Now for the sad part, Powell 2009

If you'll read my 2 earlier posts, you'll see that we did actually have some fun at Lake Powell this year.


But the sad part is, Mike's mother passed away while she was with us at Lake Powell this year. She has always loved family vacations, she's always planned one every year. So it was sort of fitting that she died doing what she loved, with her family. It was a blessing for all of us that she died the very last day of our vacation, so that we were able to have fun and spend time together all week. She's been in pain for 10 years or more with neoropathy, which is severe nerve damage in your hands and feet, so I am happy that she's finally out of her pain. However, she didn't die from that. We still don't know how she died and I don't know if we ever really will.


Last Friday, I brought her lunch and she seemed completely fine. Then about 10pm Mike came and told me that she wasn't taking her pain medication, which she can't go without. She felt like she had a fever and was kind of acting dilerious. Early the next morning, I was woke up about 7am with them trying to get her to take her medicine, but she still wouldn't. She couldn't walk or talk and she had a high fever. Anyway to make a super long story short, we (Mike, Dad, Colton and I )took her by speedboat 45 minutes to the marina, while everyone else packed up the houseboat. When we got to the hospital, they said she had a temp of 108, and her white blood cell count was 20,000, which is way high. Anyway, after 4 hours at the hospital she passed away. They wouldn't release her body to us, because of the high fever she had and they sent her body on the Flagstaff for an autopsy. It is so difficult to lose someone, but having them die out of state is a bundle of red-tape. I would hate to see what it would be like out of the country. I think, I'll think twice about that before going out of the country.


We just got word today that they are not going to do an autopsy after all that, so she went down to Flagstaff for nothing. They are going to just sign-off that she had a heart attack, which she also did. But I still think they should have found out the cause of the high white blood cells and sudden fever of 108. I just want to know in case, its a sickness that she died from. Anyway, the Layton Mortuary is going to go down and get her body tomorrow (Wed) and we'll be having her funeral on Saturday. This has been such a hard experience, to be in the room and to see someone die in such pain. Someone that we all loved. Mike especially is having a really hard time. Surprisingly the kids are doing really well. I'm just so glad that she didn't die on the houseboat in front of the kids.


Anyway, thanks everyone for all the love you've shown to us.


We really appreciate all of your love and concern.

FUN AT POWELL 2009

Kylie's getting ready to try water-skiing, she's fearless (not like her mother)

Miss Ky, going down the slide for the "thousandth time"

This is a slot cave that we took our kayaks in. Taking our kayaks was the best thing ever, you can go so many places that you can't go on a wave-runner. When we went in this cave in the daytime it was nice and cool and we got out of our kayaks and made sand castles. But if you go in there at dusk, it turns into not such a friendly place, the bats come out and they fly all around you and they give off a humming sound, which echoes throught the entire space. C-R-E-E-P-Y

I'm working on getting rid of my nice farmer's tan...good luck. I'm not out in the sun enough, without a shirt on. I'm glad I have my Dad's skin, I will actully tan if I show my skin to the sun.

Mikey, having fun on our hike.

LAKE POWELL, THE FUN PART

I call this the patio, it was a rock that was under the water about a foot or two and we would swim over to it and play. The water was always a pleasant 75 to 80 degrees.



Mike's brother Mark found the most beautiful spot to park his house boat this year. However, we weren't so alone when we first found this spot. There was another house boat parked right over this hill, we both had a perfect view of each other. Which if you've ever been to Lake Powell, you'll know that that's totally "taboo" to park so close to another houseboat, because the Lake has got to be bigger than the entire state of Rhode Island. So when the other houseboat could tell that we were totally serious about parking our boat there, they gathered all 25 or so of their occupants and they all got up on their top deck, folded their arms and sat Indian style in a silent protest of our parking spot. I guess it was kind of a show of intimidation. It would have made me leave, thats for sure. But Mark, being the seasoned expert knew that the 24 of July week was way overcrowded and that was the best we were going to get. So by the next morning, I thought we would have been sent a drift by all the protesters, but guess what, they were gone in the morning. Well, they turned out to be really tame compared to the group that showed up later that same day to take their spot. Now they were a bunch of recklass hoodlums. These guys had 2 houseboats, which they tied together, and they must of had 40 people. They had a bunch of young men/boys who thought they were cool. They would take their wave runners out and do doughnuts in front of houseboats, they did it a houseboat down from us and the lady came out and yelled at them. Then they came and did to our boat, I yelled at them too. I don't know who taught them to ride a wave runner, but they missed the part about staying wakeless by other boats. Jerks. Anyway, they were gone the next morning too. Yay.

This is a picture of Marks houseboat, parked in a nice little cove, I was standing on the patio rock when I took this picture.

This is a cute picture of Jordyn. This is one of my favorite parts of going on a houseboat, that is travelling the 4 hours to find a great spot. The scenery is amazing.

Is Kylie really in charge of steering the ship????? Yes she is, she's driving the boat.

This is a picture off the back of the houseboat, looking at another boat coming up the channel.