Up for an adventure? Let's go!

Cali here we come!

Here is the beautiful house we stayed in.

The beautiful pink phone. This is only the beginning of the awesomeness that was in this house. Every time you walked any where in the house the floor squeaked. It was pretty amazing.

Jeff and Ashley having a bonding moment.

Kristina, Ashley, Emily and Angie out on a Sunday walk with others from our group.

Yo what up gangstas' ! Word. Holler back. Hark.

Sariah, Chandi, and Emily visiting beautiful Santa Paula.

Sariah with Shirley Temple's hand prints.

Sariah and I loved to take randow pictures with each other while in the car.

Emily with Julie Andrews hand prints.

One of our many visits to the hospital to visit with Chandi. We became good friends with the hospital staff. They always told Chandi that her fan club had arrived.

Emily, Brian, Spencer, Chandi, Ashley

Here we are planning what to do next. Check out Angie's amazing facial expression. She is passionate about something.

Ashley, Emily, Mickey Mouse, Brian, Kristina in front of the Soda Fountain store.

You could never have too many funny or awkward moments on a trip with 9 great people. Here Kristina got so close to Brian that her earring got caught on his shirt.

Spencer, Jeff, and Brian. What awesome guys! They were our heroes.

My first time ever to visit the beach and stick my feet in the ocean. Pretty much amazing. I loved the experience. The ocean is now my new favorite place.

My cute shoes. :) I tried to walk very carefully so as to not get sand in my shoes.

The Ferris Wheel was my favorite part. We were able to watch the sunset. It was picture perfect. All of us had the best time at Santa Monica Pier.

Another funny moment on the trip. We do not know how the napkin ended up on Ashley's shirt. Brian was romantically feeding Ashley french fries.

The Miraculous Los Angelas Temple

Ladies of 434 minus one. We sure missed Chandi. :)

Jeff and Emily

It is always amazing the spirit you feel when you enter a Visitor's center and go into the room that has the Christus statue. It was nice to sit in that room and think and feel the spirit.

I met this cute sister missionary, Sister Heidi Browning. We were talking about where we went to school. She told me that her little sister went to USU and was involved in the Institute Women's Association. I asked her name while thinking there are lots of people who I don't know. But come to find out I did know her little sister Erica. Erica was in a lab that I taught. They are such cute girls. What a small world it is.

Here we are burying Angie in the sand. We buried Ashley afterwards. It was great fun.

We went to the tide pools and were able to see cool creatures. I got to touch a star fish which was awesome.

Jeff picked yellow flowers for all the girls to wear in their hair.

"You can cuddle with me?" Emily
"This would be much better if you put your arm around me. Spencer would." Sariah

Sariah and Emily had cuddle time.

My Best Friends aka My Sisters!

The Kranendonk Girls!

Janay, Molly, Katherine, Emily, Elizabeth, Amelia, and Chloe These girls are amazing. They make my day.

Sisters are like chocolates. They always help you to feel better after a hard day.

Sisters are always there for whenever you need a listening ear. Someone to tell you if you will embarrass yourself. Someone to cry with you. Someone to laugh with you when you do something absolutely ridiculous. Someone to go shopping with.

We love to laugh.... ha ha.... he he, loud and clearly....

"A smile is a window on your face to show your heart is at home"

Always wear expensive shoes. People notice.
Brian Koslow

In the cookies of life, sisters are the chocolate chips.

Clover and Tevoats
Look at our little girl all grown up and everything.

What can I say?! These girls are my best friends.

Am I Happy?

1. The world thinks that if this makes me happy then it can't be that bad. You are not free to determine what leads to happiness.

2. The joy is to be had in the journey. Live in the present. Happiness is a way of living, it is how you journey. Happiness is not found in my circumstances.

3. My happiness is tied directly to my righteousness. You don't have to be perfect. Commandments are meant to make us happy.
No law No sin No righteousness No happiness.
"And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away." 2 Nephi 2:13

4. Live with the reality that I cannot have a full measure of happiness in mortality. Its a given. The earth cannot provide what I am wired for spiritually. Heaven can only provide heavenly comfort not earthly comfort. Earthly comfort doesn't actually exist. Part of mortality is feeling all kinds of feelings, sad, sorrow, hurt, anger, and so on.

5. Tribluation = Pressure. If I'm feeling pressure that's good because I'm right where I'm suppose to be. Don't bail on the pressure of life. I have to pass through great tribulation before I can experience a fullness of joy. When I keep the commandments, I am happy. We ought to be a joyful people. Prayer and scripture study should bring us happiness. If its not then I need to take a different approach towards prayer and scripture study.

Brother Anderson the director of the U of U institute came and spoke at the Religion in Life devotional. His talk was amazing. It was one of those talks where you could not write fast enough.

Joy is found in the journey. :)

Here I am with my cute little niece Abbie. She came to visit at Grandma Vicki's house.

