Education Week

Brad and I went to our first Education Week at BYU.  It was a great experience, and we hope to be able to go regularly.  To make the week even more special, we got to stay with our good friends, Charles and Elisa Oliver, at their family's vacation home in Midway, UT.  It was a wonderful combination of amazing classes at BYU and reconnecting with Charles and Elisa.  We spent many hours talking, enjoying each other's company, and saying, "You should move back to Bainbridge!" 

I was so impressed by the quality of the teachers at Education Week.  I felt like they all really "got it," really understood life and the gospel.  I don't know if it was the classes we chose, or if a majority of the classes would have been the same.  So many of them focused on the Atonement, even when that wasn't the main topic of the class. I loved being reminded over and over again of the power of the Atonement, the importance of teaching our children (and reminding ourselves) of our infinite worth, of our Savior's love and eternal acceptance of all of us.  It struck me, and Brad also, and we had many discussions with Charles and Elisa about this as well, how important it is for us to let our children know how much we love them and are proud of the good things they do.  I feel like I need to do better at not judging them, not making them feel badly if they made a mistake or wrong choice, to always be openly accepting and let them feel my love no matter what they do, or don't do, for that matter.  As parents, we can be so hard on our kids, who are such amazing, wonderful people with fabulous gifts and talents.  We get upset when they make choices we don't agree with, even when we ourselves probably have made the same mistakes, or even worse ones.  I heard over and over again, "Love them!" and "Teach them to feel God's love for them."  So important, and something I really need to work on.

We did take some time to explore Midway with Charles and Elisa, as well.  One morning we went on a hike in the lower Wasatch Mountains.  A little different scenery than we're used to, but it was beautiful.

This was at the turn around point, not really the top of the mountain, but high enough that we had a nice view of the Heber Valley. (Yes, Mariann, I did balance my camera on a rock to get this shot!)

We stopped to rest in a pretty Aspen grove.  

Elisa and Charles

Some of the pretty aspen trees.

We also got to see the Caine family, a wonderful treat!  We went to their house for dinner one evening and had a great time catching up.  Ethan (far right) has grown up so much and was a total crack up!  He kept posing in our "couples picture." Bill tried his hardest to get him out of the photo, but Ethan wouldn't budge!

I didn't get any pictures at BYU.  I was too busy soaking in the atmosphere and running from one class to the next.  The last time I was there was for EFY when I was 15.  I didn't really remember the campus, so it was all new to me.  By the end of the week, I felt like I could get around pretty well without looking at the map.  I felt like a 20 year old, back in school.  It was a great week!

It's Not Goodbye, Just Farewell for Now

I'm going to miss this lady.  She's been one of my best friends over the past few years, and an adopted sister.         We've laughed together, cried together, talked, listened, run, kayaked, laughed, slogged through mud, camped, danced, laughed, cooked, eaten, played games, laughed, served, Chinese Christmased, Thanksgivinged, laughed, cried some more, laughed...do you see a trend?  Good thing we can laugh over the phone!  Texas is getting a treasure, and Bainbridge Island will not be the same without her!

Mariann wanted to finish her around the Island kayaking, which was rudely interrupted by the birth of her second son almost two years ago...so we set out on a beautiful afternoon to tackle Eagle Harbor. Lots of laughing, some crying, great conversation, beautiful scenery, warm sunshine...it was fabulous, except for the fact that it was our last outing for now.  But it's not goodbye.  She will be back to visit at least once a year, and I'm keeping my promise to not loose touch!

Camping at Deception Pass

Three days after we got back from our family vacation, I headed out again, this time to explore a new place. One of Ben's wishes for the summer was to camp at a new location, so we settled on Deception Pass.  Brooke and her kids joined Ben, Jillian, Chloe Cook, and I.  We left Brad, Nate and Kylie home since they all had to work.

We arrived around 5:00 Monday evening and quickly set up camp.  The campsite was small, but cozy.  We fit our two large tents and two large vehicles without too much difficulty.

Enjoying dinner around the campfire.

After dinner we went down to the beach to explore.  It's beautiful!  There's also a fresh water lake a few yards away, but the swimming area was closed due to goose contamination.  (Maybe they should invest in some of those plastic coyotes Lake Sutherland has.)

