The Kaysters

Called To Serve

2012-01-06T14:55:00.000-08:00

My mission call came on Friday the 23rd of December 2011. My family was all able to be there except for the Abillas and the Chad Blodgetts. I missed them but they were able to be on the phone and Facetime.

I was really nervous to open it. We had to wait a couple hours for everyone to get there and I was anxious!

We finally gathered and I opened it. I attached the Youtube link to the video.

I have been called to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Madrid Spain. I report May 9th to the Provo MTC. I will be there for 3 weeks and then be transferred to the Madrid MTC for the remaining 6 weeks. I'll be gone for 18 months.

I am so excited for this oppurtunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Spain. As I read the rest of the letter from the Prophet I felt a huge responsibility put on my shoulders. I am going to be set apart from the world as a full time representative of Jesus Christ and His true church. That is a big deal. It also says that they are placing their confidence in me and expect me to live worthy of my calling. I can't wait to work as hard as I can for the next two years to be the best missionary I can be. I want to prepare so that I can hit the ground running when I enter the MTC.
18 months will go by in the blink of an eye and I don't want to waste any of my time there. There are people waiting just for me and I need to find them.

The Church is true. There is no doubt about it. And now it's up to me to share the truth with my brothers and sisters in Spain. I want them to have the peace and happiness that I have because of the Gospel. I already love them and can't wait to help them change their lives for the better!

Viva Espana!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CkkTguTaZQ

Proud Auntie

2011-07-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

I am not a very good blogger. But I am going to try and get better so that I have something to read when I get old and can't remember my life.

This has been a great year so far. Mainly because I got four... yes you read that right... FOUR new nephews! I am a lucky girl with such a wonderful family. I have no kids of my own yet and so my 20 nieces and nephews are my pride and joy. I love them so much and love getting to spend time with them. I talk about them and how wonderful they are and show off pictures as often as I can.

Mack LeRoy Harlow was born first out of the four. He was born on April 7th. I was lucky to still be home in California and so I got to be involved a little. The night before Mack arrived, Denae called and asked me to come up to her house and stay the night with her other kids while her and Dave went to the hospital. I could hardly sleep that night I was so excited. The next day I got the kids ready for school and dropped them off. Then around noon Mack came! I waited a little and then went and picked up the kids and off to the hospital we went!
It is always a wonderful experience for me to meet a new baby, especially one in my family. I feel instantly bonded to them. Babies are just so innocent and perfect. The next week I stayed at the Harlows and tried to help as much as I could. My favorite moments were at night when Denae and Dave would get some sleep and I would just hold Mack in my arms for hours. Looking into his big eyes and rocking him to sleep. Tracing his beautiful face and smelling that perfect baby smell. He was so calm and happy, hardly ever fussy. I don't get to see my nieces and nephews all the time so when I do I try and create memories for us or just me. This was one I'll always remember with Macky boy.

Miles Robert Blodgett was born next, just four days later! April 11th he came into the world. I didn't get to see him right away but the first moment I could get away from school I drove down to meet the beautiful boy. Miles is such a happy baby. By the time I got to meet him, he was smiling. His little eyes get all squinty and its just about the happiest, cutest thing I've ever seen. He is very chill too. He will just hang out in my arms and be happy as can be. Getting to hold and talk to him was so fun. He gets all excited and shaky when you talk to him and it cracks me up! I was laughing so much talking to this little guy.

Cooper Blaine Blodgett was born next, a few months after Miles! He came on June 26th, 3 weeks early! When I drove down to meet him later that week, I saw him on the floor in one of those little half circle baby things and he was so small! I gasped out loud! I went and got to hold him and he was so new to the world and so little! He was so adorable! I didn't get to see his eyes the whole time because he was sleeping the whole time I was over! It was fun to see how Wyatt reacted to a new baby in the family. He was cute and sweet to Coop. I didn't get to spend much time with the little guy and I can't wait to be closer in the fall!

