The reason we had to leave the Olson Family Reunion in such a hurry was because we were actually supposed to be back in Provo by 2:00 pm to leave for Lake Powell with Grandma and Grandpa Rasband! With a little bit of luck and a lot of speeding we were able to make it back JUST in time. :) Within minutes of getting back, we were again on the road, this time for a week long adventure at Lake Powell. And we had no idea just how much of an adventure was in store ;)
We got to Page, AZ that evening and then waited anxiously for the Jensen family to arrive. We stayed on the houseboat at the company that stores it when it isn't being used. Stephen and I opted to sleep on the top deck of the houseboat since Anna assured us that there was not even a chance of rain. ;) It started sprinkling sometime in the middle of the night, so we moved our sleeping pads underneath the awning and went back to sleep. A few hours later, however, it started raining much harder and the canvas awning became fully saturated and started to drip (almost consistently into Stephen's ear). Rather than admit defeat and go inside, we decided to instead move everything underneath the picnic table. It actually worked out quite nicely, and surprisingly we both had quite restful sleep despite the rain. :)
On Sunday morning, bright and early, a semi truck drove the houseboat to the dock and let us off into the water. After a few hours, we found a good place to anchor. RIGHT as the men-folk had finished securing the anchors it started to POUR! It rained for a good hour or more. And it was COLD! Luckily we had sleeping bags and blankets to wrap up in. :)
Monday morning we set out for our first boating run of the week. It went a little something like this:
(Just in case you don't speak emoji...I've provided the translation below:
The sun was shining, we were boating and having a great time. Stephen had a bit of a tumble off of the wake board. We all said “Ouch. That probably hurt….” and then went on enjoying the day. A little bit later Stephen commented on being light headed and next thing we knew he had a little seizure. It kinda freaked me out, but he insisted he was fine…until a few minutes later when he had a SECOND seizure. At this point, my uncle decided it would be wise to call 911. After answering a series of questions, they determined that a helicopter should be sent to pick him up. And so…within 20 minutes the helicopter had arrived and they carted Stephen off on a stretcher. We waved goodbye (a little tearfully on my part) and Stephen was flown to the Flaggstaff Medical center to have CT scan. Within an hour they determined that he had likely suffered a small concussion, but that he was fine, and released him from the hospital. Miraculously, the helicopter pilot got permission to allow Stephen to return by helicopter to Page, AZ so that we wouldn't have to drive 3.5 hours (each way) to pick him up. He got back, we were happy, and within 24 hours Stephen was again wake-boarding. wake-surfing, and rock climbing as if nothing had happened.)
The rest of the week, was SO much fun, and thankfully paled in comparison to the adventure of Monday afternoon. We loved spending time with the Jensens and Rasbands, boating, exploring, talking, reading, relaxing, and playing games. We are SO beyond thankful to them for letting us join in on their family party and for everyone's generosity and calmness with Stephen's little "episode." :)
We love Lake Powell and hope to go back someday soon!!
PS I'm too busy/lazy to go through all the pics right now, but I'm planning on eventually making a video with the GoPro footage I got...just give me at least a couple months ;)