Before I get to my weekend from heck, just wanted to show off my very clean scrapbook room. It doesn't always look like this but I had a film crew come in to make the latest Creating Keepsakes DVD so I had to massively declutter. The DVD is based around my book "50 Moments that Matter Most" which outlines the most important things to capture in your scrapbook pages.
Here is Marci Leishman, my right hand woman, with me on the day of the shoot. (The blue cloth and metal poles on each side are part of the production crew's equipment.)
I also did two segments with each of these amazing women. Both are simply wonderful scrapbookers but more importantly they are exceptional mothers who have overcome big trials. Tiffany Fairbanks (on the left) battled breast cancer and MS all while being pregnant with her fourth child! She is a survivor and so full of life. Jen Gallagher (right) lost a 12-year-old son to cancer just two years ago. She talks about now it's about the little things when she scrapbooks. Love these two gals!
Okay--before I get started please be prepared for a long story! Also, read to the end because I have a fun contest awaiting you!
My hubby decided to take just the boys on a father-sons weekend down to Lake Powell which is about five hours away from here. Kade will be missing our annual house boat trip down there in two weeks because he's going on a three week church history tour across America with about 100 other kids his age. He'll also be off to college, then on a two-year mission for our church so it will be three years before he'll go back to the lake. And--it's his favorite vacation spot ever. If you ever get a chance to go, it'll take your breath away. The lake is surrounded by canyons and red rock formations. Collin invited a couple of friends so there were just five people going. Steve decided to take our fifth wheel trailer (40 feet long--it's a beast) and the ski boat. At the last minute, mine and the girls plans got canceled, so we got talked into going as well. That left me or Kade to tow the boat while Steve was towing the fifth wheel. However, I really was too nervous to drive it so Kade did a great job all the way down and back.
We camped right on the lake on a beautiful red sandy beach. I was in heaven surrounded by my family and friends. The first night we got there, the weather was gorgeous. However, it was too late to take the boat out so we missed the warm weather.
Then disaster stuck. It started to rain, and rain, and rain, and rain. The next morning we stayed inside until the rain died down. We were able to go out on the boat for about an hour.
Here we are in the boat--battling the rain. We look a lot happier than we were--it was wet and cold and miserable!
The dog was happy until she fell in the water!
This brought a smile to my face--someone had made a TP in the middle of nowhere on the shore--complete with pine needles for a mattress. (It made me grateful for our trailer--can you imagine sleeping in the pouring rain in that?!)
The sun came out for about an hour. Long enough for us to take a really fun hike. Just had to show off my hubby. He's lost 37 pounds!
We got back in the boat, the sun went behind the massive dark clouds and the kids attempted to go tubing in the very cold water. I love this photo of Sage and Collin. However, the ride was short lived because of the hole in the tube and the massive amount of rain that started pouring on our heads!
We went back to camp only to discover the boat prop was damaged and that there was a small river running through our camp which provided a swampy, messy, dirty mess to walk in. There was nowhere to get cleaned off, so all the red, sticky mud just had to come into the trailer. Imagine what it was like with eight people under one very small roof with this mud everywhere. And--I forgot to mention how horribly dirty and muddy the dog was!
Okay--so we played lots of games and read lots of books and ate way too much junk food and watched a movie or two while waiting for this thick, cold rain to go away. This went on for two days. When the lake started rising almost to our trailer and the road disintegrated before our eyes. and we started running out of water, bread, snacks, cereal etc. (because we were in the trailer so much), we knew something had to change. We pulled the boat out and got it to safe ground. But the trailer was another matter. Steve's truck almost didn't make it in the slimy mess and he knew there was no way the trailer would come out in one piece in that type of weather. So--the only thing he could do was hope the rain would quit and the sun would come out before the trailer was history. Brecken stayed behind with Steve and the rest of us headed for home--tired, dirty and a little disappointed at how the week had gone.
After six long hours of driving (we took a wrong turn and ended up going the long way home), we were on the interstate just ready to get off the exit by our house when Kade was pulled over. I won't bore you with the details, but yes--Kade got a ticket with me sitting right next to him (the officer felt like he had changed lanes too quickly while towing a boat). Yes--I felt like Mother of the Year--my son getting a ticket with me sitting right next to him the the passenger's seat! I hadn't even noticed that he changed lanes too abruptly! I was just so thankful I wasn't driving while pulling the boat! What a great ending to a wonderful weekend!
But wait--there's more. The sun finally came out the next day making to possible for Steve to get it unstuck from the mud and water (our prayers were answered). But--when he tried to close it all up, there was a loud popping sound and the mechanics in the trailer simply quit working. Somehow he manually got it all closed up and was able to travel home.
Last night as I pondered over the past weekend, I did have an attitude of gratitude. Everyone was safe. Nobody was hurt. We did have some quality family time (not as much as we would have liked but at least it was some). And the outcome could have been a lot worse. What's the big deal with a highway patrol ticket, a broken boat and trailer, mud still everywhere (it's even stained on the clothes that have been washed), etc.? There is a quote that says something like this: "Tragedy plus time equals humor!." It is true--we have been laughing a lot over these past few days.
Okay--thanks for reading. Now for the fun contest.
Creating Keepsakes recently released their latest and greatest book, Easier-than-Ever Scrapbooking, and I LOVE it!
It has more than 180 ideas for saving time and money, multi-photo designs, plus all pages can be created 20-60 minutes.You can check it out
here. In fact, here is a coupon code you can use between now and May 31 for 15% off your purchase of this special issue: QEYB-5778-ULYB. (Note: It's not valid if combined with any other discount offer.) Feel free to share it with friends!
I have two extra copies of this issue that I'd love to sign and send your way. Just send me a happy thought that will make me feel better about my weekend and I will randomly choose two by Wed. night at midnight (May 27th).
Hope you're having a happy May and that the Memorial Day weekend was good for you. I forgot to mention that we went to the cemetery last night and put flowers on our loved ones graves--always a highlight of the year!
Sincerely,
Lisa