Parker Vance Blodgett came last. He arrived on July 3rd. We were all at a family reunion in the middle of Oregon except Brett, Emily, Devin and Kim and we had no service! Mom and Dad biked down to the local town where there was service and found out the news! Emily did a great job with her first baby, going all natural! Denae, Julie and I borrowed a cousin's phone who said she could get service in this one spot and called to get the details, we were so excited! I got to meet Parker the following Wednesday. He has a full head of dark hair! He was so cute! I got to hold him for a little bit and I couldn't decide who I thought he looked more like. I still don't know! I guess we'll see as he grows up. I didn't get to be with him too long so I'm excited for fall to be closer!

I miss these little babies! It is such a blessing that they all arrived here healthy. I am excited to watch them grow up and be great friends with each other. I'm glad my nieces and nephews have a lot of cousins to make some fun memories with. I remember hanging out with my cousins growing up and even now as we've gotten older. Other than the Gospel, Family is the most important thing there is.

And because of my Savior, Jesus Christ, I can be with these little guys and the rest of my family, forever.

Mack

Cooper

Miles and Parker Below: Miles and Mack Above: Cooper and Parker
Mack
Miles
Parker

In the ER

2010-11-07T18:21:00.000-08:00

This is the video of me in the ER. Quite an adventure at the park. I am lucky to have a great family. Great siblings who take care of me.

Been Awhile!

2010-03-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

I'm back! I know it has been FOREVER! I'm sorry. My last post was Thanksgiving so I'll give you an update of life since then. My first semester of college was a success. I was happy to come home though- I was homesick! Christmas was a blast having so many people around and playing games... except the deadly "states" game. You all know the story but basically I fell through the glass table and got cut up, including a huge dagger piece of glass in my bum cheek!! Now I just have a horse shoe shaped scar- Go Broncos! haha.... Anyway! It was a fun holiday season.

Then I went and visited Kelly in Pennsylvania! It was SO SO fun. We partied, I got to watch 2 of her games, we went to NYC (my first time going!) and saw Wicked on Broadway. Lots and lots of fun. New York is awesome!

Then I turned 19!! I feel old. Which to some of you may be weird but its true. My birthday day was a little weird for me. I went on a date in the morning with mom and saw Dear John. It was pretty good. I think hes pretty cute. I had work off too which was great =) Then Denae came over so it was just a huge party! Then the next day mom took me to Wicked. We won the lottery and then switched seats in side so we were basically dead center really close up and it was Kendra!!! I was so happy and it was awesome. She is way better than everyone else. It was a great birthday!

So thats most everything. I'll try and keep up with it better.

Thanksgiving 09'

2009-12-04T21:36:00.001-08:00

I had a great Thanksgiving!! I was counting down the days until we drove to Utah. I drove down with some of my neighbors and Devin and Kim picked me up! I spent Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night with them! It was a lot of fun. I went to a church footbal game Devin had. It was fun ro watch. We went to In N Out which was delicious. I hung out with Kim and Wyatt a lot and got to relax after a lot of stressful college work. Wyatt after those few days LOVED me. He came to me and gave me hugs and kisses when I asked. He is super cute and fun.

Then I spent Monday night, Tuesday night and Wednesday with Chad and Julie! It was fun! Julie and I watched The Hannah Montana Movie together. I had never seen it and I laughed a lot and really enjoyed it! I got to hang out with Clayton, Conner and Bennett a lot and they are tons of fun and really cute too. We of course hung out at the mall and I had 3 Boardwalk bars during the week...delicious. Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband played right by Boardwalk so I got a picture with him. Dustin came over one night and we all watched G.I Joe The Rise of the Cobra. I have to say, I loved it! haha it was cheesy which I love =) and Julie and I went to Wal-Mart before and I got footie pj's that are festive and warm. I feel like a little kid when I wear them and I love that.

