I Know, I Know

Ok, so I know I have been really terrible at updating my blog over the past while. I don't know exactly what my problem is because there has been a lot of stuff going on. It's just a matter of setting aside the time to write a little post and download some pictures. It doesn't sound that hard but....
Anyway, I'm writing this at work so there won't be any pictures. I just wanted to mention a few of the things that have gone on in the past little while. Monika turned 12 on March 30 (Yikes) and we went to Jump On It and then she had a sleepover at my sister Carmens house (check out her blog for some funny pictures). Brett and I ran away to Mesquite over the kids spring break while Monika spent some quality time with my sister Jessica in St George (her blog has pictures). We had our annual fundraiser for work which turned out awesome and they earned more money than they ever have. It was held at the Marriott in Provo where we had a lovely dinner and were entertained by Collin Raye in a private concert. Brett doesn't like country music so I really appreciate the fact that he came with me. For Mother's Day, Brett and I went camping at Notch Peak since the kids didn't really care about spending the day with me (ah, the joy of teenagers). Spencer turned 15 on May 17th and we all went to Lagoon. It was so much fun but I forgot how ridiculously expensive it is. Last week (Thurs-Monday) Brett and I had an adventure on the White River. We did this trip last Memorial weekend as well and were so impressed by the fact that we saw only one other group of people the whole weekend, decided that it should become an annual trip. We loaded up our inflatable kayak with dry bags full of gear and clothes and set out for 4 days and 3 nights on the river. Tim and Jessica Jindra, and Tom and Erin Jindra joined us, and the first day was a little scary. We got a fairly late on Thursday so we didn't get on the river until after 6pm. The river was moving about twice as fast as last year according to the USGS data and the weather was much colder. We had only been on the river for about 10 minutes when Tim and Jessica flipped their boat. They tried to get the boat turned over and get back in but couldn't do it. They got separated from the boat and then from each other. Finally the boat got stuck on the bank and Brett and I were able to pull Jessica across the river just down from the boat and Tim was able to grab the paddle, dry bag and pump that had come loose from the boat and float down to where we were. The guys walked up river along the bank to see if they could get the boat and assess the situation. Jessica was obviously soaked and freezing. She was trying to move around to stay warm but by the time we were able to get their boat down to where the rest of us were waiting her skin was pretty white and lips were purple. We knew we had to find camp asap, get her out of her wet clothes and start a fire but in order to do that we had to get back on the river and find a spot where we could pull the boats onto dry land. Brett and I found a spot about 10-15 minutes down river and everyone set up camp. Unfortunately most of Tim and Jessica's stuff was wet so we spent the evening drying sleeping bags and clothes by the fire. We set up ropes around their tent to hang their clothes on which looked like a hobo camp; clothes hanging in trees, socks drying on sticks next to the fire and sleeping pads laid out on the ground. (I'll post some pictures at a later date). Obviously the next day was a little nerve wracking for everyone. Our choices consisted of leave most of our gear, pack only what you can carry and walk back upstream to the car several miles, or get back on the river and paddle the rest of the 24 miles or so. Once we figured out that there was a problem with the bottom tube on Tim and Jessica's boat that we could fix, we chose to continue the trip downstream. I love the water and have never really been frightened of it but that first 20 minutes or so of day 2, I was shaking. As time went on everyone became more and more relaxed and the trip ended up being awesome. Even Tim and Jessica were back to casual, relaxed paddlers by day 3 and although at one point Jessica said she didn't want to ever do another trip like that, I think it is on again for next Memorial.