Such a beautiful Niece

There she is enjoying our birthday cake--yum yum!
She didn't like being all dirty.
We had a little bit of distraction for Roo as she was able to wear the jewelry I was getting rid of. The cute thing was when we were in my room she wanted to wear all of it at the same time!



Sharing cake batter with Uncle Jordan!

"There is something special
About the child of your sister or brother
It is a wonderful kind of love
Unlike any other.

There is something special about
Someone that you have grown up with
And with whom you have shared hopes and dreams
And even playtime and maybe childish schemes...

It is so special
To see their dreams fulfilled
And hold their infant in your arms
An infant full of indescribable charm...

You feel the love bubble up inside
But when you try to describe this love
You realize that you can't....
That is the awesome thrill
of being an aunt!"

Pictures 17-29

January 29--She absolutely loved the Boston Creme Pie cake Mom made for our birthday!
January 28--So right after Christmas time Mom and I were at Sam's Club. We came across a whole collection of Amaryllis flowers and they were all growing, but getting smashed in their boxes, so Mom and I freed them all by opening the boxes up. We took this one home and it is blooming so beautifully!
January 27--We went to Bozeman to watch Benny's race. Mom and I went to the restroom and I heard the hand dryer come on and heard silly Mom screaming. She then posed for a picture due to the high pressure of the dryer!
January 26--Dad had a sweet tooth so his solution was marshmallow mateys and mini chocolate chips!
January 25--It was the day of transfers which meant my elders from the MTC would be staying their last night in the mission field at the mission home. I cannot believe it is already time for them to come home, but I am so blessed with their friendships and am so proud of our elders. They all were such wonderful guys and great missionaries! Welcome home!!!
January 24--This is one of my favorite pictures of the savior which is funny because growing up it wasn't one I was impressed with. I always thought he seemed too cold in the picture. However I was reminded this day of my love for this picture. I remember sitting in the bishop's office when I was about 17 or so and he was on the phone for a moment so I was looking around the office. However there was this picture to my left on the wall and that time it touched me. As I sat looking at the eyes I felt so much love and realized that I looked forward to the day when I could be embraced in the arms of the savior and be able to express my gratitude for the sacrifice and great gift he has given to me, as well as all of us. I am so thankful that Jesus Christ loved Heavenly Father enough to be exactly obedient, that he could help us to overcome our own weaknesses and shortcomings and that through him we receive that enabling power that gives us strength to press forward. We are so blessed!
January 23--So this may be an odd picture for me to post, but it has a purpose. I decided this day that I really love makeup. I usually only wear my eyeshadow, liner, and mascara since my lashes are so light, but I think it is so much fun. I love being a girl with all its little accessories and fun perks and I love getting dolled up and looking like a girl too. However on blah days, makeup becomes a little pick me up as it instantly gives you a little more boost of confidence and makes you feel better! So my picture obviously only has one eye done, but it just represents the joy of feeling good!
January 22--So Roo was helping Mom make a bundt cake. She was in charge of the powdered sugar and as you can see from the trail from the cake, the front of the stove, and the pile on the floor, she was doing a great job of dusting not only the cake but everything else :)
January 21--I love great sales! Today I bought my coat and saved over $70.00! It was a fun little shopping day!
January 20--During our all nighter Mom pulled out the bubble blower. Roo just loved it!
January 19--One of our clients at work is an outfitter up in Alaska. He brought us in some moose jerky to taste. I had never eaten moose jerky before, but it was pretty tasty!
January 18--The snow finally came, well some of it did anyway. I went out into the work parking lot and was scraping windows and dusting off cars for everyone and I just loved having the flakes gently fall around me. I am hoping we get more snow!

January 17--This picture will be added later. It was -7 degrees outside and Creighton finally brought his pool stick into town. It is a pretty cool one that looks like a bloody hand picked it up. After institute we went and played pool at the 8Ball. Creighton's friend and old roommate showed up so we had a good time with him. He showed us a few new games and then he was pretty funny as he paid for songs on the jukebox so Ryker and I would dance. I think the highlight of my night was dancing with Ryker. We did a bunch of flips and our turns and whatnot with the jitterbug. It was a lot of fun!
January 16--Mom was in a lot of pain and went to the emergency room at 8:30AM. She learned the results of her tests about 3PM (an ovarian torsion) and after 4 she learned she would be having surgery (oophorectomy and cyst removal). After work I went back up to visit with her and she was on my old floor where I used to work on surgical floor. I waited til she was a little more awake and then we went walking around the floor that night. The funny thing was that the blood pressure cuff, that was taking her post-op vitals, would not stay attached when it was blowing up so you would hear a pop and it would look like the above picture. I switched the cuffs before I left, but we of course had to get a picture as it made Mom and I laugh.

