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.