Merry Christmas!

I know that I'm way behind on posts.  My dad had a hemorrhagic stroke the Monday after Thanksgiving and I've been busy caring for him and my mom this past month.  He is doing well.  There have been many blessings and miracles along the way and I have personally felt the strength of the prayers of hundreds - maybe thousands who have been praying for my dad.  We are all so grateful!

Until I actually get a chance to update the blog, here is a link to our Christmas card to you:
http://hickmanchristmas.blogspot.com/2012/12/merry-christmas-2012.html

Isaac's Halloween 2012

 Halloween is one of Isaac's favorite times of the year.  First photo is at Legacy Elementary Annual Pumpkin walk.  Isaac's elephant pumpkin is farthest right.

 A spooky face from the annual BYU English Department Social.  Isaac was the only one to accompany us this year.

Isaac as Super Mario right before we headed out trick-or-treating.  Do you recognize the Mario poses?  He was set on this costume from the moment he saw it.  Luckily Luigi was also attending Isaac's first grade class.  It was hilarious to follow Isaac around the neighborhood.  He had a definite plan for where we would and would not go.  And occasionally he would throw in one of his fabulous Mario poses or jumps. 

Sadies

Noah got to go twice this year.  Friday night, he went with Madeline to Provo's dance.  Then on Saturday, he went with Jessica to American Fork's dance.

Eighteen Years Old

When the announcement was made in General Conference last Saturday, about the change in missionary ages, I had many emotions all at the same time.  The first and most pronounced was about Noah.  In just a few sentences spoken by President Monson, I had lost a whole year with Noah.  Going on a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at age 18 instead of 19 also means giving up a year full of getting-ready plans for both of us.  Immediately gone were a Christmas vacation, two summer family vacations, and a year's worth of checking in while he adjusts to independent life.  Gone were a year's worth of mission savings, a year's worth of skills, a year's worth of gospel learning, and a year's worth of slow adjustment as he learns how to survive without his family without complete and immediate separation.

Probably adding to my angst, I recently pulled out my old journal and read about the homesickness I experienced as a new freshman at BYU.  I knew that I would soon return home, but it didn't stop the sadness from brimming over in quiet moments. There is now no gradual slow adapting to being apart in Noah's life anymore.  When  he leaves on his mission, it's going to be a band-aid ripped off quickly - and I can hardly stand to write this - stinging with missing him terribly and suddenly. 

I've already seen the wisdom of the age change in ways that I didn't initially anticipate.  Noah immediately felt the need to buckle down and get serious about reading the Book of Mormon and taking Mission Prep.  It's good for him to have this kind of focus when earlier it was so easy to push it away to another day.  I do know that leaving at age 18 is only an option, but Noah has let me know that he fully intends to aim for that early date.  He's already embraced the change and is making new plans.

Thankfully, I have another year and a half to refocus and try to make the most of all the moments before he leaves.  Well, it's not really a year and a half.  He can send in his papers as soon as January of 2014, which means preparations will be well on their way months before then.  We'll probably already have a lot done a year from now - doctors and dentists already visited and recommendations written.

I have specific intentions to increase our efforts here at home.  I think we'll map out the few remaining family home evenings that we have with purposeful activities and lessons (haven't we been doing that already?).  Christmas gifts will probably be things like luggage and suits from here on out.  But everything can't be about a mission yet.  Once-in-a-lifetime experiences like prom, college applications, grades and friends still have to be experienced and enjoyed. Hopefully we can help him to squeeze it all in so he can remember these moments, too.

Now I've just got to figure out how to adjust to the new normal and be okay with letting go a little earlier than I had planned.  Suggestions?

General Relief Society Meeting

 

   [Amy, Mom, Laurel, Me] 

I loved being with my mom and sisters (missing Vickie and Julie) at the recent General Relief Society Broadcast.  I'm secretly hoping that my mom continues to get tickets during the time while they serve in the temple so we can go every year!

Brigham City Temple Dedication

What a special, beautiful day!  We traveled to Brigham City where we were able to attend the third session of the Brigham City Temple Dedication.

I feel like this is my own personal temple because it was built in my hometown where I lived from when I was 3 years old.  My Grandpa Coombs was the principal at Central Elementary which once sat where the temple now stands.  The temple is full of local flavor which continually reminds me of home.  The decor is graced with peach blossoms and local landscapes and history.  There is also a painting of a woman picking apples (in the NE stairway) that resembles my Grandma Tams.  It could be Grandma picking Wolf River apples with a purple ribbon in her hat.

This last June, my parents were called to be in the Brigham City temple presidency.  The temple has become even more my own because of this.  For months, we've heard stories about the construction, design, open house and cultural celebration preparations.  My parents were our own private tour guides as we walked the halls of the temple open house.  It has been a privilege to be a part of it, even if it has mostly been through my parent's experiences.

