Blog Award

My friend Ellie gave me this award for my blog for trying to post a picture with every blog.

Here are the rules to the award...

The winner can put the logo on their blog.Link to the person you received your award from.Nominate at least 7 other blogs.Put links of those blogs on yours.Leave a message on the blogs you've nominated.Write an acceptance speech in the style of the Academy Awards, thanking everybody’s mother, father, sister, brother, aunties and uncles and the kitchen staff at your favorite restaurant!

So I would like to thank Ellie for noticing my love pf pictures and my want to post everything about our life in pictures. :p I would also like to thank my Wonderful husband for putting up with my excessive picture taking and my non stop talking about our blog as well as everyone else's I LOVE YOU HONEY!!!! I would also like to thank Daniel for introducing me to blogging and also I would like to thank all of you who take the time to actual read all my non stop babble. I would also like to thank Rachelle, Heather, Katie, Lisa Adams, and Nikki for inspiring me to add music to my blog. I would also like to thank Dawn for the endless hours spent scrapbooking and having weekend adventures to add to my blog and to the people who make the food we eat to fuel those adventures.

Now, I would like to nominate:

1. Abby Wardell: For being the youngest blogger I know and for her sweet spirit and unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

2. Nikki Wardell: For her wonderful Sunday Thoughts and insights into the gospel. You have helped me to understand different gospel principles from a different points of view

3. Heather Earl: For showing me how brave you can be in the face of change.

4. Dawn Fellows: For being my sanity at the LDS Business College. and for also being a scrapbook genius. :)

5. Lisa Adams: For your fun and spunky personality. I love reading all your funny little adventures and life stories.

6. Natalie: For helping me understand what true strength is and helping me to see that I am stronger then I thought.

7. Lindsay: For your endurance and willingness to keep trying to make the world a better place.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU!!! :)

I got a promotion.

So awhile back my boss told me that he wanted me to learn about housing and asked what I thought about that. I was so excited. He said well ok as soon as you get the key to the office I want you in there from 8-12. YIPPEE!! Well this was two weeks ago and last week I finally got my key and today. Here I am sitting in my very own office. (till 12) Jerry (my boss) said I could decorate it and do whatever with it, just keep it professional. I am so excited! I don't know what my official title is but you are now looking at the Housing Representative for the LDS Business College. At least that's what I am going to call myself till I learn what my new title is. :) I also got a raise to go with my new position. I am very excited and cant wait to jump in feet first.

Ah the changing of the colors.

Well we had yet another full weekend. I had accidentally double planned but James and I figured it would be ok. what I had accidentally over planned was having our nephew Nate sleep over the same weekend we had Dawn spending the weekend with us. We talked to Dawn and she said it was fine. So Friday after work James picked me up and we went home to figure out when everyone was going to arrive. Dawn showed up and her and I went to pick up some stuff while James went to pick up Nate and go to his meeting with Mr. Shaw. Dawn and I got back to the house a little after James and Nate. I introduced Nate to Dawn and he wasn't shy at all. I though he would be. Well Nate wanted to play video games with James. So we had dinner and while they were playing Dawn and I scrap booked. James and I knew that Nate had a soccer game on Sat. So we didn't want to keep him up to late so that he would be to sleepy. So at 11:00 we turned off the video game and we out on Meet the Robinson's and all of us settled down to watch it. Half hour into the movie I noticed that Nate was fast asleep in the sleeping bag and not long after that Dawn, James and I decided to go to bed as well. Sat I was going to cook pancakes for everyone but I woke up kinda late and the chance was gone. Nate and James had already had cereal and there wasn't much time till Nate had to be to his soccer game. I feel bad that Nate didn't get to spend as much time with us as Abby did. I hope he had a fun time. We'll have to do it again sometime. :) James went to Nate's soccer game then to Tae Kwon Do to help teach a couple classes. So Dawn and I cleaned and scrapbooked the whole time. :) It was way fun. When James got home we though it would be fun to go up Ogden Canyon to see the leaves. It was so pretty. We went around pine view and up to snow basin and then back down. I really wish the pictures i took could do it justice to how pretty it was. We want to go up again this weekend to see if more leaves have turned cause there was still a lot of green. We saw quite a few family taking family pictures too. It was such a nice drive. We had all the windows down and the sunroof open....Till we got closer to snow basin then the windows went up. :p It started to get a little to cold. It started to get dark so we headed back home for some dinner, ice cream and a movie.

