Duck Beach 2010

It's been three years since our last trip to Duck Beach. Just like our last visit, we vacationed along with about 700 young single adults from the church. It's always fun to go to the ward building and see the hallways lined with people. I'm sure a fire marshall wouldn't be pleased but they do it every year anyway. The hallways are lined because every single classroom, kitchen and library is full of people.

The single women were all over our little Sadie and Jack. It's like they had never seen a baby before. Watching all these women dote over my children really made me appreciate that I wasn't "out there" anymore. Chase and I thought it would be funny to hide our rings to see how many people would ask for our phone number, but then we remembered how annoying it really is and decided to just cuddle instead. I love my man!!

So the drive down was pretty good. Sadie just watched her movies the whole time and Jack fell asleep right as we hit the road. He got a little cat nap and woke up about 30 minutes later when we hit Memorial Day traffic. It made for a longer drive but he finally fell asleep about an hour before we arrived at our beach house.

As a parent I can't figure out why car manufacturers don't put the sound proof window between the front and back seat of ALL family vehicles. This shouldn't be an exclusive amenity reserved only for limousines. I WANT ONE!! They could cry all they want and I would monitor them in my rear view mirror. It would be heavenly. I also think that if they knew we couldn't hear them, they wouldn't whine as much. THE WHINING!!! I CAN'T STAND THE WHINING!!


We arrived Saturday night so Sunday we just lounged around the house after church and went to the light house in Duck. Other than the human eating horse flies, it was a pleasant evening. We saw a lot of crabs in the water and Sadie threw rocks in the bay, of course. Sadie made some necklaces and bracelets with Grace and we were all advised to wear them the whole trip. It was pretty cute that she just put one bead on the ribbon. Normally you would make some sort of pattern with all the colors. Not Sadie. She just picked out a pink bead and that was all that was needed.

Sadie LOVED the beach. She was always a little timid when we lived in San Diego. I don't know if it was her age or just that the water along the Pacific is substantially colder than the East Coast.
She completely wore herself out every day. With the beach to entertain along with the pool and hot tub her eyes were bright red from the wind, salt and water and she collapsed into her bed every night. The best part about vacationing with cousins is that she is now old enough to sleep in the "bunk bed" room. This means that when she wakes up, she doesn't wake us up. She just plays with her cousins. Hallelujah!!

I can't say the same about little Jack. He slept in a crib right by our bed and was awake at the crack of dawn every morning. This wouldn't have been so bad if the Cannon's weren't so much fun. We stayed up WAY too late and paid for it the next morning. I usually get a sore throat when I don't get enough sleep so I sounded like a chain smoker the entire trip.

We mostly just sat around and talked after the kids went to bed but every once in a while we were entertained by CC's hilarious version of the Name Game or Curtis' ridiculously funny, knee slapping, tear jerking rendition of Joseph Smith History in about 30 different accents. We just kept shouting out a different accent while he read and he immediately changed character. It was awesome and made me laugh so hard there were tears rolling down my face. I'd never heard anything like it. It was like Robin Williams was reading the scriptures. I hope we weren't being sacrilegious by laughing while Curtis read to us from the scriptures, but I like to think God was chuckling a little as well. How could you not...it was ridiculously funny!!














Our biggest accomplishment was the building of our sand castle the last day. We spent hours making it perfect. Curtis had the idea to accessorize the walls with the drippings of sand. Jenna made some awesome platforms and look out towers. I fashioned some stairs with sticks and made some pretty cute little gate's for the bridge. We had the kids decorate with the sea shells and were so proud of the finished product we were sad to leave it knowing it would be washed away by morning.

I had high hopes of getting a family picture taken while at the beach but the thought of getting everyone showered and sandless was too much to bare at the end of the day. So this is the best we got. I actually really like it. I especially love Chase's grin from ear to ear. Doesn't he just look like the happiest guy on the planet. I love him!