THEN Mom and Dad and Landon arrived Tuesday night. I was SO happy to see them. I missed them a lot. It was fun to talk/hug and just be with them. The next day we all hung ot and went to Angie's and Devin's again and Dad got injured in an epic snowball fight. It was everyone against him and he ducked out of the way and hit a stair railing. BUT, he did not get hit by a single snowball. My Dad is cool.

That night we got dinner and went to see NEW MOON. It was fun. I liked it better than the first one. The wolves are totally awesome and Jacob is sooo hot. I'm sorry but his body is pretty amazing. And I actually think he is just attractive everywhere. haha and a pretty dang good actor. The movie was good but it does just make me sad because they are NOWHERE near as good as the books and I always hate that. Edward is pretty dang ugly which hurts me. When he took his shirt off I cringed and begged him to put it back on. Edward and Bella still stink at acting but they did better this time. I am forever faithful to Edward because of the books but I love Jacob in the movie, he's awesome. But overall it was just fun to watch it with my family. I laughed a lot which I love =) and then after we got a delicious boardwalk bar and discussed/debated New Moon.

Then Thursday Friday and Saturday I was at Angie and Pete's. We watched Wolverine and Angels and Demons which were both great and Thanksgiving dinner was delicious obviously. We went to Sandy up to Aunt Tanya and Uncle Scott's house for a pie party. The pie was yummy and it was fun to visit with the cousins. I love Aunt Tanya! Then we woke up at 4 AM for Black Friday. It was soo early and cold and basically not that fun. I got to hang out with all Ang and Pete's kids and they are fun and cute and Mylie was loving me! I basically have the cutest nieces and nephews ever.

Then on Saturday we had a BYU/UTAH game party at Chad and Julie's. BYU won so that was the perfect ending to a great week! Althought the highlight of that party was probably Bennett wanting some attention and so standing right in front of the TV and singing at the top of his lungs for us. Very entertaining. The video is on my facebook if you want to watch it.

Then we drove home and now there are only 2 weeks and I'll be back home!!! So excited! The pictures are not in any particular order. Enjoy!

Ryan Shupe

It was a great week! Thanks brothers and sisters for letting me crash at your homes! I had tons of fun! Love ya'll!!

And P.S. Kelly told me part of my Christmas gift this week so that I wouldn't make plans on the day... get this. It is backstage tickets for a tour by the Wicked Cast of the stage and dressing rooms and everything!!!!!!! Best friend ever? I think so. So excited!!

2 weeks until Christmas!!!!

Halloween 09'!

2009-11-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

My roommate Laura was a nerd and I was a pirate!

This was the window of someone in my complex. I loved it! The firs window says "Defy Gravity", the middle says, " Are you a GOOD (in pink) witch or a BAD (in green) witch?", and the last one says, "Something WICKED this way comes". So I had to take apicture =)

Some of my The two on the end are wearing wigs that were awesome. They were Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus haha

We had a trick or treating activity in our complex and so I got some candy =) Then a few of us walked to get icecream and talked at the parlor for hours. It was fun.

That was Friday and Saturday I walked to Craigo's with some people and then hung out with Brett and Emily. We went to get icecream and realized we had no money and so we had to run back home to get money before it closed in 20 minutes. Then we went to Taco Bell to get free tacos and Brett wanted a diet Pepsi. He got one but as we're driving away he said he tasted bad so we went back to get a new one. Then we finally made it home haha and watch "Chocolat" which is Emily's favorite movie. I had never seen it and I really liked it.

It was a fun Halloween!

Carving Pumpkins!

2009-10-26T21:31:00.001-07:00

Tonight for FHE we had a geat spiritual lesson and then carved pumpkins!! It was really fun. Carving pumpkins is really really hard though. I knew what I wanted on mine right away and luckily I have an amazing FHE brother, Mark, who is a great atrist! I pulled up the Wicked poster online and he went right to work! I love it!

Glinda =)
Elphaba =)

Our roommate pumpkin! It has all our initials in it. Cute!

Mark my hero! Love my pumpkin!