After the movie Dawn and I went back to scrapbooking while James played a game on the computer. Sunday Dawn had choir practice at 11 so she had to leave fairly early. then James and I just relaxed and enjoyed the day. :) After church we went to dinner at Kim and Gordy's to spend some time with the family. It was a great weekend. and a very full one. :)

Being Tagged

So my sister in law Heather tagged me on her blog. This is what your suppose to do...


Rules Once Tagged:
1) Link to the person who tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog (copy and paste 1-6).
3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below).
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
5) Let them know they are tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6) Let the tagger (who tagged you) know when your post is up
Six random things about me...

1. I am the receptionist at the LDS Business College but my desk is in the mailroom. The only people I see besides the people I work with is the mail people (USPS, UPS, DHL, FedEx) go figure.

2. I have a weird laundry thingy...after it comes out of the dryer it has to be folded and put away. If ANY of the cloths fall on the floor and stay there for longer then a half a day it's dirty again and I have to wash it again. My sister thinks it's cause I lived in the Philippines...that would explain so much.

3. For Spring Break 2006 my cousin and I went to California and we stayed with my aunt for most of the time but a few days before we left we went to San Fransisco and stayed with my other cousin Nick. His wife use to dance and he works for the San Fransisco Opera House and he took us on a tour. IT WAS AWESOME!!!

4. I really love plays, opera's and ballets. One of my dreams is to see Phantom of the Opera, The Nutcracker and a bunch of Broadway performance's.

5. I have been blessed with wonderful in laws who I think the world of. Not just mom and dad but Bob, Lisa and Nikki as well. Thanks for all you guys do and for welcoming me into the family with open arms. Your the BEST!!!!! :)

6. As far as kids go I feel like I am on a roller coaster. Some days I really wish I was pregnant and some days the thought of being a mom terrifies me for a lot of different reasons. Is this normal?

Well I have to say this was a little tougher then I thought it would be. I was trying to make sure I didn't repeat anything from my 100th post (see previous post). I would like to tag....Nikki, Lisa, Abby, Katie, Alex, Natalie, Daniel (really dude it's time for a new post.) and Lindsay. Dawn I would also like to invite you although I know you don't like doing things like this. I know this is more then what it says but I couldn't resist. :) Happy tagging!!

One last carnival and some sleepover fun.

We had a fun filled weekend this past week. I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked but that's ok. Thursday Nikki invited us to go to a carnival at Nate's school. They had games and three bouncy thingy's. (I don't know what they are called) It was a giant slide and a obstacle course that they could race through and then a thing that you could jump on. Anyway the kids had a lot of fun running back and forth and getting in line for all the things they had going on. Gavin was beside himself we could let him go cause then he would just climb right into the obstacle course and get plowed over by the bigger kids. Abby was really good to go through with him though and help him jump over the high parts. The kids looked exhausted when it was time to go. Nate keep telling James that he had a fun and exciting surprise to show him. So we went in and Nate showed him his costume for Halloween. He's going to be a Jedi but he is using a karate uniform that he was really excited to show James. :) Then Friday after work James and I went and volunteered for South Ogden City animal control. We went to Petco and helped adopt kittens. It was a lot of fun, for 3 hours we just go to play with kittens and try and get people to adopt them. I thought we had one adopted...but it was a no go. After we took the kittens back to animal control and then we went and picked up Abby for a sleep over at our house. She was so excited. As soon as we walked in she told us she was all ready and started towards the door. So after a short visit with Nikki we got in the car and James and I took Abby to Dollar Tree to get some snacks for the night. Abby wanted to play Raymond Rabbid rabbits so while her and James were playing I cooked us up some dinner. Abby wasn't hungry so James and I ate while she played raymond we played video games for awhile then Abby wanted to sit a read. So her and I read our books till I couldn't keep my eyes open. So it was bedtime. On Saturday James and Abby again played Raymond while I cooked pancakes for breakfast. After breakfast we played video games for awhile and James went to tae kwon do. When he got back I made spaghetti for lunch and we watched the first Harry Potter. I actually fell asleep and James and Abby woke me up when (i guess the movie was over) James was going to take Abby home. I felt so bad for falling asleep But while I was playing video games with Abby when it wasn't my turn I was cleaning. So James took her home. He said that she seemed to have a fun time. James and I went to Mike and Natalie's house for dinner. We had chicken and rice and salad it was so yummy. Great job Natalie!!! You rock!!! then while the boys played computer games Natalie and I made cards. She showed me some way cool things. I always learn so much from her when we do crafts. She also taught me how to use my water color pencils. I am so excited to continue doing this. Sunday we had family dinner at mom and dad's house and when we got there mom was working on a paper fort for the boys to play with. We all jumped right in to help her. It was a lot of fun. I think James enjoyed it more then we did. He kept making trumpet noises and other "fort" noises as he helped make the fort. I also got the chance to read fablehaven while I was there. Abby was so excited that I brought the book. She really wants to talk about the book with me. I had to remind her that I am a slow reader. She didn't see, to mind though. :) After dinner Bob came over to visit and play some games with James. I was able to finish my book. by the time it was time to go to bed I was not feeling very well. I'm very glad though that James and I get to have such fun weekends :).

