Hike through Romann Forest...10 miles...3 hours

I LOVE this picture of "The Colonel" Jordan has a FOREST! And it smells fresh like it should and it is beautiful!
I haven't seen so many trees since I've been here!

stopping for a much needed water break :)

Jared needed to plan a 10 mile hike for a merit badge, but having girls along for the hikes is not a Lance family tradition. I convinced them to let me tag along ;) Lane seemed pretty worried about it, I don't know what he was thinking, like he might have to drag me up and down the mountain? Pah-leese! I am one good hiker if I do say so myself. At the beginning the guys stopped for a sec, but I kept going, so then Lane is all "Get up there boys! C'mon we can't let a girl beat us" Oh no he didn't! So of course my pride wouldn't let me stay behind. I had to stay ahead of the gang most of the time after that :)

After about three miles Lane (who is behind me) shouts ahead, "Man Courtenay you got long legs!" I know right? SO funny to me because he was all talk about me not being able to keep up and everything. Whatever. But... then I ate my words when we climbed straight up a ravine. Long legs don't do much but slow you down there, man such a killer, I KNOW I'm going to be feeling this tomorrow! And Jared, who had a harder time on the trail was like a little mountain goat scurrying up the mountain :) Good job Jared-o!

What an enthusiastic trooper! Such a happy face!

Jeremy, happy as a lark :)
LaneThe "men"

To pass the time while we were hiking along we played the "the first word that comes to mind when I say____ game" It's pretty entertaining to partake of the thought process of these two "Dingle-heimers" as Lane calls them :) So I would think of a word, say Chocolate, and Jared would say the first word (noun) that comes to mind...milky-way, and Jeremy would say...stars, and I would say constellations, and so on and on the game goes, for like an hour and a half:)

SO SO STRONG!

So Lane advised us to lay on a rock and elevate our feet so we could drain the blood out of our feet and into the rest of our body. I looks pretty funny, but works great

Also, Lane has made up some pretty good songs to sing along the trail, all in his funny old-timey cowboy singin voice..."Don't let your body git the best of yer mind....and on and on :)" I got a video of it, I'll try to post later, but it's pretty funny!

SO beautiful! This part reminded me of home :)

Lane is always giving Jeremy grief about how low he wears his pants, I call him SAGGY bottom boy...
This is Jared with his walking stick / sword / light saber / bazooka / gun
This kid has such a good imagination ;)We had fun singing and playing games to pass the time on the trail

I AM SO COOL rocking my LONG SOCKS and SHORTS..I know I know, maybe a fashion faux-paw, just DON'T tell the FaSh!oN Police!

On the way home we were cruisin to some SAWEET tunes! When Lane finds one he likes, he makes me write it down so I can add it to his ipod. You can tell it's one he likes cause he starts dancing in his seat, tappin his thumbs on the steering wheel...it's pretty comical to watch, again I do have a video of it, but I don't know how to load it...if someone wants they can teach me:)

We also got into a traffic jam (big surprise) and a group of abut six Jordanian guys were in their OLD van, laughing so hard at us dancing in the car, and singing along. We decided to make friends, and share our music, Lance turned it WAY up and they started dancing too :) There were also some kids hanging out of their car window waving, laughing and dancing. What a great start to the day :)

My Hero

This is John. I love John more than life. John is my sweet husband. John is Brave, and really strong and the best shooter on his team, he even got a special gun since he's so good. He's way smart and fixes all the computers on the compound or unit or something. He speaks Arabic and is an interrogator. He has a mean face (He says though I've never seen it). John loves our Country and the people in it, and he knows the army needs good men who hold the priesthood to fight over there, he is my Captain Moroni. He is a good man. I'm glad he can serve all of us, and keep our freedoms in tact by finding the "Bad-Guys" and stopping them from attacking Afghani's and Americans.

John is my very best friend. Since he's been gone we've learned to communicate better and differently. Its fun to get to know him through written letters, and I love writing him letters sprayed with perfume and lip-gloss kisses on the back. I also get to hear his voice on the phone a couple times a week, and we get to chat online often. I miss him like crazy, and I feel empty without him here by my side. Especially experiencing all these things here without him is a bummer.

John is like the coolest human I know. John is a very good cook, way better than me! He's also good at fixing stuff, and surfing, and diving, and he even speaks American Sign Language AND he's WAY good at Yo-yo-ing! He writes cute letters and likes to camp, and be outside, he's really good with cars, and even better with Kids. He's so dreamy. ;) I just miss him a lot sometimes.

We are really blessed though, because time is still moving, and he is safe, and doing good thinsg and working hard. I'm working hard too, but also playing hard :)

I honestly feel like the happiest luckiest girl in the world. I hope every girl feels like that. John makes me laugh, sometimes so hard I cry. He is so funny. He is also very romantical, and way good at gift giving, really so smart in the jewelry department especially! We are in love. I cannot even wait till he comes home. Theres a lot we take for granted when we're together...things like holding hands at church-that I hope I never take for granted again. He comes home in February as long as everything goes as planned. I can't wait to have him by my side again!!! I pray every day that he will be safe and have the spirit with him to warn him of danger, so he can come back to me. I have so much appreciation for all men and women who serve, and their families. It can be really lonely.

