Love Love Today!!!

Why do I love today?!

because I woke up quarter to ....no....

try again.....

Got efy check out done....thats good but not quite....

again....

At the end of the week Counselor meeting we share stories with each other as counselors, some spiritual and some funny stories from the week…we had some good ones this week...but still not why I love today....

one more try...

Is it cause I got to go to the Temple today?!?!

Why YES! Yes it is!....how did you know?!?!

so....before I get to that....

I bullet pointed some things that I wanted to write about in this blog earlier so I could remember and one of my bullet points says:

Sidekicks all morning

…Um…I have NO idea what that means! Hahaha!...so I guess that is all that I will say about that!

Today I went to the temple with Brandon. We went into downtown SLC and parked the car in the conference center. As we walked over to the temple Brandon said to me, “ I feel like we are married today.” I said, “Oh! Does that mean we get to hold hands!?” hahaha….then I asked him, “ how so?”

He explained… “Well cause we were fighting all morning (haha- which wasn’t really fighting) but talking about what we were doing this weekend and wanting to go to the temple and you need to come up to Logan with me, but then you need to find a ride back down to SLC cause I am in Logan and you need to be back in SLC for another week of efy…but all I really cared about was needed to go to the temple today… and then we needed to stop by the store on the way to the temple cause you needed to get some shampoo…and then you want to go to some art thing today, and I said okay fine if you want to go to the art thing we can go to the art thing, I just want to go to the temple…and now we are going to the temple together…etc”

Oh man! I laughed so hard! I promise it was funnier when Brandon was actually telling me all of this- You probably had to be there to really appreciate it.

The temple session was AWESOME! LOVED IT!

Oh! Funny story! We were sitting in the Celestial room talking and we noticed that there were a whole bunch of couples there to get married that day (go figure…summer time in the SLC Temple! of course it is going to be packed with wedding couples) anyway we were sitting there talking and The temple matron was walking around with her clipboard grabbing the couples when it was their turn to go and get sealed. At one point Brandon noticed that she started making her way over to us…and said, “oh my gosh!...we are about to get married!” my reply was, “Oh man! My mom is going to be really mad that she wasn’t invited!” but then I guess the temple matron realized that we were not the couple she was looking for and walked over to another pair and took them instead…close call! HA!

After we walked around temple square and got some pictures…

Oh! and as we were walking around Temple Square I ran into a Deaf woman and her daughter - they are from Texas! so I chatted with them for a little bit...and brandon took a picture of me signing with them- haha

We went to dinner at Café Rio and then headed back up to Wellsville…

Weekend in Wellsville #3!

…there is a trend that is being set I think….hummmmm….

Work a week of efy…spend the weekend in Wellsville… Repeat….

haha...we went over to Miriams had a good time hanging out and we watched Meet the Robinsons - If you havn't seen this movie - you MUST watch it....NOW....go and See it! Brandon has deemed certain people with each character...the characters in this movie are pretty much AMAZING and they really do fit some friends personalities well!

I am the crazy Science Fair Judge! HAHA! just watch it....you will see! it really IS me! LOL

It was a REALLY GOOD DAY!

efy Week #4 – SLC

Oh LOVE LOVE efy in SLC!
Here we go!....

My group!
BAH! they were so much fun! I had 15 girls this week! BIG group! but such a fun mix! and my little boy man cub

To The end is our company name this week!

We had a ROCKING AWESOME banner this week!Sweet eh?!
Games night:
Kat Me & Ajari...Jordan...Glen!... Stefanie (love this girl!)... Me and Steve

good times
and...
Pizza Night!
and for pizza night I played the Ukulele for my girls!
Chillin with the chillins....
and playing the Ukulele of course!
service project blankets...

Friendship bracelet time...

It was good to Have Brandon here this week...he found multiple uses for a rugby ball:
#1- To play rugby!
#2- Unity...when teaching a group of kidlets how to play it really brings them all together!
#3- A gathering point...Brandon would hold it up in the air and the chillins would gather around.
#4-

I also helped brandon write his poem for his secret friend...
Oh! Also...
Brandon and I got to teach For the Strength of Youth classes together this week! I taught about Repentance and Brandon taught about the Sabbath Day
look at him! What a great little teacher! Our class was AWESOME! I taught with helium balloons and Brandon's lesson (of course) included running analogies! EVERYONE wanted to come to our class! it was FULL each rotation...including the last rotation where we had a whole bunch of kids sitting on the floor and in the isles. ha!
These pictures are from the dance on Friday...
OH....and lets love this please...
These are 2 of my boys from last year!
Conner!
and Hayden!
I LOVE Cassie!
and I love Jon!
and Daknis

and Kat....
of course....BRANDON!
so I have found that Brandon HATES dancing...really badly...but I would make him dance with me anyway! He actually isn't a bad dancer at all! and he even helped me teach some of the kids how to do some fun dance moves! This boy will learn to love to dance in no time! I just have to work it into him a bit!

