I have a family here on Earth...

How thankful I am for the knowledge of Eternal Families.

And how grateful I am for....

 

 

Temples.

They make it possible to have an eternal family.

One of my favorite Primary Songs is: I have a family here on Earth.

(I'm pretty sure everything we ever need to know was taught to us in Primary.)

I have a family here on Earth.

They are so good to me.

I want to share my life with them,

through all eternity.

Families can be together forever.

Through Heavenly Father's Plan.

I always want to be with my own family.

And the Lord has shown me how I can.

The Lord has shown me how I can.

While I am in my early years,

I'll prepare most carefully.

So I can marry in God's temple,

for eternity.

Families can be together forever.

Through Heavenly Father's Plan.

I always want to be with my own family.

And the Lord has shown me how I can.

The Lord has shown me how I can.

As things have happened through the last few days.. weeks.. and months.. I have really come to realize how truly grateful I am for Heavenly Father's Plan. Each of us has a specific purpose in this life. A reason we are here. A reason why we've been placed in our specific families. And a reason we are who we are.

All of us have different situations. Whether they are good or bad. All of us have different trials. Our goal is to learn what we can. Become the best version of ourselves we can. And return to our Father in Heaven. This will never be an easy task. All that is asked of us is to do our best.

We don't always understand the trials we are given. We don't always know why bad things happen to good people. Why the ones we love are always taken way too soon. And we don't always know how to get through our hard times.

We must remember that our Heavenly Father is always. ALWAYS. ALWAYS. here for us. He is always here to comfort us. He is always here to listen to us. He is always here to guide us in the right direction. He is always here to help pick us up when we feel like there is no more go left in us. He is always here. He loves us. More than anyone else ever could. But... We must let Him in.

It has been a rough week. When it rains it pours, right? Our family friend, Blaine, is still battling cancer, with daily radiation treatments and chemotherapy. We had another dear friend, Susan Hunter, go in for pretty intense heart surgery recently. We attended a funeral for an amazing guy in my parents' ward who was way to young to go. And this past weekend we found out my cousin's little 2 month old baby is terminal, with SMA. Given anywhere from a day to 8 months left.

We are constantly looking for the sunshine under this cloud of gray. It has been hard. And a lot of prayers are coming from this house. We know our Father in Heaven is looking over us. And we are all sooo grateful to be LDS and have the full knowledge of the gospel.

I am so grateful for MY eternal family. For how close we are. Not only how close my immediate family is, but how close I am to my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I am also extremely grateful for all of my friends who are constantly here, looking out for me, checking up on me, listening to me, and being a shoulder to cry on. You are amazing! And I know I could never get through any of this without any of you. Thanks for being you, for being my distractions when I need them the most, and mostly for letting me fall apart. I love you all.

And finally.. I am going to leave you with one of my favorite poems.

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,
"The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you."

  -Mary Stevenson
(you can find the original poem here... http://www.footprints-inthe-sand.com/index.php?page=Poem/Poem.php )

Missionaries...

WHY am I always writing to a missionary?

I don't understand.

Do I really like all the money spent on postage stamps?

Or packages?

Or is it the long wait in between hearing from them?

I'm impatient.

Can't possibly be the wait I enjoy.

So what is it?

Because, honestly, none of it sounds pleasant.

I have written a lot of missionaries. My first experience was when I was eight, with my sister's husband ("Her Missionary" at the time), Greg. I probably wrote him two letters while he was gone, but for the sake of the story, it counts! haha... Then my next experience was with my brother, Kade, like eight years later. I wrote him a letter maybe once a month, maybe every other month, whatever.. I mostly e-mailed him every week. I also wrote to a friend's cousin on his mission. Chris Downey and I would write every so often, but it eventually became only e-mailing. Then I only ever e-mailed Brent Jessop.. All of this e-mailing was a BAD idea! I got used to how great e-mails were! And now most missions have the rule that if you're not imediate family.. NO e-mailing. POO.  :(

Now.. I've had a few friends that I have written who stayed stateside, or had the pouch mail option, and only required the 44 cent stamps! Thank you, boys and girls!! However... two of the missionaries I have written to the most went to Australia. That's a 98 cent stamp, kids!!

