Picture Dump...I warned you and I'm not kidding...buckle in. Brief synopsis of pictures to be found at times.

 ***Warning not all these pictures happened in the time frame I portrayed them but I thought they made better sense if I put them where they are)

Ok, we have to start with the pictures of Jordan and Kenzie still in Provo.

Jordan and Kenzie rock climbing.  While Kenzie is still very fearful of heights, Jordan is the magic key to getting her to overcome this fear.  I guess she did quite the climb here (which I don't have a picture of) and wow, look at Jordan!  What a phenom.  Also, what did Kenzie want to do on her birthday?  Yes rock climb.  Not with Jordan, because he is out doing sales for the summer, but with Ben.  That says a lot about where Jordan and she got to.

Some cool pics of Kenzie and Jordan and their pit vipers.  I guess pit vipers are a way to spot a conservative?  Not sure about that or what that means but they seem to like them.

And of course, they were dating.  Well, I don't really think Kenzie was, but Jordan was.  Here's a picture of him with a girl he's pretty fond of right now.

What were we doing while they were finishing up college?

We were face timing them trying to get them to answer the phone and taking selfies of ourselves to show them how happy we were to be speaking with them.

We were dirtbiking and skiing, of course.  Well, not me but Brad and the boys.

We were learning (me) and teaching (Brad) how to mountain bike.

(A beautiful view on one of my mountain bike rides.)

(Brad getting ready to ride with me and teach me at the same time...which reminds me (look at those shoes and socks)

We were having fashion shows, well Brad was.

And growing mustaches as you can see all to show what a handsome dad he is and to show Riley how cool he is.

We were getting highlights in our hair for the first time in our life and taking pictures to show Kenzie how great it looked.  (Really I love it).

Oh, and the boys were going to lots of wrestling tournaments.

(and getting mullets how could I forget Riley's mullet)

This last wrestling tournament was actually in Utah and we got to visit our two favorite students while we were there and also went to see Les Mis at the Hale Center Theater because Kenzie's voice teacher was Fontine.  (Excellent production by the way).

Oh and before I forget we were also replanting some pretty cactus we found and planting some wildflowers that have bloomed wonderfully this past month.

What have we done since the Orem students have arrived home?

We dirtbiked, played in the river, mountain biked and rode dad's scooter as much as we could the week we were home.

We've looked at the stars on a warm summer night.

We've done some tough bike rides (I mean who likes to climb 3100 feet, me I guess)?

We've fought off bears (and mountain lions good job Blue)

Oh yes, and pretended we were mountain lions to scare our brother and his friend in the tree house at night (Kenzie and Brad!!!)

We've gotten our transportation taken away for being sassy and negotiated trying to get driving days back.

And we've run the animas as much as we possibly can.  This is what we look like and how we dress for the animas (really it's proof of life since I'm always taking the pictures).

Sometimes it's a clean run.

And sometimes not so clean

Let's get a closer look at that:

Lose oar:

Plug nose and get ready to fall in the river (Kenzie), High side to save the day (Dad):

Karate kick to the head of your passenger (Kenzie), duck (Dad):

Grab ankle of oarsman/woman to save the day:

Be relieved that you made it out alive:

Now, just so you know, Kenzie has run the river several times succesfully.  This was one of the unsuccesful times.  Her new mantra for life comes from the series Dune:

"I must not fear.  Fear is the mind-killer.  Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.  I will face my fear.  I will permit it to pass over me and through me.  And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.  Where the fear has gone there will be nothing, only I will remain."

Also we went on trips.

Kenzie, Jess and Anna went on a river trip themselves to Ruby Horse Thief.

Then, before this river trip, Kenzie, Ben and I went to Zion.  Yes, Ben wanted to bring Blue.

Yes, he survived even though we didn't bring Blue.

Yes, they climbed up things that looked easy but proved to be more difficult to get up just to take a cool picture.

Yes, Ben thought it would be fun to do pull-ups off of wedged trees in the narrows.

:

Yes, some holes did look like little toilets and Ben thought it would be funny to pose as if it were.

Yes, the park did lift the restrictions of the shuttle the next day and we did make it to Angel's peak and the real narrows.

Yes, Kenzie is better at posing than Ben and I.

Yes, I did have nightmares about my kids falling off the 1000+ foot cliff they were standing/laying/sitting near for these pictures the night after.

Yes I did make Ben ride a merry-go-round and he had to be forced.

Yes, he did have a smile on his face after.

Yes, this is a guitar statue made out of all recycled material.

Yes, we did watch Beauty and the Beast and I did snap pictures during the production which Kenzie informed me was illegal.

Yes, while we were at Zion, Brad, Riley and Jake were floating a high water trip on the Middle Fork of the Salmon.

Yes, they did lose the camera in the river so this is the end of the picture dump.  Phew!