I got paid a surprise visit this week by 2 good friends!

Jason...
and ALEX!!!!
This is the last time that I get to see Alex before he goes off to Alabama for a month for ROTC Air Force Officer Training. I was SO happy that they dropped by and I got to say goodbye to Alex!

Just look at these 2...no wonder people think that they are twins...haha


a few more pictures me and my girls! Sat morning!

and that be about it for the week =)

"Don't Judge My Hat"

Um….I just went through a bit of a struggle with myself trying to decide if I wanted to turn on my laptop before I went to bed…the laptop won- but only cause I had some thoughts of things I wanted to write down….then promptly forgot once I got it on….

Wait for it…..

Ah-ha! I remember now….

Here is my thought- its kind of random…it makes sense in my mind currently…yet it is Late- I am mid-week efy and Tired! And ready for sleep!

I am trying to think of the best way that I can say this…um…and I don’t really like this analogy right now but it’s the best I can come up with…

I wear a lot of hats. (hats = responsibilities and roles in life)

Depending on the day of the week, month, or even just the time of day you could possibly see me wearing any one of my plethora of hats.
And at any given time most likely you will see me balancing multiple hats on my head at once!

> Don’t judge me by my hat

Does that really personify who I am?!?!
Does this one hat (situation) = me?! And all of me? Even though really that is only one part of me?!?!?

Hold on! Don’t you want to see one of my other hats? If you don’t like the red on I can put on the yellow or black one!

Anyway…there are my random thoughts for the night….I think I will write a book… it will be called what I titled this post “Don’t Judge My Hat” …that is unless I can come up with something better later on. =)

a Wonderful Weekend in Wellsville

After I got all of my kids checked out this morning and we had our last efy meetings etc Miriam came and picked me up from USU.

The Boys ran the Ragnar this weekend. 12 of them on the team 188 miles. It was an Intense race!
Saturday we went shopping and then Miriam and I made dinner!
YUMMY PIZZA!!! Miriam made the crust from scratch! she is pretty much incredible!

And went to visit the boys…they didn’t get home til late. they were REALLY SORE and EXHAUSTED!

Sunday we had breakfast with the Norr family! THANKS Momma and Pappa Norr! You are the BEST!!! I love being with the Norr family! Espically meal time! #1- Pappa nor is a GREAT cook! #2- you just cant find better company!
We all went to church together and then Pappa Norr made us dinner after church. love love!

THEN! we had STORY TIME!....

I bought this book yesterday -
We went to a bookstore so I could buy a new journal...and I stumbled across this book and I HAD to have it! so I got it...and I LOVE it! I actually recognized Edward Monkton from when I was in London. I a line of cards that he had written/designed in a little shop somewhere.

so we all gathered around and I read the book to the boys!
I dont think that I can say how much I LOVE this picture that is documenting one of my most favorite little moments in life!!! I LOVE story time!!! =)

...Oh sadly Trevor had to leave :( ...but Jason (who also ran the Ragnar) and Steven (Jason's brother - who is also an efy counselor) joined us.

THEN before Brandon, Steven and I had to run off to drive down to SLC for our fireside to start off a new week of efy... we made THIS....
Its a Pizza size Skookie!
Yeah! its big!
and it was devoured in less than 5 minutes!
We said our goodbyes
and then headed off to SLC for yet another week of efy.

efy week #3 – Logan

Another great week of efy! I was a little bit worried about who my co counselor would be. And after having such an Incredible week with Alex as my coco I was REALLY hoping for another good one.
Well…
Meet Warren…
Yes! We love him!...its true!

Oh! Cool story from this week! I was on check in duty…and there was this kid…and he had a friendship bracelet and I said, “oh cool frien…wait a second!...I made that bracelet!” Turns out that Jackson still had the friendship bracelet that I had made for him a year ago at efy! For real! And I remember making it for him too! Cause I asked him what colors he wanted and he told me, “I want one exactly like yours!...same colors!” So here we are! Showing off our matching friendship bracelets!
LOVE IT!
My company was aWEsoMe!!! Love love them! Here they are…
Our Company name was Eternal Endurance
Our group cheer when like this: “E to the N to the durance…Eternal…Say WHAT!” With hand motions and ALL! It was awesome!

Here is our banner…
and the whole company with the banner!
and we totally made it into the cheer off! HA! Such a funny group!
We would jump rope together…here is my sweet jump rope pic of the week!
This jump rope is one of the greatest investments I have made! haha! SO FUN!

