Our Lake Powell Memorial Day Adventure

For Memorial Day weekend Richelle and I headed down to Lake Powell with the rest of the MacKay clan to spend a few days on the house boat. Unfortunately, since we headed down straight from dinner with George and Mandy (on Friday night), we didn't really start the trek until 10:30pm, though at least we were already in Lehi at that point. This meant that we didn't get to Bullfrog Marina until about 2am, though in all honesty, we were only a half-hour behind most of Richelle's family in getting there.

In true, MacKay-Adventure fashion, it had started to rain when we all loaded into the boat (by now it was about 2:45am) to set out for the little alcove that the house boat was in. The wind was blowing pretty good by now, and as we cut through the choppy water quite a bit of spray found its way back into the boat - it wasn't very long before most of us were very wet. I spare everyone the details, but in summary we got lost, couldn't find the house boat, ran into a submerged sand bar, eventually got out, backtracked, and finally found the house boat around 3:30am.

The weather while we were down there wasn't ideal, but it was still comfortable, though a little on the chilly side. The temperature hovered around 70, but the breeze and party cloudy sky meant you needed a light jacket a lot of the time. Unfortunately, this also meant that swimming wasn't exactly enjoyable, but we passed the time lounging, reading and fishing (though only catfish and carp seemed to be biting).

On Sunday we all got dressed in church clothes and headed to the Ticaboo Branch. There were about 65 people there with all the Memorial Day vistors, though we found out that they only have 12 regular members - 2 of which were moving away that week. The Sacrament Meeting was very entertaining, and noteworthy for several reasons:

• First, I was amused to learn that the lady sitting at the organ with her hands on the keys wasn't actually playing the prelude music - Richelle's sister noticed first, but I couldn't actually tell from where I was sitting until the lady reached up to turn off the cd-player when the song ended.
• Second, it was about that time that I saw something at church that I'm pretty sure I've never seen before - serious plumber's crack. The guy two chairs in front of was sporting it, but I probably hadn't seen it before since most sacrament meetings are not half populated with people in shorts and t-shirts.
• Third, the sacrament service was also somewhat noteworthy since the water tasted remarkably like nachos, but I assure you, not in a good way.
• Fourth, the microphone that they were using sounded awful - like those little-kid microphones that you used to see, the ones that sounded like someone was talking at the end of a tunnel during a hurricane . . . it was very hard to understand what was being said, but it was useful since it forced me to pay extra attention if I wanted to have any clue what the speaker was saying.

Anyhow, it was different, but it was also very nice to attend church while we were down there. On the way back from church a wheel bearing went out on the boat trailer (we'd taken the boat out of the water to check the propeller after we'd run the boat into a sandbar that first night), and we had to take some time to deal with that.

Not much else happened besides plenty of rest and relaxation. On Monday I did manage to catch 3 carp at once using just a net . . . I'd been watching a group of them swim through the water near the shore for quite some time, so I sat and waited for a few minutes before they got close enough for me to net them - that was pretty exciting, though I wish they had been something other than carp - at least they were fairly big.

Monday we didn't get off the lake till really late. It was already long dark before we headed home, which made the drive pretty brutal . . . our little caravan of cars didn't make it home until 3am, which wouldn't have been too bad if most of us didn't have to go to work in the morning. Overall, it was a fun trip - nice and relaxing (for the most part), which was exactly what we all needed.

Sleep Talking Silliness

Apparently I talk in my sleep every once in awhile, or at least that's what Richelle tells me (and I assure you, she finds it very amusing). A few nights ago she called me at work after she'd rolled out of bed for the day, and was giggling as she was trying to tell me that I'd talked in my sleep last night. She said she'd been reading in bed for quite awhile, with me asleep beside her, when I suddenly said, "We should just open the door," after which I paused, then continued, "and tell everyone," another pause, "Merry Valentine's Day!"

How she didn't wake me up I don't know, since she said she found it hard not to make any noise as she was giggling about it. Oh well, at least this proves she thinks I'm funny - even when I'm unconscious.

Dinosaur Fun!

Richelle and I were very lucky to have George and Mandy in town last week - they're long-time friends of mine from Coeur d' Alene, ID. They were down in Utah visiting just about everyone they've ever known (or so it seemed), and we were included in on the festivities.

