4th of July and a little more...

We got home from our Cali trip on July 3rd.  And we already had big plans with Brian and Devri to celebrate the holiday with family and doing something new - we rented jet skis (2 of them) and were set to spend the day on Utah Lake.  Which I have NEVER done.  And I've lived here a long time!  We set up at the Lindon Marina and the big boys brought the Jet Skis over from the Provo marina.  The hitch just wasn't looking good and it was safer this way - and it was a decent looking beach for the all-day family affair.  We made shade for Gabe.  And for us.  And we had oodles of food and started playing in the water, I mean mud.  We discovered quickly this was NOT going to be the ideal lake setting.  But we still had fun!

Late afternoon - a microburst hit our beach.  It was crazy!  It was sunny and suddenly, an intense wind storm flew in and wreck havoc.  Brian and Devri were out on the lake on the jet skis (with the majority of the kids).  I saw our shade canopy fly away and it was within INCHES of hitting a beautiful, BIG truck - we stopped it barely in time and quickly disassembled it so it wouldn't fly away again.  Well, actually it fell apart as we tried to disassemble it - it went to the trash can after the wind settled.  Then I held down Gabe's tent.  The wind was so intense, it ripped a hole in the back of that tent.  I'm just glad we didn't get blown over.  Gabe slept through it!

I brought Devri's favorite - Cherry Pie - to celebrate her birthday.  I know she loves pie and it was soooo yummy!  It was a perfect dessert/b-day cake for a Fourth of July day!  (and it says 31 on her cake, not 3)

The REAL FUN started at the end of the day.  The boys (Brian & Cole, Shayne & Hunter) took the jet skis back to the Provo Marina.  But things got complicated when Shayne accidentally got BEACHED, due to the LOW levels of the lake.  He was a good mile from the beach - but it was that low.  Brian didn't notice that Shayne was stuck and it took a while for him to get his phone working to try to figure out why Shayne hadn't come to the marina.  This can be a long story - so I'll just say people tried to come help Shayne with a boat and rope - but no one could get close enough to help.  They were on a HUGE sand bar and it came down to good ol' push and shove.  It took Shayne, Brian and Hunter working together to budge that machine another 100 yards to get off the sand bar.  (Cole kept the other jet ski from getting beached).  They had to find the marina in the dark - but Hunter did mention it was very cool to be out on the lake with fireworks going off everywhere around them.  I was just glad that they didn't get stranded and everyone came home before midnight.  Note to self - Utah Lake is SUPER lame.  I mean LOW.  (and lame)

It was great fun to spend time with Devri and Brian and their family - we live so close to each other that we honestly take each other for granted.  We don't spend enough time together and I'm glad they asked us to do this!  Although - I think we'll find a new lake for the next time... Utah Lake was closed (CLOSED) only a couple weeks later due to Algae Bloom.  YUCK!  It was still a great day and ended with a great story!  We're lucky to have these guys close to us and our kids are growing up together as best friends.  These are the days that memories are made of and we'll always cherish.