Last Harvest. Best Surprise we have ever pulled off!!

 The Church has decided to transition the Vineyard over to grapes that can be dried on the vine and harvested by machine.  Tragic in the eyes of some, but that's the decision that was made.  And so, Melissa had this idea that we should all surprise Dad and come for the last harvest. It's a good thing we all committed to it the year before, or I probably wouldn't have gone.  It ended up being horrible timing, and no one else in my family could go but me.  But I'm SO glad I went.  I carpooled with Jonathan and Katrina (and Ryder), so they helped pay for gas.  And were great company.  The surprise was perfect and I had lots of fun and I could tell it meant so much to my mom more than anything!  

This was the moment right after we surprised him. :) It was 6am and he had NO idea. It was wonderful!

After working in the vineyard for like 6 hours, we went home and had a party.  Since I didn't have any kids with me, I got to enjoy being an aunt to these cuties!  Audrey and Scofield.

We had a smorgasbord of Hansen favorites for dinner, and Katrina arranged these so cute on a platter for display.  Macaroni and cheese, lasagna, tuna casserole, tacos, grapes, salad, and watermelon. and for dessert, peach crisp, no bake cookies and wacky cake. :)

Grandmom and Grandad came!  And we sang together :)

 I took these pictures of pictures Dad had in his office- little Emma, I mean Jenae!! 

The safety vest crew enjoying picking up trays with the Gator, and Katrina showcasing how sticky-muddy-dirty your hands get at the vineyard!

We picked a whole row!  And here were some classic wards having a lunch after picking. 

We got SOOO lucky and it was only in the 80's- the coolest picking I have ever done!  Ryder and Seth had a blast.  And Donny and Christine's girls were SO cute playing with leaves and sticks after the row was done.

panoramic of a row!

The row before we picked it.  So pretty.

Melissa and Karl working, and me with a GIANT bunch of the most DELICIOUS grapes on the planet!!

I definitely gleaned a couple of bags to take home at the end!

This was when we met at a gas station at 5:45am before the surprise!  It was SO fun!  Most of us had spent the night at Derek and Raycelan's the night before, and got up at 4:30am to leave at 4:45 to drive there!

This was dinner on the way there, and the hours and hours of sunflowers we drove past!  All the way from home to St. George, and then from Tehachapi to Madera!

After picking we spent like 2 hours cleaning up.  picking up trays and washing stacks and stacks of picking pans.  Also here's classic Dad telling me and Katrina and the boys a story.

We arrived Friday night and left Sunday morning.  But it was absolutely worth it for THIS!! We were all together talking and picking and we sang several hymns together and it felt like Zion! :) Working hard and dirty but together and joyful and not as blazing hot as we thought it would be. 

Thanks for all the memories and lessons Vineyard!  

Lake Powell Blitz

 It is important to note that "Blitz" in the title refers to the trip itself, not the post! This post is one of the longest yet!  But our trip was SUPER short.  We drove down late Friday night after Whitney's soccer practice.  Then had 1.5 days on the water, and then booked it home as the kids had school Monday morning. Quick but WORTH IT! lake Powell is awesome. So get ready for one million pictures.

Here's the cute 11-year old cousins riding on the tube together.  Owen and Cleo.

Whitney and Maris on a bumpy ride

Chillin on the boat!  Owen, Cleo and Whitney

Emma and Grandma!

The kids exploring, and playing on the boat ramp while we unloaded the boat on the dock.

maris, vivian and cleo, and Eric trying the surfing feature.

Owen, Naomi, and Maris. And my view from the front of the boat at one point- Katelyn, Whitney and Eric

Whitney peace-sign photobombing me and Eric's boat selfie, and Lauren Kurtis Eric and Emma.

Owen, Maris, Katelyn.....and Grandma!

And the cliff-jumping pics!  There will be a lot of these haha.  Here's a bunch of us taking turns going off a cliff, and the RYan's like "lets go higher!" So you can see in the next picture, Eric is jumping off the lower one while some kids get ready to go off the higher one.  Whitney, Owen, Maris, Cleo and Vivian did it.  My 3 probably did it 5 times or more, they just kept climbing back up to go again!

Sunrise over Lake Powell!  This time we got the hotel breakfast, and it was AMAZING. Sitting and eating with a gorgeous view of the Lake= luxury!   and here's me and poor Emma, who still doesn't love the boat.

Owen, Naomi and Maris, Cleo and Whit

Owen and Katelyn

Lauren, Vivian, Maris and Cleo being cheerleaders

Ice Cream Stop!

We stopped in this little cove for a while, it was fun and private.

Me and the kids climbed up to the top of the rocks.

Later we got these cute family boat pictures....

Right before a thunderstorm hit! We sped back to the dock getting rained on the whole way!  it looks sunny, but it was raining!

Emma and Maris helping Grandpa drive the boat

Cousin love!

Boat love!

Playing games while we waited for and ate pizza delivered to us at the Marina!  Very cool.  And look at Maris' red face!

After our sun break, I bought everyone tootsie pops from the little shop- apparently liking those is a Murray thing! They were a hit.

One more pic from the ice cream break.

Grandma went on the tube!!

With Maris and Vivian!  Not for very long though lol.

I just had to take a selfie with these gorgeous white and orange cliffs. And here's kate and owen on the tube.

Whitney, Cleo and Maris- brave souls getting some air!

Whit, Owen and Cleo up on the biggest cliff before jumping.

Mary took these funny shots of us when we were in that cove.  She, Brad and Ryan stayed on the boat.

Mary was happy at dinner one night that Katelyn was wearing a Harjuku shirt. 

Mary took a bunch of videos of the kids cliff jumping, and I got these still shots from those.  This first one in incredible- just a little girl falling through the air in front of the huge cliffs.

This one of Owen!!  leaping out into the unknown!! He LOVED the thrill of it.  And Whitney halfway down.

Two great mid-air shots of Whitney.

And Maris jumping from 2 different spots.

Lake Powell was awesome.  I hope we go there many more times.  This time was great because we worked so hard to make it happen and it was worth it.