New Years 2012

On New Year's Eve I was invited to join Ryker and his family on his mom's side to go to Lewistown where some of his cousins and their bands were playing at the fairgrounds. We had so much fun and were able to do a lot of dancing! The above picture is of Ryk's Aunt Erica, Uncle Brett, and beautiful cousin Paige.
These two stunning gals are some more of Ryker's cousins, Haelie and Kenzie
Ryks and Me. We did some jitterbugging and he taught, well tried to teach me the waltz and texas two step!
Paige, Ryker's mom Libby (sp?) and Creighton.
These two were a lot of fun and Creighton, who claimed he can't dance was able to pick up on things so fast! They were all so much fun to be around and to bring the new year in with!

Pictures 12-15

January 12--This was a stressful day for me for a couple reasons and it just was one of those days where you just feel like blah with things going on. I was looking for another scripture and stopped at this one in Doctrine and Covenants. It is D&C 78:17-19,22 and it one of my favorites when times of discouragement come because it reminds me how small our perspective really is. We can have those days where we are frustrated, but we have to remember that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and he WANTS to BLESS us and although we may not see how our trials or how things that don't necessarily go our way, can be a blessing we can rest assured that He is in control and as we continue to do what is right, it will all work out for our good, just the way it is supposed to. I also love how it reminds us that it is in the Lord's time and to trust in Him because He is there to guide us and give us strength through those bumps in the road. Anyway it was a scripture I needed for today.
January 13: While everybody at my house went to Pocatello, Idaho for Benny's race, I stayed back home to try to get caught up and get some things accomplished. One of my goals was to do some major cleaning so that took up most of my day. I hate to admit it but I kind of find cleaning slightly relaxing and I love that you can see your progress!
January 14: So on the 13th Ryker and I had a date night. We were out late to begin with but he also has about a 40 (?) minute drive home afterwards, anyway the next day his brother Creighton sent me this picture with the caption "Look what you have done to him lol :)" It definitely put a smile on my face. Haha poor Ryks!
January 15: How could this NOT be the picture of the day! She is so precious and such a character! She has just fallen in love with this bear that belongs to dad and she will go to it and stroke its head and say it is "soft" and then she gives it hugs and kisses, even with a melted chocolate mouth! She was posing for pictures with this bear and before she even saw the picture she said, "Awww cute!" I guess she is pretty confident that all her pictures will turn out good. Love this girl!

HEADBANZ!!!!!

So Jeff and Katie had a game that was new for us to try. It is called HeadBanz and it is such a fun game. You wear a headband and have a card that has something written on it. The goal is to ask yes and no questions to be able to guess what your card says! Several of them were very fitting for the players and some of them we told them they had to pose a certain way for the photo.

Jeff's was perfect for him!
Katie narrowing it down, "Okay so I am a place. . . Can Devin go to this place?" Everybody: No and she guessed it!


Benny: She is a black woman okay. . . is she fat?
Everybody: Yes
Benny: Is she hott?
Everybody: NOOOOOO!


Cheater dad: Am I a bottle?

Other fun quotes from the game:

Mom pulled a new card and it was bedroom,
Mom: Am I a person?
Everybody: No
Mom: Am I a place?
Everybody: Yes
Mom: Am I a fun place?
Everybody: Yes
Mom: Am I the bedroom?

Jarom's card reads John Wayne. He has narrowed it down to it being a famous cowboy and he is stumped! He then says in frustration, "I don't know any famous cowboys! The only one I know is Indiana Jones." Haha wrong!

Then his card is Sylvester Stallone. He has to toss his card in because he has had it for so long so then Katie and Mom make sure he knew who the actor was, expecting him to say Rocky I am sure.
Katie and Mom: Do you even know who Sylvester Stallone is?
Jarom: Yeah he is the cat.
Haha wrong again!