I know, it really doesn't seem like a big deal... But let's just say you send a letter to the missionary once a month.. that's 98 cents a month.. equaling $11.76 a year.. and $23.52 for the 2 years... That's not taking into account the $45 it is to send a package.. So say you send a letter once a month and one package... That is approximately $70 dollars in two years.

 

Okay... let's look at a missionary in The States, shall we? Say you write to that missionary once a month that is $5.28 a year and $10.56 for two years... Even if you write that missionary twice a month it's cheaper than sending ONE letter to Australia! And packages.. OY! They are only $11 (roughly) if they stay in The States!! So two letters a month and one package would only approximate to $35! HALF as much!!

So I ask you again,

WHY?

Why do I LOVE writing missionaries?

Maybe its the joy I get each time I see that amazing white envelope with my name on it..

Maybe its how happy I am when I get pictures..

Maybe its how cute some missionaries are in their letters..

Maybe its the way they get mad when they don't hear from you for a little while...

Maybe its the follow up letter.. reminding you they are still waiting to hear back from you...

      -Thank you, Chris Gerona!! ;)

Maybe its the way their letters turn a terrible day into an AMAZING one...

Maybe its how glad they are to just get any kind of mail...

Maybe its how grateful they are to get a package from someone other than their mom!...

      -Even if it is a cheesey Valentine's Day package filled with crap... haha

Maybe its the hope of them coming back from Australia with that sexy accent!!..

      -Thanks for ruining that one, Brett!! Come on, Chris.. I still have faith you'll pick it up!! ;)

Maybe its the way they make me smile with no effort...

Maybe its the way their words can fix any problem I'm having...

Maybe its that I can come up with more reasons I LIKE writing them, than reasons its a pain!

However....

Good news kids!!! My latest victim will be home in ONE YEAR!! Yes! 12 fast sundays!! And then... I'm DONE! Done writing missionaries!! Well, writing missionaries consistantly! haha I'll still write the occasional letter to any cousins out on missions. But I will be done with having friends gone!

Most of my friends think its funny to tease me and say I'll find another missionary to write.. But I won't. I really am done!! Someone hold me to that!! haha

I LOVE MISSIONARIES!!!

Rough days.. I'm sure there are more to come..

I'm having a really hard time with this.. and I'm not even sure where to begin!! I'm doing my best to type this through tears.. so please bare with me.

When I was little I always seemed to get along better with adults than people my own age. My best friend was Blaine Richardson... He is one of my many second dads! He lived in the house just east of mine.. and his kids all grew up and hung out with my older sisters... His daughter Jeri was mad when i wasn't born on her birthday.. and Jeri and her mom made me a super cute quilt with bunnies on it that i still have to this day.. Our families were pretty close! And I remember anytime I'd go over to their house crying, Blaine would always wipe away my tears and tell me he was keeping them in his wallet for when i'd need them at my wedding. (Misty claims he used to keep her tears too... but i'm pretty sure he doesn't still have them... I am more loved...) Whenever I was mad at my parents I would always run away to his house! Blaine loved me! And he was my favorite person!! I would go over to his house and just talk to him! We were the best of buds! And I would tell everyone that Blaine was my best friend!!

I can't remember when they moved out of their house... I know my sisters were grown and I was still pretty young.. But I was devastated! My best friend was leaving!! But he had promised to stay in touch!! 

A few years later he got remarried... I think her name was Nancy?? haha He became active in the church and went through the temple... My parents were invited to go through with him and they said it was a really neat experience! A little bit later he and his wife and her kids all came up to Bear Lake with us! I hadn't seen him in a little while so it was so fun getting to spend so much time with him! It was such a fun trip!! And so many fun memories! Like Blaine tipping the cannoe over and losing his super expensive glasses in the water! We still haven't found them... and it has been YEARS!!!

