Bear Lake and Lava Hot Hot Hot!

This last weekend we spent some time at Bear Lake with the Wheatleys. Despite the near casualties and lost anchor we had a great time!

Here we are - all smiles with anticipation!

Then we pose for the picture once on the boat.
David and Carol were there...
Even Rebecca with her fancy matching sunshades and Carson with his new hat!
And Caleb pulled off the best pose of all.

Here, with Jake in the background (no pictures of Michelle?), Caleb wants to play with the shiny toy making all the clicking sounds.

We decided to go wakeboarding since we had the boat out already on such a nice day.
Here is David rock'n it with a solid run.
Then I tried my luck on the surfboard.
Hanging loose, but not quite there to give up the rope.
Gave up the rope...pumping it...and lost it. What you don't see is 5-7 seconds later the board torpedoes straight up about twenty feet in the air in a perfect spiral (luckily it didn't hit me on its way down).
Nap time after a long day of fun in the sun.
Now back to the subject of all those casualties! So at one point the wind was picking up and we had the boat anchored as we swam around. Rebecca noticed that the rope from the anchor that once was tied to the boat was no longer there and we realized we had drifted a bit. So we go back to see if we can find this anchor - I mean we have some goggles and we have a good idea of where we were.

After about 30 min of swimming around in some wavy water I stumble across what looks like track marks in the sand from the anchor dragging a bit. I follow it 10 yards or so and low and behold there the anchor is! My fatigue gets the best of me as I apparently don't think this next part through...

After signaling the boat over, I go down to pick up the anchor (yes, the heavy metal part that is designed to sink) and swim to the top with it in hand like some kind of trophy I've found. Not surprisingly, I begin to sink and struggle to keep my head above water with the waves making me cough up water a bit. So I realize I can probably just drop the anchor for a second and wait till the boat gets there before I go back to pick it up (yes, it still hasn't crossed my mind to just hold on to the rope - I know!)

As I drop the anchor I realize that the rope has now wrapped around my leg a few times and it is now pulling me to the bottom of the lake (only 8 or so feet here though). I was already out of breath and choking, struggling and panicking a little to free myself from the rope as I sink to my death. Quickly freeing myself, I propel to the top for some much needed air!

Out of strength to dive again, I climb on the boat after waiting, and drifting, just a bit more. We weren't able to find it right away, but David continues to search for it. As he does, we drift too far away from him and a wave-runner is heading straight for him without a flag nearby to indicate that someone's in the water! At this exact moment, Caleb stops breathing after crying so much! Are you kidding!! While trying to revive Caleb, we try to get the boat turned around and headed over by where David is swimming. The wave-runner doesn't see him, and his face is in the water. Luckily they missed each other by about 10 feet...and Caleb, after blacking out, came back just fine. All is well, but those were some tense moments and we were done looking for the anchor for the time being. But we know where it's at, kind of. So we'll be back next time to pick it up!

Earlier this month we went up to Lava Hot Springs with the Whitneys and Williams (notable absentees were the Baths and the Spencers). We floated down the river and camped out at the local RV park. The river was the highlight for me...we have GOT to do that again!

We also spent some time at the pool with all the slides and diving platforms - good times!