We walked along the beach, then around the rocks

Jillian and Chloe..don't they look excited to have their picture taken?

Around the corner is this beautiful view of the Deception Pass Bridge.  All along the right shore are small beaches in between the cliff-like rocks.  We were hoping to be able to explore some the next day.  They looked so secluded and peaceful.

Ben and I stayed to watch the sun set. We were hoping to wake up to glorious blue skies and spend the day basking on the beaches.  Looks promising, doesn't it?

Well, we woke up to overcast skies and chilly air.  We decided to go on a hike and hope the clouds burned off.  They did the previous day, so our hopes were still high.  

This path leads up to the Deception Pass Bridge.

Walking across the bridge was quite the experience.  The walkway is very narrow, right next to the oncoming traffic (all that separates you from the speeding cars is a narrow cable) and the bridge is about 180 feet up in the air...quite a dizzying experience looking over the edge.  

It was hard to get a good picture of the swirling water, but the currents are crazy under the bridge...exactly why it's called "Deception Pass."  It would be pretty tricky kayaking through this spot!

Ben wasn't bothered by the height too much, but Jillian didn't want to get too close.

About midway across the bridge there's an island with a walkway under the bridge so you can go over to the other side.

Here we are standing on the other side.

A view looking back the way we came.  We looked around for a few minutes, then finished our crossing and    headed back.  The trail on the Whidbey Island side continues up to Goose Rock, the highest point on Whidbey.  It was a nice 1.5 mile hike.

Ben standing on the top of Goose Rock.

The view over Whidbey Island, which would have been spectacular on a clear day...unfortunately, it looked like the clouds were thickening, not clearing up.  The lake on the right is the one at the campground.

Ben being silly on the way back down.

After we got back, we sat around the camp site for a while and had lunch.  Brooke tried her hand at splitting kindling.  She's pretty persistent.  I would have given up after the first few whacks, but she kept at it until she had a nice little pile.  By then we realized it wasn't going to get sunny, so we might as well go to the beach anyway.

The kids were very resourceful and started playing with the rocks.  They had contests to see who could built the most creative things.  They took turns being the judge and ranked each other's creations.

I think this is one of Jared's creations.  Or maybe Adana's.  I don't remember.

Jillian's foot

Baba on a motorcycle with Adana and an Orca whale created by Emma.  It was Adana's turn to be the judge and Emma was hoping to score some brownie points.  It worked!  Adana was delighted!

My beautiful rainbow.  I was really amazed at how many different colors of rocks there are.

Ben's "Angry Guy"

Jillian's sand picture of Emma, when it was Emma's turn to judge.

As we sat on the beach, this ship appeared on the horizon.  For a long time it didn't look like it was moving, but then we realized it was gradually getting closer.  Doesn't it look like a pirate ship?

Then it turned parallel to us and headed toward the bridge.  I was pretty sure it was planning to sail under the bridge and wanted to watch it, but the kids were getting bored, and hungry, and cold, so we went back to the campsite to get dinner ready.

A better perspective of how close it was to us.  

After I got dinner started, I decided to run back down and check on the ship's progress.  I made it just in time to see it go under the bridge.  I talked to some people who had been watching the whole time and they said it was really neat to see it lower it's sails as it approached the bridge.  

And there it goes, through the narrow pass.

After watching until the ship was out of sight, I went back to the site to finish up dinner.  As we were getting ready, we heard some rumbling in the sky.  At first I thought it was fighter jets from the nearby Navy base.  But then we realized it was thunder.  Then more thunder, flashes of lightning, and RAIN!  I am a true Northwesterner, but one thing I am not...a blue-tarp camper.  Rain=go home.  Brooke agreed, especially since the forecast for the next day said more of the same, no chance for sun or warmth.  We quickly started putting things away and the rain started coming down harder.  We managed to get everything shoved into the cars and rushed out to try to catch the ferry to Pt. Townsend.  Reservations are recommended, but we were counting on it not being overloaded on a Tuesday evening.  We made it with no problems, and surprised everyone at home by coming home a day early.  Deception Pass is a beautiful place, and I definitely want to camp there again when it's sunny!