I'm acting out the poster. I'm Glinda whispering in Elphaba's ear =)

I was so excited I kept hovering over his shoulder and taking pictures!

It was really fun! Now, the Haunted Mill tommorow night!

Starving Student

2009-10-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

Anybody know anything I could make with these items?

This is all I have in my pantry right now. And I have some butter in the fridge. That's it. Other than the hunger, I'm doing great! =)

Weekend at the Rodeo!

2009-10-13T18:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend there was a Rexburg Rodeo! My cousins Becca and Renee drove up from Provo to hang out for the weekend. It was really fun to see them and my cousin Renee leaves on her mission really soon! I'm actually going to drive up to Sandy to hear her farewell.
So, the rodeo was on Friday. I went with my friend Jordan, and my cousins Danny, Renee and Becca. Then we ate at Applebee's after.
On Sunday My cousin Jenny had us over to her and Adam's house for another cousin dinner. Aunt Shari even came! It was a party. We have an awesome family.

This is a picture of some notes I put up in my dorm kitchen. I was sick of the mess. Hopefully this will work.

These 2 pictures are my battle wounds from a softball game. I slid into home and scored =)

That's it! Oh and today Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke at a devotional. I had a great seat and I shook his hand afterward. He is really funny and super nice.

Fun!

2009-10-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

This is what I woke up to this morning! It's snowing in the Burg!

The past couple of weekends have been lots of fun! This post is a bunch of pictures! They are not in any kind of order.
First, Denae came down to Rexburg with her kids. She went to BYU-Idaho back when it was still Ricks College and so we showed her all the things that have changed. She took some pictures in front of her old stomping ground. It was fun to show her around and hang out with her for a few days. The highlight of her visit for me was going to Bear World. It is awesome! Bears are everywhere. It is the closest I will ever get to these huge wild animals. Also, in the petting zoo there were deer! I thought that was crazy that I got to pet deer. Loved it. We ate at Craigo's which was delicious and went bowling at the university's alley.

And then this weekend Brett, Emily and I drove up to Utah to hang with the fam. General Conference was great too. I especially love Elder Holland's talk. I love him.

Playing a matching game =)

Getting ready for bed. Prayer time!

My awesome brother-in-laws before Priesthood session.

Lakin decided to close his eyes for this one =)

I love the Utah mountains

I had to wrestle a picture out of Carsen...turned out pretty cute

Picking on Logan. There was a lot of wrestling going on.

A few of my beautiful nieces

Cousin love

Wyatt wrestling/tickling his daddy

He loved putting these bowls on his head. It was super cute

There are more pictures. You just have to scroll down. Blogger always does this to me. It puts my pictures really far apart and so I have ro move then one at a time to get them closer together and then it leaves tons of space at the bottom (as you cansee from my previous post). Does anybody know why it does this or how I can fix it?

Anyway, keep scrolling...

Keep scrolling.....

Sorry....

Hecka mad at blogger...

they are cute pictures...

Me and Logan at the BYU game. Go COUGS!!

Mmore pictures still. But theres a huge space. Who know why... sorry... keep scrolling...

Almost there....

At the game!

At Craigo's! Delicious!

Big space up ahead.....

Bowling!

Another big space....

This is Bear World. They get your car on candid camera and this happened to someone! There were other pictures of bears climbing in the bed of someone's truck!

Another huge space...

keep scrolling...

So cute!!

The crazy goat Brett was chased by. For the hilarious video, see my facebook.

That's it. There is still a huge space but my blog is over. If anyone knows anything about why it does this to me please let me know. It was a fun week!

Weekend with Dustin!