Challenge Accepted.

My Friend Katie posted about peach days and one of the things she said she saw was the 10k run and now her and her husband are really excited for next year and they are training to run in the 10k next year for peach days. She encouraged any who were interested to join them. I have been thinking for awhile now that it would be fun to do a 5 or 10 k so this is a great opportunity. Thanks for the invitation Katie. :) I went home and talked to James about the 10k (since I basically volunteered him) and he was very excited about it as well. So to start our training and to get ready and in shape for this we decided that every Mon, Wed, and either Fri or Sat (which ever is better that week) we would go running. Last night was our first run and we had a lot of fun. We needed to get something at the store so as a warm up we walked to the store and around this pretty waterfall then we went home and got Rosko and since neither of us had a watch and we didn't have a pocket for the cell phone we didn't have a way to time ourselves on how long it took or to time how long we can run and walk for. (Katie's suggestion on her blog, walk 5 min run 5 min.) So we decided to run and block and walk a block till we could get a watch to time ourselves. So for the first block we started out at a fast walk to warm up our muscles. (and try to get all the liquid out of Rosko so he wouldn't feel the need to stop at every tree, pole, electric box, etc.) Then we started our run. I have to say I was a little surprised at how much fun we had. We didn't over do it and James stayed with me the whole time. Even though I was going a lot slower. He just seemed to enjoy it. The real challenge for me is going to be when the snow starts to fly. But I am determined to run with Katie and Troy at the 10k. We can do it Katie!!!!! :)

Birthdays and Scrapbooking.

This weekend was Gavin's birthday and Nikki and Justin invited us to go to aerospace museum on Fri. So right after work James' sister Lisa picked me up at the college and Dad picked up James at his work and we headed down to the museum. Lisa and I got there and found Nikki and Justin with the kids and mom all waiting for us. We started to walk around the outside of the museum when we heard over the loud speaker that the museum will be closing in 5 min. So we thought well we'll just walk around outside and look at all the planes. Then the lady came over the loud speaker again saying that that included the grounds and parking lot. Wow it's like she was reading our thoughts. :) So for the next 5 min we walked around outside looking at all the planes and waited for Dad and James to get there.The kids all seemed to have a good time anyway. (sorry the pictures are so blurry they're from my phone.)

Well Dad and James showed up and we decided to go eat so we all followed Nikki and Justin to a little pizzeria in Ogden. The pizza there was really good and Gavin and Nate had a fun time watching the fish.

After the pizza we went to Nikki and Justin's to have cake and ice cream and watch Gavin open some of his gifts. He was so cute. His first present he got so excited about that he left all his other presents to play with that one. :) He did get to open all the others though and the rest of the night we had fun playing with the kids and all of Gavin's new toys.

Saturday James had Tae Kwon Do and I wanted to cook Mike and Natalie lunch to say thank you for all they're help. I have been saying that I would cook them Filipino food for awhile now. So Saturday I got up and started to cook a dish called pinakbet. It's a vegetable dish. I took it over and we had a fun little picnic with Mike and Natalie and their kids. Plus I got to see her new baby. He's so cute and tiny. :) After lunch James and I had to rush home cause I though Dawn would be waiting for me. Luckily she had some other stuff to do at home before coming out to our place. So she wasn't at our house waiting for us to get home. *phew* I had a chance to clean a little of the house before she got there. Before we got started on our scrap booking stuff we made a run to Joann's so she could pick up some stuff. Then we ran over to Dollar Tree to pick up a gift for Gavin on Sunday. Then we went home and started making a mess of our dining room table. :) We scrap booked till 12:00...well we did pause to get some dinner and James and I showed Dawn a little more that Ogden has to offer. It was so fun though. James being the kind man he is brought our TV and DVD player into the kitchen so we could watch movies while we scrap booked. (that was a lot easier then taking the table into the living room.) I really love to scrapbook but I think it's a lot funner to get together with friends who like to scrapbook. :) Sunday after church we went to Nikki's house to have family dinner and celebrate Gavin's birthday. Dinner was (as always) very yummy. After Lisa and I played a couple games of Yahtzee and was teaching Abby how to play but she didn't really like it and left to watch her dad climb the apple tree and throw down apples to James. After the game I went outside and sat with the rest of the family and talked with them. I went back in to see if Lisa wanted to continue our game. (we were distracted by a show) Gavin came running in ans saw some of his presents on the floor and started to pull out toys from these bags. we tried to stop him but..the damage was done. :p We told everyone that he was starting to open his gifts so that they could come in and watch. It was funny. He was so excited that he found those gifts. After the presents we sang happy birthday and had cake and ice cream. Gavin was so excited about everything and had so much fun. I have no doubt that he slept really well that night. When said good bye and left he was already getting really tired. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAVIN!!!!!!

