McCall Camping Trip

At the last minute, we accepted a long-standing invitation to join our friends on a camping trip in McCall, Idaho. The Nicol family has a tradition of going there each summer, and they kindly invited us to join them and the Rowberry clan for a final family trip before the kids head back to school.

Before heading on to McCall, we spent few days in Melba. Then, on Monday morning we headed off for McCall.

The Nicols had reserved several campgrounds in Ponderosa state park. The campground was fantastic. Lots of tall trees around, very clean. Bathrooms with hot showers nearby, water spigots and electricity at every site. So it wasn’t like we were roughing it.

After setting up camp, we immediately headed out to the beach to have fun in the water. The Nicols brought their boat, and the Rowberrys had hauled up a bunch of kayaks, paddle boards, and a floating magic carpet thing which was a lot of fun.

We played on the lake until sunset, then we drove into town and ate some delicious hamburgers at My Father’s Burgers.

The next couple days were pretty similar. We took our time getting going in the morning, usually enjoying a delicious breakfast, then meandering to a beach and playing in the lake for the remaining daylight hours. Then we’d come back to camp, eat dinner, hangout around the fire and then hit the sack.

Each family took a day making breakfast and dinner for the whole group. We were responsible for Wednesday and we did omelets in a bag for breakfast and camp calzones for dinner (we like easy cleanup) which turned out great.

The temperatures and conditions were just too perfect to deviate too much from all the playing in the water.

Claire did some kneeboarding and managed to pull of a couple 360s.

The kids spent lots of time tubing and hanging on for dear life, and thankfully, no one got hurt.

Manina, Greg, Don, and I did make it out on a short little hike along the Huckleberry loop in the state park during one afternoon when all the kids were out on the boat getting pulled in the tube.

We started back home on Thursday afternoon and enjoyed the 8-hour drive back down to Utah. We had a great time in McCall and all hope we can return to visit soon. Such a fun place!

A quick stop in Melba

When we decided to go to McCall, the Rowberrys mentioned they were starting their vacation a few days early and staying for a couple nights in Melba. Spencer and Jan Crosland and their cute little family were kind enough to let our crew come crash at their house and make a mini family reunion out of it.

Saturday night we ate at the Bangerters and then had lots of fun with the Lakey and Crosland cousins. Betsy setup her epic water slide and Drew got pretty good at it. He’s much faster and daring compared to when we last visited Melba.

On Sunday we slept in and went to church at 1pm which was a vacation luxury.

After church we toured the farm. Betsy has quite the vineyard out in front of her house and her grapes were doing very well. She had a nice variety and we loved trying all the different flavors. So good!

That evening, Tom & Cathy Peterson (who were also using Melba as a great rest stop) joined the Roweberrys, us Johnsons, and all the Bangerter crew for an extended-family halibut and salmon dinner with fresh-picked garden vegetables and corn on the cob.

We all had a nice relaxing evening just visiting out in front of Betsy’s house, eating ice cream and catching up while the kids played and begged for tractor rides.

Given the wonderful hospitality we all received, it’s no wonder Melba is a must-stop-by when traveling to anywhere near Boise or the Pacific Northwest. We had a great time.

Farewell Fiasco – Tubing the Provo

We got a good piece of advice from a missionary parent a few days ago:

Take the family out to do something fun after dropping off your missionary at the MTC. Since it’s such an emotional time, it’s important to go out and have a fun diversion instead of just going home and crying for the rest of the day.

That was our thought, anyway…

We thought we were prepared. We had picked up our rented tubes (deflated) and a pump before dropping Jake off at the MTC. Everything was in the back of the car ready to go.

We drove up to Vivian park and pulled out the pump and started getting ready for our awesome float trip.

But when I saw the pump I knew we were in trouble. It was just a dinky little thing. Since we didn’t have another choice I started pumping up our first tube.