Because my parents spoke during the third session, Trent, Noah, Jonah and I were able to be seated in the fourth row of the Brigham City Temple Celestial Room.  Kevin and Amy, Vickie and Calvin, Laurel, Nathan, Jackson, and Holly (my siblings and their families - We missed Julie and Joe who weren't able to attend) were also there with us.  My dad was the first speaker and my mom followed.  They both did such a great job!  I was so proud of them.  They both testified with power.

My parents were followed by Elder L. Tom Perry, Elder William Walker, President Boyd K. Packer, and then the dedicatory prayer written by President Packer, but read by Elder Russell Nelson.  Singing The Spirit of God and then participating in the Hosanna Shout there in the Celestial Room was a singular, tender experience.  The connection to my past and to this area was particularly strong as I used my handkerchief that I inherited from Grandma Coombs (in fact it still has a little of her lipstick that hasn't washed off) for the Hosanna Shout.

It was wonderful to be with my family and feel the spirit of family and of the temple.  It was a really great day!

Homecoming

Noah and I went out together for his first date after he turned 16.  But this past weekend was his first real date-that-wasn't-with-mom.  He took Ellie to Homecoming.  It sounds like they had a great time: picnic and hiking, sushi at Koi, dancing, ice cream and pictures.  He was all smiles.

 L to R: Craig, Heather, Spencer, EmmaLee, Kyle, Alec, Noah, Ellie, Kirsten, Ben

 

(Pictures by Tabitha Sumsion)

Jonah - Cross Country (2012)

Here are Jonah's stats:


Summer Running: 213 miles

Steel Days - 20.46 (5k)
11th in his age division
Link

Grass Relays - 13.13 (2 miles)
Fresh/Soph (102 out 260)
Link

Region (AFHS) - 20.21 (5k)
All boys - 87th out of 151
Link

Jonah at Lakeside Park (Utah County Invitational)

Utah County Invitational - 19.01 (3 miles)
Frosh/Soph - 65 out of 162
Link 

Soldier Hollow Invitational - 20.17 (3 miles on hills)
Fresh/Soph (28th out of 145)
Link

Salem Hills Invitational - 20.28 (3.25 miles) [3 mile conversion would be 18.54 which is a PR]
Fresh/Soph (39th out of 203)
Link

Westlake Invitational - 18.45 (3 miles)
JV (70th out of 248)

Region IV Championships - 19:03 (5k)
JV (29th out 115)

Jonah's team won the state championship!

PreFootlocker - 18:52 (5k)
All ages - 73rd out of 

Labor Day 2012

Noah and Isaac

We spent Labor Day morning at Five-Mile Pass with Alena, Jay, Charlie and Tammy Short.  Isaac was so excited to go that he wanted to sleep in his clothes so he would be right ready to go this morning.  It was fun to ride in a designated area with paths and hills and plenty of mud. We all got pretty dirty, but were glad for the experience and the good company.  We finished off the day together with ribs and corn-on-the-cob. 

Hickman Reunion

 Carousel at Colorado Mills

IRON CHEF COMPETITION

Mandatory Ingredients:  Nilla Wafers and Lime

Inspiration: The Olympics

 Cake roll with coconut cream pie filling and lime curd.

The winners: 

Strawberries on an almond/nilla wafer crust with a lime sauce and lime-infused whipped cream on top.

Da Lime and Da Coconut Bars (modified to include nilla wafers in the crust).  

Recipe from LDS Living Magazine bar contest.

Indoor Skydiving

 Jonah

 Jonah

 Noah

 Noah

 Jonah

Wendy

While at our Hickman reunion, we all went indoor skydiving.  It was so much fun!  But it wasn't what I had expected.  There was never a feeling of being weightless.  Instead, it was more like swimming.  The air currents were so strong that they seemed to have substance - and it was trickier that you might think to navigate through the air.  Mostly we tried to hold still.  Our instructor, Kiwi, was amazing and able to do tricks in the column of air.

Mount Rushmore Vacation (Day Three)

Are these photos messing with your mind?  Turning into these optical-illusion homes at the Cosmos literally made your head spin.  The homes were built on angles and water and balls seemed to roll up hill.  It was a little pricey for a 30 minute tour, but we'd heard that teenagers like it - which ours definitely did.  We still aren't sure how some of the optical illusions worked.

After seeing the Cosmos, we headed to see Crazy Horse (from the road) and then started south to Denver.