100th post

For her 100th post my friend Katie put together 100 things about herself and I thought it was a really cute idea. So in honor of my 100th post. I would like to post 100 things about myself. I'm not sure I am that interesting; however, I am up for the challenge. If you don't want to know quite that much about me, or if you are bored to tears before you get to the end, you don't have to read it all. It won't offend me at all :) Here goes...

1. My maiden name is Kristene KayCee Earl

2. The KayCee isn’t my real middle name but I am hoping to legally add it to my name as soon as I can figure out how.

3. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I love the church and am so glad that I have it in my life.

4. I grew up in South Jordan UT

5. We lived on a small farm of almost 3 acres with a huge garden and a swimming pool, our house was across from the High school

6. I have been an aunt since I was 3. My oldest niece is on a mission right now in New York

7. I am the youngest of 8 kids (3 boys 5 girls)

8. Every person that I meet and become friends with whether it’s a day or years leave a mark or impression on me. I can still remember friends from Kindergarten…maybe not names but faces and still miss them. I hope that made sense.

9. I have 15 nieces, 10 nephews (on both sides) and one on the way.

10. I am a great aunt (my niece Brieanna has a little girl and my niece Erika has a little boy on the way.)

11. The inside of a human mouth grosses me out. Teeth, tongues all of it just YUCK!

12. I have this weird thing that I do when I get really excited I tense up and I rub my cheeks really hard. It’s hard to explain. But funny to see. :)

13. I have a lot of interests including: anything with horses, astronomy, photography, chemistry, writing and anything to do with it, pottery, etc. etc. etc.

14. I hate tomatoes but love ketchup.

15. I am working towards a certificate in Children’s Literature.

16. I have had two of my poems published.

17. When I was younger I loved He-man and I traded my brother one of my flutter ponies (My little Ponies) for his battle cat. (The green tiger)

18. The name of my first crush was James. :) (how ironic)

19. I use to paint ceramics a lot as a kid as well as cross stitch, make models, do paint by numbers and I even tried crocheting. My favorite store was Max craft supplies.

20. I love to cook/bake and I love to try cooking and baking new things or trying it a different way then what the recipe says.

21. My cousin Scott died in a car accident when I was little. I felt really bad because I never got to know him very well, because I was scared of him.

22. When I was little my parents were out of town and my brother and sister were having a pool party. I asked one of their friends to catch Chocolate Bar for me (our Shetland pony) and let me ride him. After this guy led me around for a minute he asked if I could ride her on my own and I said yes. So he left me there on this horse with a piece of bailing twine round his neck. The horse took off at a run and I fell off but my leg got caught in the twine and I was dragged behind the horse for awhile.

23. One of the longest friendships I have had is with a girl named Erin Oakeson. We met in 3rd grade and have been friends ever since.

24. I worked as a custodian in Junior High because I was friends with the custodians and wanted to spend more time with them.

25. I failed my drivers test the first time because I didn't signal when doing a U turn.

26. I went to school at Bingham High. GO MINERS!!!!!
27. I was grounded for my 16th birthday because my friend and I ditched school and went to visit some friends at cotton wood high. When we were going to go back to school my friend’s car wouldn't start and we ended up missing all of school we all had to call our parents to come and pick us up.

28. I moved to Monticello the summer before my junior year.

29. I was on the track team for my junior and senior year of high school. I did discus, shot put, javelin and I even tried sprinting…but I wasn't good at it.

30. My first track meet I accidentally threw the discus behind me and almost hit a whole group of people. Thus gaining my nickname of “heads” for the rest of my high school career.

31. I lived with my sister and her husband for 2-3 years.

32. At girls camp we were playing a prank on our YW leader Sister LaRose and I was the one to distract her so I made up a real stupid story of a guy named BOB. Which she later came back and made up a story about purple passion and left me hanging just to get back at me. I STILL want to know what purple passion was...or means.