We heard a few years ago that Blaine and Nancy had gotten a divorce... :( We lost contact with him for awhile, so we weren't really up to date.. We tried finding him so we could send him a wedding invitation to Kade and Tara's wedding... but all the contact information we had wasn't good anymore.... My parents finally ran into their oldest son about a year ago at church. Greg's wife's sister lives in our stake so they were there for something and my mom ran into him in the hall... she got somewhat of an update on Blaine.. But a little while ago... Misty found Jeri on Facebook (or Jeri found Misty... I'm not sure which way it happened...) But it has now been easier to keep in contact!!

Blaine got remarried to a darling lady, named Iola! And he is so happy! They are the Sunday School teachers to the Young Single Adults of their Ward! What a hard calling!! haha But he is still active in the church and even his oldest son Greg has become active and now holds church callings!! It has been wonderful to see such great growth in this family!!!

Now that you've had the background and know a little about Blaine... here comes the sad part...

Yesterday morning I was sitting at home and I get a text from my mom---

Mom: Dad and I are going to see Blaine Richardson in the hospital tonight. What do you have going on? Do you want to come?

Me: Of course I want to come! Why is he in the hospital??

Mom: He has a brain tumor and they are doing surgey tomorrow morning.

Me: What? How did you find this out??

Mom: Jeri said something about it to Misty on Facebook this morning. So I called her and got more information. I'll tell you when I get home.

Side note: THANK GOODNESS FOR FACEBOOK. I know that sounds so ridiculous.. and some people think Facebook is a HUGE waste... but honestly without it... I am afraid we would have never known...

So I had pretty much all day to stew over this information and freak out. I was a mess. My mom had gotten all the information that Jeri had when she called her yesterday morning... So when she got home she filled me in. Blaine had had a bad headache for 3 weeks.. and on Sunday his headache was so bad that he didn't go to church. Iola came home from church and Blaine couldn't feel the right side of his face, so she rushed him to the hospital thinking Blaine was having a stroke. The doctors did a CAT scan and found a shadow, so they did an MRI to further check it out. Sure enough... Brain tumor. The tumor was lemon sized, and the doctor wasn't certain it was or wasn't cancerous... so he told them as soon as they got it out he would send it for testing. The doctor said the tumor was in a pretty good spot, between his brain and the skull so he thought the surgery would go well. They scheduled his surgery and had him on steriods all day yesterday to help shrink his brain to make surgery and his recovery easier...

My parents and I went to visit him last night! It was the first time I had seen him in years! And he still looks the same as I have always remembered him! Terrible surcumstances to reunite in... but I'm so grateful we went to go see him! He was joking around with us and was so positive about the whole situation! He told me he still had my tears, but he didn't have his wallet with him so I couldn't cry while I was at the hopital visiting him. He told me I had grown up to be so beautiful and asked me when I was getting married... and told me he better be invited or I was going to be in BIG trouble!! I assured him I was never getting married, so he really had no invitation to wait for. But then I told him that of course he would be invited, he was my best friend!! And my mom added in... yeah, you're like another dad to her, you better be there! We stayed and bugged him for a long time, talking about old memories and catching up on new things. When it was time to go we all gave him a big hug and told him good luck in the morning. I got a kiss on the cheek and an i love you with my hug! Something I will always keep very dear to my heart.

He went in for surgery this morning... The doctor removed the tumor.... or I guess, technically, what he could of the tumor... I haven't gotten the full detailed story of everything yet.. but when my mom called me... she said it wasn't all as hopeful as we had once thought it was going to be. It turns out the tumor IS cancerous and spreading. They won't be able to cure it. But they think they might be able to hold it off for a while. One word: DEVASTATED. How long is a while? Years? Months? Is this really happening?