Here is little Abbie being like her mom doing everyone's hair so as to make sure they look their best. Brianna did my hair as well.

Here are the little girls wanting to have a piggy-back ride. I am not going to lie these little girls are my favorite. I sure miss them. They are my favorite nieces. Granted they are my only nieces. But they sure are cute. My mom, Chloe, and I went out to Vernal over the break to help take care of the girls so Elizabeth could have surgery. Thankfully the surgery went well and Elizabeth is beginning to feel better.

Emily, Denielle, and Brian. Brian did not want his picture taken. He said lets all look like we are tourists from Utah. Brian was a good sport in being in the picture with us.

While I was there we celebrated Brian's birthday. My mom and I bought him books. As I handed him the gifts I totally blew it by telling him what they were. He said Emily don't worry about it. It's not like I didn't know they were books. I still felt stupid. I guess everyone now knows Emily can't keep a secret when it comes to people's gifts.

Here is Brian's Birthday party. Katherine bought birthday candles that would magically relight. It was entertaining to watch them. Brian's friends came over as well. Brandon and Peter are in medical school with Brian.

Katherine and I are making salsa. It was delici-mosho!!!

Brian loves it when I make sugar cookies. He asked me how long did the sugar cookie dough have to chill? What he was really wanting to know was how long until he could eat a cookie.

Katherine and I found a new favorite store. It is called Charming Charlies! If you are ever in Phoenix, I highly recommend it. Katherine and I had a blast in this store. We loved how everything was organized by color. Here we are trying on silly hats but actually we look pretty good in these hats. :)

Here I am being silly. Katherine and I tried to be sneaky in taking pictures.

Katherine and I found huge cocktail rings to wear. We definitely know where to come to accessorize any outfit.

MESA ARIZONA TEMPLE

Best Friends for Life!

Brian accidentally dropped my camera on the ground. So he took this picture to make sure that it still works. :)

Brian and Katherine were awesome to hang around with. I sure miss being in Arizona with them. I loved watching Prison Break tv series with them and staying up late watching youtube videos and talking about anything and everything. :) They were awesome.

Denielle and I were bored and started throwing marshmellows into each others' mouths. We had way too much fun laughing. We spent the evening reminiscing about high school crushes.


Here I am catching marshmellows that Denielle is throwing.

This quote is amazing. I heard it once at an EFY fireside right before one of the testimony meetings. Then the other day I was talking with my friend Alissa Pettit and shared it with me. It definitely gives you something to think about. I know these things are true. I have a great love for my Savior Jesus Christ. I am thankful for all that He has done. I know more than anything that Jesus Christ died and He lives again. He lives to bless me, strengthen me, to wipe away my tears, rejoices with me, and so much more. I know His love is deep, intimate, and personal for everyone of His children. I testify that I know these things are true. I love my Savior dearly.

The Atonement from a female perspective (Alma 7:11)

“Well, my dear sisters, the gospel is the good news that can free us from guilt. We know that Jesus experienced the totality of mortal existence in Gethsemane. It’s our faith that he experienced everything-absolutely everything. Sometimes we don’t think through the implications of that belief. We talk in great generalities about the sins of all humankind, about the suffering of the entire human family. But we don’t experience pain in generalities. We experience it individually. That means he knows what it felt like when your mother died of cancer- how it was for your mother, how it still is for you. He knows what it felt like to lose the student body election. He knows the moments the brakes locked and the car started to skid.

"He experienced the slave ship sailing from Ghana toward Virginia. He experienced gas chambers at Dachau. He experienced napalm in Vietnam. He knows about drug addiction and alcoholism.

"Let me go further. There is nothing you have experienced as a woman that he does not also know and recognize. On a profound level he understands about the hunger to hold your baby that sustains you through pregnancy. He understands both the physical pain of giving birth and the immense joy. He knows about PMS and cramps and menopause. He understands about rape and infertility and abortion. His last recorded words to his disciples were, “And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:30) He understands your mother-pain when your five-year-old leaves for kindergarten, when a bully picks on your fifth-grader, when your daughter calls to say that the new baby has Down’s Syndrome. He knows your mother-rage when a trusted babysitter sexually abuses your two year-old, when someone gives your thirteen-year-old drugs, when someone seduces your seventeen-year-old. He knows the pain you live with when you come home to a quiet apartment where the only children are visitors, when you hear that your former husband and his new wife were sealed in the temple last week, when your fiftieth wedding anniversary rolls around and your husband has been dead for two years. He knows all that. He’s been there. He’s been lower than all that…”

"I beg you to…give him your whole heart, all the pieces, and let him heal you. He promises us, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13.) “with all [our] hearts.” That means we don’t have pieces of our hearts that he doesn’t touch or that aren’t relevant to him. That means we must live our lives as Savior-focused individuals.”

(Chieko N. Okazaki; Lighten Up! Pages 6&7)