Friday we headed out to Thanksgiving Point to see the dinosaur museum (technically it's called the "North American Museum of Ancient Life", but that's a mouthful) with George, Mandy, and their two children - Georgey and Grayam. I'd never been out there before, and I'll admit it, my inner-nerd was pretty excited to go. We met George and Mandy, Karl and Christi, and Mandy's brother Grant, and his wife Liz, down there. The place is pretty cool - it's an ADD kid's dream, with just about every square-inch packed with something interesting, though by far, the most impressive features were the various dinosaur skeletons - some of which (like the Supersaurus) stretched over a 100 feet in length. Little Georgey seemed to be in heaven, and at times he literally ran from one exhibit to the next!

Anyhow, here are some of the pics from our little jaunt (courtesy of Mandy):

Georgey and Richelle having fun at the erosion table (don't
worry, that's not a black eye . . . it's pirate eye patch makeup)

Our velcro-dinosaur creation . . . Georgiosaurus

The T-Rex exhibit . . . very ferocious

After we were done meandering through the museum, we all watched one of their 3D Imax movies - "Giants of Patagonia." It took a little bit of time to get used to the 3D aspect, but after that it wasn't too bad, though it was a little on the boring side for a 3D dinosaur movie.

Afterwards, our whole group headed out to Applebee's for dinner in Lehi - it was kind of interesting because half of the Lehi Police Department was there to help bus tables, refill drinks, and what-not as part of a fundraising campaign for the Special Olympics. It might have been the first time I've ever had my drink refilled by someone wearing a Glock under their apron . . . not that I'm complaining, I rather liked the idea.

Anyhow, we had a blast seeing the Poteet's, but it was hard to see them go! I guess Richelle and I will just have to plan a trip up to Coeur d' Alene this summer!

Busy Week

My Birthday
So the 13th was my birthday . . . yeah, I'm getting old. I turned 29, which depressingly enough, means I'm one year from being the big three-o. Richelle surprised me at work with lunch from Crown Burger and boy was it delicious - way better than In-N-Out Burger. All my coworkers were jealous when I came back from lunch with a Crown Burger shake - doubly so when I told them my wife got it for me!

After work Grandma MacKay, Richelle and I went to Cafe Rio for dinner. It was great - I hadn't been in a long time, and it was a nice simple way to end the day . . . or so I thought. Richelle took me up to her parents for some cake and ice-cream, only to find that she'd coordinated a surprise party for me! She's pretty cute about that kind of stuff. We had cake and ice-cream, and opened presents, which was the best part of the day! Richelle went all out and got me a sweet paintball marker - a tippmann A-5 - which is exactly what I would have gotten myself. Richelle may just be the best gift-giver EVER!

Stephenie Meyer Book Signing
Saturday was a very exciting day for Richelle. We got up 6:30am to go wait in line for the Stephenie Meyer book-signing. For those of you that don't know, she's the author of the extremely popular Twilight series. For Richelle, the books are in the "Best Book Ever" category - they really are very good (yes, I've read them), though as a guy I found the books to be overly gooey at times, but I'm sure that's why so many girls absolutely love the books.

Stephenie Meyer was in town as part of the release of her new book "The Host" - it's part of a new series - here's the teaser from her website:

"Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away.

Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human - the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect - the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind."

I'm about 150 pages into the book, and I admit, I'm hooked.

Anyhow, we got up so early to go stand in line so that we would get good seats, since Stephenie was going to do a question-answer session before the signing. We weren't the only ones who thought this, and when we got there the line was already a good 20 people long. By the times the doors opened, the line was about 200 people long, so it was a good thing we went as early as we did.

Richelle had me make t-shirts for the event the day before - Richelle's said, "I Sparkle in the Sunshine Too!", and she had me make one for me that said, "I'm her Edward." The shirts were a big hit, but so many people wanted pictures of them that I put my hoodie back on so all the teenage girls would leave me alone.

When all was said and done it was about 4pm - it was a long day, but we came away with two signed copies of "The Host," two signed copies of "Eclipse," and another signed copy of "New Moon" to add to other signed books. Richelle loved it - every second of it, and that's all that mattered.