Blaine is a fighter! And I know he is going to try his hardest to beat this. I know all of my prayers will include him in them. And all of my family's prayers as well. I hate being so helpless and knowing that praying my guts out is the only thing I can do.

Blaine, I love you! You promised me last night that you would be at my wedding. And I want you there in person.

I know this post is a mess. I'm sorry. I'm sure no one will understand, but i really just needed to vent and get somethings out and off my chest. thanks to everyone enduring this and caring enough to read. PLEASE keep Blaine and his family in your prayers.

Recap of Oh-Nine! Bring on the Twenty-Ten!!

First of all.. a couple quick updates on my birthday, Christmas, and New Years...

So anyone who knows me, knows I don't do mornings well! But the morning of my birthday Brett came and woke me up. Brave man!! ;) So Brett comes down the stairs and opens my door.. and my parents had decorated my door (its a tradition...) so he couldn't get into my room without ruining it.. so he told me to get out of bed and that he had a surprise for me.. so of course i was a brat about it! haha I wanted to know how the crap he had gotten into my house! But he just kept telling me to get up... So I made him go upstairs so i could get out of bed and fix my crazy hair! And then i met him up there.. I wasn't very happy that he had gotten me out of bed on my birthday.. but as i got to the top of the stairs i turned and he was holding a bouquet of beautiful pink roses!! They were seriously perfect!! He is the best guy friend ever!! And he is going to make some girl VERY happy one day! He is so good at giving flowers!! :) So i hung out with Brett for a little while and then got ready for the day... Tara and I went to the Wasatch Jr High basketball games Abby was coaching.. GO WARRIORS!! I like to think that both teams won for my brithday! ;) It was fun to see our little Abby acting so grown up! bahaha actually.. she did such a great job coaching those girls! I'm impressed she had so much patience with them!! Way to go, Abby!! .. then i went home and met my parents so we could go out to dinner at Asian Star!! Seriously the best Chinese food EVER! It was sooo good! And after dinner we went to see Blindside! We LOVED that movie! It was awesome!! I had a very relaxed birthday, but it was so amazing!! The next night I went out to dinner with Tara, Kade, Abby, Mia, and Sway to celebrate! Dinner was so much fun! And I'm so grateful all of you came just for me! The Next night i had a party at my house with a bunch of friends!! Kacey and Josh let me borrow their Wii, an X Box 360, and one of their big flat screen TVs.. So we had Super Mario Brothers going in one room... and Rockband going in another! I thought it was so much fun! And I had a lot of friends show up! So thanks to everyone who came!! You guys are the best!! Then the next night we had a birthday dinner with the family! Blake's birthday is only 9 days after mine so we had a combined birthday party!! Yes, everyone else was shocked that i let someone else share my party!! haha but my little Blake and I just have a very special bond! He is the cutest little thing!! So I had no problem sharing with him!! Thanks everyone for making it such a fantastic birthday weekend!! Here are a few pictures from that weekend..

  

  

Christmas was so good this year! My parents are amazing and let me have a themed tree! I am obsessed with polka dots... and my mom had found these way cute ornaments at IKEA that were red with white polka dots and silver with white polka dots and even some that were white with red polka dots! They were seriously so cute!! Our tree rocked! It was so gorgeous! And I was so sad when it had to be taken down!! I tried to convince my mom it could be a Valentine's Day tree... but she wasn't havin it! haha The many Christmas parties were also wonderful!! We had a Mads reunion a few days before Christmas.. and it was sooo good to see everyone!! My how the group has grown! ;) A lot of the Mads are now married or engaged! So crazy that we're really this old! haha It was so fun singing some of our old songs! But... We have forgotten quite a bit!! haha whoops! ;) And we (Jenny, Heid, and I) discovered that somethings never change! A certain someone still throws us all off.. Dan Jones still turns bright red when you tell him he's naked under his clothes.. Lonesome Road still makes Mandy's grandma cry.. Peter can't give The Pasture to another Mads group yet.. and friendships really do last forever! :) Christmas Eve with my parents and siblings was awesome! As always!! My mom had the kids do the pageant again... and like every year.. it was madness! haha But still super fun! Christmas day we went to my mom's parents' house for Strawberry waffles and the food exchange!! Always a fun event!! Thanks family for the entertainment!! :)

