I Believe in Christ

A friend sent me a link to this video and I loved it! One of my favorite songs too. I guess that they play it in the Mesa Arizona Temple. I am so thankful for my Savior and for the love and strength he blesses me with daily! I went floating down the Provo River again today, and my friend was expressing how thankful she is for the beautiful world and for all that we are given. I agree! Hope you enjoy the video!

Colorado Family Reunion

What an extremely fun trip! We drove to Colorado, through some beautiful territory- The Rocky Mountain National Park- in a caravan with Aunt Glenna, Shelby, Bobbie and Savannah. At the top we were at an elevation of 12,005 feet!

The scenery was amazing, with beautiful flowers, trees, mountains and animals!

On the way there we made some stops, at a house that was used in some scary movie, I think. I didn't recognize it, but we took some fun and goofy pictures :)

We stayed overnight in a hotel and got in some swimming. Savannah is a character and quite the little girl. She finally found a man her size and just couldn't get away from him! It was entertaining!

After our meandering road trip, we arrived at Snow Mountain Ranch, and were accosted by our plethora of relations! My mom comes from a family of 10 kids and they each have a lot of kids, and their kids have quite a few kids. There are quite a few of us is an understatement. It's sooo much fun when we all get together! The fun and laughs never seem to end!

There were lots of activities to do at the ranch. We started the next day with an early morning swim. 6 am I believe. Some of my brave cousins, the ones that were excited enough to swim to get up that early, and I all headed over. A few of my cousins are on swim teams and we had some fun competitions going on. Annika seems to be the fastest of us all. She's 11 or 12. I've been training since to beat her :) Even Wade, my cousin Brittney's husband, didn't come close :)

Then my family and I spent the day with Brittney, Wade and Uncle Steve climbing, playing volleyball and tennis.

Then a group of us arrived at the lake for some canoeing. Each canoe was given a couple rubber ducks. You were supposed to throw the rubber ducks into each others canoes and try not to end up with any. . . of course you can't canoe in a lake without getting wet, so I had to start a water fight. It only escalated from there!

We hiked to a beautiful waterfall, where we took some pictures. We teased Bobbi and Shelby that theirs looks like an engagement picture :)

We found a cave to go spelunking in :) and had a good time catching up with everyone.

We gave Kelly a great scare as she was sitting in her car :) She's always fun to tease!

That night there was a country dance, and we headed over for some good ole' western dancing.

The morning we left, my cousin, Heather, and I headed over to the craft area. They had tons of cool stuff that you could make from boondoggle to leather to ceramics and more. Heather and I both decided on painting our own ceramic bowls and having them fired. It was fun.

Shelby and Taylor seemed to be flirting with this boy. . . look how excited he is :)

I am so thankful for my wonderful family! They are so much fun, so supportive and loving and we have a great time together!

Funnies

These are a few of my favorite funny video clips that I thought I'd share. They are dedicated to Greg and Mike who are usually the ones that would show them to me!







This so reminds me of the joys of winter in Utah!



This is dedicated to Cami :) Notice the person in the background when they're floared towards each other...

Bowling

So I went bowling with some friends the other day-Trisha, Breanna, Stacey, and Hayley. My friend, Hayley, is a great bowler. We had a lot of fun! Greg would be proud of me. Guess what I bowled?!! A 176! I couldn't believe it! Hayley said it was my ball . . . who knows?


Afterward, as we were trying to decide what to do, Breanna, with screeching tires sped out of the parking lot. Down 1. Then we finally decided to go to my house for some creamies. Stacey really wanted icecream, but we had to convince her that creamies would be okay. She wanted Jake's Over the Top. Hayley and I drove together in my car, while Stacey said she could direct Trisha to my house. Hayley and I got home, and waited, and waited . . . down another 2? I told Hayley that Stacey probably convinced Trisha to stop off for HER icecream. Just as we about decided they weren't showing up, they arrived. Stacey had her Jake's Over the Top and the rest of us enjoyed our creamies and the company. It was a great night.

A Bees Game and The Capital Building

For family home evening in my singles branch, every year they go to a Bees Game. We get a ticket to the game and a voucher for food! Free tickets with free food for young single adults = higher attendance :) This is my second year attending. It's always fun. I don't think I ever catch much of the game. I'm always too busy visiting with friends and having a good ole' time. We did stand up during whatever inning it is that they sing Take Me Out to the Ball Game. We gave a rousing rendition! Thanks to Megan Hansen for the enthusiasm!

