On the Way

It snowed pretty good the day before we left.  But it was no problem on the drive.

 All the kids collected rocks at every stop.

A tumble weed named Potato was Noah's pride and joy at a windy rest stop in Idaho.  

One of many rest stops from Oregon to Anywhere.

Sunday Afternoon Walk

The kids and I went out for a little walk Sunday afternoon and let Sarah rest.

Before                                                                    After

What a happy little girl Larkin was when we started the hike, and all the way down to the frog pond.  And even after the hike at the parking lot.  But just as we started to climb back up her "legs were broken", she could not take another step, it was impossible to go on.  She did make the whole hike on her own though.

 Noah and Larking blazing the trail.

 So close to getting that picture of all of us.

Spring Soccer - First Games

Here's Arwen appreciating the overly long grass and beautiful weather at her first game...for like the twelfth time.

The other team was really good and had some hard kicks thus Arwen's oh so fancy ducks and dodges.

Arwen's defense was amazing...which made me happy spending my soccer day's in defense.

No pictures of Noah's and Joshua's game but it was fun.  

Joshua admitted to having fun, post-game, snacks in hand.  

And Noah amazed himself by scoring ten goals.  I'm sure it was somewhere near there but I didn't keep track. He did amazing.

Temple Square

Temple Square was beautiful.  

Here are some pictures of the kids when they weren't playing in the water and being kinda wild.

Rock Canyon

We got to Provo early so I could take the kids on a hike up in Rock Canyon.  We were on a hunt for white rocks that spark when you strike them together.  I promised that it wasn't all that far but it proved a little too far for some of them.

I'll let you guess who couldn't make it. 

Crossing the chasm to play on the other side.

Noah found a "bloody witch thumb."

 We picked up Whip on the way up and it was fun to spend the day with her.

 Sarah gave up and left Larkin in the middle of the trail I guess.  Don't worry she ended up on Whitney's and Dad's shoulders too.

360 degrees of Rock Canyon

Epic Relay

We didn't get into Hood to Coast this year so we signed up for the Epic Relay.  We had an an awesome team, the Dickinson family with a few honorary Dickinsons tacked on to fill up the team.  We were the BYU Pirates.  The relay was a 12 man relay of 178.16 miles from Lake Oswego to Eugene Oregon.  It was hot on my first leg (it got hotter) and began to rain on my last (the rain wasn't that bad).  Of course we got hardly any sleep in between legs but that's relays for ya.  We hung out at the Silverton City Park after our first run and played some frisbee (badly).  Afterwards I soaked my feet in the cold river and watched the local kids jump off the bridge.  Larry decided he'd regret not jumping so we gave it a try.  It was fun.

My first leg was not bad, a little hot though and I felt the hill.

The weather was nice for my second leg but I decided to get a nice side cramp and breathing didn't work out all that well.  I got to chase someone for the first third of the leg which was nice.  After passing him I crossed his van parked to offer him water...they got back at me for passing their runner by offering me a doughnut.  I could hardly squeak out a no-thank-you.  It did make me kinds sick to my stomach but don't think it slowed me down much :)

I ran my last and longest leg with a Garmin Forerunner watch.  It was fun...it would yell at me if my pace dropped below a 7min/mile and again if I was running to fast.  It also chirped at me each mile.  It was fun and a lot nicer (and smaller) than my GPS.  It started to sprinkle on my during my run...and turned into rain by the end.   I was happy with the last leg, I shot for a 7min pace but didn't quite make it.

I took a shower in a bathroom sink at Denny's after my last leg and got into some dry clothes.  I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while the others ate plates of breakfast food.  Luckily I don't seem to get all that hungry after running.  When we were done there we went looking for a drug store to buy some Pepto-Bismol for some of the over zealous eaters.

We met up with the other van and they wanted us all to run the last leg with "Grandpa" Dickinson.  It was only 3.3 miles, but I was feeling nice and dry in my clothes and crocks.  My enthusiasm waxed and waned with the strength of the rain.  We ended up running the last mile as a team other than a few to drive the vans.  It was fun and I'm sure "Grandpa" Dickinson appreciated it.

BYU

We visited BYU while we were in Utah and showed the kids all our old haunting grounds.  I had to make a deal with them.  If they acted interested in what we were telling them we'd go to a candy store and they could pick out a treat.  It worked a little.  They oohed and awed for a while anyway and that made us feel good.

 "What will you look like when you go to school here Larkin?"

They just needed a little boy too. 

Ha ha!  Joshua got a kick out of the wedgie statue. 

Amazing...zoom in and look at the caption. 

Almost 12 years ago this is where we had our first kiss.  King Henry apartments #18.

April Fools Breakfast

Noah was not that excited about breakfast this morning.  With a frown on his face, trying not to sound ungrateful, he asked me if he could just have a bagel.  

Joshua was the one that unmasked the whole prank when he noticed some S's on the peas.  Before he realized that they were not really "healthy" cupcakes he was excited for the mashed potatoes and a little upset that they were not real.

Arwen was not committing to anything until Joshua proved to her that they were just tricks.  Then she got excited.

Larkin came down last and was too sleepy to understand the kids excitement.

Mashed Potatoes with Gravy and Butter 

Spaghetti With Meat Balls 

 Corn On The Cob with Butter.

Peas and Carrots