  

  

New Years was very different this year!! My parents had thought it would be fun to go to Bear Lake... so we tried inviting a few people to come with us, but no one could.... so it ended up jut being my parents, Brett, and me! We drove up on New Years Eve and came home on Sunday! It was a pretty calm weekend! We watched movies, played lots of hand and foot, and went for a walk on the beach and out on the ice. My parents drove back home early on Saturday morning so they could go through the temple with my 3rd cousin, Brennan. And while they were gone I got another one of my crazy migraines! Poor Brett tried so hard to take care of me! But I was worried about being a pain so i didn't let him help very much! My mom told me to try a heating pad or an ice pack... so I did both! I had the heating pad on one side and an ice pack on the other! After a few hours my head started to feel a little better! And finally my parents got back! They had brought me some other medicine to try, since ibuprofen doesn't seem to do anything! But other than that... the weekend was fabulous!!

2009 was a fantastic year!! So many fun things happened! We kicked off the year with a jeeping trip, Heather's wedding, Brett came home, making new friends, having fun with the girls at the salon, Mia was born, multiple fantastic Bear Lake trips, Temple dedications, learning i was allergic to MSG, Vegas madness, California fun, friendships renewed, 4-wheeling with Brooke, Pumpkin painting for Halloween, Trick-or-Treating with Gavin and Tasha, Swine Flu fiasco, starting a blog, Christmas tree hunting, Polka Dot Christmas tree, 22nd birthday, combined birthday party with my favorite little Blakey, Blake turning 1 and learning to walk, multiple new hair dos, Mads reunion, Christmas, and we're back to New Years! 

  

  

 

 

   

 

 

It was a very full and busy year! But so very fantastic! I'm so grateful for the experiences i had and the friends i have made! I can't wait to see what the rest of 2010 brings!!

I even had friends when i was little..

The first friends i can really ever remember having were Carlee McCormick, Brandi Kordsiemon, and Jessica Wetzel. The four of us were the best of friends!! We all did everything together! I'll try to give you a break down of each of these girls and some memories i have of us!!

First there is Carlee! Carlee moved in to the house just next door to me when we were two years old! She was the first friend I had ever made!! And she seriously was one of my lungs for most of our childhood! I even went with her and her family to Florida and on a cruise when we were in 6th grade!! It was sooo much fun and I still have very fond memories of that trip!! Carlee moved away right after 6th grade. And even though i had other really close friends, it was still very devastating to me! We kept in contact a lot for the first little while. But once we hit high school it got harder and harder and we sorta lost contact! :( .....to be continued...

Brandi moved in when we were about 3 or 4.. and instantly became our friend!! She was super shy! Or so I'm told! haha I don't really remember her as being shy... She always talked to us!! :) But she was, and still is, the most calm and quiet one out of all of us! haha Brandi and I were in the same Kindergarten class, and our teacher was Mrs. Bingham... well... Mrs. Bingham couldn't ever keep Brandi and I straight!! We ALWAYS got the other one's name!! And don't worry... we still get our names confused!! (I blame my parents for giving me a fake name that is too much like another name!! ;) haha) Well.. you see.. Brandi moved away right after Kindergarten... and since we were so young, we lost connections with her kinda quickly! We tried to hang out every once in awhile.. but that really didn't last for very long. .....also to be continued...

