4th of July!

The annual Workman Lundberg 4th of July campout was especially memorable this year.  We started our campout with two flat tires on the boat trailer, but were blessed that it happened in our driveway.  We spent Monday setting up camp, tubing and feasting on hot dogs and watermelon.  Workmans have introduced us to the most delicious dogs made even tastier with roasted peppers and onions. I had major flashbacks to my childhood when Kenneth surprised us with homemade root beer! That night, as we gathered around the campfire a gentle rain began.  We snuggled up in our tents just in time as the hurricane force winds began blowing and the thunder and lighting rolled.  It was a fairly miserable night, made worse by the shouts of our neighbors trying to catch their airborne canopy.  The saddest part of the storm for me was that my beloved canoe which was on the swimming area beach (with the oars inside) was missing the next morning.  We couldn't believe that it had blown away and surmised that it must have been stolen.

We spent Tuesday chasing our belongings blowing across the park and catching up on sleep from our restless night.  We did discover a new beach, which we dubbed, Turtle Rock Beach.  Finally, in the afternoon, we thought the wind had calmed down enough that we would venture out on the boat to Crab Claw Beach to play in the dunes.  The waves were exciting as we headed down the river and there was some splashing and bouncing.  Just as we turned the corner.  things went from exciting to terrifying.  The waves were converging into 6 foot peaks and filling the boat.  We were drenched and screaming and panicking.  Tony flipped the boat around and gunned it back to our campsite where we added a thank you prayer of survival to our pleas that my little canoe would be found.

The kids did have a lovely day of fishing. Max, Marcos and Cooper all caught a fish.  Oakley accidentally dropped the chain into the lake by the dock.  Miraculously, the fish (still attached to the chain) swam into some fishing line and Wilson pulled it out.  We cooked up some T-bone steaks and Kenneth's famous foil baked potato and carrots.  Wilson and I decided to go on a boat ride to see if we could spot the boat and to my delight, we found it about three miles down river. My boat had had an excellent adventure. The men rescued it while the kids and moms made smores and watched a beautiful full moon rise over the hills and reflect on the water.  Finally, the wind died down and we slept like zombies.

Bright and early we headed up to the church for the annual 4th of July breakfast.  It was so well organized this year and enjoyable.  I reflected that one year ago Tony had been Bishop for just a couple of weeks.  This year our ward felt cohesive, like a big family.

After the breakfast we headed back to Boyer to pack up our stuff and thankfully the river was smooth!  Tony and I were dying without a ski.  Max popped right up on his wakeboard and crossed the wake both ways.  Elize popped right up on skies and begged to try slalom.  Even Marcos tried his first wakeboard and focused on the lifesaving lesson of:  "if you fall-- let go of the rope!"   We really lucked out when the owners of the Mexican restaurant in Colfax picnicked besides and shared their amazing Mexican food. I tasted the most amazing cactus salad and short ribs and the kids could not get enough of the beans and tortillas. What a treat! The Workmans headed home that afternoon, but the Stone's joined us for an afternoon on the boat.  One of the highlights was having Levi pull Wilson into the water.  He had been a pretty surly teenager and had refused to help take down camp causing my anger and embarrassment to flare.  Once he had a good dunking, I felt much better.

When we were all sunburned and tired we pulled the boat out of the water, picked up or favorite Thelma's frozen lemonade and headed to Endicott.  I think Endicott on the 4th of July is like a movie.  Everyone is so happy, the weather is perfect and all feels right in the world.  Cooper had sacrificed the afternoon at the lake hoping to rake in the big bucks like he did last year with his jumping castle.  He was mightily disappointed when his total profits came to $40.00 instead of $400.00.  We were also horrified to realize that the shirt he wore, one which he had purchased in Beijing and said, "I love BJ" had an alternate meaning to most Endicott farmers.  Perhaps that would explain his low profits.  So embarrassing. As I sat snuggling in the blankets last night watching the fireworks, with my kids and husband around me and friends I loved everywhere I looked, it brought tears to my eyes. I would be happy in any country in the world. I loved Guatamela, Belize, China, and can't wait to serve a foreign mission. But for this night, I was very happy and grateful to be in this beautiful country.

to be in this beautiful country.