We are down and safe!

Have you ever sat in a lake and looked up at a cliff and thought about how cool it would be to climb up to the cliff and jump into the lake?  You climb all the way up there and the closer you get to the edge the more unsure you are about your decision in the first place.  The jump always looks more fun from the lake than when you are standing on the cliff....
That's kind of what this experience was like for us.  Each day we hiked higher and higher and the daunting task of getting to the top seemed more and more difficult.  This was definitely the hardest thing anyone in the Ricks family has ever done...but Sunday night your time (at 6:30 am Africa time) I stood at the top of Mt Kilimanjaro with all four of my children!! The photographs are fantastic...I'll post those when we get home.  The final 6 hour ascent in subzero weather above the clouds was mysterious, freezing, and a huge challenge to all of us.  I couldn't be more proud of everyone -- but Dillon gets the award for perseverance.  We had a guide named Raj, who personally saw to it that Dillon got to the top of the mountain.  Each day he would patiently hike with Dillon and keep him going.  When we got up and started climbing at midnight the final day, none of us was sure we could make it.  Dillon had the first break down about 45 minutes up the mountain and stripped off his coat and laid down on the snowy rocks and refused to go on.  Raj simply made him get back up, drink some juice and then Ryan and Amy hooked him up with some i-pod music...he was on his way.
There are so many stories to tell -- and I will begin posting them here over time...but for now, I wanted everyone to know that we are back at the hotel, sore, tired, dirty, and ready for our first nights sleep in a bed in 9 days!