Jessica moved in when were were 5... i think! haha she kinda completed our little group! I remember first meeting her and thinking that she had the most beautiful crystal blue eyes! I'm not really sure why i even noticed that at age 5... but i did! And it is so true! :) haha I remember hanging out at Jess' and blasting Ace of Base and dancing around her house! Jessica was the oldest in her family.. and her parents were very strict!! Quite the opposite of how mine were with me! I had kinda rubbed off on her and taught her how to have an attitude!! I remember once she got grounded from me because of it!! Whoops!! Jessica moved when we were in 3rd grade? Or was it 4th? I can't remember... but she still went to the same Elementary school that Carlee and I did.. so the three of us still hung out all the time! We would even walk to Jessica's house after school sometimes and play for awhile! She went to a different Middle school and high school though, so once we got out of elementary... the contact kinda stopped with Jessica as well! ...... also to be continued....

So I used to have a MySpace account.. well, technically i still do... but i never check it or use it. But back before i had a Facebook account.. i used to be on MySpace a lot! Well, i get on one day and Jessica had sent me a message! We started talking to each other and texting each other! It was so fun to catch up! I hadn't talked to her in like 5 years! We talked on and off for about a year and then kinda lost contact again.... Until later we "became friends"on Facebook... And even then we only ever talked once in a blue moon........

So one day I log onto Facebook and I have a friend request from Brandi! I couldn't believe it!! I hadn't seen her or talked to her since we were 8, i think! So i accepted her friend request and we started sending messages back and forth! It was so fun to catch up with Brandi! See what she had been up to and what she was doing with her life now.... 

And finally i got in contact with Carlee again! Like I said earlier.. I never check my MySpace anymore... but i had been looking in my e-mail inbox and Carlee's little brother, Cody, had sent me a message. So i log into MySpace and check it out. Cody had said Carlee didn't have a profile so she wanted him to look and see if i had one.. and I did... so I ended up writing him back and asking for Carlee's number.. and we started talking and catching up! Carlee and I went out to dinner about a year ago. It was the first time i had seen her since we were 16! So we caught each other up on everything that had happened and gone on up until that point! It was so fun seeing her!

Eventually Carlee had been talked into getting a Facebook.. So all four of us were able to keep in contact with each other a lot easier! :) One day I thought it would be fun if we all got together and went out to dinner to catch up!! So together we planned a night and all met up! The four of us hadn't been together in 15 years!! So there was a lot to catch up on! We all have such different personalities! But at the same time we are so similar! It was crazy to see how much all of us had changed and how differently we had turned out! Jessica had gotten married about a year before... Brandi was engaged to her missionary that she waited for.. and Carlee had been dating the same guy for over 4 years! Yes... I am still the only single one! haha and I am now the shortest! When at one point i was the tallest! I'm not really sure how that even happened!! (Except that really they all kept growing when i stopped! haha)

It was so fun seeing you girls again! I have really enjoyed our get togethers! And I do believe we are due for another one sometime soon!! ;)

The last time we all tried to get together... Brandi ended up having a dress fitting for her wedding dress so she couldn't make it. (Strange that she thought that was more important! haha JOKE!) But Jessica, Carlee, and I took a picture together... so until we get one of the four of us.. I'll just put this one up! And I'll replace it with the other one as soon as we take it!! :)

California, much?

We all know I LOVE going to California! And I'm obsessed with Disneyland!! Its my favorite place ever! I mean.. how can one NOT love Disneyland, right? :)

Well, this summer my friend Kimberly and I traveled to California for a week! We stayed with an Elder from her MTC district and his family, in this town called Yucaipa.. (Pronounced You-Ky-Puh) Its right next to Redlands.. Yeah, don't worry, i had never heard of it either!! :) So luckily we had Plott to drive us around so we didn't get so lost!!

