isnt it about time?

oh. my. heck.

im sure your thinking girlfriend its about time you up dated your bliz-og (because i know all of your thoughts are in ghetto slang)

trust me im thinking the same thing and in the same way

well where can i possibly start off- if your reading this your probably going to be in it for the long haul- just so you know.

we got back into pocatello the day before school started and life has felt like it hasnt stopped since

sam and i have been enjoying ourselves and keeping busy. very busy. 

kyrsten- going to school monday-wednesday

enjoying my church calling

mowing lawns for a job (yes its true i didnt go back to my previous job) but there are no hard feelings there. it was a completely professional and logical decision.

homework homework homework

running-when i can motivate myself (which is MUCH MORE than it has ever been before)

sam-  school monday-friday (dont feel too sorry for him tuesdays and thursdays consist of bowling and kayaking)

 a new church calling (1st counselor in the elders quorum presidency)

mowing lawns

running ALOT

frisbee golf

ok it doesnt sound like that much but its what we have been up to since we have been home. no cleaning or cooking has been involved!

with all that said here are some pictures of our trip home and beyond. 

alice and me in front of the washington monument one last time!

i just find this picture so stinkin cute of my husband i had to share! i sure love that dimple of his!

the fam. dan me sam

clever i know!

dan sam and good ole abe

the white house

us so very excited to be done with the summer!

1st stop out of town-gettysburg

an indian statue

alice and dan

not very reverent i know. 

this was very reverent though. i can honestly say that the feeling of the sacred grove compares to the feeling only felt in the temple. what a beautiful place to be able to visit and just sit in and ponder. i will never forget being there.

the palmyra temple

hill cumorah

showing that im 21! yahoo! i spent my birthday in niagara falls! how many people can say they were able to do that!

we didnt have our camera out until night time. but allie did buy a film water proof one that maybe someday will get developed. we went on the maid of the mist and the cave of the winds and all sorts of stuff here. it was a blast

kirtland ohio. so awesome. i think one of my favorite places of the whole trip- maybe because our tour guide missionaries were so awesome. a tour that probably takes 30-45 mins took us over 3 hours just because they answered all sorts of questions and told us all kinds of stories. AWESOME!

kirtland temple-owned by the community of Christ

we stopped at taryn and ryans for a few days! i always love seeing them! 

st louis. this was really cool!

who knows why they had bonnets in the gift shop?

this was what we had to ride in to get to the top of the arch. it was like a small ferris wheel gondola type thing!

playin in the sippy!

liberty jail- also one of my favorite things.. heck everything we did was my favorite thing!

community of Christ temple in independence.- interesting...

far west. this is the temple site- all 4 corner stones of the temple are still all there

adam ondi ahman- these are what i like to call HOLY COWS! :)

this was so beautiful and so peaceful. i could have sat there for hours- but it was getting dark and the gates would have locked us in. plus there was the biggest nastiest spider ive ever seen there. i hope next time we go there those arent around (or scary anymore) :)

although i keep joking around on this post i really did love it there. it was one of the most amazing places ive ever been.

this however was not one of the most amazing places ive ever been. yes what the crap is a corn palace. just something in the middle of south dakota i guess.

takin a bit out of it.

mount rushmore. we debated whether or not we should come here but im really happy we did. it is an awesome place. i would love to visit it again and enjoy the little tourist towns all around it.

i could have posted a million pictures of our trip (thats about how many i took) but i thought id spare you and give you a little taste instead- what that a little one?

the weekend that we got home we went camping with some of our good friends! we will call them the preston crew. (some of sams high school buddies and their wives)

here is sam picking huckle berries. yum. what i want to know is why i never picked these as a kid!

andy jaylyn and baby sadi

katie johnny khysen and hadley

andy kev and sam

isnt he precious!

also last week my dad got surgery. he had to get his spleen out. what should have been the size of his fist was actually the size of a football. 

he stayed in the hospital for almost a week. fluid built up in his lungs and he had to receive a blood transfusion. that made him feel a ton better though.

he has been having sort of a hard recovery with his medications and dizziness but my mom has taken wonderful care of him.

thank you to EVERYONE who has prayed for him, visited him, send cards and wishes, and just loved our family. you will never know how much your kindness has and always will effect my family.

there is a young girl named kaitlin van wart. i had never met her until last week. recently her father was diagnosed with cancer. he has a very severe case and doctors dont think that he will live much longer. 

anyways one night as my family was sitting in my dads hospital room there was a knock on the door. in walked kaitlin- a 17 year old girl- with her arms full of goodies for our family. as she talked to us she asked if there was anything she could do for us- she offered to bring us dinner, run errands for us, or just get taigen and jace out for awhile.

my heart was and is still so touched by this young woman. here she was struggling with a horrible trial within her own family, yet she was worried about our family and how she could help us. 

what a strong example she is to me of selflessness. my heart is overcome every time i think about this experience. i hope that i can be like her and serve even when its hard. wow what an inspiring girl. 

as with most of my posts this has been a jumpy chaotic one- thats my life though!

i still REALLY want to do a craft night- PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW WHAT NIGHT  OF THE WEEK WOULD WORK BEST FOR YOU. majority will probably rule in deciding when we should do it. also if you have any ideas or projects you really want to work on id love to hear them.

life is wonderful and i love you all. 

thank you for lasting through this- it wasnt that bad right?

until next time,

x0x0