Belated...but all still true!

Two weekends ago my siblings and I, threw my mom the surprise party of the CENTURY!!! It was incredible! There are just not even words to describe the lies, and cunnings, and manipulations we went through to give my mom the best 50th birthday ever!!! Hopefully none of you have experienced this, because you should not lie to your mom, but when there are 6 of you that she talks to on a regular basis and you guys have not touched base with each other, a lot of different things can be said! It was hard work I tell ya, but it was worth it. She was completely, utterly and entirely SURPRISED!! All the kids were such a big help and really made everything come together. It was the first time the entire fam has been together since last August, so that was an incredibly good time, as it always is when we get together. Not to mention the amount of people that traveled to be there to support my mom. It was incredible! Thanks to Keri Haynie for making the best slideshow in the world of my mom and her life! It was absolutely beautiful! Brought many to tears, but definitely brought a whole lot more laughs...glasses as big as the face they are on, sailor outfits, rockin' bods in even more rockin' swim suits. Just a few of the many gems the slideshow captured. I will just post pictures, as a picture is worth a thousand words, and it will just be way better and much more entertaining that way!!

Helaman in the tree, just hanging up some lights!

Of course we had to first try on the decorations that would cover our backyard.

Centerpieces.


The finished product. It looked incredible! Not to mention gave me a really good feel for what I want my wedding reception to look like when the time comes! ;)..which is afar off, in case you were wondering!


How cute is she? Little AllieFairy


My adorable nephew Tyler rockin out on my dads drum set!

The food tables! Glorious.

How creative are we? Chips in the sand pail with a shovel to get them out! Cute eh? ;)

At about this point, I would go into a list of all the reasons (usually the amount that is equal to the age of the person) why I love my mom. But 50 reasons, although I could come up with them, is probably way more than you guys want to read! Just know, that my mom (as well as my dad) are the best people I have ever met! They are such amazing examples to me of becoming like Christ and always putting the Church and family first! They have flaws just like anyone else, but they are constantly striving to overcome them and become better. It's amazing.

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY MOM,
I LOVE YOU!

P.S. We also had family pictures taken when we were all home...so be excited to see those results! :)

80's NiGhT!!

So, my old neighbors, and dearest friends, and some of the reasons I live, were in charge of a mutli ward activity this last weekend! It was a blast from the past night, and since we all know that I am totally an 80's girls... (come on, I was alive in the 80's for a whole 5 months!) we all decided to dress that blessed decade! As we were all getting ready, we all decided how great it would of been to live in that age. Nothing had to match. You could look in your closet and throw on whatever you wanted! HUGE cut down on getting ready time! Anyway, obviously there is no way to explain this dance party in words...which is why I just post pictures!!!!

I would have TOTALLY rocked the 80's...everyone would of wanted me I am certain! ;)

Profile pic.? Yes please. I love Lauren Smith!

Me and my girls!

Thanks for the invite girls...I miss and love you more than anything!!!!

Sports Camps

Well I decided I should hurry and do some updating before too many things start happening and I never want to update again...that is what happened with my journal writing...in 6th grade. So I know it has only been like 2 weeks, but doesn't everyone just feel like my existence in the blogging world has all but dissipated? Yeah, me too! Don't worry friends! I am back and writing again!

Soooo, sports camps started last week!!!! I had swimming girls (this week I have basketball, but more on them later!) I absolutely loved it! My roommate was Taryn, which was more than fitting considering that we met each other because we both had swimming last year. It was a great week! I absolutely fell in love with my girls, and they loved me back. Which is always a plus! They were 14 and older, which meant I got to go to the dances and they were awesome! I love staying caught up on all the 14 year old drama and what swimming boys are cute and who loves who... For some reason, it never gets old! Here are a few pics from the week!!!

Our "freezing faces" at 7 Peaks. Don't worry that it has rained and...winded? the past 2 weeks when we are supposed to be there! Dang Utah weather! If you want to know how I really feel about it, please refer to this...

Late night parties in the counselor's room after lights out? I would NEVER allow that!!

Art, in its true form!

My glamorous swimming girls before the Thursday night dance.

Loves of my life. Carly, Kendra, Taryn (the outcast), Kerra, Kayle

If you say it really fast... Carly, Kayle, Kerra and Kendra... It is hard.

So one of my favorite thing about Sports Camps (I have a whole lot of favorites so that is not really a reliable statement) is how close the girls become with you and with the rest of the group. On our way to our 4:00 meeting last Monday, Taryn and I were discussing how funny it is when at the end of the week all the girls arrange to 'come back this very same {insert sport here} camp. Everyone come the first week ok? And we will all be in the same group again!' They always confirm to doing it...and it rarely happens. So when I walked upstairs Monday afternoon to talk to my girls who were talking to Taryn's younger girls I could not help but start laughing hysterically when my girl Jordan said, "Ok, now we all have to promise that we are going to come back to camp next year, the first week! It will be so fun. Everyone promise?" And they all did. It had only been 5 hours since they met so obviously I found it incredibly humorous! They are just so quick to love and I admire that!

Now onto a little miracle that happened to me this last week. Three of my girls and I (ones pictured above) got extremely close. 2 of them are members, cousins actually, and one of them is not. When Friday afternoon came and it was time for them to leave, I found myself ridiculously depressed and melancholy about them leaving. I already missed them and was afraid for the choices they were going to make while at home under the influence of their peers and the world. I just wanted the best for them and from just knowing them for one short week I had grown to love them. As I began thinking about this more, I realized how well God knows us. How he has known us our whole life…spiritual life and physical life. I was so scared to let my girls go back home and be in constant battle with the world and everyone bashing their standards. That is just from knowing them a week. I can only imagine…and actually sometimes that is kind of hard…how much more God loves us. How hard it is for him to see his children not make correct choices, to not accept the Gospel or to not ever have that opportunity. It was an answer to a prayer, as I have been asking God to make me more charitable and help me to view people like he does and to be able to truly love others. Anyway, it was just amazing and I felt so blessed to be able to have such a realization. God is an awesome God! (For you Kris!)

So, now that this blog post has gone on forever... sorry about that... I am going to end it and post again! Be excited!

Sports Camps!

Well guess what?! Sports Camps start next week!!!! and I am stoked! We went to Spring Haven for a retreat/training sort of thing with all of our fellow counselors and soon to be best friends for the summer! Super Exciting! Not a whole lot of promising brown males for me to crush on...but I guess we will see! :) I did not take any pictures of it...well except one of Taryn on top of a tree stump lookin majestic. But she probably does not want that posted!

Next week I work Swimming Camp. One year ago I started working sports camps and had swimming. My roommate, that I met at registration that morning, was Taryn MacArthur. It was both of our first week and we had no idea what was going on. From photo shoots, to army crawling down the hallways, to cleaning up purple, toxic throw up of a ten year old, we bonded...and are still BFF's. In fact she is now my roommate...well she would be if she ever would get her stuff moved in! ;) So next week is our 1 year anniversary and I am going to treat her to dinner at the Cannon Center...slash, we have free meals all week so not really, but we WILL be eating together! Anyway, I am so excited for camps to start and I have already met so many amazing people!

I LOVE SPORTS CAMPS!!!

Stay tuned for many more entertaining and memorable stories!!