Saying Goodbye...

The Whole Crew

How Sweet:)

Don't they just look all ready to go?

Little Buddies:)

So as you read in my last post, Lauren left last Thursday. We met her up at the airport to say goodbye, and to take some last minute pictures. After months and months of talking about this day, it was a completely different story to actually follow through. Of course for security reasons, we couldn't take her any further than the checking her bags and to the metal detectors, but it was so worth the final goodbye. On the way home, the radio played song after song- I swear- that reminded us all of Lauren.

It's been quite an adjustment in our home, seeing as Lauren and I were together 24/7. When asked where Lauren is, Ryan likes to say: "Lauren is at home."
Somebody says she's not, he just says, "Oh, Lauren is on the airplane."
He sits there and thinks about it for a second, and then he says, "Why?"
After thinking about it a little more, Ryan just says, "I want to go on the airplane too!"
Now every time anybody asks where Lauren is, Ryan's reply is, "On the airplane"
Sorry Lauren, looks like you're going to have to hang out on that airplane for the next two years....

We sure you miss you guys, but we're so excited to start hearing back from you about all of your AMAZING ADVENTURES!

We're Gonna Party Like it's 1999!

Lauren left this last Thursday (yes, on her 17th birthday) for Tahiti. In case you haven't read previous posts, here's an update. Lauren is my bestest buddy, and she decided to go with her parents who were recently called as Mission Presidents for the Papeete Tahiti Mission. We decided that she absolutely couldn't leave until we had a party for her, so last Tuesday a bunch of friends met us at the park to hang and have ice cream. We had a blast playing games, signing a t-shirt for Lauren, listening to music, and just chatting. As I said at the party, the pictures in the slideshow have numbers for any of you that want copies of them. It was a blast. By the way, I have somebody's pan, so PLEASE call me if you are looking for it!

SnOw Fun:)

I Love to See the Temple:)

Roomies!:) Chalyse, Lauren, and I posing for the camera in front of the mirror

Part of our apartment!

Our little buddies *It was kind of weird to be one of the older ones at YC this year:)

Last week, the Youth in our ward went down to Youth Conference at Snow College. We had an absolute blast! We got to live in Apartments (yes, apartments) for the weekend, and room with our buddies. Lauren, Beth, Chalyse, and I roomed together, and Brooklyn and Emma joined us on the last night. Let's just say that we had a little too much fun, and too little sleep.
We got to Snow, and started off with water games all over the field. I don't think anybody came back dry:)
At dinner, we discovered SUPER JUICE in the student center (Chalyse's mixture of all of the fruit juice that actually was quite delicious:) It became tradition for every meal!
That night, we went to the Manti Pageant. We had a few run-ins with protesters, but overall, it was a very uplifting spiritual experience.
The next morning, we played more games out in the fields. I totally biffed it in Ultimate Frisby and had a muddy, wet back and behind for the rest of the morning! :(
We got to go swimming at the Activities Center across the street, and then raced home to get ready for the rest of the night.
We went to a workshop put on by our counselors that was great on leadership. Our Sunday school teacher came up and gave an AMAZING fireside on miracles. We went to dinner after the fireside, and then went to the DANCE:)
We like to think that our ward dominated on the dance floor:)
It was also really fun to see Michelle there as a leader. We had fun mingling with the youth in her ward.
On the last morning we cleaned up, had breakfast, and went to the testimony meeting at the Institute Building. It was a really great experience, and it was a great weekend to meet our new leaders and some of the youth I didn't know as well:) Special thanks to our leaders, and our counselor Rachael for making this past weekend happen!:)

Art City Days:)

So I've been really busy lately, and I haven't really updated anybody so far. A week ago Saturday, Drill participated in the Art City Days Parade. It was hot, but nowhere near as miserable as the year before! As the day went on, I helped Lauren pack up more of her room for Tahiti, then we headed to watch the fireworks with a bunch of our old friends. One of our YW leaders was participating in the Art City Days Survivor Challenge with her husband and a couple of other people from our ward, so before the firework show began we got a chance to cheer her on. It was so much fun, and we had a great time together:)

Where Should We Park the Car?

Every year, the Drill Team has a yard sale to help raise funds for our Drill accounts. My family and friends are always really great about giving me their D.I. pile to sell, but this year, they really went over and beyond! We were all ready for the yard sale, but it got canceled due to a crazy rain storm. So instead of getting rid of a garage full of junk on June 7th, we get to wait until the rescheduled date (August 16th or so...) I am going to have to say that this year will probably be the most unique I'll ever get as far as items go. There are some really great pictures of these hand chairs that the Parsons gave me to sale. My mom thinks they would go great in a dorm room, while Nate would rather just keep one for his bedroom. While I want nothing more than to just get rid of everything, it would be kind of a hysterical way to ask a guy to a dance. My mom, bless her heart, couldn't take it anymore, and made it her Saturday project to get the garage cleaned out before we got back from Youth Conference. So if you happen to be in town in August... or have some insane desire to pick up a hand chair, just let me know:)

Ah! I'm Blonde!

For quite some time, I've been getting sick of my hair. It's been one length and the same natural color for the last 5 years. So, I decided with all of the transitions that are occurring in my life anyway, why not switch up my hair a little bit. We layered it and put some blonde highlights in it. I have to admit that when I first saw it in the mirror, I was a little shocked and scared, because I definitely wasn't used to seeing that much blonde. However, I really like it now. I don't really have a good picture of it for the moment, so you'll just have to wait in suspense until I get it up:)

Drill Has Begun!:)

Okay, so I'm back to getting up at 5 every morning for 3 hour practices, but I'm also back to dancing every day, and seeing my friends on a daily basis. We have a great team with a lot of potential this year. Our new members have totally meshed in with us, and I am so excited for this year! So this last week, we decided to all pile into my car after practice and go to breakfast at Magleby's. The only rule was: NO going home to get cute! When we got there, almost all of us ordered the all-you-can-eat French Toast. When we got there Syd held the Drill record for eating 8- 1/2 slices of French Toast. She challenged Ashby to a contest of who could eat more. Their competitive drives got them through 10- 1/2 pieces of French Toast, and then they called a tie. Needless to say, we laughed way hard, and had tons of fun!

Syd and Ashby in the middle of the French Toast Eating Contest

Erica, Me, and Syd loving our breakfast:)

This much energy in the morning...How do we do it?
Ashby, Brielle, and Jess posing for the camera:)

Syd finished a little faster, and attempted gagging noises to get Ashby to stop.
This was Ashby's tactic to eat and not be grossed out...

She Finally Did It!

It's true, after 23 years of teaching, Grandma finally retired! We had a big celebration (:against her wishes:) for her last Saturday in Diana's backyard. It was great to see all of her friends and family come together to celebrate the difference she has made in the lives of all of these kids. My job involved sitting at the book and smiling at everybody the whole night while Aubrey ran to get my food. (Not bad, eh?) By the end of the night, Lauren, Aubrey, and Gracie all wanted to help, so I kind of just ended up being supervision. We had BBQ sandwiches, fresh fruit, and BYU brownies...YUM! It was great to have so many people there, and I think that grandma enjoyed herself despite the unwanted attention.

Here's the girls and I sitting at the book (um actually a picture mat that everybody signed)

The brownies that I ate too many of...and am still working off!

Grandma with a bunch of the family

Grandma with a group of her close friends