Life!

My life has been pretty crazy since that last post! For example, I turned 16! Woohoo! My sister once told me that dating is pretty much no different that hanging out with your friends. Nope! I love it. Since my birthday on May 18th I have gone on 6 dates. My Dad calls me the "dating machine" haha he says that nobody else in our family has gone on so many dates! haha

So, I have 2 brothers on missions, and they are such examples to me!! It amazes me how they were willing to just give their lives to the Lord for 2 years! I love them both so much, they are amazing.

This is Josh in El Salvador. So pretty there!

And Joseph in Tremonton, Utah. So close! haha I love Utah!

Recently, a little over two weeks ago, I got my braces off!! It feels so good! I have been loving it. And yes, my teeth do feel slimy! I had my braces on for 2 years and 2 months. I got them on in May of 2011. Such a relief to get them off!! Here is a before and after picture.

Such a relief to have them off!

Right now in my life, I've been focusing on dancing. Ballroom dancing to be specific. I love it! Last year I went to a BYU Ballroom Dance camp and was planning on going this year, but something came up and, unfortunately, I can't go anymore. But, in May, I tried out for a ballroom dance team called Class Act Ballroom. I made it! I am really excited to be on this team. Last year they did a waltz that won nationals, so, this will be really good for me. My big, long term goal is to be on the Ballroom Dance team at BYU, so I have a long way to go!

Jesse went off to college in June and I am sorely missing her! She is loving it there, though, so its ok. With Josh, Joseph, and Jesse all gone, I am left here with Peter and Libby to be the oldest child! It really is harder than I expected, but luckily I have three amazing examples that went before me! I am holding down the fort over here:) 

I am headed off to a youth conference tomorrow call BYS. Boise Youth Spectacular. It's kind of like EFY, but shorter and local. I am super excited! I will be rooming with one of my good friends Makenzie on the BSU campus. I better go start packing!:)

English Paper

So I am writing this paper for my English class about hiking up to Ruffneck Peak. You can read about the whole experince on my mom's blog mamallama8.blogspot.com but anyways, for this paper, I am going to present it to my class. This paper is a very descriptive paper, it paints the picture for the listener/reader to see in their own mind. But, in order for it to have full effect, I wanted to have a visual. So here are some pictures of what I am describing in my paper.

And here is the paper:

Ruffneck Peak

                “Is every one ready? Alright. Let’s go,” Dad commands. I love the sound of our footsteps as we walk. Crunch crunch; our feet crumble the dead pine needles on the ground. Sweet pine fills my nostrils as the sun beats down on my face. A slight breeze balances the radiating heat from the sun. Our breathing grows heavier as the trail gets steeper, although I feel light weight, like a feather. This is much easier than yesterday’s hike without our packs weighing down our shoulders.

A meadow filled with green grass and wild flowers comes into view. Little patches of water form mini lakes in the tall grass. Trees line the outsides of the meadow, standing guard; protecting the serenity of this place. The mountain peak that is our goal appears; patches of pure white snow glisten at the very top.

                The mountain disappears again as the trees guarding the meadow allow us to pass under. A snap of a twig alerts my ears. I turn just in time to see a deer bound away, frightened by our footsteps. A squirrel scurries up a tree, its mouth full of nuts.

                The ground becomes rocky, the crunch more persistent beneath my feet. Boulders line the trail and the trees and plants vanish; rocks dominate the ground. I can see far distant mountains behind me; purple along the horizon. The tops of the trees are no match for me at this elevation. I can see right over them.

                We continue onward in the rocky terrain. Up ahead is a monster. A tree deformed and black; no leaves nor pine needles grow on it, completely dead. It is huge! Almost 40 feet tall. Streaks of brown run along the trunk and branches. We call it the Big Scary Tree. As we pass it, it looms over us; impending and powerful.

                Once past the dead tree we come under the sweet shade of the live trees once again. We sit and revel in the coolness before continuing onward. As I look out at the view again, I can see little blue circles surrounded by trees; the distant mountains ever prominent.

                As we approach the awful switch backs I look up at our destination: the peak. My legs weigh me down; I struggle for breath. The feeling of lightness has long since fled from me. The switch backs are the steepest part of the hike, but also the most rewarding. The beautiful view is ever present as we climb higher and higher, the valley expanding below us.

                At the last stretch, the last couple of switchbacks, my siblings and I decide to climb straight up the mountain. We are too anxious to get to the top. We practically sprint up the side; sweat running down our necks. We arrive triumphantly at the top and wait for our parents to join us. I look out at the valley before my eyes. I am at the top of the world. Below me, blue splotches occasionally interrupt a sea of green. Dad points out the lake where we stayed overnight. The peaks in the distance are too many to count. I can see forever.