2009-09-27T17:48:00.001-07:00

Dustin came down to Rexburg to visit this past weekend. Jeff came too and it was tons of fun. They got here Friday night and the party started! We gave them a tour around campus becasue it has changed so much since they have been here. Then we had a gourmet dinner at Jack in the Box and got delicious to-die-for iceream at G's Dairy. Then we watched a couple Office episodes and The Bourne Ultimatum. We stayed up late talking and I spent the night at Brett and Emily's. Dustin and I shared the air mattress and talked for awhile about life. =)

Then Saturday morning the guys went golfing and me and Emily just hung out and got ready. Then we had a family BBQ at Jenny and Adam's house which is a couple houses down from Brett and Emily's. It was really fun. I love being with my family members. Then Emily and I drove Katy and Stephen home and decided to go to Sonic and get an icee drink and hit up Cal Ranch store. I got a new cowboy hat for 7 bucks!! Nice. I love it and never want to take it off =) In front of the store there were these cute puppies in the bed of a truck and they were super nice. Then we went to the park and played games for a couple of hours and went back to Brett and Emily's for hot dogs and cookies. After dinner, we went to Rigby Idaho (Mom's hometown! =)) and went to The Riot Zone and went through a corn maze. It was tons of fun. We played tag and a bunch of us fell lots of times and it was even a little scary but so fun. We went home and hung out after. I spent the night again.

Sunday morning we got ready and went to church together. (some of us were sore from the corn maze =)) and had a delicious dinner by Emily and then Dustin and Jeff left. It was a really fun weekend. Thanks for coming up guys!! See ya Friday!

Brett, Emily and I are going to Utah this weekend. And Denae and kids get here tommorow. The party never stops in Rexburg!!

The pictures aren't in any order but enjoy!

Family

Freaky maze! It was dark and super windy that night, so it was awesome!

Best Friends

My new hat!

Softball!

2009-09-23T23:13:00.001-07:00

I know that I just posted today but I had to post about our first softball game! It was tonight at 10 pm! It was tons of fun. We have 11 people on our team. They are all super cool people and I have a good time with them.
Here we are huddling up with the umpire and Cool Beans (the other team) to pray =)

Danny hitting the ball!

I couldn't switch this around for some weird reason... sorry. But its Emily killing the ball!

Team Smalls. From left: Lorry and David (Brett and Emily's cool neighbors), Bret and Emily, me, Stephen (cool cousin from my dad's side), Katy (Emily's fun best friend), Bryce (cool guy from our home stake), and Danny (cool cousin from mom's side). And then we have another couple who are Brett and Emily's friends.

We won 15-12!!! Slaughtered them =)

We have a game once a week. It's fun!

Family Home Evening

2009-09-23T17:07:00.001-07:00

These are my FHE brothers minus one. Jason was out with his fiancee.

It goes Ephraim, me, Brad and Mark is the one laying across us.

They are a lot of fun. The other day we went to the demolition derby. I have never been to one and it is pretty cool. I had fun. Only in Idaho =)

Our FHE family is the four guys and then me and my roommates and the dorm right next door to us. That is Laura, my roommate, and Kimberly, from next door.
This is me, Jordyn, Kimberly, and Kathleen from next door.

A few of us also hiked R mountain the other day. It was fun. We hiked to the top and wached the sunsent. Idaho is so pretty. We had a perrfect view of all the surrounding area, including the Snake River. Beautiful.

Horseback Riding

2009-09-16T11:22:00.001-07:00

I love horses. They are incredible animals. I especially love riding horses. It is so so so fun. On Saturday I went with Brett and Emily to a dinner with Brett's coworkers. A guy Brett works with has three horses and he brought a couple. Right when I got there, he came riding up and said "Hop on!"

I got on Sherwin Williams (kinda weird name, I know) and me and brother Shaum (Sp) went off. It was so fun. We went all through the forest and then came out in a field and ran with them. I loved it. He said that no one ever rides them so I can whenever I want. I'm so excited. I am going to go all the time.

Sherwin and Blacky (creative huh? =) )

Me and Sherwin

Emily and Blacky

Brett and Blacky

WOO HOO!

Also in the morning I did the ropes course up here on campus with some other kids. It was a little scary but mostly just fun.