33. I owned a horse named Rusty. I love that stupid horse. (I have great stories if anyone wants to hear them)

34. I graduated at Monticello High. GO BUCKAROOS!!!!!
35. I have moved a total of 12 times since I was 16 (21 if you want to count moving from house to house in the same town and the different areas from my mission. And I had to use paper to figure it all out. :p)

36. I worked at a campground called Slick Rock Campground in Moab Utah for a summer (March to November)

37. I lived in my parent r.v. while I worked at the campground. My hours were from 7:30 to 11:00 or so...I didn't have a life. :p

38. I have a tattoo of a panther on my right shoulder that I got on my 18th birthday and I don't regret getting it and don't know if I ever will

39. I use to live in Covington Washington and worked in Renton. (Both very close to Seattle…about 30 min and NO it don’t rain all the time they do see the sun.) :)

40. I have a dog named Tukker that I have had since I was 18 and my parent think that he now belongs to them. (He currently lives with them)

41. I served a mission in the Philippines Manila mission and had the chance to learn Tagalog and some sentences from a few other languages.

42. On my mission I was able to find something that can never be bought, or taken away from me. A love and personal relationship with my savior.

43. I can still speak tagalog….but it is starting to get kinda ugly. :p

44. I met James at the LDS Printing Division in Salt Lake City, UT

45. We started dating in June 2006 and we were married in October 2006 at the Salt Lake temple. 46. We have a dog named Rosko and a cat named Dodger.

47. I really don’t like the color pink

48. I feel really self-centered right now. :p

49. I work at the LDS Business College as a receptionist

50. We are trying to have a baby

51. I love to blog and share my 2 cents about things.

52. When I was younger my brothers use to use me as their human punching bag.

53. When my mom caught my brother and me fighting she would make us sit on the couch and hold hands….which usually ended up as my brother squeezing my hand as hard as he could.

54. I love playing board games and card games.

55. My favorite group game is Mafia. It’s so fun with a lot of people. We played it at a zone activity on my mission it was a whole bunch of elders and sisters with ward members it was so fun.

56. I love chocolate almost anything chocolate I’ll eat.

57. One of the things that I wanted to try in the Philippines but didn't get to was chicken feet. I don’t know if I could stomach it now.

58. I am afraid of children...to a certain extent. That’s why I have a hard time bonding with them for some reason I am afraid of them. I know it’s weird.

59. It really bothers me when I hear that someone doesn't like me or is mad with me.

60. I love coloring books…it’s still so fun. I even have one in my desk drawer at work for when I get bored.

61. When James and I first got married he worked swing shift and I worked days. I cant remember where i was going with this one. :p

62. To help make the time go faster till James got home I would watch “Friends.” I got through all 10 seasons pretty fast. I love the show now and think it’s hilarious.

63. James, Nikki and I quote phrases from “Friends” all the time now.

64. I still love to do crafty things and I love learning new things.

65. I am not a fan of spicy food. I have to soak atomic fireballs in milk before I eat them. It really helps.

66. I worked at an equestrian center for a month and they had a horse that was abandoned and I was going to buy him. I called him Tennessee cause the original owner named him trash can and I think that that is to rude.

67. I quit the equestrian center because they wanted me to work 7 days a week for less then $1,000 a month. I also called in sick one day and got in trouble and was told that I wasn't allowed to call in sick.

68. I am a firm believer that what happens to us in our lives help to mold us into the person we are today. I have had a hard past but I wouldn't trade any of it, because it made me the person I am today and I have been able to help people with problems like mine and be a friend to help them.

69. When I lived in South Jordan we were really good friends with our neighbors the Powell’s. We would go over to their house all the time and jump on their trampoline, and they use to throw frogs in our pool. :p

70. I had this sand box when I was little and each summer I would build a water park out of sand and send toys down the slides till I got bored. So a natural disaster would some how destroy it…usually a flood. :)

71. My favorite kind of horse is a Friesian.
72. I love cereal it’s one of my favorite types of food. I love trying new kinds and I never tire of my old favorites.

73. I truly believe that everyday has a miracle in it and that we just need to pay close attention to see them…or just be able to recognize that it was a miracle and not just a coincidence.

