For the first time, Jake's parents invested in a houseboat share this year (the family will have access to two weeks on the houseboat every other year). Now, before marrying into the Carter family, I knew next to nothing about boats (except how to clean Brother Westfall's). After being with the Carters for a year and a half, I know that boats = lots of fun... and lots of repairs!
Some of our trip highlights included....
Repairs... Wait. Did I say highlights??
Not long into the trip, one of the Excursion's hoses started leaking.
Fortunately, we had about 8 full-grown (and mostly huge) men in the caravan to help out!
Someone being "resourceful" with the "extra" barbed wire nearby.
I think the pictures mostly speak for themselves, but let me just say I was grateful not to have to ride next to the scary, sweaty man in the tow truck!
Jake, his dad, Zane, and Luke split the first three days of the trip on car/boat repairs! Yikes! What you can't see in this picture is the boat being towed behind the blue boat. In the end, the blue boat never was revived, but the boat in tow was. Go figure!
Canyon Drifter, Ahoy!
The houseboat, Canyon Drifter, is a dream on water. It's basically a luxury single-wide mobile home with its own marine-style motor! Four bedrooms, two baths, a top deck with shades, a slide, and comfy couches to boot made the Canyon Drifter a veritable Titanic- luckily, it didn't sink!
A lovely view of the kitchen- and the women readying themselves for a week of fun!
Cousin time!
This was the first time in several years that the "cousins" got to vacation together (both Carter-Williams and Kartchner-Wilson cousins, that is). Wish we'd gotten a big group pic!
Aubrey = 2012 MHS graduate and future BYU student, Maren = wife of Jake and 2013 SLP Master's graduate, Haley = wife of Kalob (Jake's cousin) and 2013 RN graduate!
How did we grow up so fast?!?
Haley and Kalob Williams and Maren and Jacob Carter
Cousins married cousins!
Being A "Big Girl"
We spent a week on the boat, splitting our time between two locations. Getting over my fear of deep water (i.e., anything more than four feet deep) was the best decision I could've ever made to make the trip a blast! Getting over my fear of heights saved me from a LOT of ridicule, but I'm not sure it added to any sort of pleasure on the trip!
The first step was the houseboat- less than a 10' jump. Next, a 20' cliff.
My instructions to my father-in-law: "Just throw me off, okay!!"
He decided I'd never forgive him if he did... which is probably true :)
Aunt Louise helped me be brave by jumping with me!
Thank goodness for Jake's dad... He helped me discover something semi-athletic that I am actually good at... KNEE BOARDING! I love it, and it makes me look buff- added bonus for sure :)
Being a "L.O.L.A.H" ("Lady of Leisure at Houseboat")
Jake's mom, Lenore, me, and Aunt Louise
Apparently, I count as an "old lady" and a "young lady"... Cool!
Sisterly love Kartchner style...
... and Carter style!
Boys will be.... boys.
The whole lot of them! Hard workers... and hard players :)
The "old" men jumping off a nasty high cliff. Note the noodle and life jackets. Good thinking!
Because one pole obviously wouldn't be enough, right?!
Whose idea was this??
Quote as Big Josh was chasing down little Josh: "Hold on, I gotta get my chicken!"
Every good man makes at least one attempt to teach his wife how to fish!
These two could pass for twins!
Oh, yah. Jake practiced "being big" too :) The women's small life vest may have helped!
What's a boys' outing without skipping rocks and trying to catch a football mid-air?
...Thankfully, not on the same occasion!
... Oh yes, let's not forget the beard growing/nasty-shaving idea contests!
Loving my hubby!
The start of our Lake Powell vacation marked the end of a tough, demanding summer clinic assignment for me and several jobs for Jake. We soaked up every minute enjoying the things we loved out on the lake, including spending time together.
Warning. These are kinda gushy pictures!