To keep this post somewhat short, I’ll just summarize the next three hours:

  • We found each tube took 30 minutes to inflate with our pump
  • We learned the pump has to be “rested” for 10 minutes between tubes
  • We learned our Suburban battery is just about cooked, so we must keep the Suburban running while the pump is running
  • We found out that the nearby rafting adventure company doesn’t have a pump with the right kind of valves to inflate our tubes
  • We drove down the canyon to a service station to fill up three tubes
  • We found out that Seth gets super hangry after a couple hours of dealing with all of the above

After all of that, we were finally able to get on the river!

The float was great. We didn’t have any mishaps and the weather was beautiful and the water was cool and refreshing. We saw fish, a beaver, and otter, and several fisherman who tolerated our crazy crew floating through their prime fishing holes.

It really helped us to recover from the emotional rollercoaster of the morning. When we finally got off the river at 6pm we were ready to head home and face reality again.

Unfortunately, we then had to deflate all of the tubes, which was a giant pain! It took another two hours to deflate each tube, which was required before turning it back into the rental place. Never again!

So, learn from us. Next time we float the Provo River we will make sure to rent inflated tubes that can be returned inflated. If that means we have to pull a covered trailer or whatever to transport the tubes, so be it. We spent a small fortune in time and gas inflating and then deflating the stupid tubes. But, I have to admit, with all the chaos and craziness it ended up being a great diversion.

Going on a mission

Jacob left on his mission today. It’s been a whirlwind of preparation over the last few months since he got his mission call. The last 24 hours have been tough but it’s certainly something we want to remember and document in our family history.

On Tuesday night Jake was set apart as a full-time missionary by President Anderson. He challenged Jake to do three things as a missionary:

  1. write in your journal every day
  2. be obedient
  3. love the people

It was an emotional night. Even the kids started dealing with the impending departure of their older brother in different ways.

Caught Megan out on our back patio coloring an El Salvador flag in chalk

It was an emotional night for everyone, but we’re grateful for the support of all the people who came by to say their farewells to Jake.

  • David
  • Grandma Jan
  • Rowberry family
  • Daniel Nyman
  • Bishop Anderson
  • Taylor Tillotson
  • Jake’s friends:
    • Brennan
    • Tyson
    • Cameron
    • Tanner
Young men in our ward, from left to right (all flexing so they could look like Jacob): Carson Coon, Harrison Francis, Preston Wright, Connor Beus, Josh Rowberry, Jacob, Eric Jensen, Corbin Beus, Tyler Coon.

Finally at about 11:30pm everyone had left and we went down to watch a classic missionary movie “The Other Side of Heaven”. We finished it at about 1:30pm and then said a family prayer (which Jake mostly slept through) and all the kids slept downstairs together for maybe the last time.

We got up in the morning and had a great spiritual experience. Jake gave Manina a blessing, and then I gave Jacob a blessing.

Everything was packed and ready to go.

We had to drive two cars because of our plans to float the Provo river after we dropped off Jacob. As we made our way down to Tucanos for lunch, I could tell that the nerves and anxiety were increasing for everyone. We met the rest of the family at Tucanos and tried to enjoy lunch. That was hard, because no one felt like eating, especially Jacob.

Jake signed Megan’s cast and we had a kind ward member, Arthur Newell, come to our table and give Jake some much-needed positive encouragement. We paid our check and all piled into the Suburban to head down to the temple and the MTC drop-off.

We’d heard how quick the goodbyes were at the MTC so we stopped at the park below the Provo temple to take pictures and say our goodbyes. It was rough. There were a lot of tears, all the kids were pretty shook up about losing their big brother.

We piled in the suburban strategically, with Jake in the very back so that everyone would have to get out again so we could all get one last goodbye hug. We got our blue post-it-note and were directed to the underground parking garage.

We parked in a great line of cars, an Elder came out and helped get the luggage and everyone got one last hug. Then, he was gone.

We are all very excited for Jake and for the many wonderful opportunities he will have serving a mission. We wouldn’t rather he be anywhere else right now. He’s going on a mission and we’re so happy, grateful, relieved, and proud. Godspeed, Elder Johnson! Until we meet again.