On our way to Denver, we passed through Fort Laramie.  My grandmother Hannah Middleton Hawkey Sinfield lost her 14 year old stepson, James here.  He died somewhere in the vicinity.  I was hoping for some idea of where he might have been buried, but the ranger indicated that there were thousands of bodies buried within a 5 mile radius of the Fort and that only 8 were identified (the ranger's best guess was that he would have been buried out beyond the trees in the second picture).  We did learn that Hannah and her little family wouldn't have been allowed inside the Fort except to see the doctor and purchase items from the general store. 

Mount Rushmore Vacation (Day Two)

Custer, South Dakota

So, we inadvertently scheduled our vacation during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.  Entire cities had created special parking and events for the thousand of cyclist in the area.  Luckily, Isaac never tired of seeing them and even as we wrapped up our stay in South Dakota, he was still cheering every time he saw another motorcycle.

 The Needles - Scenic Drive

 The last tunnel, perfectly framing Mount Rushmore as we drove through.

Mount Rushmore's Fifth Face.

After a stay in Casper, Wyoming, we drove through Custer, South Dakota and onto a scenic drive that took us through the needles and onto Keystone where we had expensive, but good, pizza.  After a perfectly-timed rainstorm, we made our way back to Mount Rushmore.  Afterwards, we continued on to Hill City to stay the night. 

Brigham City Temple Open House

My parents are currently serving in the Presidency of the new Brigham City Temple.  It's really the perfect call for them, given their many years of weekly service in the local temples.  It has been a particularly special experience as they have been able to also participate in all the events preceding the opening of this temple.

We were glad to be able to have a personal tour, given by my parents, at the Brigham City Temple.  I loved the peach blossoms found throughout the temple in the carpets, chairs, ceilings, lamps and door knobs.  I loved the fruit orchards planted on the temple block.  I loved the local feel of the temple, including the artists and their artwork.  The landscapes were so reminiscent of my own home-town, growing-up mountain views.  I especially loved the pictures of the two women gathering peaches (and apples).  I think my most favorite part of the temple were the ceilings.  The blue tiles created an multifaceted impressionistic feeling of sky.  As you progressed through the rooms, eventually there were branches full of blossoms painted over those blue tiles and ultimately beautiful, full open blossoms on the ceilings of the sealing rooms.  It reminded me of the Japanese cherry blossom paintings - but I'm pretty sure they were peaches.

The temple had a wonderful spirit.  I'm so excited that my parents will be able to spend the next three years in this beautiful building.  If you know my parents and would be interested in seeing them, they will be speaking in the third session (3:00 p.m.) of the temple dedication on September 23.  What an amazing experience!

Mount Rushmore Vacation (Day One)

 Lots of driving ahead of us.  Day one:  American Fork to Casper, Wyoming.

These two pictures above were taken at Martin's Cove, near Devil's Gate in Wyoming.  I had two grandmothers, Caroline Brenchley, who was in the Hunt Company, and Hannah Middleton Hawkey Sinfield, who was in the Martin Company with her two young daughters, who would have been here during the terrible storm that killed so many of their company on the plains of Wyoming.

There was a powerful spirit here.  Noah described it as feeling like you were in the temple.  The bottom picture is the south side of the cove, which seemed to me the most likely location to get shelter from a storm.

 

Independence Rock.  The pioneers called it this because if you make it this far by Independence Day, you knew you would make it to the valley before the winter storms hit.  We walked to the left (north) of the rock to see many names carved into the rock.  Many were much more modern than the pioneers.  I would have like to walk all the way around, but we were being eaten by the mosquitoes and horseflys.

1st Grade

Isaac on the right (in red).

Isaac started first grade this week.  It's strange not having him home.  I especially start to feel it around noon when he would have arrived home after kindergarten last year.  I haven't been particularly sad - I was 8 years ago when Jonah started first grade.  This all feels like a bonus round to me.  I am just having to get used to a new normal.  But I absolutely LOVE picking up this cute boy who breaks into the biggest smile and starts running and waving when he sees me wave to him from the car.  What a way to be greeted!

Jonah - XC Grass Relays

Jonah ran his best two mile time ever:  13:13 (and that was while jumping over big bales of hay).  Wish I would have taken the camera.

Jonah's First 5K

Pictures from Timo Mostert

Jonah was 11th overall in his age division at the Steel Days Bob Phelps 5k - his first ever.  That's not too bad considering several in that group were on the team that took 6th in nationals last year.  Now he has a time to beat: 20:46!  He broke his personal mile best by keeping his splits below 7 minutes.

Jonah - Cross Country

Pictures by Timo Mostert

Jonah is running on the AFHS Cross Country Team this year.  Right now he is running more than 30 miles a week.  The coaches make it fun and send the kids to different destinations like Sliding Rock (top).  Jonah just returned from the high-altitude training camp (bottom two) up AF Canyon.  Tomorrow he'll run his first 5K.