                 Suddenly a thump of cold, surprising wetness runs down the back of my neck. I turn and my brother is standing in a white war zone. It’s on.

Spring!

Wow, I really need to get on it and start posting more! I have just been so busy! It seems like April showers are coming a little early this year! We have had a TON of rain here, just yesterday my little sister Libby counted 220 worms in our drive way! Crazy huh? But I'm starting to see little snippets of green here and there, which is really good because I absolutely love green! Spring is definitely my favorite season. I just love it! I love all of the colors and just the feeling of new. New life, new growth, new weather, and plus, my birthday is in spring! I will actually be turning 15 in about two months. I'm very excited, just one year closer to lucky 16!

I just recently was in a choir concert in which my choir, an all girls choir called Anima Mea, sang some pretty crazy songs. I had to try out to get in Anima Mea, so it is a select group of girls and we can sing some pretty hard songs, and we did. The first song we sang was called "Some Kind of Music." This song was just a really pretty, soothing kind of song. It talks about that some kind of music that helps us when our pathway get dark and our life gets hard. That kind of music that carries us along when times get hard. Just kind of a tribute to that music. It was a really fun, melodious piece. The next song that we sang was a whole different mood. haha It was called "Johnny Said 'No!'" This was a very fun song to sing. It was accapella and about a girl who fancied a young boy named Johnny. She wants to marry him but, "Johnny Said 'No!'" That's about all I can say about it. You really can't get it until you hear it. The final song that we did was a gorgeous song called "Psalm 23." It is based on the chapter Psalms 23 in the Bible. Absolutely amazing song. I almost cry every time we sing it. We just have so much emotion that goes into the song that it, I don't know, its just crazy. It is truly an amazing song, I get chills just thinking about it! But anyways, the choir concert was really amazing.

This summer my friend Nathan L. and I are going down to BYU to attend a dance camp. Lets just say I'm really excited! It is a ballroom dance camp. I LOVE ballroom dance, especially country swing, it is one my absolute favorites. My friend Caleb A. knows how to swing dance really good and so we do it at all the stake dances and such. We are actually going to do a side act for the final show of the FX Show Choir. I am really excited for that. We do all kinds of cool moves and flips and stuff like that. Did I mention that I love to dance? haha:)

Thanksgiving Break!

This Thanksgiving we had a bunch of cousins from my dad's side over. I have to say, it was one of the best Thanksgivings of my life. One of my cousins, Devyn, I haven't seen in about 3 years. He came over and it was a ton of fun! Also, his brother, Derek was here. They are both attending college in Utah. My cousins Kaylee and Kaleb were here too. Kaylee is going to a college here in Idaho on a volleyball scholarship. Kaleb is my age and lives in a small town in eastern Idaho. And finally, my aunt Lorna Kay (Kaylee and Kaleb's mom) and her boyfriend Dan were here.

While everybody was here, we played this game called Telestrations. It is kind of like the game telephone, but it is with paper( or a drawing pad) and pencil(or expo markers). It is a very funny game, especially with people that are really bad drawers haha.

Here are some of the results:

These are from the first round.

So it went from Pluto to 3 Musketeers haha we laughed really hard about this one.

These are from the second round(there was two really funny ones in this round so we just took a picture of both).

Oh man, I love my family!:)

I laughed the hardest I have ever laughed in my life. It was so fun. But when we weren't playing Telestrations, we were either playing Super Smash Bros. on the Wii....


or watching video's on Youtube

or playing on our electronic devices....


or playing with the puppies....



or just plain hangin' out! haha:P


I think my memories of this week will last forever! Thank you cousins that made my week so memorable!:)

Fall! (A Little Late Though)

Well, its fall!! It actually feels more like winter! But what can I say? Its November! haha I love the fall. It is one of my favorite seasons, the other being spring. I just love that feeling where its not so cold that you have to wear a coat, but just before that. I love watching all the leaves fall off the trees and then in the spring watching them grow back. It just amazes me that the Lord could create something so beautiful.

