Busy Busy BUSY

I have been up here at school for a couple of weeks. So when I signed up for school I thought it would be a good idea to take 18 credits. Well I have definitely learned how to work hard. I have been waking up every morning at 7AM, going running, doing scripture study, leave for classes, and do homework until 7PM if I am lucky. I am on my ward's Frisbee team and I also take a mountaineering class where I am gone every weekend to go hike up a huge mountain! I also teach a class called Abs That Rock on Monday and Wednesday nights at 10. An hour of nothing but abs! I am not complaining at all! I love being busy and feeling like I have accomplished something at the end of the day. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed, but if I am doing all the right things I know that everything is going to work out, and it ALWAYS does!

So this last weekend we went on a hike called Bell Mountain and the weekend before was Teewinot. There is this boy in my class, we will call him Jimmy. Well Jimmy is a little slower and bigger. We go on hikes that are HARD. Whenever we would get to some harder stuff I noticed that Jimmy would fall quite a ways behind. A couple of friends and I would stay behind with him and help him through it. I have never seen someone more commited and hard working than he was. Jimmy had a brain tumor and also had cancer. I did not know this when I started hiking up this trail. It was amazing to see him litterally pull himself up rocks through snow and bleeding cuts. He truly was an inspiration. Half way up Teewinot he decided to stay behind and let us go up to the top. Well while waiting down there another couple came up and the girl didn't want to go to the top either. She stayed down where Jimmy was. Jimmy was able to have a gospel discusion with this girl and shared his testimony with her. It is amazing to see how nothing can get Jimmy down and he is still able to share his testimony with others. NEVER once in any of the hard hikes did I ever hear Jimmy complain about anything! I need to be more like him.

Here are some pictures:

This is Teewinot. We started at the trail in the corner and went to the very top

On top of Teewinot, that's the Grand in the background!

Bell mountain at sunset

Sunset on Bell mountain

Table Rock overnighter!

I am in a mountaineering class and yesterday we went on a hike by the Teton Mountain range up a trail called Table mountain. We slept out on top for a night! The view was amazing! We hiked up for 7 hours and got up to the top just before the sun went down. We all got on our warm clothes and made our dinners. After eating we got in bed and our teacher read us the most depressing bedtime story ever... Everyone on the mountain climb died. Good way to start off the freezing night i know! Well we fell asleep for a little while and then our tarp randomly flew off. Well Dustin and I were wide awake so we ended up talking for a couple hours while eating starburts! Rick came in and out of sleep... supposedly a mouse was trying to steal his hat! Well we fell asleep eventually and the next thing I knew it was just before sunrise! It was amazingly beautiful! After breakfast we practiced sliding in the snow with ice axes and then practiced falling and stopping ourselves with the axes! Then we hiked out to inspiration point which was so inspirational! :) After we hiked down singing... yes singing the whole way! It was such a fun trip and nice to get away from the stresses of school for a night! Now to get back to work!

hiking up

Rick is so happy!

We slept on top of that flat platue

The trail and resting point!

Dustin, Jess, me and Rick

Be serious...

It looks flat... it wasn't!

Just before the top

Almost there!

Rick on the top!

We made it!

The Grand!

Me begging Rick not to sacrifice me off the cliff

Sunset

Rick with his sucker

our camp... yes there was cliffs on both sides!

The scary lightning cloud, but it didn't get us!

Me in the sunset!

Sunrise!!

Shadows from the Tetons

Inspiration Point

The edge of Inspiration Point!

Friends Ride 2009

Since I was little my family has gone on week camping trips every summer. We used to go to the state ride, but that got to be too big and we decided to split off with 2 other families and make what we call the "Friends Ride"! It started with 3 families and has grown every year and now there are more than 13 families and I don't even know how many people! It is always something I look forward to every year when I get to go camping and riding with my friends!

This was "the big ride"

Skylar and I with dirty faces!

Only girl! (My sister would have been there, but she had to go home for a wedding reception!)

Super Excited!

My dad, Skylar, and I at one of the lakes

The Men

Jake, Me, Skylar

Taking a break and eating lunch! 70 miles in!

Another break!

A river we rode through

At the river. We were all dying of heat!

Fixing a flat tire on the trail.

Amy on the swing

Sammy's favorite thing to do while camping

Sklyar and Mike

Skylar, Mike, and Danielle

Catching air

Amy

The whole group!

My family

The slow bike races!

Wheely competition

Best part of camping!