boat, but as soon as we got there we got hit with a massive storm! It was awesome. Instead, he took everyone tyo Top Gun. Rachel and I saw a cartoon. instead, just the two of us and she even photobombed a picture! We decided to try again on Tuesday. ?This time we timed it perfectly we surfed until we saw the monsoon cloud at the edge of the lake. We had the boat loaded on the trailer just as the giant storm hit. We waited out the storm at Freddys with burgers and fries. The thunder and lightening was majestic.
A week prior Max borrowed 500 dollars and resourcefully came back to St George. He found rides from the airport, a place to stay and transportation. I offered him bags of food, and well established boundaries. The night Winwards were here Max asked to stay at home. It felt good to have him here for 2 nights on on our terms and I helped make arrangements fo Debbie to take him to Vegas to get him back to Pullman. I was humbled by Debbies willingness to help and how divine intervention was very evident the whole time.
A highlight of the trip was having Callie and the boys on the flight with us home. I'm not sure if we helped or just huyped, but it was a great ending.
I will never have another summer without a job. It was too hot to go outside, too lonely without Tony and too boring!