Booze Cruise (just kidding)

Day One: And We're Off
This day started at 4:00 am, Jake and I being the only responsible ones, had to wake all the cruisers up so we wouldn't miss our flight. Adam was especially difficult to rouse, he even punched me when i tired to shake him awake. We made it to the airport, and even made it through security. While at the airport Adam's friend Jama wanted to show his support for Cinco de Mayo so he borrowed some mascara and had Liz draw on a mustache.

Airport security - what a pain!

Cinco de mustache

After sleeping through the whole flight we finally made it to L.A. We took a bus to the cruise ship and got there about 4 hours before they wanted to let us on the boat. Luckily there happened to be a nice man who let us check our bags in early and pointed us in the right directions to find some breakfast. He told us that the restaurant was a 5 minute walk, 5 minutes turned out to be a 35 minute walk around Long Beach, but the food was worth it. After we had stuffed ourselves of pancakes and eggs, we found a neat maritime memorial.

Martime Museum Madness!

Now comes to the point in our vacation when I thought I was going to have a heart attack. While the security agent was checking our papers to let us on the boat, she handed back my driver's license and told me that she would need to see a license that hadn't expired. Um. What? I had no idea my license had expired. In fact it expired back in July of 2007. There was about 15 minutes while she went to her superiors to see if they were going to let me on the boat. I was freaking out. Well after the longest 15 minutes of my life we were allowed on the boat. What a relief!

Our first day was spent on the boat, they let us on about noon, and let us into our rooms by 1:00. Adam took us on his annual "Adam's Monarch Tour" which was very informative. After a lovely dinner we took a nice nap. Then in true Jake and Richelle fashion we took our books and read them up on the top deck.

Richelle and Jake at Dinner

Day Two: San Diego! Sea World!
Can you guess what we did today? Yes. We went to Sea World. Adam, Whitney, Jake and myself, had a great day. It was awesome! We even bought season passes for the same price as a day pass. Some day this year we will be taking a trip down to go to Sea World again. Yes it was that fun. We saw the Shamu show, the dolphin show, rode the Journey to Atlantis ride, picked up star fish, got to pet some dolphins, and Jake fell in the manatee tank . . . okay, that wasn't true, but it would have been awesome if he did!

Adam, Whitney and Richelle in front of a dolphin tank

Starfish with a starfish

Shamu's soak-zone - 20 rows up!

Holy Crap! This dolphin wants to eat me!

That night was the formal night, so we all dressed up and headed down to dinner. The food was soooooo good! I can't decide if the food is the best or the worst thing about cruises! It's oh-so-good, but you can't help but throw on like 15 lbs!

Richelle and Jake at the formal dinner

Day Three: Catalina
Hi, it's Jake - Richelle got sick of typing, so I'm taking over. Day three found us anchored just off the coast of the island of Catalina . . . I wasn't sure what to expect, since the island literally burned to the ground one day after Adam and his friends were there during last year's Baja cruise (yes . . . it does seem suspicious!), but you couldn't tell, and the island was quite beautiful.

After catching one of the boats in to shore, we rented bicycles and rode around the island for a bit, before we turned them back in and walked through all the little tourist-trap stores that dot the island. Eventually we walked over to the ocean and caught a couple of crabs from among the rocks - Whitney and I had a lot of fun doing that, but apparently Adam is terrified of quarter-sized crabs.

Richelle + Bike = Cute!

Look! Lloyd's Confectionery

Whitney and a little friend

Our cruise ship

Adam and Whitney at dinner

Adam and Whitney at the Chocolate Buffet Extravaganza (i.e. the best day of Whitney's life)

Day Four: Ensenada
Day four found us in Ensenda, Mexico. It was the first time either Richelle or I had been in Mexico, though to be honest, it felt a lot like Houston for me. Our group ignored the signs that said it was a 2 mile bus ride into town (for $2 of course), and walked the 500-yards into the city, where we rented 4-wheelers. Richelle did a little haggling on the price, and was able to get them for $10 less then everyone else - have I told you all how awesome she is!

Ashley and Richelle . . . and a giant Monkey/Banana thing?