74. My current favorite chips are Cheetos.

75. I have a weakness for jewelry I don’t know what it is I just love it.

76. Every summer we have some kind of family vacation either it’s a Perkins family reunion, or it’s a family vacation with my brothers and sisters and their families. This past summer was the Perkins Family Reunion (See "family reunion" post)

77. James and I have been married for 2 years in October. We have had some hard times but I love him so much. He makes me laugh and makes me want to be a better person in everything I do. He helps keep me motivated in finding new talents and keep moving. (which can be a little annoying on my ornery days when I want to just go home to a pint of ice cream and a chic flick)He is such a wonderful person and I am truly amazed by him everyday. Just when I think I am starting to understand him he turns around and surprises me. :)

78. One of my all time favorite places is the Temple. I love going to the temple I love being around the temple. When I was on my mission we got the chance to go to the temple once a month and I always looked forward to those visits. It always felt like I was being recharged, and could go a little further.

79. I love to sing but don’t have a very good voice so when I sing I make sure no one is around me. That’s why I love singing in the car I can do it and no one hears me. It’s funny at church If I can hear myself sing I will lower my voice till I cant hear myself anymore…so some of the time I am just sitting there mouthing the words. :p

80. When I was on my mission I learned a lot about the Filipino culture and to this day some of that culture has embedded itself into me and I love it. For example when I don’t hear what you say I’ll open my mouth, I use my eyebrows to answer questions and many more.

81. I love watching reality TV. I don’t know why I just love it. Survivor, Big brother, Hell’s Kitchen, etc. It’s great.

82. One of the shows that I watched was Xena, Hercules and Sinbad. My brothers made fun of me all the time but I really enjoyed them…so much that I taped them. I still have those tapes today but we can’t play them because we don’t have a VCR. :p

83. The stupidest animal on the face of the earth is the Cow. They are SO stupid and filthy and gross. The only thing they are good for is milk and beef…that’s it. I do admit milk cows are a smidgen smarter then meat cows but still dumb. Oh and yes I will admit that they are cute when they are little... but still stupid.

84. Next to horses my favorite animals are giraffes. They are very cute.

85. When I was younger my favorite place to go was the library. I would ride my bike down there at least 3-5 times a week. Once my friend Erin (see #23) and I went to the library and stayed a little too long working on a project for school and I guess her mom didn't know where she was. So when we got back to my house her mom was there furious at us. She told me I was a bad influence on her daughter and grounded her from my house for life. She stuck to it too! I invited her to an end of the year party at my house in 9th grade and she was STILL grounded. Go figure.

86. In South Jordan we use to have a block party every year. We would have swimming, croquet, Dutch oven cooking, basketball and my favorite water balloon volleyball. We would blow up our raft and fill it with water to keep the water balloons safe. Well one summer my brother Jason was sitting in the raft full of water filling up water balloons and my dad (who knew Jason doesn't like snakes) put a little water snake in the raft with him Jason started to yell and try and climb out of the raft but couldn't get any grip and the snake went behind his back and he launched himself out of the raft. It was funny…but probably not for him.

87. One of my favorite memories as a child is summer days. My dad would wake us up really early (6:30 or 7:00) and get us to go pick weeds in the garden. He would assign everyone a few rows and they were your responsibility to weed. After you were done he would inspect your rows and if they passed then you were done to see as you fit. Sometimes it took a lot longer so mom would surprise us with Artic Circle food and shakes. :)

88. Also to go along with above. Another favorite memory was at harvest time. We would wake up really early, get on our swimsuits and shorts, go grab a bunch of five gallon buckets and go pick whatever it was that was ready. Peas, beans, corn, etc. We would fill up the buckets and go and take them to the down stairs door. Then while mom was going to get lunch (again at Artic Circle. We loved their shakes and it was either that or McDonalds, blah) we would go swimming. Then we would eat lunch and mom and I would take the buckets down to the TV room (for the peas and beans) and eat shakes while watching old movies like Oklahoma or My Fair Lady, and snap beans or pod peas. It was fun.

89. I love quotes I have a book that my niece gave me full of quotes and I added a bunch more to that book. I also have quotes all over my wall at work. They help me through the day.

90. For my YW project and as a gift to all my friends. I did a senior year movie where I interviewed all my friends, some faculty members and class mates. Then I put it all together and edited it and gave a copy to all of our friends who wanted one. I love watching it still. It’s a fun way to remember our senior year. I have been trying to figure out how to convert it to a DVD.

91. When I was in 10th grade my friend Lisa convinced me to sing with her for a seminary devotional. We practiced for quite a while and when the day come I felt like I really needed a drink of water but I didn't think I had time so I didn't get any. The song was a disaster on my part. Lisa did GREAT! She has a really pretty voice. But all I had was (what James calls) a Chocolate Chip voice and I sounded awful. I was really embarrassed.

92. One of the careers I have considered is dog training. I have been training dogs since I was 15. I helped train my parents dogs and taught them tricks. I also helped my sister train her rottweiler Harley. I love working with animals.