My Sweet Brother

2009-09-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

I am blessed with an amazing family. Seriously, an awesome family. Immediate AND extended. They are all just awesome and there is no one I'd rather hang out with.

They do things for me all the time. They call and talk to me and do little things that are so thoughtful and kind and really mean a lot to me. They have always taken care of me.

This specific post is about my brother Brett. He is a great brother and really sensitive, thoughtful and fun. I am really glad he is up here in Idaho with me. Emily too. They are lots of fun.

This morning I had an hour break in between classes and I got a call from Brett. He said he was coming over. Then a few minutes later he called again and told me to open my door with my eyes closed. So I did, let him in and he walked past me into my bedroom, came back out and said I could open my eyes. We talked for a minute and then he had to run to work.

I then went into my bedroom and found this on my desk.

How sweet is that? He left me a little note, some candy and beautiful flowers. It was so nice and made my day.

That is just one example of the great brother Brett is. And the overall fantastic family I am blessed with.

I love you Brett, thanks for everything!

Dorm Scare

2009-09-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

So the other day I came home to an empty dorm. It was dark outside and nobody was home. I went to the bathroom to get ready for the dance. Look what I found on the bathtub...

FREAKY!!! I thought there was some scary killer man in my dorm. So I kind of freaked out a little and quickly got ready and left early.

I found out later that some maintenance guys had come to fix the bathtub and left their knife. Weird, I know. Anyways, that was my first dorm scare.

Also, if you want to send me anything (hint hint teasin!), my address is:

114 Perkins Hall
525 S Center Street
Rexburg, Idaho
83460-0031

Moving in at BYUI

2009-09-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

Today I moved into the Virginia Perkins Residence hall at BYU-Idaho. I was the first one there so I got first dibs on my room and bed and bathroom cupboard. Then I met my roommates. They are nice. One is from London so she has a sweet accent. Mom, Dad, Brett and Emily showed me around, got my books, helped me unpack and we all got lunch at the new awesome eatery.

Then they left me.

It was sad. I cried.

I met my RA and some older students walked around and put numbers on each door. Then a roommate and I walked down to the stadium where orientation was starting. We went to the number that was on our door and met a group of boys and girls- my I-team. We played games and got to know each other and for the next two days we'll be with our I-team and go through all the activities of orientation.

Then we walked back and I organized my room. I talked to some siblings on the phone and made my first dinner at college. A hot pocket. I ate with another roommate.

Then a knock on the door announced the arrival of 20 guys that dragged me off to an off campus party. It was fun and I met a lot of people. Tomorrow night there is an all freshman dance on the stadium field. Then on Thursday classes start and I truly begin my college experience.

So right now I am not feeling too bad but I do feel a little lonely and am nervous for classes to start. But it is an adventure and I'll survive. I miss everyone though.

Here are some pictures of my room and roommates.

More to come on college. I'll keep you updated.

College

2009-09-03T22:45:00.000-07:00

I have 1 more day left at home. We leave Saturday morning bright and early for Rexburg, Idaho. I move in on Monday to my new home. It's crazy. I've lived in Walnut Creek my entire life and now I am about to go live somewhere else by myself. I don't think I have ever been away from home for more than a week and now here I go for a long time.

Some worries I have:

1) My roommates. I hope they are cool and not crazy. I hope we all get along and that I enjoy coming home after class. I hope we have fun together.

2) Friends. Besides my roommates I hope I make friends. I hope I like my ward and that I don't get a super hard calling right away (teasin except not really). I hope our activities are fun and that I can meet some cool people.

3) My classes. I hope I enjoy my classes but mostly I hope I don't fail them. They can be boring as long as I pass. I hope I find something I love and pursue it.

4) Boys. I hope there are some cute, fun boys to hang out with =)

5) Me. The above worries mostly depend on me. I hope I can be sociable and outgoing and put myself out there and really have an adventure. I hope I can be brave and do things I wouldn't normally do. I hope I don't let the homesickness eat me alive.

Those are some worries but overall this is a new adventure and I am excited.

