MORE RANDOM PICTURES FOUND

This is our crew as juniors/seniors at Alhambra High School in 1992. It was a fun group of girls. I'll start from bottom, left to right: Stephanie Hunt, Gabi Pentecost, Kate Malay, Tauna Campbell, Kathleen Ashton, Leslie Ingallina, April Groskopf, Jaki Marksbury, Carrie Boland, Me, Sarah Warner, Marci Cordova, Staci Green. Missing are Julie Rohlfing, Jennie Vargas, Vicki Trumble, Pam Durazo, Rita Hernandez. Most of these girls I went to elementary school with too. I have stayed in touch with my dear childhood friends, Kathleen and Kate. Facebook has helped the rest of us stay in touch.

This was a page that we took out in our senior yearbook dedicated to all of us and our memories together.

This is my 8th grade graduation picture. I am on the bottom row, 2nd from the left. My mom made that dress, just as she made all of my formal dresses, including my wedding dress.

Bella reminds Courtney, my sister, and me a lot of Courtney. Courtney did this side-by-side comparison.

This is my childhood home in Phoenix. It was at the end of a cul-de-sac on a huge lot. We moved there the summer I turned 5, and moved away after I graduated high school, the summer I turned 18. I loved this house - especially all the memories it holds. I bawled the day I drove away in my 1977 Honda Civic and waved goodbye to my parents and younger siblings as they drove off to Snowflake. To prove how much I dislike change, the first home that Rob and I owned was this EXACT model in Tempe.

This was the Haag's house, right next door. They had Matt and Mike, who was my age. We had so much fun with them growing up. I still tell my kids stories about all of us neighborhood kids.

This is Christmas of 2009. My dear sisters-in-law, Lora and Pam.

This is a picture of my brother, Nathan, in action playing football at ASU. He received all kinds of accolades and was even drafted by the Cardinals. He was/is an unbelievable athlete and I was always so proud to be his sister.

Senior year at Alhambra - Spring Fling Dance, Spring 1992. Bottom, left to right: Leslie Ingallina, Jennie Vargas, Gabi Pentecost, April Groskopf, Stephanie Hunt, Julie Rohlfing, Kate Malay, Kathleen Ashton, and me.

High school graduation, May 1992. I was honored to speak at our graduation ceremony.

My senior prom, April 1992. Jerry Hahn, a longtime friend from the ward I grew up in, was my date. Once again, my mom made my dress. I absolutely LOVED it!! Pictured: Tauna Campbell, Kathleen Ashton, Me, Leslie Ingallina, Stephanie Hunt, April Groskopf, Kate Malay, Gabi Pentecost.

RANDOM PICTURES FOUND

I've stumbled across these random pictures on my laptop and thought I would make little notes about what they are all about. They are completely random and out of order and I will do my best to remember dates.

This one above is in Maui in May of 2005. Gage was not quite one and we took him along with some friends to Hawaii for about a week. We are at the top of a volcano, Mount Haleakala, where they do bike rides at sunrise down the volcano. It was beautiful at the top. Notice how happy and unsuspecting we look in this picture. What we didn't know was we were about to experience one of the most terrifying moments of our lives. We all were in these rainsuits with helmets and placed in line according to size. The guys, of course, were all in the back of the line. Our guide was in front and kept reminding us to maintain a minimum speed of 18mph. The ride was difficult, at best, because it was steep, fast switchbacks all the way down. Zig then zag, then zig and zag again. We shared this small road with all the traffic, including lots of oncoming traffic. On our left was oncoming cars and on our right was pure sky. There were no guard rails - just a death drop off the mountain. My friend, Kim, was just in front of me and I could tell she was struggling. After about 9 or 10 switchbacks, she started to lose control. I yelled to her to put her brake on, but she couldn't stop in time and I watched as she plummeted to what I was sure was her death. I let out a blood-curdling scream that was sort of out-of-body and came from way down inside my guts. It lasted about 30 seconds. All the others heard the scream and knew something terrible had happened, but didn't see it and couldn't tell which of the yellow rainsuits was missing. I threw my bike down and ran to the edge, positive I was going to see her still free-falling. But just at that spot there was a slower graded cliff and she was about 30 feet down, safe and sound. She was beaten up and definitely shaken up, but overall ok. Rob and I were happy to ride in the van with her the rest of the way down. I couldn't stop trembling and was not about to get back on my bike. At the bottom of the volcano, when there was about 4 miles left, Rob and I got back out and finished it out. We were all so grateful that she was ok. I can promise that I will never do that again.

This picture was taken in April 2010 at the Mother/Daughter Enrichment night for Gilbert 2nd Ward. This is Bella with Carlee Johansson.

We went camping at Blue Ridge Reservoir in the summer of 2010 with our friends Chrystie and Kevin Penrod and Amy and Leif Johansson. There was a fire tower close by that is difficult to describe just how high it was. Gage could not even go up the first flight of stairs because of his intense fear of heights. We tried to coax him, but he was literally shaking. Not Bella. Before we even knew it, she was already at the top. There must be at least 20 flights of stairs that are open-faced stairs. She ran back down and right back up again. She is fearless. I must admit that I was intimidated by how high it was too. She is pictured here with Leif and Carlee Johansson.

This picture was taken at a cabin we rented in June of 2010 in Pinetop. It was so beautiful there, especially when it rained. The kids loved to play outside in the rain.

All of this group of pictures are courtesy of our nieces: Chloe, Annaliese and Lily. We all adore them and wish they either lived with us or lived closer. They are so much fun and play with the little ones so well. They are 19, 16, and 11 and that doesn't stop them from being silly with the kids. I love that about them.

This is Gage at about age 3 with his buddy, Lincoln Johnson.

Here he is again with Lincoln and his cousins.

I can't figure out how to move this picture to the top. I'm a blog dummy. Anyway, this is pre-death bike ride. Once again, look at our smiling faces. We have no idea what is about to happen. This is my good friend, Kim Johnson, whom I went to high school with and she just happened to marry one of Rob's friends. Thankfully, she is still alive to this day.

FATHERS

We are driving down a bumpy dirt road (which, by the way, is not super comfy when you're huge and pregnant) with our three kiddos and the hubby thinks it's hilarious to frighten our unsuspecting children by pretending to see a bear. They give him the exact reaction he wanted confirmed by his satisfied smirk and I asked, "Why do you do that? Do you like to hear them cry and whine?" His answer: "Because that's what Dads do." And you know what? He's right.

It brought back a flood of memories of my own Dad doing just those kind of things. I shared a room with my two sisters, right next to my parents' bedroom. Hours after we had gone to bed, all the lights out, a figure resembling my Dad creeps into our room holding a flashlight shining upwards under his chin. He was making a scary noise that can best be described as, "muuuuwwwwaaaaa". We screamed in terror and he laughed and laughed as he kept inching toward our beds. I knew it was him and yet I was still frightened. This little scare tactic never got old to him and we never got over our fear, even though experience should have taught us better. What is it about dads that make them get such a kick out of torturing their kids in this way? Or maybe it's just my Dad and my husband who do this?? I doubt it.

The thing is, these are my fondest memories of my Dad growing up. The times when he was scaring us, or getting on the floor wrestling with us, or balancing us on one hand while lying on his back, giving us piggy-back rides, or horse rides - this is what I remember most. I think fathers have this keen ability to become childlike and relate to their kids on their own level. It really is a gift. I love to see my Dad continue these traditions with my little ones and it really makes me appreciate how goofy and silly my husband is with the kids.

Because I know they will remember and cherish those goofy moments, just as I have.

Happy Father's Day to all you crazy, torturous, scream-inducing Dads!