Sand, Surf, and Antelope

The couple's trip to Lake Powell is an annual event that we've always managed to miss but not this year. Now there is no turning back--we'll be there every year from now on. When Brian and Sharla discontinue their invitation, we'll still go to Lake Powell, sit on the sand, and caterwaul until someone takes pity on us. Okay, maybe not that last part, but this was the year several spouses were finally able to convince their better halves that a trip...especially one with no kids (sorry guys, love ya, but it's the truth)...is the perfect way to end the summer.

Lisa gets the award for best pirate.

Here's a few shots of surfing. Who would have thought you could surf on a lake? Maybe someone will next invent power snorkling. Hey, I think I did invent it. That's what happens when you can't get up on the surfboard, and you get pulled behind the boat. Except I didn't have a snorkle, and I couldn't see anything interesting, and I'm still coughing up water, but other than that I may have invented a new sport! Luckily no one took pictures (I hope). Curt took to surfing quite naturally. He should have grown up in California.

What a fun group of people--it's amazing they all ended up in the same family!




Edward's...I mean Ryan's eyes are red for a reason. He needs to feed on chocolate! (Click on the picture for a close up of the vampire eyes.)

To be continued...Antelope Canyon is so amazing it deserves its own post.

Family

Here's a picture of Krysta in her "lovely" college apartment. She moved out two weekends ago. So far, she enjoys school and the college experience, but we haven't given her too much time to adjust as she has seen us every weekend. We went to Southern Utah for Labor Day weekend to see my dad before his surgery for melanoma. This weekend she came to get her car, so she can travel back in a few days for a hair appointment. Once she has to stay and actually do her laundry in her apartment, then she will be a true college student.

Here's all the grandkids with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa's surgery went well. We will wait to hear what the doctor says about further treatment.

Tour of 8 Lakes

We took the whole family on a backpacking trip in the Uinta Mountains starting at the Crystal Lake Trailhead. We hiked two miles in to Long Lake where we set up camp. No one was camped by us or anywhere near the lake that we could see. Most hikers go in farther, but since we had little kids and a late start, we only made it this far before we were in danger of losing daylight. It turned out to be a great campsite with a ready made fire pit. Why didn't we bring marshmellows?! or Bratwurst?!

The next day we hiked a big loop (6 miles) and saw a lot of lakes. Island Lake, Fire Lake, Duck Lake, Pot Lake, Weir Lake, and Marjorie Lake were the main lakes we saw along with a few various unnamed ponds. We saw some of the lakes by accident as the trail wasn't always clear, and we ended up taking a longer loop than we expected. But such is the nature of most Graf hikes.





This was Rachel's favorite way to travel. We fully intended to stay two nights, but that evening the weaker members of our family (all of us over the age of 10) started to reflect that since we'd seen all we wanted to see, that it sure would be nice to go home to our own warm, comfortable beds. However, the younger ones really wanted to stay, so we decided to tough it out. Very shortly thereafter an unfortunate incident occurred which resulted in the loss of our entire supply of toilet paper. Now whether this incident was intentional or not (the unnamed culprit, who's name rhymes with 'trysta', claims it was an accident), we will never really know. But the truth remains that this was a camp with 5 girls. Although we love being close to nature, if that closeness involves using leaves instead of t.p., then we are out of there. We had just enough time to pack up and get to the trailhead before it got dark.

Here's the two youngest hikers headed for home.
End of the trail...almost.

We thought we would reward ourselves with shakes at a drive-in in Kamas. We got there at 9:30 on a Saturday night, but it was closed. Ice cream at the grocery store seemed the next best option, but the grocery store was also closed! Not having ice cream when you really need it--now that's roughing it!

Timpanogos

I've been too busy to blog much, but here's a few pictures of our climb up Timpanogos last Saturday. We slid down the glacier and our neighbor (whose family we hiked with) caught some great action shots.

20th Anniversary

Curt surprised me with an anniversary get-away. He gave me 5 minutes to pack a miscellaneous assortment of items. (It's a good thing I'd done the laundry.) On the list was thermal underwear, swim suit, hiking shoes, dress clothes, band aids, and other random items to throw me off track. We then ended up in the car with driving instructions that led us to the nicest restaurant in the valley, La Caille. La Caille is a French word that means "one really great meal at a price that would feed your family for a week." As we were leaving home, I asked if we would need a camera. Curt, being a man, replied "No." So I have no pictures of us on the grounds of a restaurant where people pay lots of money to have their portraits taken. Maybe when we go back in 20 years, we can take pictures then. Here's a picture from their website:


Curt then tried to fool me into thinking we were going camping, He even pulled into a camp ground and showed me the tent and sleeping bags he had put into the trunk. We really went to a hotel up the canyon at Snowbird. It's great to have a child old enough to tend overnight, so we can get away a little. (That child doesn't think it's so great, but she'll understand in 25 years or so.) Thanks honey for a fun anniversary!

4th of July

Our neighborhood is awesome! Every year we have a 4th of July kid's parade. (Led by either a firetruck or a police car. We love the local police and firemen for giving up their time on the 4th.) The kids decorate their bikes and ride around the block twice. The kids at the end of the parade are usually going so slow that the beginning catches up with them, so it's one continuous parade. The kids love it! Then we have a breakfast. This year it was pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon, AND hash browns. I should have taken a picture, but I was too busy eating. Then we went to Stadium of Fire on the BYU campus. Here's a picture of us in our "cheap seats" waiting the start of the fireworks. Thanks to Curt's brother for setting out the blankets at 6:00 am so we could have a place to sit that evening. As usual, we wandered over to the stadium itself and tried to peer through the gates to get a glimpse of the opening act, Blue Man Group. After Blue Man Group was done, two ladies came out from the stadium and offered Erin their VIP tickets so she could go in and see the second act, Miley Cyrus. We hustled Erin and Camille inside--two small girls into the 65,000 seat stadium. "Don't worry honey, someone will tell you were to go! Oh, yeah take a phone so we can find you later!" I was so shocked that those ladies were leaving before the main attraction--the FIREWORKS!!--that we forgot to even say a coherent "Thank you!" So whoever you are, thanks so much; we had a lot of fun! Rachel started to cry that she didn't get to go in, so after a few songs, Erin and Camille came out and Rachel and I went in. Here's Miley herself about to perform rock concert movement #4.

As you can see, Rachel is wide-eyed in wonder to be at her first concert. After Miley, we decided we wanted to see the fireworks with everyone else, so we gave the tickets to another girl outside the gates, and rushed back to our blankets on the lawn. I love fireworks! Another fun 4th of July!

Graf Graduates

And the "Beet" goes on for our Beetdigger graduate. College life here we come. This group of cousins all graduated this year. Yeah, class of 2008!

I can't believe it was 24 years ago that I graduated from high school. It doesn't feel that long ago.

Only 11 more years till it's Rachel's turn.