We could pretty much count on Jack passing out around 3 p.m. every day on the beach. After swimming in his pool for a while he just stopped smiling (very strange for Jack) and we knew he was in need of a little snuggle. So fun!! Quite possibly the best part about having a baby...they are small enough to nuzzle into your arms for a little afternoon nap.
There is something extremely creepy about crabs. They are like spiders to me, just bigger with googly eyes. One night Chase and I took a flash light down to the beach to see if we could find any big ones. I spent the entire time on Chase's back because I was too worried about one of them scurrying over my toes (or perhaps clamping down on them with it's claws:-) Poor Chase had me squirming up his back while he tried to hold me and the flashlight. We saw a HUGE one and I was ready to go back in. Yikes, those things are scary.

Sadie and Grace did EVERYTHING together. Sadie pretty much idolizes Grace and asks to play with her just about every day. She talks about being 7 like Grace and can't wait to wear 7 year old clothes. Grace was a great friend to her which made the trip fun for everyone else:-)

Most of us were pretty tuckered out at the end of the day but you could always catch Pops snoring in a chair at any given moment. I wish I could sleep like that. What a fun trip. Until next time.

My Dad

Sadie loves it when I tell her stories; especially the ones about Grandpa. Of course I have dramatized them a bit and switched things around for effect, but every time I tell her these stories it makes me love Dad even more. One of my fondest memories of my Dad is when I was an over-emotional (still am) teenager and after getting in a fight with Nick (this was a usual occurrence in our home) I ran to my room and locked the door behind me as I threw myself on the bed in tears. I felt the longer I stayed in there and felt sorry for myself the better. After a few minutes I heard a subtle knock on the door. Thinking it was Nick for some additional older brother taunting I screamed "go away" at the top of my lungs. I then heard the sweet voice of Dad asking if he could come in and give me a hug. I was in the depths of despair that day and wanted to feel sorry for myself as long as possible. Through muffled tears I told him I wanted to be alone (when in reality what I REALLY wanted was a big hug from my Dad....wallowing just felt too good at the moment to admit it:-). Dad continued to coax me into opening the door and I continued to deny all proposals. It wasn't until about a half an hour later that I heard a bang at my window and saw two wooden slats appear. It was a ladder! Before I could stop him Dad climbed up the ladder, opened my window and gave me the biggest hug I had ever received in my whole life. I felt warm, safe, and most of all LOVED. He made me feel that the most important thing to him that day was to give me a hug no matter what!! That day he was my knight in shining armour.

Another favorite Grandpa story occurred while I was working as an intern in Washington D.C. I had flown home to see Nick come home from his mission and attend his homecoming. It was a great trip and when the weekend was over, it was time for me to head back to D.C. to finish up the semester. Dad took me to the airport. This was the year 2000 and airport security allowed anyone who had gone through security to see their loved ones off at their gate. This occasion was usually only reserved to see a missionary off. I said goodbye to my Dad at the ticket counter and headed up the stairs to go through security. As I approached my gate there was a HUGE family there saying goodbye to one of those such missionaries. Seeing their grief and sadness completely overwhelmed me because I thought of how hard it is to part from one's family for even a short amount of time. It was at that time as I sat mourning with strangers (who was this weird girl?) that I felt a tap on my shoulder and there was Dad. He decided to give me a proper send off after all. It was perfect timing and he must have known how sad I was. I like to think he had a "Hazel's Mother" moment who on the other side of town something told her Hazel needed her (gotta love that Rosemary Wells). Although I didn't know it at the time something told Dad that Abby needed him. He held me and gave me a big hug again telling me how much I would be missed and again I felt LOVED.

With four daughters Dad has had no choice but to be a HUGE advocate to women. I think if he had lived in the time of women's suffrage, he would have walked right along side Susan B. Anthony. Being the Scout Master for several years, he was always taking the boys out on long weekend excursions. I was so jealous!! He raised me to be a little liberal and I felt that us girls should be able to go along as well. Why couldn't we be Eagle Scouts?! Dad always made up for it taking us girls backpacking all over the place from Hogan Fork, to Zions National park, or even a small hike up Millcreek canyon. The hike up was usually pretty tiresome but we never dared complain. Being the most strong and swift was the highest compliment you could get from Dad, for hiking was and is his favorite activity. We usually scared all wild life away while singing "The Hills are Alive" from the Sound of Music at the top our our lungs. And every time we saw a meadow, we'd sing the "dum dum da da" from the closing credits of Little House on the Prairie while running down the hill as Laura Ingles did.