And my little Ceddy (Cedrick) got sick…poor kid…and they thought that he had spread it…so they decided that our entire company needed to have their throat checked out…
Just for fun Warren and I jumped into the line too and the health counselor kind of freaked out when she saw my tonsils and said that I needed to go back to my room cause I was swollen…haha!...no no my friend…I just have big tonsils! Haha…its true.

lets see....how about I share some more pictures!

all of the counselors this week...
Warren and Me....
Our Chillins during games night...which was held in the Toaster (the toaster is the church building...thats its nickname...strange I know)

My Man Cubs working on the blankets that we did for service project...
OH!!!....I must tell you of the AMAZINGNESS of Musical Program This week!
My ENTIRE COMPANY was in Musical Program. This is the first time (I wouldn't doubt saying EVER) - that a WHOLE company of 14-15 year olds did Musical Program together!
this is a picture at the first rehearsal...we had TONS of youth who came and participated!
This makes me SUPER excited! cause I believe that Musical Program is one of the BEST experiences that they can have at efy!
I have never had anyone regret being in musical program! It is truly an AMAZING experience! To be able to bear testimony through song! So I really push it a lot and strongly encourage my kids to be a part of it. This week we had 1/4th of the session in the Musical Program! SO COOL! It was AWESOME!!!!

OH! AND.....
this is our session director - Brother Chang with his cute family...
He is pretty much AMAZING! I feel really blessed to have been able to associate with him and learn from him this past week! Yes- he is here for the kids...as I am....yet I got a lot from him and very much appreciated our little one on one talks that we were able to have! He was so genuine and kind and loving! and spoke by the Spirit! I was very much influenced by some of the things which he said to me!

Bro Chang found out at the beginning of the week that I am fluent in ASL - so he randomly called me up to help him tell the chillins about the rules at the beginning of the week, and then asked me to sign the theme song which all of the counselors sang together.
WELL....come to find out there was a young woman at this session who is Hard of Hearing, she came up to me and told me that it really helps her out when I sign.
SO- on Thursday I interpreted for the entire Musical Program and the fireside. It was an exhausting and exhilarating task! I LOVE interpreting...I still get a little nervous every time I go to do it! Thank goodness for the Spirit! He guides me and helps me SO MUCH when I am interpreting!
The Spirit runs REALLY deep within me while I am interpreting for church/testimonies. So it was a really powerful experience to interpret for the musical program. I almost started to tear up a little bit for part of it. I wish I could adequatly explain the feelings of the Spirit, but I don't think its something that can rightfully be put into words. so I shall just say that I was very grateful to be able to be part of that this week and have such wonderful spiritual experiences!

Oh! and on that note...I just thought of this! kind of a little ah-ha moment as I sit and type...
The greatest spiritual experiences come when in the service of others!"

Lets see...

Picture TIME!!!!
OH MY GOSH!!!!
They were Freaking Excited!....

Can you tell?!?!

Warren and I really DO like each other...
we are standing like this for an "insert self here" photo opp! so the kidlets could just insert themselves in between us.
like so....
Maxamus got a little confused about where to insert himself...
and Scotty...well this is how he was most of the week...texting....
so that's where the inspiration for this picture came!

OH MY GOSH!!!!....
This week I discovered some AMAZING things that my camera can do! HAHA!!!! Some editing features that are built right into the camera!
for example: taking out red eye and a fishlens edit feture, a "retro" option that puts a black circle around your picture... this focused color option...

then there is this cool one that I did on a picture of alex that I had on my camera...We shall call this edit the "BLING BLING!" cause it puts sparkles into your photo....
oooooohhhhhhh! SHINEY!!!!!!

THeN!.....our FAVORITE!!! which has been the cause of MUCH entertainment and MANY Laughs!.....HAPPY FACES!!!!!
This feature enhances the smile....making the faces more....HAPPY!
Here are a few before and after examples:

Jon:
[ Insert story here:
I actually have a funny story about Jon! On Wednesday after BC meeting Jon casually says to me, "Kristy, when I first met you I was totally intimidated by you." I said, "oh really?" He replied, "yeah! you could have told me to do ANYTHING and I would have done it!...like...go kill that guy! and I would have said, yeah okay!"
haha- I asked him why it was that he was so intimidated of me?
He said, "I think that it was something that you said at the first meeting of the week when I first saw you...I dont even remember what it was....but you were....oh.....I dont know....let me think....whats the right word.....you were very......Fiery!"

"oh....okay....thanks." lol I actually take that as a compliment in ways!...cause I will tell you what...I would MUCH rather be Fiery than bland and dull! ]

Jaxon:
Warren making a frownie face:
No more Frownies!:

What a FUN little discovery eh?! I think so!

So this week at efy Bro Chang came up with the fun iead to have all of the counselors have a "secret friend" and we would give small gifts to our friend in secret...Tuesday we gave our favorite treat, Wednesday we gave a poem, Thursday we gave a spiritual thought, and Friday we revealed to them who their secret friend is! It was a fun little thing to do.
Warren asked for my Wed during games night with writing his poem...this is what we came up with...
We think that we are quite hilarious!

Um....I just want to share one last thing! from this week...
This is Warren during games night...

He is trying to say:

IRISH WRISTWATCH

go ahead...try to say it 3 times fast...or just once slow...sounds pretty easy huh? but I bet you will struggle!