As we were leaving, Katie and I were invited to go with our friend Scott to play sardines in the Capital Building. Yes, that is like hide and go seek, only when you find the person, you hide with them. Everyone stays hidden until the last person finds the group. Sounded like an opportunity I wouldn't get every day, so although it was late for me, I decided to go. I'm so glad that I did! We ended up with sixteen of us. This is a picture of the whole crew.

When we got to the capital building there were quite a few of us girls that had to use the restroom. Scott directed us to the desired spot, and as we reached to open the door, a lady came out. I think we about gave her a coronary! She was awful startled, I think, to see anyone in the building at that time of night. The boys made fun of us, all crowded into the room, waiting our turn . . . cause everyone know, a girl can't go the restroom by herself, she always takes her friends :)

We decided to start the night out by climbing to the top of the capital building and seeing the view. It was amazing! You climb and climb up a ton of steps and ladders, until finally you are outside. At the very top balcony, I found out it is called the cupola, there is a ladder that leads up to the ball at the very tip top of the building where there is this little tiny windmill thing spinning at the top in the wind. Only one person fit on the ladder at a time. It was windy, and only a couple of us braved the trip up the ladder. A mistep could mean a fall of 283 feet! Crazy!

At the top, it felt like you were on top of the world! I'm sure it's not the highest building there is in the universe, but when you are dead even with the mountains, you sure feel like it is! I stood there with the wind blowing my hair, taking in the entire Salt Lake Valley, gazing at the lights, the temple the mountains - it was beautiful! I could have stayed up there for hours!

We wanted a picture with us and the temple in it. Jeremy was sitting on the railing of the cupola, so I jumped up next to him, on a higher part that was a bit uneven. I scared a bunch of the girls with us, they wouldn't let go of my hand until I got down. It made me laugh. I guess some day I will learn to be a little more cautious. But it hasn't happened yet.

After awhile, it was time to go down, and we made the trek down all the ladders and stairs to begin our game of sardines. First we had to get in some fun pictures in the entryway. Then we started walking around, exploring the rooms that we could. While many were locked there were quite a few unlocked for us to roam around in. It was quite fascinating and sometimes eery walking around all the unoccupied rooms. I started out wandering around with Katie and Crystal Stevens. We kept looking and trying to chase Scott to figure out where Joe, the hider, was hiding. Scott knew.
I had been in the Capital when they were giving tours after its renovation. I knew there was one room that was worth a lot of money, and I told Katie and Crystal that we didn't need to look there, there was no way they would hide in there. Little did I know. . . I lost track of Katie and Crystal and buddied up with my friends Shiree Jones and Amy Treft. We continued exploring, and Shiree kept getting texted clues from Joe, that were completely not useful! We had a good time looking around, but after awhile, we started seeing fewer and fewer people roaming with us, and the game started to drag on. Shiree had been on the tour of the Capital as well, and we had opened the sliding doors to what is known as the Gold Room. When we realized what room it was, Shiree announced she wouldn't go in there, and I concurred saying they had told us it was worth millions of dollars. We continued walking around aimlessly, and finally Joe told us where he was-the Gold Room. It was pretty funny that we had been right there, but I was a bit shocked to find them lounging around and beneath the the expensive furniture with drinks and completely unaware of the cost of the things that were about them! I found this definition of the antique interior desing of the Gold Room . . .

The State Reception Room was designed to accommodate important state functions. The marble is a local Golden Traverse, the table wood is Russian Circassian walnut, and the chairs are upholstered in English coronation velvet. The three-piece hand-tied carpet includes a picture of a beehive, the state symbol denoting industry. The mirrors and chandeliers are imported from France. The green velvet cloth and tapestries are Italian. The ceiling is adorned with a painting titled "Children at Play" with accents of 23-carat gold. The original cost of furnishings was about $65,000 but are now valued at several million dollars.

I think had I found him earlier, I would have been a bit apprehensive to hide or touch anything anyway, so it all worked out great! It was a lot of fun!

As we left, some of the girls took turns being handcuffed by Scott. He sure enjoys his job as a policeman! I think we saw him zooming past us on the highway with his lights on. . . but who knows?