A Dad, A Mom & Three Miracles: Second half of June

Sunday, August 20, 2023

Second half of June

Mason has been into drawing Pokemon lately. That's mostly what he does during Sacrament Meeting these days.

Helping me dead head roses:

These three attended our ward's Father's and Son's outing the weekend after school got out. They camped by the Molalla River and had a great time kayaking, running around the forest, and eating junk food. There was a fire ban so they had to cook their hot dogs over a propane flame. Mmm. ;)

Photography framing:

Wildlife Refuge landscape:

Alan was working out of town on Father's Day when they passed out donuts for all of the dads. We saved one for him, but I'm sure it wasn't the best by the time he could finally eat it.

Dandelions in golden evening light:

One of the few things these two both enjoy doing together:

Trip to Brick's and Minifigs in Canby:

We're almost passed the days of playing at parks, but Mason still likes to go sometimes.

Sunburst:

We had been wanting a paddleboard since Alicia took us in UT last summer and finally got one. Mason and I took it down to Roger's Landing while Alan and Spencer were on high adventure. We paddled across the river to a little beach for a picnic and playing in the sand then spent a while paddling all around the river. It was a really pretty, peaceful day on the river! Mason much preferred playing in the sand to paddling. We both had fun, but sadly haven't gone again all summer! We really need more than one paddleboard to go as a family. I'd love to do this on dates with Alan next summer.

The Teacher's Quorum High Adventure this year was a 3-day 47 mile kayaking trip down the John Day River in central Oregon. Alan volunteered his timing trailer to help haul kayaks so he went with Spencer again this year.

Unfortunately, the trip started off really bad for Spencer when he started throwing up at 2 am the morning they were supposed to leave. He threw up twice more before his alarm went off at 5:30 am (they were supposed to meet the group at 6). Spencer looked and felt terrible, but had been really looking forward to this adventure and still wanted to try to go. I convinced Alan to drive his own truck instead of riding with someone else so he could bring Spencer home if Spencer didn't start feeling better. Then I sent them off with a package of saltine crackers and some Sprite and Gatorade.

Alan was supposed to let me know how Spencer was doing and what they decided to do, but they were out of cell service before they decided. Maybe it's good he didn't call though because I would definitely tried to convince them to come back home if I had known Spencer threw up five more times during the 5 hour drive to the John Day! He was a trouper though and insisted on still going even though he must have felt awful. It probably only worked because Alan and Spencer could share a kayak and Alan did the bulk of the rowing. Spencer wasn't able to eat much at all for the first few days and had very low energy.

He's tougher than I am! I wound up with the same stomach bug (possibly food poisoning from spinach) the day they were coming home. I only got off the couch to throw up all day and was completely miserable! I have no idea how Spencer completed that trip feeling so rotten.

They made some good memories with the quorum and other dads on the river. Almost everyone tipped over at some point, but not Alan and Spencer. When I asked Spencer if he was glad he went after he was home, his response was, "I think so..." It took several additional days and lots of sleep for him to fully recover. It was hard for him, but I think it was still a worthwhile experience. This trip required A LOT of planning and preparation by the leaders and I'm so grateful for their willingness to sacrifice their time and days off work to make it happen. Plus, they are wonderful spiritual leaders and role models for the boys. I consider the youth programs one of the biggest blessings of belonging to our Church.