Lake Powell

Lake Powell has forever been my favorite place. I think I went there while I was still in my mother's womb and have returned nearly every summer since.
It's the perfect vacation spot- hot sun, nice sandy beaches, waterskiing, boating, hiking, cliff jumping, fishing and beautiful scenery!!
Plus- food always tastes especially good down there for some reason!


Here's some pics from our time there in July with my family.


Bruce's morning activities.

Slick making the long plunge.

and Bruce's nice catches of the day!

We tried to climb up these cool little steps up the cliff. Bruce made it and jumped off but I couldn't make it up more than four- it was super steep, I don't know how that mountain goat made it all the way up!

Our favorite hike: West Canyon. It's a slot canyon where you have to swim through little pools and wedge yourself up through the narrow walls. It's so pretty and the little pools are always freezing. There's lots of cute tiny frogs up this canyon that we caught.

The boys entertainment- chipping golf balls into the fishing net. I don't know if anyone ever hit it.

Ah, the best!!



Me and the Bruceski and Glen Canyon Dam

Cha-ching!!

What would you pay for this peacock blue beauty? It's made by Tulle clothing and retails for about $120.
So would you believe me that I got it for one dolla?!! You should, because it's the truth. I must give credit where credit is due: Bruce spotted it at our favorite undisclosed market.

Now that's shopping at it's best! I couldn't have been more proud. It gives me one thing to look forward to for the cooler weather- but it's pretty much the only reason, okay and maybe Halloween.

It is finished

"Objectivism holds that reality exists independent from consciousness; that individual persons are in contact with this reality through sensory perception; that human beings can gain objective knowledge from perception through the process of concept formation; that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness through acting in one's "rational self-interest"; that the only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual rights, embodied in pure, consensual laissez-faire capitalism; and that the role of art in human life is to transform man's widest metaphysical ideas, by selective reproduction of reality, into a physical form—a work of art—that one can comprehend and respond to."

Ayn Rand is mind behind this theory of objectivism and portrays it in The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. I just finished reading Atlas Shrugged and LOVED IT!! I love her and her novels- they are amazing! I feared I wouldn't love Atlas Shrugged as much as I loved The Fountainhead but I did, and I couldn't even decide which I love more. After reading such a lengthy book like that it feels weird when it just ends. I miss Hank.
Here's a link to a quote from it on Candice's new up and running blog. Rand also is all about capitalism, and so is Candice. That and Conan.

The Bruce

Bruce Willis


Bruce Lee


Bruce Springsteen


Bruce R. McConkie


Bruce, the Great White Shark


Robert the Bruce


My Bruce



Quite a name to live up to, eh?
It's my third time receiving the "husband tag" and I can ignore it no longer- give the people what they want. It comes at no surprise to me, both male and female alike develop crushes on this fine lad after talking with him for just a short time. I'm not jealous of his popularity- it actually only brings me up and makes me look cooler as "Bruce's Wife." He's very lovable.


