Boating with the Hilton's

We had an opportunity to go boating on the Delaware River this past weekend. We had so much fun with our friends, Deanna and Andy Hilton. Andy is also our Bishop. It is always fun to spend time with the Hilton's. They are both very busy in dedicating there time to serving others that they don't get much play time. We have some good memories of them and with them. When we lived by them we were able to get together more, but haven't been able to recently. So it was nice to connect outside of our church callings. How refreshing to get out on the water and tube and ski. I have many memories of my childhood out on the boat, skiing and taking in the sun! We didn't have a chance to make it home this summer so it was really nice to do something that was familiar. Although it was not a lake.....I absolutely enjoyed my first experience skiing on a river. The water was warmer than our swimming pool. The views are so different, with industrial plants, bridges, and tugboats on the water. We even went past the LENOX headquarters. Alyssa had a fun time tubing with her Mom and then Dad! She would say, "faster, faster" so Bishop would go faster, and then she would get nervous and ask for him to slow down. We had sore bums until we realized we should lay on our stomachs. That was a blast! Bryan was able to get up on the wake board! I was proud of him because he didn't grow up skiing and so the few times he has been have been with me. And he has never tried wake boarding until now. He did great! While I was skiing, I heard thunder and we knew it was supposed to rain. Well, I couldn't pass up another ski run, so I said I would go one more time, then when I fell, I said, "I'll go one more time, this is worth getting struck by lightning." I was having too much fun to get in the boat. Then, Bishop, with his boat grill, cooked hamburgers while Deanna and Bryan got the cover on the boat. As soon as that was all done, it POURED rain. And it was thundering and lightning! It was insane being out there on the river in the storm. The craziest part about it was I wasn't scared one bit. I was just so relaxed. Aside from the factories and tugboats, I couldn't help but notice how spectacular it is to recognize that behind the trees of this big beautiful river, are 2 big cities on each side! Another cool experience added to our adventure in Philly! Thank you to the always so generous Hilton's!

Alyssa and Bryan enjoy tubing!

Mason was a little unsure about the entire experience! We weren't sure what was wrong with him...................

...........oh, Deanna guessed it! He didn't have any food! See, now he has a chip, and we have a happy little boater!

I thought I would give some skiing a try

Looks like Bishop Hilton is giving out lessons!

"Dad, how do you keep your hat on? I don't know if the wind or this life jacket is going to make my whole head blow away!"..........YIKES!!!