2012 a picture a day: choose one picture that helps to remind you of that day

JANUARY 1 We had our Christmas party for the beach and Ryker was my date. While he was in town we invited him to join our pre-planned Pirates of the Caribbean movie marathon. Benny had also invited some of his friends over Logan, Jake, Will, I think there was somebody else, and Jarom. After each of the movies we would have snacks, but in this particular picture we went to Taco Bell. One of Benny's friends wanted cinnamon sticks but Benny asked for "Slytherin sticks." We also learned they were out of nacho cheese. Ben asked if they had sour cream and then asked them to hold the sour cream on his order. It was a longer event than we had planned. Jarom, Ryker, and I were the only ones who made it through all four movies and it ended 7:30AM!
JANUARY 2: We got together at Jeff and Katie's house for our New Year's tradition of breakfast burritos and games. The game we played was HeadBanz--so fun! However despite all the fun we had I decided this would be my picture of the day. Aren't those beautiful toe nails! They belong to none other my BOY cousin Parker. He was pretty proud of them and put them up so I could see them.
JANUARY 3: One of the things that had worried me with serving a mission was that I would have problems with the endometriosis. There was always one day every month where it would flare up and I was worried it would affect the work. The blessing and miracle was from January 2010 to July 2011 I never had one flare up! It was such a blessing and I was grateful that Heavenly Father took care of that for me while I was out serving. It was a reassurance to me that I was exactly where he needed me to be. Since being home I had had some pain, but it wasn't anything like it had been prior to my mission and I was hopeful I had lucked out, however this day was a reminder to me that it is still there and it made it a memorable day haha.
JANUARY 4: Due to the pain from above I had had not a good night's rest, but when I woke up I found a wrapped piece of banana bread from Mom. She had made homemade banana bread and saved me a slice. It was delicious and still one of my favorites! The other thing about this day was when I went to work that night it was 61 degrees outside! What is with this weather! It has been quite interesting, but I am enjoying it none the less.
JANUARY 5: So I was too lazy to wash my face upstairs in the bathroom that night and realized I hadn't taken a picture for that day. I took a picture of the baby wipe I used to remove my eye make up because I will tell you that although I love makeup and think it is so much fun, I also love the feeling of right before bed when I take out my contacts and wash off my makeup and floss and brush my teeth. It is my winding down routine and it feels wonderful!
JANUARY 6: Mom made her yummy orange rolls! It has been forever since I have had one and they are still just as delicious as I remember! We also had an allnighter where we were scrapbooking! We watched Red Riding Hood and Dinner with Schmucks as we worked!
JANUARY 7: Ryks invited me to go to a movie. When I got to the theater I got a nice surprise to see Grant and Creighton were joining us. We watched Mission Impossible 4 and then got tacos at Taco Treat (lesson learned on the 99 cent special haha) and went to Walmart where Grant kept hinting about his Snickers icecream. They came over to our house and we all had icecream. It was a good night and I always enjoy hanging out with all the brothers, mine included!

JANUARY 8: So this one has two pictures to go with it. Mom and I came home from church and wanted a fire so out we went to get the wood and Mom chopped some wood. The best part was we were still in skirts and heels.
JANUARY 9: My shoes arrived! Aren't they gorgeous! They are part of a gift from Grandma and Grandpa and I already love them! They are a champagne color, with black lace over the top, they are 5 inch heels and have a peeptoe front with a bow.

JANUARY 10: The things I wanted to remember from this day would have to be 1.Going to Sherlock Holmes 2 with Creighton and Ryker, 2. We actually got snow! and 3. That Ryker and I wore our matching coats!
JANUARY 11: This was a day where I looked forward to coming home and putting on my pjs that night. I wore my VS pjs that I got for Christmas this year and you can see my new bag that holds my scriptures and manuals (it is a perfect fit!), but it is also because this was a night I had a lot of reading before bed. I had my chapters for institute to finish, 7 chapters to read so I am staying with Holly (still think it is so great you read so much!), my chapters with Ryks, and then a few topics I had been studying. It was great to be in my scriptures for all that though.

I will try to stay on top of posting new pictures each day so you can stay updated and also so that I will do better about blogging! Love you all and hope you have a fantastic day!