For the record...

I am already listening to Christmas music. Yep, that's right. I am listening to Christmas music and loving it! I have been accused of skipping Thanksgiving because of this act. To set the record straight I have decided to post why listening to Christmas music does NOT mean that I am skipping Thanksgiving, in fact I think it is making me look forward to Thanksgiving even more. It is also helping me to feel more and more thankful for all of my many blessings.

Oh Holy Night inspired me to look outside the windows of my car while driving and appreciate the stars that were peaking through some of the clouds. How grateful I am for the beautiful earth that was created for us! It is incredible to think of all the wonders that surround us on this amazing planet!

Christmas Shoes of course helped me to realize that I have never had to go wanting. Heavenly Father has blessed me to always have shoes on my feet, clothes to wear, food to eat, and a roof over my head. This song also made me reflect on how grateful I am for my parents. They have sacrificed so much just to make sure that I am happy. I have amazing parents and for that I thank my Heavenly Father everyday!

Silent Night made me think of singing my nieces and nephews to sleep when they were babies. For some reason I love to sing that song while rocking babies to sleep. And of course, thinking of rocking my nieces and nephews to sleep helped to just think about my nieces and nephews in turn and how much I love them and how grateful I am for the joy that each one brings into my life.

I'll Be Home For Christmas made me think of where I grew up. That fabulous little community of Fairview. I don't care what anyone from the city may say or think, growing up in a small community beats the city HANDS DOWN!! :) I'm so glad that I'm a small town hick!

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree makes me think of being with my friends and having fun. I am grateful for the fun times in life where there is laughter, singing, and smiles. I am grateful for my amazing friends that are always there for me. This includes my brothers and sisters because while they are my siblings, they are also some of my very best friends.

And of course Away in a Manger, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, The First Noel, and many others helped me to think of my Savior. Life has no meaning, purpose, or direction without Him. He truly is The Light Of The World! How thankful I am for the knowledge that I have that He lives! He IS my Savior! He atoned for all of my heartaches and sins. He died for me and for all of the people that I care about. He has made it possible for me to be with those that I love for eternity! Thanksgiving is the Thankful Holiday and I am Thankful for my Redeemer!

New Mexico!

Yay! I finally went to New Mexico to visit my dad! He's been working at a mine there for the past while and I've been wanting to visit him for awhile. My mom and my niece, Madison, went with me. ROAD TRIP! (By the way, the next couple of posts are going to be kinda long because I have a lot of pictures! Hee hee)

Here we are! On our way to New Mexico!

Here's the Monticello, Utah Temple. It is a small temple, and it's very pretty!

These ruins are by the little town of Aztec. Madison and I went to visit them while Mom worked and Dad had a nap after working.

Hurray! A door that is just right for Madison! Hee hee!

It was actually not too bad for me either. :) Of course that would be because this door wasn't native to the ruins...that door will be coming up...

This wooden ceiling was the original ceiling for these ruins.

Here's the original door! Even Madi was too tall for it!

Which meant I was definitely too tall for it!

This is what's left of a Kiva. Archeologists believe that these were used for religious/ceremonial purposes.

This is a Kiva that an archeologist restored.

Here's a far-off shot of the ruins.

Mesa Verde

While we were in New Mexico we went to Mesa Verde. It was awesome! This is a pretty big post because of the pictures, but I wanted all of the ones that I chose...and there were a TON that I didn't post! Ha ha ha!

This was an elk farm on the way to Mesa Verde. These bulls were HUGE!

My niece Madi and I hanging out in the backseat on the way to Mesa Verde.

I love my parents!

The Tower House. The Ancestral Puebloans built their homes right in the cliffs!

So cute!!! :)

Aren't they incredible?!

This ladder was awesome! It doesn't look very tall here, but it was!

This is a complex called the Balcony House. There was only one way in and that was a tiny tunnel. I have pictures of it next.

Here's the tunnel!

Dad barely made it through. Ha ha ha!

It was almost just right for Madison. :)

This picture was taken inside a Kiva.

The Petroglyphs. We hiked about 2 miles to see these. The hike was really pretty but we probably should have done it at the beginning of the day instead of the end. Hee hee!

Eventually our New Mexico trip had to end. On the way home we saw the sunflower fields. They were so big!

This rock was on the way home too. If you look closely you can see a door at the base of it. I'm very curious to know what it was for.

I don't remember the name of this arch, but it was on the way home too. We counted it as our trip to Arches National Park since we didn't make it there like we were thinking of doing. :)

It was so fun to visit my dad in New Mexico and learn a little bit more about his life there and about the Native Americans. It was also fun to have a road trip with my mom and my niece. I loved it!

Sterling Falls

For my sister's birthday in August we went on a hike to Sterling Falls. It was a gorgeous hike and the falls were totally worth it! They were beautiful! We rode up the ski lift first and then we hiked about a mile and a half to the falls and then we hiked back. It was a lot of fun! Here's a few pics...

Camping!

In July my mission companion and I went up Fairview Canyon for a couple of days and did some camping! It was so much fun! We made amazing dutch oven food and of course we had s'mores too! I also took Wendy fishing, but not just any fishing, I took her float tubing! Ha ha ha! It was awesome! I wish I had some pictures of her float tubing but we didn't get any. We both caught a fish and it was fun helping her set up her pole and helping her release her fish...I almost felt like a parent. ;) It was just nice to get away and enjoy the mountains, they are one of my absolute favorite places to be. :)

Here I am with my totally awesome campfire. I was in charge of keeping that fire going and making sure it was nice and hot so that we would have coals for our dutch oven. :)

Hike to Timpanogos Cave

During June I went on a hike with my sisters and their kids to the Timpanogos Cave. It was a great hike and we had so much fun! Just to warn you, there are a lot of pictures in this post, so be prepared! Ha ha!

Here we are ready to go on our hike! Some nice old man took this pic for us. :)

My niece Madison and I.

Two of the trouble makers, my nephew Baylan and my niece Whitney.

Ha ha! I ran through this arch thinking that I would take a picture of everyone walking through...what I didn't know was that my sister was trying to take a picture of everyone too! You can barely see her in the background, but apparently I ruined her shot. ;)

My two beautiful sisters. Cherish is on the left side of the pic and Camie is on the right.

The other two trouble makers, my nieces Savannah and Corah. I loved this picture of them because it just seemed to really catch their personalities. :)

Camie is locked inside!!! OH NO!!!!!

My niece Brooklyn is locked inside too!!!!

Whitney trying to be a rock climber.

These flowers were so cool! They were growing right out of the rock!

Being brave!

Camie has a jolly rancher in her mouth in case you weren't able to see that. ;)

I didn't even have to zoom to take this pic! This little chipmunk wanted his picture taken!

My niece Myriah and I.

This is Cherish with 4 of her kids. Her son Dallas couldn't come with us. Poor guy!

Here's Camie with her 3 kids.

This was a "lake" inside the cave. The tour guide said that even a small puddle is considered a lake when it's inside a cave.

They call this Stalactite "The Heart of the Cave" because it's the biggest Stalactite there. :)