93. Before I decided to go on my mission I wanted to go to the Moorpark College and get an E.A.T.M degree (Exotic Animal Training and Management) and work at a zoo or train animals for movies. I would still love to do that…but now that I am married I don’t think it’s a very logical dream anymore.

94. Life is a constant change and has many wonderful surprises. I believe this and I also believe that we truly do need to take the time to “stop and smell the roses.”

95. Every Easter weekend Moab has a Jeep Safari that we try and make it to every year. Jeepin is one of my hobbies that I absolutely love. My brother in law introduced it to me when I lived with them and I have loved it ever since. I have even got James into it. :) He drove part of the Hotel Rock trail last year. 96. I am not good at all at color coordinating that is why I have red walls, white trim, brown banister and pictures in gold frames in our living room. I would love to know what colors look great together and what don’t and what can brighten a room (besides yellow) and what will make it darker. This is why my kitchen isn't painted yet. :)

97. I am an independent beauty consultant for Mary Kay. :) I love doing this. It has helped me to come out of my shell a little more and it has also taught me a lot about taking care of your skin, make-up and many more things.

98. Things that is often easy for other is really difficult for me…like exercise. That’s why I have gained so much weight. :p

99. I am still a big fan of toys and think it’s silly that people think adults can’t play with them. I am really looking forward to when we have kids and setting things up for them to find on Christmas morning. (Maybe even playing with them a little too. :p)

100. Another hobby I have is that I love to collect things. One of the things that I collect that not too many people know about is swords, daggers and knifes. Last year for our 1st year anniversary James got me a Scottish Claymore that I had my eye on. I do get teased a bit by my parents and other family but I think they workman ship on swords are interesting and beautiful in its own way. I wanted to learn to be a black smith because of this too.

Well there it is. I hope it wasn't to hard to get though. :) It took me awhile to figure out this list. :) But it was fun to reminisce about fun things in the past.

Remembering Sept. 11

Today is the 7th year memorial of September 11th. I just wanted to take a moment to honor those men and women who fought to try and save those people in the towers of the trade center. Also to those families who lost family and friends that day. May we always remember this day.

Peach Days

Every year Brigham City puts on this fun little festival called Peach days. This is the second year that we have been and it is a lot of fun. They have booths, food, rides, games the whole shebang. This year we got to go a little earlier in the day and enjoy a little bit more of the fun. They have car shows and motorcycle shows. We missed the car show but got to see some of the motorcycles. James and I were able to get a hold of Mom and Dad Armstrong as well as Nikki and the kids to find out where they were so that we could spend the day with them. We looked at the different Booths and ate some yummy food. Then we headed over to the sand box and let the kids play in that while we got balloons for them. Afterwards Nikki and mom took Gavin home while James, Dad and I took the kids on some rides. Abby wanted to go on this ride that reminded me of the old magic carpet ride that use to be at Lagoon. James and I stood in line with her for 15min and we only moved about 2 feet. James explained to Abby that it was going to take a long time before it was our turn. So we walked over to where Dad was waiting for Nate and got to watch him go down the super slide and Abby decided she wanted to go on that instead. So we got back in line with the kids for the slide. This line moved much faster.They had so much fun and we had some extra tickets so I stood in line for the slide while everyone else went to look at the different rides. The kids found different rides they wanted to go on so I got out of line and went from James and Abby at the roller coaster to Dad and Nate at the 4x4 ride so that I could get pictures. The kids had so much fun, and we had fun watching them.Abby is in the second cart with her hands up

Nate is the little boy in the back with the green shirt.
After the rides we all went back to Nona and Grumpy's house (what the kids call Mom and Dad Armstrong) to sit and relax and eat some deliciously juicy peaches. :)

New Baby!

Congratulations to Mike and Natalie on the birth of their new baby boy!!! He is so cute. This is their 3rd child. They have a little boy named Danny and a little girl named Hailee. They have a lot of cute pictures of their family with this new little boy on their blog if you want to check it out.

Sunday Thoughts

These past few Sundays there has been quite a few talks on humility and that we need to be humble. I have been thinking a lot about humility and how the Lord tests us and shows us our weaknesses so that we can be humble and work on our weaknesses to make them strengths. The speaker in sacrament said that it's important for us to understand our nothingness compared with the Lord. The more we understand how insignificant we are the more special we become. It took me awhile to think on this but I believe it. We are the Children of God and are capable of becoming like him...just not in this life. This life is for us to gain experience and to rely on the Lord. This speaker also reminded us that if we think we are humble then that's when we aren't. I have never heard a humble person say they were humble, even in confidence. Another thing this speaker said that I really liked is that if we want to try to learn humility and don't really know where to start the best way to learn humility is to always put the Lord first regardless. I know that if we do this that we can learn how to be humble and that when we put our trust in the Lord and make him the center of our lives that he will bless us.