Box Elder Hike

Whew! What a hike!

We packed up Friday night, made sandwiches, dried some fruit and wanted to be ready early Saturday morning for our hike. Katelyn invited her good friend, Sophie Lee, and Claire, Drew, Ellie, Finn, Manina and I rounded out the group.

Jacob dropped us off at the trailhead up above Granite Flat campground on the road to Silver Lake Flat on Saturday morning. Saw a total of 4 people in the next 5 hours as we hiked up and over the saddle between Box Elder peak and White Baldy. Technically it’s the Deer Creek – Dry Creek Trail, number 043.

It was pretty tough going, but such a beautiful place. The trail went through aspen forests, some pines, rock slides and boulders and scrub oak. Just about everything you could ask for while hiking in the Wasatch mountains.

Once we got up high enough, we could see over to Mount Timpanogos, and we told the kids that was our next adventure, and that this 9-mile hike was simply training for our bigger effort later in September.

Finley was a complete mess and there were a couple times we had to holler at him to come back on the trail, but he did much better than expected after getting off to a rough start while driving up in the car.

One of the best parts of this trail was that there is a spring almost exactly halfway through the trail. It was so nice to be able to refill our water bottles and not have to carry all that weight. The spring was right off the trail just after is starts sloping downward and heading to Alpine. You can’t miss it.

We had a great time, but we were all pretty exhausted after the 9 mile trek. Megan picked us up at the Horsetail falls parking lot above the Rodeo grounds in Alpine. We stopped and enjoyed some well-deserved Roxberry smoothies.

I think we’ll make this an annual tradition.

Ibantik Lake Backpacking Trip

Jake, Drew and I had an awesome weekend in the Uinta mountains. We backpacked into Ibantik Lake, stayed overnight, tried to catch some fish, and enjoyed our time together. We made a short little video with a few highlights.

The wildflowers were out in force. Temperatures were perfect for hiking too.

 

We took a long lunch at the lower of the Twin Lakes. Jake setup a hammock and took a little nap and Drew and I started to fish. We could see good-sized trout jumping in the lake, so we thought we were going to catch one, but the fish clearly weren’t interested in what we were offering. In some cases we were dragging out lures right in front of the fish that we could see in the crystal clear waters.

After lunch, we hiked through (over?) the notch and started our descent into Ibantik lake.

When we arrived we crossed over to the other size of the lake and started looking for some good campsites. Here is our recording of our trek to Ibantik.

My brothers David and Jesse showed up a couple hours later, and Jesse’s friend Greg too. We all cooked dinner, setup camp, fished (still catching nothing), and sat around the fire swapping old camping stories.

On Saturday morning we got up and did some adventuring. We went around the lake to the far side that is nestled up next to the cliffs and found a small stream and a few other really cool campsites.

Jesse and Greg cleverly diverted some water and made us a makeshift washing station complete with a shampoo shelf (we just used some Wilderness Wash) and hat hooks. The water was very cold, having just been snow not long before. But, it felt great to cool off and get somewhat clean.

Jake, Drew and I came back and packed up and headed home, leaving the other three to stay another night (they finally did catch some fish).

On the hike back to the trailhead we made good time. Drew did awesome. We passed a fellow backpacker who asked if Drew was available for hire and commented on how good he was doing. That earned Drew his trail name “Speedy Sherpa”, or just “Sherpa” for short.

It was nice getting back to civilization (especially the peach milkshakes we picked up on our drive home), but we had a great time out in the beautiful Utah mountains. Definitely need to get out there more often.

Called to serve

While we were on vacation in Maui, our neighbor sent us a text that Jake’s mission call had arrived in the mail. We toyed with the idea of having the long-awaited envelope FedEx’ed overnight to us in Maui, but Jake decided to wait an open it the night we came home.