My special wallet

2009-09-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

Right now I am busy packing for college. But packing your whole life away is quite the task. So, I'm taking a break. Before I go onto the topic of this post, here are some pictures of my room right now.

It's exhausting sitting here looking at all I have to do before Saturday... so I want to share with everyone my special wallet. I don't know when I started this but it was at least two years ago. It may seem silly but I am actually proud of my little wallet.

Every time I go to a movie or a play or a sporting event or some activity that gives me a ticket of some kind I put it in this wallet. I also write on the back of the ticket who I was with, whether the activity (movie, play etc) was good or not and anything special that happened (so and so tried to hold my hand! or talked to the stars afterward! etc). It is really fun to go back and read what I thought that night, who I was with and stuff. And if I want to rent a movie I can go back and see which ones I liked and which ones I said were bad. (When Dustin got back from his mission we whipped the wallet out and went through all the movies and made a list of the ones Dustin wanted to see)

Here are a couple pictures of my special wallet. I need to get a second one soon because this one is bursting!
Now back to sitting at the piles and piles of things to pack.

Utah Trip

2009-08-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

Me and Conner

It's been awhile but I'm back... Last week I went with my family to the great state of Utah. I don't think I want to leave in Utah my whole life necessarily but there are a lot of things that I love about it.
I love that most of the people there are LDS.
I love temple square.
I love the Y on the mountain and I love BYU campus.
I love that since most people are LDS that nearly all the stores are closed on Sundays.
I love that I can find modest clothes there.
I love my sister's court and all the kids playing outside and the older couple that sells candy to the neighborhood kids for really cheap just to have some visitors and to be nice and that it makes the kids happy.
I love all the billboards that are nearly all family oriented that line the freeway.
I love the gorgeous mountains and how amazingly beautiful they are.
I love how you can be driving and look throughout the valley and count tons and tons of steeples that you know are mormon churches.
I love that there are temples scattered everywhere.
I love thinking of Brigham Young looking out over a dessert and announcing that this was the place and how they change it from being ugly to a beautiful place.
I love thinking about all the saints had to go through and the faith they had to follow the prophet and the Lord, and all they had to sacrifice to pave the way for us now.
I love that when people mention Utah, they think Mormons.

Anyways, I think it is pretty cool and a lot of my love may be because a few siblings live in Utah and we visit and have tons of fun. So last week we went to drop Dustin off at school at BYU and hang out with the fam.

First we went to Jump On It. I am a trampoline kind of person and I think this place was a clever idea. However, every time we go someone in our family gets hurt. Still, it's fun.

Savanah, Me and Lexi

The next day the guys went golfing while we watched the kids and then when they got back we got to go hang out just girls! It was a blast. I have five totally AWESOME sisters and the coolest mom. So, it is always tons of fun.
We went to Park City and did the Alpine Slides. There are 3 things. The slide, the coaster and the zipline. The coaster was the definite best! It was so so so fast.

Here's Angie on the way up the coaster. She's pumped!

Here's Denae on the way up. She's excited too!

Then the slide was pretty fun too...but not as fast as the coaster.

All of us with outr slides. (Ang, emily, julie, kim, me, mom, denae)

And then we had the zip line which was pretty fun too.

Like I said...the coolest mom =)

And this was the tram we had to ride up to get the top of the mountain to do all these rides. It was the slowest tram ever! We had to sit in the baking sun forever while it made its way to the top!

These are my two sisters, Angie and Denae. They are awesome and I love them so much. And I just love this picture, it's so cute.

Overall, a really fun girls day...beats shoppping I'd say =)

Then the next day we went to Seven Peaks water park and that was a blast! Mom proved once again how awesome she is and went down all the huge cliffhangers with us!

Then the next day members of my family (8 I think) ran a half marathon! I am really proud of all off them. That is an amazing feat. They all got great times too! I loved cheering them all on!