Ensenada was a lot of fun - especially on 4-wheelers. After accidentally getting on the highway, we headed to the sand-dunes on the beach south of town, where we all had a lot of fun before heading back into the heart of the city for a little shopping. Once again Richelle wowed us with her haggling skills, buying a nicely carved wooden eagle for her dad for $20 - he originally wanted $60. The only downside to Ensenada was that we all got sunburned . . . okay, not everyone, but I did.

Jama looking awesome as he checks out the wrestling masks

Viva la Mexico!

That night we kind of freaked out when we realized that we needed to be all packed, with our bags outside our door before midnight . . . unfortunately, it was about 11:15pm when we realized this, but when managed to let everyone know, and it all worked out.

Day Five: A day in LA
After being herded off the boat like animals (it's funny how they aren't very nice to you when they want you off the boat), we took a cab back into LA where we checked into the LAX Marriott before walking about a mile to the nearest In-N-Out Burger. Richelle and I had heard all this hoopla like, "oh, In-N-Out Burger is sooooo awesome! In-N-Out Burger is the best! Blah, blah, blah!" Can you say over-rated! Crown Burger blows that place out of the water! Oh well, it was still yummy - just not amazing.

Richelle at In-N-Out Burger

After walking back, everyone headed down to the pool/hot-tube for a relaxing soak . . . it really was a nice way to end out the day.

Day Six: Back to Utah
We were headed back to Utah, but our flight wasn't till 5pm . . . we wasted away most of the morning watching National Treasure as we packed up. After checking-out, we all piled into a taxi, and headed to the Galleria Mall in South Beach, where we all decided to spend our remaining time in LA trying to find Mother's Day gifts for all our moms . . . it was a lot of walking, but we had plenty of extra weight from the cruise to walk off.

Jama sleeping-in . . . in his clothes from the day before

Eventually we made it to the airport, where we found our flight was delayed . . . yippy. I think we were all pretty exhausted, and glad to be home when we did make it back.

Overall, it was a ton of fun for my first cruise. It was nice and laid-back, and didn't involve me going to work for a week, so I really can't complain. That, and I had Richelle with me - which is always very nice!

Hi, I'm Richelle. This is my first post on our blog. It's 2:45 am. We are leaving for the airport at 4:30am. I can't sleep because my little brother is making too much noise packing... we are staying at my parent's house, so they can drive us to the airport. So i thought i would add a picture. This is from Steve, through Leslie. Thanks guys. Isn't Jake so cute, giving his presentations in Pheonix. Adorable! Well I think I'll try to get some rest. Goodnight.

Holy crap, it's been like 2 months!

Yeah, so I didn't realize how long it had been since I updated the blog . . . both Richelle and I have been been really busy with school and work. But with finals behind us, and a nice long summer ahead, things are looking much better.

So, yeah, it's been 2 months, so where do I begin? Richelle and I are leaving for a 4-day cruise to Baja Mexico in the morning - and when I say morning, I mean like 4am. So this is kind of a rushed posting . . . I'll add pictures to this post, and blog about the cruise after we get back on Saturday.

In 2 months, I guess quite a lot has happened. I finally got my Concealed Carry Permit for one - it's been on my short list of things to do for a long time now, so I'm glad that I finally got it. I also bought Richelle a very nice Smith & Wesson 3913 Lady Smith - she was very excited to get her own gun, and it's something I'd been wanting to get her for quite awhile, so when I found a used one for a great price, I jumped on it.

Richelle and I both studiously finished up the semesters . . . finals had both of us on edge and pretty busy for quite awhile. All in all, we both did great, and are now rewarding ourselves by not taking any summer classes.

This week (4/30-5/1) I took a work trip down to Phoenix. I was sent down to conduct about 6 hours of training on the product I manage at JPMorganChase (where I still work) . . . it was a lot of fun, and Phoenix was nice and hot (in the 90's).

While I was in Phoenix, Richelle took a short little trip to Rexburg, ID to visit a friend on his birthday (both he and his wife are at BYU-ID). With the help of his wife, Richelle was able to surprise her old friend by showing up unexpected for his birthday . . . she only ended up having to hide in his apartment for 3 1/2 hours before he came home from work!

Anyhow, sorry again for the blog-update slackage . . . but we hope life can calm down a little from super-hectic, to only just kinda-hectic . . . stay tuned for a nice cruise update next weekend!