So, on Thursday, April 26th at 7pm we had a bunch of family and friends gathered around to see how our family would be forever changed.

As you can see in the video and in the scanned letter, Jake has been assigned to the El Salvador San Salvador East mission and will be speaking Spanish. He will report to the Guatemala MTC on August 8th and will probably spend 6 weeks there learning the language and receiving training.

Manina has been freaking out about the country, the gangs, the mosquitos, the food, and all the passport and visa requirements still to be done. We have some family members who have served in El Salvador — cousin Grant Rowberry served in the Santa Ana mission, and cousin Nate Cryer was in the exact same mission a few years ago, so it will be good to get inside information from them.

We’re all super excited for Jake and all of his upcoming adventures over the next couple years. He’ll be a great missionary and will be able to really help the good people of El Salvador. They’re lucky to get him.

Claire turns twelve

Just like last year, Claire and Manina stopped and picked me up so we could go to Cubby’s for Claire’s birthday lunch.

In what is quickly becoming one of my favorite traditions, I interviewed Claire to get a little glimpse into her life. It was fun to see how she’s changed since her birthday last year and also to see how she is still the same great girl.

Favorites:
Cereal: Honey Nut Cheerios
Homemade dinner: either Mac and cheese or tri-tip
Restaurant: Cubby’s
After school activity: hanging out with friends
Sport: basketball
Friend: Andie Aagard
School subject: math

Finish the sentence
I wish... I could take a bunch of friends camping.
I really like to wear... my hair up.
I would describe myself as... crazy.
When I grow up... I want to be successful. 
I love it when... we do things as a family. 
My favorite memory is... when we went backpacking up in the mountains. 
I really look up to... my parents. 
The best thing about me is... I like to explore things. 
I want to practice... basketball
I want the world to know... how to be better with pollution. Everyone is leaving their cars running these days and ruining the world. 
My biggest thing I want to accomplish at age 12 is... to be outside more. 

After lunch, Manina and Claire did a little shopping at the outlets.

Claire also went to our back to open a checking account and request a debit card. She certified to be a soccer ref this year along with Jake and Megan, so she has her first official job and needs a place to deposit her first paycheck.

Claire requested grilled tri-tip for dinner, and then she had to dash off to a soccer game. When she got back, we had the ice cream cake and presents waiting for her.

She got some new rollerblades, but the big present was a getting a new bike! It’s a Cannondale Quick that is in nearly-new condition after Seth got it all cleaned up.

Remember: a couple of Claire’s goals were to be outside more and to be better about pollution, so this new bike of hers should really help achieve those goals. Way to be twelve, Claire. We love you!

Mighty March Madness

We tried out a different version of our family March Madness pool this year. Since the traditional fill-out-a-bracket method is , we thought we should shake it up and try a new method to track the craziness. This year we tried the Bill James Bracketless Bracket method.

Rules:

Everyone picks their favorite #1 seed, then their favorite #2 seed, all the way down the line. This creates a "ballot" that is almost guaranteed to be unique, and now you have 16 favorite teams to cheer for.

Every time your team on the one-seed line wins a game at any point in the tournament, you get 100 points. Every time your 2-seed wins, you get 110 points. And the pattern continues for each seed. If your 16 seed wins a game (Both Drew and Ellie's did!), you get 250 points. At the end of the tournament, the person with the most points wins.

Here are the ballots:

Drew and Claire both picked UMBC, but no one picked this year’s tournament darling Loyola-Illinois as their 11 seed (200 points per win). Since they got to the Final Four, that guess certainly would have paid off.

I created a spreadsheet to calculate the scores and standings and would send out updates after each round to the family via our group iMessage chat. It ended up being pretty fun even though I quickly became the laughing stock of the family due to my very poor ballot.

After the second round, I was down to only a few teams left and Drew was in the lead.

But, after all was said and done, Manina pulled out a pretty comfortable victory, having assured the top spot by the time the tournament got down to the Final Four.

Maybe next year we’ll try the squares method or something.