Lake Powell 2008

Ah, finally... that time of year we Riches look forward to every 365 days. And when it actually arrives, it always goes by too fast!!! 

We have been going to Lake Powell with Jeremy's family for 8 years now, starting with the summer we were engaged. I fell in love with that beautiful part of the country the first time I laid eyes on it, and still after all these years :o) I get giddy packing up for our trip. My brother Dave has been coming with the Riches almost as long as I have--in fact, he's probably come without me more often than not! He called the week before we left and said, "OK, it's official. I've started having Lake Powell dreams." And I knew exactly what he meant... because I was having them too!

2008's expedition turned out fantastic. After a cold, rainy, and even snowy drive down, we were afraid this trip might be a repeat of last year--where in every picture we were bundled up from head to toe--it was FREEZING! But by the time we passed the Utah/Arizona border, we knew this year would be different... We always have a contest to see who can be the first to see the lake--I think my nephew Zac got it this time. And every time we come around that bend, I tear up! Honestly, I think I cried for joy about 10 times on this trip just because we were there. Let's just say it's been a year... Our family really needed this vacation :o)

You haven't experienced Lake Powell unless you've experienced it with the Rich family. Everything is planned out to the T! We were getting emails and phone calls at least a week before we flew out, with questions about what we wanted for breakfast on the drive down to the lake, making sure we remembered our aqua socks, life jacket sizes, etc. I LOVE how organized they are. Jeremy's mom makes menus for each and every meal we eat, including recipes and directions--plus she's already made as much as possible beforehand and it's already packaged up, labeled and ready to go. She's amazing!!! We are each assigned a partner to work with when we're in charge of making a meal--this system is a well-oiled machine :o) Seriously, folks, the best food in the world is eaten at Lake Powell--and it's not just because you're really hungry after a long, arduous day of:

 wakeboarding

more wakeboarding

MORE wakeboarding

driving the boat

fishing

and much, much more. Rough life, eh?

One of my favorite things to do while we're at LP is to take pictures, mostly just to get me through till we go again next year! This time around, I got some fantastic shots of our family just hanging out together... UNO was the game of choice, there was lots of coloring, movie watching (I highly recommend the BBC's North and South mini-series, you fellow Pride and Prejudice lovers--you won't be disappointed), and of course talking, relaxing, and smiling. Because we are all spread out around the country now, this week together with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins is just precious, precious time...

Thanks to Tom & Ruth for doing all that you do to make the week so magical for all of us, year in and year out! 

(And Ash, we missed you a TON and hope that you can come next time :o)