Let's Get Dirty!

Have I ever mentioned that I have crazy friends who convince me to do things that are against my better judgement? Once again, they led me on an adventure I never would have considered before I met them...The Dirty Dash (a 5K obstacle course/run through the mud).  I was not only grossed out by the idea of slogging through the mud, I was worried about not being strong enough to conquer the obstacles.  "Don't worry, we'll help you!" my kind friends said.  "It will be fun!" "We'll all stick together!" "Just think of the photo ops!" were their other convincing arguments.  When we signed up for this event several months ago, it was before we knew Mariann (far right) would be moving to Texas at the end of August.  It was very fitting that this was our farewell "Fantastic Four" event.  The majority of the pictures that follow were taken by "Little Blue," Mariann's intrepid camera who has documented our many adventures over the past four years.

Here we are, excited and nervous, and CLEAN, before the start.

When I told Kylie I was going to do the Dirty Dash, she was immediately on board.  She signed up her good friend, Erin as well.  Gretchen's daughter, Julia, Brooke's son, Jared, Mariann's husband and son, Jimmy and Izaac also joined our crazy team.

Groups started the "race" every twenty minutes in heats of about 200 people.  As we all herded together at the Start line, the announcer told us it wasn't really a race since they weren't timing us.  He went over the rules, which included, "If you see someone trying to skip an obstacle, push them in the mud!" 

We were feeling a little too clean, and decided to dirty things up a bit...

Here we go!  This was the only part we really ran, for maybe 1/2 a mile at the beginning.  I was starting to think, "This isn't so bad, not too muddy..."

Then we got to the mud river, where Brooke showed her rule following abilities by trying to push down anyone in her way!

This "river" smelled disgusting!

The first of the real obstacles...

Kylie set the standard by swimming through.

A tire obstacle...not too hard...

Kylie decided she wasn't getting dirty enough,

so she face planted in the muck.

Slogging up a hill, fortunately there was a cargo net to help us up.  It was getting really muddy and slippery!

The slip and slide was a lot of fun.  Kylie was a little upset about getting washed off, though!

At the bottom of the slip and slide, about 1/2 way through the race.

This was one of the more challenging obstacles.  We had to get ourselves over about a dozen of  these slippery, slimy, plastic pipes, under which was a disgusting river of sludge.  I saw one guy swimming under the pipes, I won't say "under water" because it definitely wasn't water, but he was fully submerged.  Ewww!

The amazing thing to me was that once we were fully muddy, we loved it!

This is near the end of the course.  We had to wait in a line for the next obstacle, so we took the time to pose.

If you haven't guessed by now, Kylie LOVED being muddy!  I have a picture of her when she was about three, sitting in the dirt in front of our townhouse in Palatine, covered head to foot in dirt...she hasn't changed a bit!  If I can find the picture, I'll add it for comparison.

Jimmy and Mariann (she's chewing gum! ewww!)

I felt a lot muddier than I look.  You can't really see, but on top of my head is a solid mass of mud, thanks to my good friend Brooke.

This was a hard obstacle, too.  It was so muddy and slippery that it made it challenging to get over the top without loosing your grip.

While we waited for the final obstacle, Kylie and Julia had the brilliant idea of rolling down this hill...you can't really see it, but there's a huge rock right under Kylie's hip.  She got a massive bruise!

This was the hardest one for me...Kylie was so sweet and helped me over.

Almost to the finish, all together like we promised!

We did it!  And I had such a great time.  I'm so glad my crazy friends convinced me to loosen up and give it a try. 

Jared wasn't able to run with us because he sprained his ankle, but fortunately Kylie is a generous friend and knew he wanted to share in the mud.

Check out this pile of nastiness!  People could donate their shoes...yuck!  I took mine home and washed them.  After several power-washings, they actually got pretty clean and now they're my yard work shoes.

This is the shower area.  Kind of creepy, but I was so muddy that I didn't care.  It felt so good to spray all the muck out of every crease and crevice, well, as much as you can without fully undressing!

Another thing to check off the bucket list!  I don't know that I'll ever do another Dirty Dash, but knowing my friends, they'll come up with something equally crazy next time!