We got to do a lot of fun things that week! Things i hadn't done in California before!! For starters.. Plott had to work a little bit during our stay, but it actually worked out to our advantage! :) The day we arrived he had to work at a clothing store in this awesome outdoor mall! So while he worked... we shopped!! :) Ha! Only girls could shop for 5 hours and not be bored! ;) But we found some super good deals and some really cute stores!! We bought lots of clothes!! And even for Utah standards they were good prices!! My favorite store was one called Papaya! I'm obsessed!! It was the cutest store! But of course... there aren't any in Utah!! BAH! haha

The next day we went to the Redlands Temple!! It was so beautiful!! And so small! haha I had never been to a temple that small!! They said that the Draper and Oquirrh Mountain were small... ha.. right! :) We took a bunch of pictures outside, but they honestly don't do it justice! That afternoon, another Elder from Kimberly's MTC district joined us! Poor Groves! He had such a long drive!! haha we didn't do much that night, we just hung out with the boys and went out to dinner! But the next day......

We went to... DISNEYLAND!! Of course, it was amazing!! My brother-in-law, Josh, works for Disney, so he got us discount tickets!! (My sister, Kacey, printed them off for us! -- Just so she gets the credit for giving us the tickets!! haha) We only spent one day there... but it was fantastic!! And we definitely got some good pictures!! haha Hopefully Groves doesn't kill me for putting a certain one on here.... but... he willingly let me take the picture.. so its his own fault! ;)

     

Oh.. about this last picture... We were about to go on Pirates.. So i told Kimberly to make her best pirate face... guess this is the best she's got?? bahaha

The next day we drove down to San Diego! It took a long time to drive down.. so we didn't have enough time to stop at SeaWorld that day.. So instead we went to the San Diego Temple! GORGEOUS! But... I forgot to pack my dress down to San Diego with me (we left most of our luggage at Plott's house to save room in the car!)  So Kimberly went to do a session... and I got stuck with the boys.. the brilliant ones who wanted to go see a really stupid movie! Lets just say I really wish i would have taken my dress!! haha We did get a lot of good pictures at the Temple though! And afterwards we went to dinner and then to the beach! But it was getting dark by the time we got to the beach... so we didn't get too many good pictures that night. :( We had to make a Walmart run before going back to our... "hotel".... We didn't have any towels in our room.. so we had to go buy our own! haha yeah.. super classy!! But.. it was cheap.. so i guess you really do get what you pay for!

 

 

Saturday morning, after breakfast, we hit up SeaWorld!! I actually saw more of SeaWorld than i ever had before!! Even though we didn't go see the penguins!! Sorry, mom!! haha We had a good time though!! When we went to see the Dolphin show... the boys thought it was a great idea to have us sit on THE FRONT ROW!! Ugh! Girls who take time on their hair DON'T do the Splash Zone! haha The arena was TOTALLY packed! So its not like we chould just choose different seats! So we thought maybe it wouldn't be too bad.... We were wrong. The first five minutes and we were soaked!! So Kimberly and I got up and walked up all the stairs to the very top of the arena.... don't worry... we got lots of laughs and comments on our way up! And we even got a few comments later in the day from people who passed by us!! And I have to admit... it was pretty funny!! It was a fantastic day at SeaWorld! We pet the stingrays and held starfish! We saw the dolphins up close and walked under sharks! We even got a little sunburned! :)

 

  

 

We left SeaWorld a little early so we could stop by the beach again and get some pictures!! It was a success!! We headed back to Yucaipa late that night.. and made another Walmart run.. this time to get wax for Plott's legs!! bahahah! It had been a long week.. and the boys were a little difficult at times.. so Kimberly figured it was payback!! But... when we got back to Plott's we discovered all the supplies weren't in the box.. so we only got to wax off one strip. Not as exciting or painful as we had hoped.. but still a fantastic reason to only get two hours of sleep before leaving for the airport!! :) We made it back safely and I even made it home in time to shower and get to Jeremy and Jon Neilson's homecoming!! :)

It was a great trip and I had a ton of fun with Kimberly!! I'm so glad she let me go!! And I'm pretty sure she was glad she wasn't stuck by herdelf with those two boys all week!! haha