Kara's mission call

Kara got her mission call several weeks ago! She is going to the Resistencia Argentina mission. She reports to the MTC on March 2nd. She is so excited and we are so proud of her decision to serve a mission. She is going to be an amazing missionary!

Happy Thanksgiving

This is the first Thanksgiving in along time that we spent at home. Kara and Heather flew home from College and my parents flew from Utah. We had a peaceful and enjoyable holiday. My my mom and I did all the cooking. We kept with our tradition of eating around 1:00p.m. and then went to see the new Disney Movie "Tangled". I can't wait for Kara and Heather to be home again in a few weeks.

McKay Bryan Clevenger

My sweet little grand baby was born on November 17th at 2:00p.m. he weighed 8 lb 8 oz. I was so glad that I was able to fly to Miami to spend time with Amy, Bryan and McKay.

Here is baby McKay, he was one day old. I loved how he was holding his hands. So, sweet.

Here he is on his way home from the hospital.

Amy and McKay heading home.

Below are some pictures that I took while I was there. I can honestly say that even though he is only a few days old, I love him with all my heart. What a blessing he is. It was also so cute to see Amy and Bryan as new parents. What an adorable family.

Happy Halloween!

For about the past fifteen years Our family has had the tradition of making dinner in a pumpkin on Halloween. This year Kylie and I worked on it together. You know it's a true tradition when your older moved away girls all made the dinner in the pumpkin for their friends and families. I got calls all day about how long to leave it in. Should I add more rice. etc. This is such a yummy and fun dinner.

It has hamburger, rice, soup and cheese among a few other things. We love eating the yummy cooked pumpkin along the edge. Yea for traditions!

Lauren and a few of her farm friends Alex, Bree and Kylie

Farmer Reed and his pig Kylie.

Reed and Shelley(The scrooge of Halloween, I just didn't have it in me to find a costume.) I know what your thinking how hard could it be to throw a cow costume on or even some overalls. All I can say is at least I'm wearing black. That's kind of festive isn't it?

Here I am with with Buddy Kim, we are both the ladies in Black!

More Aruba!

Below are some fun/random pictures that I thought would be fun to post of our trip. Below is me enjoying the beautiful white sand of Aruba.

We ate at this amazing restaurant that was right on the beach. Our toes were in the sand. we were able to watch one of the colorful sunsets that we loved seeing every day.
This is what the beach looked like right outside our Hotel. White sand and aqua blue water.

Jen took this fun shot of us walking down the beach.

We started having so much fun watching people. We started posing, pretending to take pictures, but in reality we were trying to get a shot of a funny person. This is my dream guy behind me.
This is the gang with our dive masters. We dove on two separate days and were able to see several wrecks and some beautiful reefs. This was one of the highlights of the week for me. I really love to dive. I always get a little nervous, but once I am in the water. It is Heaven! It's so peaceful and amazing.

Reed coming in from the dive.

Jen and I at the beach!

One of the things that there were signs for, was the donkey sanctuary. We happened upon it while we were buzzing around on our quads. I loved this shot of Jen feeding the donkey and the donkey was smiling.

Jen and I out to eat with the husbands.

A cute little church that we looked at along the way.

Now I am back to my real life. What can I say, it was so fun to escape to paradise for a week.

Reed's Perfect Day!

On Monday we decided to rent a quad and a Rhino and buzz around the Island. There are many spots that it is easier to be in a four wheel drive. We had so much fun. We took turns with the Bohns, riding the Rhino and Quad.

As we were buzzing around on the quad, Reed said that this was his perfect Day. He loved riding around with his chick on the back. He got pretty wild. At one point I thought I was going to fly off the back. That's when I had to hold on for my life. Reed loved it!

Jeff and Jen getting ready to take off on a wild ride.

One of our stops was at this pretty rock garden. It looked like a giant had dropped these huge rocks all around in a random way. We saw all sorts of creatures that are native to the Island. At one point we saw this cool owl, that kept swooping over our heads.
One of the Interesting things about Aruba is all the cactus. The Island is really green, but kind of like a desert at the same time.

Here is Jen and I chillin in one of the rocks.

One of our stops was a beach called Baby Beach. It was this beautiful bay with totally yummy blue water. We grabbed some snorkels and saw some amazing fish. The snorkel guy gave us some bread to feed the fish and Reed loved dropping the bread right in front of me. I would be suddenly surrounded by many crazy, hungry, beautiful fish. Fun, but kind of scary.

Reed and I are on top of the world. We had our perfect day.

We are in Aruba!

Several months ago we decided to take a trip to a fun location that we could do some diving. We decided it was going to be Aruba. Our good friends the Bohns are also certified to dive and wanted to join in the fun. So, now here we are in the beautiful location of Aruba.

We arrived in Aruba after an almost day of traveling and were hit with the super humid warm Island of Aruba. We hit the beach and enjoyed an amazing Sunset and the beautiful, warm blue water. I have been in heaven reading books and enjoying the peace of the Island.
We went to church in a cute little branch that spoke Papamiento, with a little spanish mixed in.
Aruba is a beautiful Island with amazing white beaches and if you notice on the license plate it is "One Happy Island". I think we saw a good portion of it today after church.
We drove around looking at a light house, a beautful church and went on some four wheelin roads without a four wheel drive car, Yikes!
I have had a fun day taking pictures. I took this cute one of Jeff and Jen. I loved that they were wearing white.
Here is one Jen shot of me. We have a fun week ahead. We are planning on exploring the deep blue water. I can hardly wait!

Sonora with Kylie

Last week I was able to attend Sixth grade camp with Kylie. We had so much fun together. Kylie is my little buddy and we are the best of friends. This camp is so amazing because all the learning is done outdoors.

Our little group built an outdoor shelter and learned how to use compasses. Here is Kylie hangin in the shelter.

Sierra outdoor learning is located in the beautiful forests by Sonora California.

All of our classes included hiking(which I love). One of the best hikes is called the silent mile. They separate everyone and you walk along this peaceful stream in complete silence. It is a wonderful time to reflect on the beauty of our Earth and for all the blessings Heavenly Father has given us. I loved it!

Cute Kylie listening in one of her classes.

Here I am in Columbia, chillen with my fellow group chaperones Heather and Tara.

One of the classes they learned about the Earth and Beyond. This was a learning station where they learned about different kinds of Rocks. At the end of this class we were taken to this little dome where they taught us about the stars. This was Kylie's favorite class.

Kylie with her group, Allie, Jessica, Megan, Sammy, and Cari(Behind)

Allie and Kylie checking out the acorn. I had fun playing around with my camera. My bucket was filled between hiking and taking pictures. The only part that was missing was the big comfy bed and the spa treatments. My friend Jen and I did have fun watching late night movies on my I-Pad. Laughing with friends is also a bucket filler. Note to self, try to be quiet at night, so the scary chaperone doesn't get mad at you.
I had to throw this amazing shot of the Eagle in. What a beautful and majestic Bird. Learning about the birds of prey was another great class that the kids took. This was a fun few days spent with my sweet Kylie.