Weddings and Labor day fun

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THIS POST IS GOING TO BE VERY VERY...VERY LONG... WITH LOTS OF PICTURES

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OK well now that I have pre-warned all of you. :p Here it goes. This past Friday (Aug 29th) I was able to attend my sisters wedding. My sister Kari married a man named David and is now the step mother of a young man named Adam. It was an exciting moment to enter the temple and watch Kari and David be sealed together for time and all eternity. It was a beautiful ceremony. Afterwards we had pictures on the temple grounds with the family and then my mom and I followed Kari and David around like puppy dogs taking as many pictures as we could. I feel like I got quite a few great shots. Here are some:

This is right after they walked out of the temple.

I really love this one but there are too many people on the right so I took another...

This one I really love.

After the pictures were all done we all drove down to Gardner Village for a luncheon with the bride and groom. After the luncheon They had their reception at Gardner Village as well. Before all the guest arrived we took some more pictures with family and friends.

This is Kari with her maid of honor Terri. I love this pictures it's just sassy and fun.

This is Kari and David with the maid of honor and the best man. After pictures the people started to go through the line. We got to see some family members and friends that I haven't seen in awhile so It was really nice to talk with them and catch up. James and I also had a chance to walk around Gardner Village and listen to a live band with my cousin Cathy and her husband Steve. It was nice to spend that time with them. After we got back just in time to watch Kari and David cut the cake and have their dance. The rest of the night was filled with mingling and dancing. I haven't had the chance to dance (really dance) with James since our wedding. It was a lot of fun. After awhile it started to get late and Kari and David sneakily snuck out with only a few people noticing. Then it was clean up time and off home. They had a very beautiful wedding. Well my sister Nancy invited us all over to her house the following night to go swimming and have a BBQ. So James and I spent the day helping his parents, relaxing and cleaning till we had to be to Nancy's house. It was so fun to go swimming with everyone, and play games that I played as a kid in my parents pool.

After the BBQ my parents followed us home to spend the rest of the weekend at our house. Sunday was so nice to just sit and relax before church. After church we all went over to Kari's house for dinner and to watch her and David open their presents. It was raining so hard. James and I went and stood in Kari's garage just watching the rain come down. Well after the presents were all opened. Byron and Jill decided to go home with their family. Terri said she wanted to play cards...so :) James, Dad, Mom, Terri, Adam and I played Chang hi while Kari and David watched T.V. It was a really competitive game but TONS of fun. we got home pretty late cause of it. Then on Labor day dad had some store that he needed to go to. So mom and dad took us to IHOP for Breakfast. They were so busy it took about 15min just to get a waiter to take our order. Finally when we did get our waiter he was huffing and puffing so hard we thought he was going to pass out. We felt so sorry for him....well...except dad he must have been really hungry cause he kept voicing his opinion to this poor waiter. Which seemed to get paler and paler with each remark. Mom and I made sure we left a tip for him. Poor guy. Anyway after Home Depot, Walmart, Sports Authority, and Rock Creativity. we got to go back home to figure out what we wanted to do..for fun. So we ate lunch at Subway and went to the Botanical Gardens in Ogden. It's so pretty there I love it. It was a little cold but not to bad.

Dad had a lot of fun. He got to see new kinds of trees and flowers and find out they're names. They also have a vegetable garden there with tomatoes, pumpkins, and herbs like mint and parsley. The flowers were so pretty and they had quite a few roses. I took way to many pictures of flowers. I think I'm turning into my dad. :p There's this neat river walk by the Botanical gardens too. It's so relaxing to walk along the path and listen to the river and see all the pretty flowers and it smells so good too. If you ever get a chance to go see it please do. Well after that we drove down 24th street to show then all the different statues of horses that people have painted and stopped at the train museum. The actual museum was closed but we still got to see the trains outside. It was really very fascinating seeing all the different trains and reading the different plaques on what they do. You could see into the trains and some where pretty cool, expecially the engines. Well after that we were pretty wore out so we went and got pizza and ice cream and went home to relax and watch a movie. We had to say our goodbye's then too since mom and dad where leaving and James and I had to go to work early the next morning. It was kinda sad...But we had a great time. CONGRATULATIONS again to David and Kari!!!