Family Trip, Near Drownings, & Pinkeye!

We just got back from Washington state where we had a wonderful visit with Brandon & Sharon Tveten (Mark's sister) and Suzette & Geoff who were visiting from England for David's baptism. It was so great to spend time with them and see them. Their kids have gotten so big, it's crazy! I was thinking that when I first met them (when Mark and I were dating), Isaac was Rowan's age and now he's 3 and a half!! Talking, posing (he loved getting his photo taken), and keeping up with all his big brothers! I miss them all so much. It's always so emotional when I say good-bye. I always cry! I love my family and one of my most favorite blessings of marriage is the automatic new family that comes with the husband! I am biased, of course, but I have the BEST in-laws in the world. It's only been a few years since they have all been a part of my life, but it feels like I've known them my whole life. I love you all so much! Thank you, Sharon & Brandon, for such an amazing weekend. We love you and your darling family of boys & little Eliza. Enjoy the photos and stories!

So on Friday we decided to go white water rafting down the Wenatchee River with Brandon, Geoff, and me. It was a beautiful day at close to 90 degrees, so we were so excited!

There were 8 people on our raft (the 4 of us, our guide, 2 teenage girls, and a man who made furniture from Mexico). We were all having fun getting in water fights with the other raft, paddling through rapids like "Shark's tooth" and "Indigestion" until one of the teenage girls, an exchange student from Australia decided to "ride the bull". She sat right at the top of the raft and held on to a rope with one hand like a true bull rider as we attempted "Drunkard's Drop" apparently, the largest rapid of the Wenatchee especially at this time of year when the water was at it's highest point. We made it through but it knocked her completely off her "bull" so Mark stopped paddling to help her, Brandon stopped paddling to take pictures, we all pretty much stopped paddling in all the confusion with the downed cowgirl, so the next rapid hit us blindside! We didn't have the force to make it through due to the lack of paddlers, so our boat got caught right in the middle of this massive wave... it teetered for about 10 seconds before capsizing in half and ejecting all of us into the river! All I remember is bodies falling on me (in what felt like slow motion) pushing me deep into the water, then getting swirled about like a washing machine until I finally found the surface... except, I was underneath the raft!! I lifted it off of me and looked around to get my breath only to find that it was gone! I could not breathe. Whether from the cold water or having the wind knocked out of me, or my asthma flairing up, I don't know... but I could not take a breath! I was taking these short little skimpy breaths that sounded like a freight train for a few minutes until finally it came back and I could breathe normally! We were all still in the water floating down the river trying to catch paddles floating by us among other lost items from the raft! It was a literal "yard sale" floating down the river. Our guide was able to pull the raft back over and we all started piling back in! Since Mark was at the top of the boat (I was toward the back) he was literally ejected from the raft as it capsized!! I keep thinking about this whole experience and wondering how it is that all of us were completely fine. No one hit their head on any rocks or paddles or other hard objects capable of head trauma. We weren't wearing helmets, only wetsuits and life jackets (thank goodness for those! although, my wetsuit was way way too big, so it defeated the whole purpose of a wetsuit which is for warmth but only if it is skin tight, so needless to say I was cold even before we got dumped headfirst into the river). I have a few bruises, one underneath my eye and a nasty one on my arm but have no idea what it was I hit to cause them... Anyway, it was super fun, but a little scary too, so I am grateful we all made it through without any harm!!! I am waiting for Brandon to develop the pictures from his waterproof camera and send us copies so I will post them when I get them. I am so anxious to see the picture he took right before we capsized!!

Our fun evening out in Leavenworth, a little German town, where we shopped and had dessert!

The whole family on Saturday for David's baptism. It seems that every time we get a family photo taken, there's another little one we add! (Rowan is the latest addition!)

Brandon's "trick"! He's from a family of 5 boys and has 4 sons, so he knows all the "tricks" with boys! I didn't realize Rowan's legs were so strong! I'm so not ready for him to walk... or crawl, although it's only going to be a few more weeks if not days before he's doing that. He really made some progress this weekend, maybe from being around all his cousins and seeing Eliza toddle around, he's started to army crawl backwards! It's so funny to watch... he desperately wants to move around and be independent... we are in for it now, I'm afraid.

My favorite picture of Isaac. He's such a little fashion boy. He kept changing his clothes (and they actually matched quite well!) and showing us every new outfit. He loved having his picture taken and posed for me constantly. These boys crack me up! I love them.

Sharon & David enjoying ice cream after the baptism.

Such cute boys!

Dress up for the camera!

Daniel & I had so much fun playing duets on the piano and he taught me all about the cacti that he grows and things he learns in school. This kid is 9 years old and is so stinking smart! He puts all of us with college degrees to shame!

This picture about sums up our trip! Oh, and I came home with pinkeye, lovely. But it was such a fun weekend with our wonderful family. We love you all so much! Can't wait to see you all again in January.