Anyway, here's to you babe, my very best friend, my soul mate and my true love.

By the way, I updated the last day of Jerusalem, but it showed up before the post about Scooter, so scroll down to read about the Temple Mount and Hezekiahs tunnel

To the newest Eagle Scouts...

I am so proud of my little brother! He is an Eagle Scout! Yeah!

Scooter, I couldn't be prouder to be your big sis. You are an amazing kid! I admire your strength and virtue. Dude man, you did it! I want everyone to know what a rare gem you are... and the people you serve on your mission will be SO lucky! Keep rockin it, Springfield style. Love you man, and I am SO excited to play at Christmas.

Also, the other six boys who got their eagle, PROPS! Awesome.
I will tell you that being married to an Eagle Scout means so much to me, and your future wives will so appreciate the honor you hold, and the sweet skills.

If you wanna watch a video from the register guard about the Court of honor, click the link...

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1407952690/bclid1387524738/bctid2389440001


Can I get a wa-waT for the Boy Scouts of America?! Yeah! Way to go Scoot!

Jerusalem Day Four November 6

The last day in Jerusalem went to the temple mount (finally) and to the City of David. There are a whole lot of pictures, so I'll try to explain each one, ENjOY!!!

Our swanky hotel...

First, our hotel...this was my room, it looks nice-ish...but the beds were short, and the double is just 2 singles pushed together LOL! And the bed is on the floor, no bed frame or anything...weird!

The Temple Mount

Set on Mount Moriah, home of the place where Abraham brought Isaac for sacrifice, and where the original temple as well as King Herod's temple lived, And where the Dome of the Rock is now as well as the Al Aksa Mosque.

In front of the Al Aksa Mosque

This is a funny pic because it captures what I was often doing while we were stopped for a small water break or something...STRETCHING!!! Man after three days doing nothing but walking around, even with great shoes, it's a killer! I was pretty sore! But, for the record, definitely worth it!

The only carved dome like this in the world...I don't know if you can even tell how ornate it is, but it's pretty fabulous.

One set of arches approaching the Dome fo the Rock

I never knew the Dome of the rock was SO decorated! The top half of it is covered in painted tiles, they are So detailed and so gorgeous!



An entryway, we weren't allowed inside...I can only imagine what it looks like inside! I mean judging by the exterior, the inside has got to be pretty stellar!

Top of the dome. The domes have some symbolism with the moon..."holding" the St. Mary's Roman Orthodox church

View of a church and the city through an arch
Once there were real statues here...we're just re-enacting ;)

It was once said that on this spot right in the middle was the center of the Universe...What's that I am the Center of the Universe!? Awesome.

This dome of the Center of the universe was beautiful!

The ceiling of the dome

Jenni= Photo-diva

Behind me is the BYU-Jerusalem Center

The City of David and Hezekiah's Tunnel

This is the entrance to the city of David

We took a tour of the city (it's small) and watched a 3-D movie to begin the tour, we are SO rockin these shades!

I know I look special in this shot, but I was really giddy about going down to the tunnel!These are ruins from the retaining wall/fortress that was once the side of the palace.

Interesting, The guide asked us all if we knew what this was...I had seen loads of these that were olive presses so I volunteered my answer, boy was I wrong, it's the COMMODE aka Toilet...ancient toilet. Apparently you can discover a lot about people by their waaay old poo...and these people's leavings tell us that they ate weeds, and farm animals, like cattle stock, but that they ate them raw. They ate weds and their animals because they were cut off from food sources. Dandelions anyone? Going down to the tunnels, and approaching Hezekiah's tunnel soon! SO COOL!

This is for Sarah, if you ever look at my blog, these are REAL live archaeologists excavating more and more ruins and sifting through these places for artifacts. AMAZING!
Here we go, and I KNOW I look fab with my head lamp on my head, sadly look below, nobody told me my bangs were parted so ridonkulously! It's totally cool though, I look way more rugged right?

Okay I know this is a booty shot kind of, BUT the point is to illustrate the entrance of Hezekiah's tunnel, it was freezing water at first, but it was fresh and clean at least because it was from the spring.

The deepest part of the tunnel, thigh high, actually a LOT higher for Jenni ( I have a few inches up on her) At the beginning it was very cold and deep, but then in got much more bearable and much more shallow:)
Being in the tunnel was crazy, it was tiny in some parts, and pretty tall in some, I bonked my had a few too many times though. Down the tunnel, all carved out, I just can't even describe, it was SO cool! It took about 35 minutes to tromp through the tunnel.

Outside of the tunnel, and standing on was was once pillars, since destroyed.

Getting more history from our guide, he was very cool, and was a professor or something at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is also an Archaeologist and was telling us about a tunnel they found only a WEEK prior to our visit! There is still SO MUCH to discover here!

On our way in a TAXI back to Jordan

This is the city Jericho from the roadOn the bus...ipods+tunes=happiness