1. What is his name? Bruce Thomas Dickson
2. Who eats more? I won't deny it- I've never been known to say no to good cooking, but when it really comes down to it, he probably does eat more.
3. Who said I love you first? The Bruce
4. Who is taller? He.
5. Who is smarter? Oh, we both have our strengths- I don't hold a candle to his politics and government knowledge and he only laughs at me when I complain about getting a B.
6. Who is more sensitive? Probably Snee but he's not too far off.
7.Who does the laundry? Splitski
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Facing the bed- it's Bruce
9. Who pays the bills? Splitski
10. Who cooks more? Um, slight margin towards me..maybe? I really enjoy cooking and love to when I have the time, but that there is the key. He can always whip up a tasty surprise and no one makes a better grilled cheese!
11. What meals do you cook together? Breakfast foods, this really tasty summer pasta/veggie dish that we invented and also the perfect grilled sandwich (not cheese) that we'd make all the time while dating.
12. Who is more stubborn? Oops, sorry Bruce- definitely me!
13. Who is the first to admit they're wrong? We're actually both good about it!
14. Who has more siblings? Uh, is that even a question? Bruce has 7 brothers, 5 sisters, I have 1 sister, 3 bros.
15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? One person per leg.
16. What do you like to do together? Traveling, boating/waterskiing, hiking & camping, delivering his Table & Chair jobs ;), reading (may sound weird but we both love reading and can just be content sitting by each other and loving a good book), etc.
17. Who eats more sweets? Guilty
18. Guilty pleasures? Dark chocolate milk chugs, yes we had them at our wedding for this reason.
19. How did you meet? Singles Ward crush takes the challenge to woo one of the few girls not hot on his trail. He wins.
20. Who asked who out first? The Bruce.
21. Who kissed who first? McCall set us up for it and Bruce kept talking to me INCHES away from my face, the tease! So I finally broke the ice.
22. Who proposed? Does a girl ever really propose?!
23. His best features? His dark curly hair, big blue eyes, smile and olive skin
24. What is his greatest quality? The reason he's loved by all is because he has such great people skills- he seriously has a way to become a friend to everyone and will one day govern our country... or at least Ogden! [It's not really his aspiration but he'd be great at the job!] He's always happy, easy-going, optimistic and can make me laugh even when I'm very sad or angry. I love him!!


Muah!

second hand treasures

I was told once that I get better deals than anyone they've ever met. I'll take that compliment gladly! And to add to the good finds- pictured above are these cute pots I snagged at a garage sale- 3 for a buck! Then I got the plants at the farmer's market- only $1.75 each!

As Bruce would say, "Salute the Sale!"

school uniforms

All the kids in Thailand wear uniforms to school and they somehow make these little cuties look even more adorable. What was really fun was going back to the school and to different schools on different days and seeing all the different uniforms!




These little pink tykes were sitting three on two chairs pushed together and for some reason it just made me happy, I couldn't stop laughing!
I wonder if the little boys will one day look back and hate that they had pink uniforms.

Asia doesn't mess around when it comes to education- I'm pretty sure they start sending them to school right after they start walking. The smallest kids had nice front pockets in their uniforms perfect for holding their bottles! No joke- we really saw a little girl with a bottle of milk in her pocket!

Boy Scouts of....Thailand?
and proving that the peace sign is still immortal.


Now this little action of the index finger and thumb was new to me. Apparently it means "handsome" so it was a toss-up between that and the peace sign as you can see the dilemma.
These kids were anything but camera shy!






These are some of the Moken kids. They were 'sea gypsies' before the tsunami but were forced to become land dwelling after the tsunami destroyed all their boats and left them with nothing. We brought them flip-flops and hygiene kits. It was like Christmas morning for them getting the kits and flip-flops! (wait, Buddhists don't celebrate Christmas.) It was so fun helping them find shoes for themselves and their kids, and then seeing the new colorful shoes on their dirty little feet!







Instead of seeing cows on the side of the road it was elephants! They are the coolest animals- I could watch them for hours! and they could eat for hours!

Thailand: Part II

and the pictures continue...

We did a fun fair for the kids and a health fair for the kids and their parents at an elementary. The kids LOVED the face painting, I'm pretty sure they've never seen anything like it and were planning on not washing their faces for a week. It was so cute!



It's really pretty there. I mean really really pretty.

















A nice view down a typical street in Phuket. One of the funnest things we did was rent these little mopeds and cruised around Khao Lak, seeing the land the Thailand way.


















This cute little guy in the middle is 27 yrs old and that lovely lady to his right is his momma who still has to lift and carry him everywhere (thank goodness for the mopeds with a large cage attached to the side!) She was telling us about how it's so hard on her and we were able to get them a wheelchair through the rotary club! They were so happy- just look at their smiling faces!












You can't go to Thailand and not take advantages of the wildlife! I fell in-love with elephants!! They're so cool! We went on a long ride through this beautiful jungle trail up to a little waterfall. very nice.



This is a quick shot of the hospital. It actually was a great hospital, functioning better than expected!
The pic under is from the health fair. I taught hand-washing and it was so much fun!