Dad loved to serenade us with the Snow White version of "I'm Wishing" and it always got us laughing. Those were the happiest of times. Just hanging out with Dad in the great outdoors. We were definitely "daddy's little girls" and he made each and every one of us feel like we were his favorite. I know that more than anything all he would like for Father's Day is another trip down to Zions with his kids. Dad, nothing would make me happier.


Dad is totally against all forms of makeup. If we ever dared to apply even a touch of mascara or lip "goo" (as he called it) we were called "painted lady" over and over again. You had to have thick skin in the Etherington home because this teasing never really had an affect on us. Although we girls try to go as natural as possible, you'll still catch a little "paint" from time to time. I'll never forget this one time after Emily had returned home from her mission. He pulled me aside and in a voice of desperation he said "I need to tell you something." I was a little worried thinking that something terrible had happened. I geared myself up for the worst when he continued with "you need to talk to Emily about her mascara. She has so much on she could have two black eyes." Typical Dad moment. He hated make up more than he hated wearing a tie to church. It was of the upmost importance to get Emily "back to normal" since she had so recently returned from the tainted "mascara clad" country of Uruguay. To Dad we were his gorgeous "duchesses." He made us feel beautiful when we felt the ugliest (usually right when we woke up in the tent with matted down hair that smelled of a musty campfire).

When we were little it must have been a huge struggle to get us to clean our rooms. Dad made this fun by turning into General Juddopp (I think that was his name). After giving us about an hour (it usually took us longer...they were really messy rooms) he put his old army helmet on and we prepared to meet our General as we heard his rhythmic stomping coming up the stairs. We stood at attention and saluted as he "inspected" our rooms. While yelling out demands and criticizing our poor excuse for "clean" we always held back the giggles. It was definitely Mary Poppins' way of a little "sugar to help the medicine go down." Although the clothes weren't put away with a simple snap of the fingers, cleaning our rooms was never so much fun!!

When President Hinckley made the statement that girls were not encouraged to go on missions, my Dad took the statement really hard. It was especially trying because his oldest child, who was also his first daughter, was currently serving her mission at that time. I don't want to say Dad was angry at the prophet for saying this but felt that his girls were every bit as equal to his son, and with that they needed the spiritual and emotional growth that a mission provides just as much as an Elder. From that time forth he was determined to encourage all of us children whenever possible to serve a mission of our own. I always knew that if I decided to serve, my parents would be behind me 110%. When it was finally my turn to enter the MTC I was again overwhelmed with sadness. How could I possibly be away from my family for 18 months and handle all the rejection that I knew Spain would provide. While the entire room sang called to serve I looked around at the other faces in the room. Everyone was so happy. They were all singing with such vigor and excitement. At that moment, I wondered"who are these people. Aren't they sad?" I then turned and looked at my Dad who was sitting next to me and said "I want to go home." Dad could see the alarm on my face and said "you are going to be just fine." After saying goodbye to Chase that morning and my parents that afternoon, I was emotionally spent. But Dad was right. I knew he believed in me as did the rest of my family. As soon as I forgot myself and took advantage of the amazing opportunity for growth, I was better than "fine", I was happy and again I felt loved.


Dad will never know the profound influence he's had over all our lives. He was the one I went to in the middle of the night when the nightmares awakened a disturbing sleep. He rubbed my back when I was sick. He held me when I was sad. He blessed me when I felt discomfort. He cheered for me when I explored. He taught me to love challenges and try to find the growth within. He encouraged greatness and courage. He taught by example the importance of obtaining knowledge. He was my most devout writer on my mission. I scoured over his words almost like scriptures seeking wisdom from a man that had always been my main source. Dad has ALWAYS been there for me. He continues to be there for our children. No one can compete with Grandpa. Some sons-in-law are offended when their kids choose Grandpa over them, but who wouldn't? It's Grandpa! Quite possibly the most engaging, loving, caring, considerate,and dependable Dad in the world. Perhaps I'm biased but I'm convinced I got the best one.