At the Roy house these words are frequently heard, "ahhhh, you BOTTOMFEEDER!" followed with the advice repeated in a desperate tone, "ascend, ascend!" Well, this weekend proved to be one of much ascension. First, Jamie Ally-Mirann Linde and LaDon Ray Linde, Jr. graduated from BYU. This is no small feat and much applause and button-popping proudness should exude forth from all who know the Lindes. Here are a few pics from that great event.
Jamie was first to receive her diploma and was greatly relieved and thrilled to BE DONE! LaDon was proud, Ally was...bored.Ally was so proud of her parents she (seemingly) walked right up a wall.
LaDon and Jamie were the first of ALL graduates to ring the traditional graduation bell outside the Marriot center, so fast that the rest of us weren't there yet.
All the Linde family was in town and it was so good to see them. Ally enjoyed her Aunt Christy.
Ally was as cute as ever and looked smashing in her mini graduation outfit. She even got a cute wave from President Samuelson and Elder Ballard.
So you think that might be all the ascending that was accomplished, not so!!! Next was Krazy Krista! She has been in training all summer to run in the Pikes Peak Ascent. It's a half marathon (13.2 miles) going straight up Pike's Peak (14,115 ft, elevation gain of 7,600 ft during the race). IT WAS AMAZING!! Krista finished the race in 4 hours 2 minutes and 59 seconds. Just a stroll in the park! Grandpa Norton, Summer and I nearly froze our ptooies off up there though. It was worth it to see Krista's great victory and welcome to the top by her coworkers who made her a great sign. What a grand accomplishment. My favorite comment Krista made after the race was, "now what am I going to do?" I'll bet she does it again, hence the name Krazy Krista!!!
That's Krista crossing the finish line (she has a yellow shirt around her waist)
Krista and her coworker Kim and the great sign they all made.
Krista resting in her sign.
Her take on the whole thing:
At least for a few days in time the Roys have been TOPFEEDERS!
Charina with the socks she had to buy for us to go bowling. I think they said something like.. "If life gives you lemons, squirt the juice in your enemy's eyes". hahah! 
CJ and I both got haircuts at the beginning of the break, so there we are with the scissors.
The boys all got injured, as you'll recall. Dad burnt his finger.. on the fireplace, I think ,Eric smacked his face, and LaDon jammed his finger... oh, boys.
Just laugh at the memory of this picture. hahah.... I don't exactly know what part Eric played in this happening, but you guys all look nice. 
The Race! LaDon and I ran the 10k, and Sum, Char, and CJ ran the 5k and it was possibly one of the greatest races of my entire life! So there we are with a picture of us training. Even though the movie of us training was way better.
This picture is 6 of us holding the big candy bars which were part of the "Off to the Races" portion of the Great Roy Family Christmas Challenge. We could only find our own, but if someone saw ours, we could ask questions to figure out where it was. An effective system, unless you were LaDon, who couldn't find his even after he stared it in the face.
And here's all of us with our targets from rifle shooting at the OTC! Viana tried to take this picture for us at first, and I thought about putting the picture of just our feet in; I stuck with this one, which I think we took using an automatic thing.
After many hours on the bus, we arrived and ate. (Who takes a picture during the prayer?! Is that even allowed!? Amen, sister!)
That night we danced! Oh, Johnny, oh, Johnny, OH!!! (You might not think it would be organized. Afterwards, you could say, "I told you so")
Handcart retrieval the next morning was also wonderful. (Is that another praying picture, or is the sun too bright? We aren't sure)
And the river crossing was great! About 80 feet skinnier than theirs, 80 degrees warmer than theirs, and 80% easier than theirs. Incomprehensible for us, as were most of their trials!
The Mormon Battalion proved to be one of the greatest experiences of the trek, and Bum and her family made it up the hill as all the boys stood respectfully and silently on the sidelines. Different, but good.
This is our high school musical picture while waiting (for TWO hours!) to get into the variety show
The Sunglasses Crew!
My absolutely PERFECT company! Go, CHOSE LIBERTY!
My awesome Samoan friend!
My AWESOME roommate JENAYE, and our wonderful apartment roommate, Ashley!
And lets not forget, my apartment roommate, Hallie Platt from Northstake!!! We were both from Colo. Springs! how awesome!
We climbed up the "Y"
Perhaps you remember this little guy, perhaps you never even knew he was there. But there he was, for a good 10 years or so. Occasionally visitors would look up and inquire at the strange booger on the ceiling, but he mostly went unnoticed. I remember Grandpa and Grandma even had to stay in there once and I thought, "Oh no, if Grandma sees that, he will be a goner for sure." He survived, luckily, however, since we were moving and all of us had to be out, he too made his exit. 
Don't worry, just as Duck Room, Bear Room, Looney Toon Room, Midnight Aura, and Sunshine Corner have left their mark on all of us, if you look closely, you'll see lil' 10 yr-old worm guy also left his mark on the aforementioned locations of childhood and innocence. 
Goodbye, Mr. Worm, and thank you for all you consistent years of companionship!