Since I haven't posted in a long time, I will tell a little about my self. I love to sing, dance, play the piano and play soccer. I am taking a sign language class in school and that has been really fun. I think I want to be an interpreter for the deaf when I'm older. I am participating in the Treasure Valley Honor Choir (TVHC) this year. This is a choir that you have to try out for and Joseph and Jesse are in it with me. Josh was also in it before he graduated. This has been a really good experience for me. I get to sing with the best people my age in the whole Treasure Valley!! Our concert is on Wednesday, I am very excited!:)

When my family was called into the Spanish Branch to serve for two years I came to appreciate and love the missionaries. Before this, whenever the missionaries came over it was just "oh the missionaries are here" you know? Well, when I was in the Spanish Branch we had some amazing missionaries (one of which is now my cousin-in-law, but that's another story). You see, most of them were Zone Leaders, so they knew what they were doing. They just had this spirit around them that is hard to explain. And then we came back to our original ward and the missionaries were good and everything, but I didn't find that same spirit until I met this one missionary. Elder Navarrette (sorry if I spelled it wrong). I found that spirit again. And then came his companion, Elder Ware. Those two missionaries really brought that spirit back, and then Elder Navarrette left, which was very sad, but then came this new greenie named Elder Crosby. He was one of my favorite missionaries. He was always smiling and would take down anything we gave him (which is also another funny story). Then Elder Ware was transferred. The companionship that had brought the spirit of missionary work was now gone. But let me tell you, Elder Crosby definitely made up for that. I could still feel that spirit there. And then one of my favorite missionaries came. Elder Waller. He is an amazing missionary with that definite spirit around him. Then Elder Crosby was transferred. I still miss this guy. He was an amazing missionary. Then Elder Welch came along. He was a greenie, this was his first area. He was quiet at first, but then he warmed up to us. Those two are the current missionaries. But tomorrow Elder Waller is transferring. I am really gonna miss this guy. He is a phenomenal missionary. But, of course, I am excited to meet the new missionary.

Summer!

Well, summer is here!! I am so excited! The past few days have made it seem like summer, the last month has been cold and not summer like. It has been fun to have a couple of days of warmth.

Last night we had a summer thunder storm and it was really cool to watch. We had all of the lights out and all of the electronics unplugged, so it was dark and every few seconds there would be a really big flash of light and we would all be like "Whoa!" haha We had a lot of fun.

Good news! I am getting my Patriarchal Blessing on Sunday! I am really excited and have been looking forward to it for the past two weeks. Well, actually more like the past month as I have been preparing to get it. I has been a really good experience for me!

Two weeks ago I went to girls camp and Jesse and Joseph went down to Provo for their BYU camps. Jesse went to a piano camp and had a ton of fun and Joseph went to a soccer camp and also had a lot of fun. Joseph tripled the record for the most juggles without the ball hitting the ground at BYU. The previous record was 3,000 juggles. He got 10,001. He went for two hours and about 5 minutes. He won a signed ball from the soccer team and season tickets to some of the games. They both had a really fun time.



The rest of the summer is going to be a lot of fun!!!!

Spring!

Wow, that was a long time ago! Sorry that I haven't posted in so long! Anyways, I am so glad that spring is here. It is my favorite season. Everything is just so alive! Today we were out working on shoveling poo! haha I know it sounds gross, but it was hard work.

I broke my big toe on my left foot the other day. It hurt the first two days, but now I can walk pretty well. The story is pretty embarrassing. I was in P.E and we were playing around with hool-lo-hoops (if that's how you spell it). I dropped mine and dove for it. Well, I landed wrong and I could barely walk. Luckily my mom was substitute teaching that day at our school. I went to her and she put PanAway, Peppermint, and Wintergreen on it. Now I am not in pain!

I'm going babysitting today for our neighbors, Greg and Rachelle H. I love babysitting for them, it is always a blast! Yesterday I babysat for them and we dyed Easter eggs. It was a ton of fun. They kept telling my about how the Easter Bunny is going to come tomorrow. It was especially cute because they have a 2 year old boy named Lincoln and he is just adorable. Anyways, he wanted me to read them a story before they dyed the eggs. So he gave me this book about the Easter Bunny that was fairly long. He sat there, through the whole thing, every now and then pointing out something about the pictures, it was so cute. I just love those kids.

I am excited for stake conference tomorrow. I always love hearing our stake presidency speak, they are just so powerful. I got to go to the temple on Wednesday with my ward. People always say that they feel a wonderful spirit in the temple. Before this trip I never really felt that, but this trip was different. I really felt it, and I think it was because I went there ready to feel it. The other times I just kind of went expecting to, but I think that we need to be open to the spirit to have it. I was ready to receive revelation, and I got it. I also think that this was a result of the scripture mastery that I have been memorizing. It has really helped my draw closer to God. I am grateful that we have the scriptures to read.

Trammy Wammy

On Friday night Darrin and Nathan L. slept over at our house and hung out with us the whole day on Saturday. It was overcast, and there wasn't much to do. Wondering what we did? Warning: might be crazy and overly awesome, may be dangerous for the brain. haha

Don't ask.

This was so much fun. Afterwords there was no more boredom, of course it was all Joseph's idea. He choreographed it for us all, THANK YOU JOSEPH!!!!