Then Saturday night, after the race, showers and naps we got babysitters and had an adult night out. We went to the movies and split up to see whatever we wanted. I chose to see The Time Traveler's Wife. Pretty sad movie but I did really like it. I was crying but the acting was good and Rachel McAdams is a fun actress to watch, I think she does a great job. I thought the guy could of been cuter and I saw enough bums in that movie to last me forever! But I do recomend it. Then we went to cold stone and ate ice cream. We laugh a lot and it is so fun being together.

Lots of us!

Then on Sunday we walked around temple square and in the evening had a little dessert party and some family from both sides came over! We had some cousins from moms side and some cousins and aunt Debbie from my dads side. It was fun to visit with them. I am truly blessed with an amazing family, immediate and extended. I love them all.

Then Monday, we helped Dustin move into his apartment and we said our goodbyes. I am so happy to have Dustin home from his mission and I will be driving up to Provo to visit a lot.

Then we drove home and now I am getting ready for college. I leave this Saturday!! Ahh!

More on that later.

CC

2009-08-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday CC had to go back to her mom. It was sad. Denae called to tell me a couple days before so I drove up to see them on Thursday. It was fun. The kids didn't know I was coming so it was a fun surprise. We went out to lunch at Panera and that was delicious. Thanks sis! We watched Macey perform a play for us and it was super entertaining. We picked Lexi and Logan up from school and at first Lexi didn't know who I was. She was just staring at this person who had her arms out towards her. They were so surprised!

We hung around the house and I held CC a lot and gave her lots of kisses. She was sick so she was a big slobber/snot fest but still so cute. We put her up against the door to watch the cat and she was just laughing and freaking out-it was so cute. and then she said "Kitty" !! What the?! She's so smart! CC was so fun to have around and made me laugh so much with her crazy personality. She is adorable and I am really going to miss her.

I don't know how well this last picture will show up but you should zoom up on it. It is the cutest picture ever. She is laughing so hard.

The Going-Ons

2009-08-03T23:31:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few things on my mind right now:

1. Nothing to read. I have been waiting for a book I want to read for a long time. I put a hold on it at the library probably a month ago. I was number 40 then. I checked it today. I am number 36!!!! What is with people?! There are 8 holdable copies and I only dropped 4 places?! How slow do these people read? Anyway, it's frustrating. I am starting to think I won't even get it before I go off to college. I don't really know what to do. So, for now I have nothing to read.

2. Baby CC. My newest niece is the sweetest little thing and has been on my mind for awhile now. She is my sister Denae's foster baby and I am quite attached to her. Her future is uncertain for the time being and this is what has her constantly on my mind.

3. The trip to Utah. In a few weeks my family and I are going up to Utah to a) bring Dustin to BYU, b) particiapte in a half marathon and c) hang out with the family that lives up there. Thankfully, I am not participating in the half marathon. I'm pretty sure I could do it but fortunatly I have no desire to. I know many people do (including some amazing family members) but for me, I fail to see the fun in running my guts out. As for hanging out with the family, I am very excited. I always love when the family gets together and even though I am not running the half marathon, I will burn some calories laughing until my stomach hurts. Because that's what happens when we get together.

4. Blessings. Today I went to the temple by myself to just hang around such a great place. I walked around on the terrace and watch videos in the visitors center and really had a great time. It was a beautiful day and there was no fog at all. I thought about all that I have-with my fantastic family, my health, the Gospel in my life, the oppurtunites I have, the beautiful world we live in, great friends and a Heavenly Father and Savior who love me. There are a million more I could name and I think its good to remember to stop and really count your blessings.

5. College. There isn't much to say except that I am nervous and excited. They are almost tied but nervousness is definitely winning right now and it seems to be constantly hovering over me. I will soon dedicate a whole post to my college worries so stay tuned.

Blogging World Here I Come!

2009-08-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

Since I am off to college in a few short weeks I decided to start a blog so that you can all keep up with my adventures away from home! It will serve as a journal for me too so I'm excited!