Well, these past few months have gone by in a blur. It doesn't even seem like I have been away from home. The first night I was home, I went and hung out with my friends and it felt like nothing had changed. I've been having a lot of fun with them and enjoying the time I have to spend with them. 

I loved getting to see baby Megan and getting the chance to hold her and love her! I've also loved spending time with Barbara and John and my whole family.

I'm loving the weather here, it's a nice break from the snow back in Utah!

My friends and I have been having a lot of fun these past few days. Today we went and saw Les Miserables and Haeley helped me re-dye my hair with kool-aid.

Christmas was wonderful. Full of fun memories and time spent with people I loved. 

It's just one of those days...

The Zoo

Yesterday in between conference sessions Jeri, the kids, and Faith and I went to the Hoggle Zoo. Here are some pictures:

All of us on the Ape:

This is Eli. Isn't he so cute? I want one!!!

That was a lot of fun spending time with Jeri and the kiddos. I also wanted to tell you guys that I am super proud of myself because I biked 6.5 miles yesterday! My butt is very sore, but I did something I never thought I could :)

Long Time No Post

Wow! I don't even know where to start. Everything has been going by so quickly, I can't believe I have already finished 4 weeks of school. At orientation the first day I met another girl who is 16, but it is official that I am the youngest person attending LDSBC because she turns 17 in two months and I turned 16 two months ago. It's been really fun. I have enjoyed being back in school, meeting people, and spending time with my family up here in Utah. I miss all you guys down in AZ and can't wait to see you again.

 Ok, so here's the real reason why I posted tonight. On Wednesday after mutual I went with some friends to Dylan's (which is a diner) and I ordered some tater tots (yum), and then we went to Wendy's because they have one of those cool, new automatic soda machines that have like 192 flavors (or something like that). Anyway, in this group of friends was this kid named Tyler. I found out that I have a lot in common with him. He wants to go into the Army (I want to be a Doctor for the Army), he plays the guitar (so do I), and he likes to sing...enough said. While we were talking at Wendy's I found out that Tyler is 17 and he is a Senior. He told us he doubted he was going to get asked to the Halloween dance. I decided right then that I was going to ask him to the Halloween dance. So I did. I asked him on Thursday. After the fact I felt kinda stupid that I meet him on Wednesday and then I asked him out on Thursday. But, to late, it's already done. :)

This was the poster I made:

And I attached it so he would see it right when he stepped out his door:                                                     

   

I attached this note to a pumpkin:

I got a bunch of cheap army men and put them on his door step surrounding the pumpkin:

And then I got his answer tonight:

I'm super excited to go because this will be my first high school dance and Tyler is an awesome person. 

3 months later: I never went to the dance with Tyler because he was being stupid. But now I have a really funny, awkward date story to tell. The day date was a total bust and he was texting on his phone the entire date. He even texted me and apologized for how awkward he was being. Who does that? He was also being way to forward and even told my friend he wanted to be my boyfriend...I called him out on it and told him I didn't want to be in a relationship  Even after that he was still super forward and made me way uncomfortable. Anyways, after the day date I told him I didn't think we should go to the dance because he was be inappropriate and he shouldn't have been texting on a date. He told me he didn't think we shouldn't go just because he was being stupid and I told him I thought we shouldn't go BECAUSE he WAS being stupid. I called him the next day and told him I was  sorry I was so harsh, but we still didn't go. I'm fine with it. Hahaha, it was just a bad idea!

Christmas Cookies

These are the best cookies ever! They taste just like Christmas :)

Ok, so for starters preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

* 1 1/2 cups of almond flour

* 2 cups of gluten free oatmeal

* 1/2 cup of agave

* 1/2 cup of grapeseed oil

* 1 ts of apple cider vinegar

* 1 Tb of spectrum organic palm shortening

* 1 ts. of sea salt

* 1 ts of cinnamon

* 1 ts. of ground nutmeg

* 1/2 ts. of ground cloves

* 1 ts. of pure vanilla

* (you can add about 1/2 cup of sugar to make them sweeter)

* Mix all together with a fork and notice the sticky-ness that starts to occur. If it is too crumbly add a bit more agave or  grapeseed oil...just a dash at a time.

* Then add 1 cup of raisins, I used the hunza raisins like I said, but half of hunza and half california red raisins.

* Mix well and then spoon out teaspoon sized dolups on a baking sheet with parchment paper.

* Bake 10 - 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

* Let cool before moving from the pan because there will be less crumbling and breaks in the cookies.

California

Again, these pictures are a little out of order. On Saturday we went to Manhattan beach and watched the surfers and volleyball players for a little bit. At the end of the pier there was a cute little aquarium where you could touch some star fish:

 

Ok, on Friday Mom was helping Aunt Judy so Faith, Cheryl, Dad, and I went to Huntington Beach and watched the surfers:

On the way home, on Saturday evening, we stopped by the Redlands, California temple:

Cheryl was having fun with the night setting :):

We stopped in Sizzler for dinner and the waiters kept bringing out toast. The only people who could eat the toast was Dad and Faith. After the second plate they had, had enough of toast. Mom convinced Dad that it was okay to leave the uneaten toast on the table:

It was a super fun trip and I was glad we were able to go and spend some time with each other before Faith and I leave on Wednesday.

Camping

This weekend my sister, Faith, and I went camping with my brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew. Here are the pictures I took, sorry  they are kind of out of order.

This is the 10 person tent we slept in:

 

Us going on a hike:

We found this awesome swing and we all took a turn on it:

J.R. and John hangin' out and taking pictures:

There were these nasty silk worm spider web things everywhere:

My beautiful sister running across some water:

The first night we were there we roasted marshmallows and John decided to squish one in his hands. It got EVERYWHERE:

Us playing Bohnanza:

This was a cute flower bouquet Esther and the kids picked:

Me:

John:

Fish at the fish hatchery:

Faith caught a lizard:

We were at the fish hatchery when it started raining. This is us after we made it to the car:

We built this cool little shelter by our tent so we could cook our lunch while it rained:

After it had rained for a while, the mountains where covered in this creepy looking fog:

Tin foil dinners:

Our camp was attacked and surrounded by skunks. Luckily none of us got sprayed, but I got a few good pictures:

This is the potty:

Horses that were close to our camp:

Us playing Bohnanza, again, in McDonalds on our way home:

It was a super fun weekend, I was glad for the time I was able to spend with my family.