Porter's Cabin

 This weekend we went with some friends up to stay a night at their parents cabin.  We had such a good time!  Anyone ever played the game Blurt?!  I LOVE that game and want to add it to our somewhat nonexistant collection of games. =D  There were hours of intellectual talk about everything from signs of the times, to aliens, to politics, to dropping seals on a country to cause havvok...hahhaha.  Jayce said something about using seals to invade a country and I thought he was talking about the animal--I thought it was a strange strategy, but it might work.  Then they told me he meant Navy Seals.  Oops!

We were so irresponsible and stayed up until 4:30 am watching the Truman show and Independence Day.  Then, a few hours later we had a delicious breakfast of fruit and waffles.  Yum!  Short, but fun!  I'm so grateful for good friends.  I've known Lindsey and Jayce since high school in Colorado and am so glad we're all still hangin out...now with spouses! =D

Real mountain bikers

       

Look at how hard core these guys are?!  I knew I was in trouble when they started pulling out the knee and elbow pads and attaching them to the bikes for the ride down.  They are not afraid of speed!  This is Faozi and Laina, our Tahitian friends who live below us at Wymount.  They took us on a single track trail that was so narrow, the trees brush each arm as you ride!  Then occasionally, it opens up to show you the drop off on one side.  That's the part that was a mental challenge for me...as soon as I pictured myself falling toward that slope, that's exactly what I did.  I didn't fall far though and just had a few bruises.  I'll need a little more practice this season before I hit this one again.  Fun trail though!  I want to be able to do it this summer.

Two helpful tips from Faozi:  

1. Look further up the trail.  When you look down close to where you're riding, it's harder to keep your balance. 

2. When there's an obstacle coming up, be aggressive and hit it hard.  When you hesitate, you lose power.

Climbing Rock Canyon

I'm finally getting around to posting about the afternoon I spent with my friends Kristi and Maria from school.  We just went climbing on a wall up Rock Canyon right here in Provo.  It was a much needed break from studying!!  Maria was belaying me...and she's so tiny, I had to have a lot of faith in the little pulley system.  But she knew what she was doing and did a great job!  I was glad that I went first because Maria and Kristi were so fast!  I was so impressed.  Maria assured me that it's hardest to go up first because you don't have the advantage of seeing the route that someone else took.  I think she was just trying to make me feel better.  Anyway, I'm hooked and can't wait to go again!  Let's do it girls...next Friday? [Maria, send me the pic of all three of us and I'll add it to this post!]

Vacation in St. George

Darin and I hustled to finish our finals early and have some time to join Darin's sister's family (the Richards) at a condo in St. George.  Each year the Johnstons have their timeshare at a condo in St. George.  This year we weren't all able to be down there at the same time, but the Richards stayed the whole week and we got to join them an the end of the week.  We had such a fun time having their family all to ourselves!  Jamilynn and Cory are so much fun and their kids are angels!  I am in love with Tommy (don't worry, Darin knows).  He's SOOO cute!!  I wish I'd taken video of him because his personality is so fun and he says funny things all the time.  At any given moment you can say, "Who are you?" and he'll answer with "Spiderman!" or "Bumble bee" (transformers).  He says it with his nose wrinkled like it is in the picture here and with a raspy voice.  So cute!

The weather was perfect the whole week.  We went on a hike first thing.  Look at that sky!

Then we ate lunch at a little park in town where there are nice grass islands to sit and a little manmade stream for the kids to play in.  I love this picture because you can see Tommy's little crack.  His mom asked him to pull his swim suit up and he obediently pulled the legs up to expose his thighs.  Haha!  Jami just laughed and shook her head.  

Then we went to Fiesta Fun (a tradition in the Johnston family) where we did bumper boats, bumper cars, go carts, and mini golf.  The bumper boats have a fun feature--sprayers!  We all had a great time getting each other wet, but Ryan wa

s the king.  He absolutely SOAKED everyone!!

  We were drentched by the time we were done.  Good thing it was still so warm even at 7pm. Ahh...I love warm weather.

We also got to go on a few bike rides.  Darin and I found a nice little trail for riding.  So glad I married someone who loves to be outside and be active!  We have some good times!

 We also got to spend lots of time at the pool, play

 tennis in the morning and afternoon and watch movies at night.  It was a much needed break!  Now it's back to the books.  Spring term started 2 weeks ago for me and Darin's studying for the DAT.  Our trip seems like it was just a dream...

Now it's back to the books.  Spring term started 2 weeks ago for me and Darin's studying for the DAT.  Our trip seems like it was just a dream...

                        By the way, does anyone know why my text is doing this wierd spacing thing?  The big gap in the first paragraph on this post really bugs me but I can't figure out how to change it.  Advice??