workin' at the car wash

russ and i saw this last night and thought it was ever so clever.

(and then we re-wound it and watched it two more times.)

temple trek 2011

Hello, everyone! This is Katie. (: My mom asked me to write a little bit about my Trek experience, what my thoughts were about it, etc. I can honestly say that this experience has changed my life forever. My testimony of my church had definitely grown in the short amount of time I had spent up there. Sorry guys, it might be a big long. I have a lot to say.


I admit, I LOATHED the idea of camping outside in the bitter cold with nothing but my sleeping bag and a blanket ( Okay, I know that sounds spoiled, but it was REALLY cold! ). I also didn't want to have to wear these pioneer clothes for three days straight. But, my parents said it would be a good thing for me to go, so I was practically forced out the door. (:

When we first got here to Panguitch, it was a bit chilly, and I didn't have a very positive attitude. But once we got put into our own families, I could already tell that the Lord's hand was at work. I was extremely nervous to be put into this family; What if there were people I didn't like? What if nobody wanted to be my friend? Lots of different worries surrounded me before I was put into my family. I knew that the leaders had pondered and prayed about each specific youth and which unit they should go into. Once I was put into the Hyde family, I felt a sense of peace and calm wash over me. My family already cared and loved me within the first few minutes, and I could tell we were going to be close.

After we were separated into families, they gave us a certain amount of money to spend to buy our "supplies", which were carts, sleeping supplies, etc.


soon we were off:

Even though none of my close friends were in my family, it was fun to see them randomly throughout the trek:

We trekked all of our miles ( a whopping four miles ) to camp, which is usually different from a normal trek, where the group treks many more miles per day.

But the Trek which our stake was doing was a brand new idea, and very special. They came up with the idea of having a Temple Trek, where the youth would discover the importance, hard work, and love that the Pioneers had put into building our St. George LDS temple. ( I put that link in there, just if you wanted to see more info about it. ) And wow, was it neat! We had a whole bunch of different activities, learning about how the temple was built. There is so much to say about my appreciation for our Pioneers, but I can't even express it all. The last activity we had, was to actually build our own "miniature" version of the temple. We built the wood frame, and the leaders had made special tarps to put on the outside that looked specifically like the temple. Because there was NO way we could've possibly built that whole temple in one day!

Once our youth had finished the temple, we felt a great sense of happiness come over us. We had built this thing all by ourselves ( with a little bit of help of some carpenters (; ) and it was spectacular. We each had our own meetings in our wards that night, to talk about our feelings of our trek, and our feelings of building the temple. And let me say, I am NOT a crier. Ever. But I seriously could not stop crying. And if that isn't a sign that the spirit had touched me, nothing is.



I am extremely grateful for the experience I had on this Trek. I am MAKING my sister Chandi go on it, it's a must! I am also grateful for the many friends and relationships I made in this special time I was given. I am EXTREMELY grateful for the parents I have and that they made me go on this thing. It was amazing. That's all. (: -- XOXO Katie.

in another life....

.....i would totally come back as selena gomez. i think she is adorable.


this song is totally on our family's summer 2011 playlist.

plus, you cannot tell me that you can hear the chorus without singing, "and i keep hittin' repeat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat."

58 years.

these three devastatingly handsome couples just celebrated 19, 20, & 19 years together respectively~

to celebrate, they ate beautiful food:

& in some really cool restaurants:

they watched a breath-taking show :

& made new friends:

(some which were liked a little better than others)

happy anniversary to us!

thankful thursday

**our new sticker on the car:



bat shiz crazy? why, yes. but it brings us joy. in THIS form:





**the creative genius of others so i don't have to think. which is JUST how i like it....




the gals at eighteen25 turned me on to some pretty cool free printables. yes, i know that subway art is everywhere and therefore nearly "out" again. but with my penchant for numbers and letters, i can't help but be drawn to them like a raccoon to a disco ball.



you can find the cutest "girl" birthday poster shown above HERE.


they also include a "boy" version:



mothers and fathers day free printables HERE








**this picture that tiburon posted:


i fought the road biking thing for a long time. i didn't want to fall into the cliche of investing big dollars into something that seemed to be the "IT" thing to do at this moment. but i finally caved, thanks to my friend's persistence, and i'm so very glad i did. i enjoy riding because it's less impact on this old, tired body and i've even seen some (very) small benefits to said same tired old body because because of it. but i still maintain the fact that biking clothing is uglier than sin and only looks good on somebody who weighs 78 pounds. and even then, it's sketchy.




**& finally, for this little video that i thought was short, sweet, & romantic:

Splitscreen: A Love Story from JW Griffiths on Vimeo.

o'er the land of the free

our 4th of july celebrations could not have been better--much love to stevekemp & his bride, kamari, for being the hosts with the mosts.



the partyfestivusextravaganza had something for everyone-- including but not limited to:



swimming:

facebook profile posing:

cannonball contest:

cut-throat, life-or-certain-death relays:

waterballoons:

excursions on kevin's fancy toy:

(which even the cool kids rode:)

festive swimwear:

& AMAZING TRICKS!:

we couldn't have been happier:

sister wife!

i love that my daughter is smart enough to get a picture at the mall with kody & robyn from
sister wives~

KETCHUP

the problem with taking a massive blogging break is the overwhelming feeling you get when playing catch-up.

i've played this game before with scrapbooks (yuck. yikes! yes....) and the outcome is always the same: shame-spiral, guilt, procrastination, FAIL.

this time, i'm going a different route--catching up in one post: minimum wordage, minimum photos, minimum but essential info, MAXIMUM WIN.



so, what have we been up to for the past 1.5 months?


we've celebrated 20 years of marriage-ness:



for which russ thought this card so lovingly applied:




but i gave him this because he rules. and i can't live without him:

{found here}

we drove tiny cars:






filled water balloons:

had some real, honest-to-goodness fun at girls camp:

and even managed to show a little love to our sister in the process: (this is one of my favorite photos, ever.)

we turned 17 years old:

and continued to tolerate chandler's never-ending kitty-glam photo sessions:







we watched the birdies grow in their nest:

& saw lovingly-crafted (check out the time-consuming detail on the envelope! now THAT is love and devotion) notes to the tooth-fairy from a first-timer:

& the more no-nonsense, business-like approach from a veteran:

all in all, we have continued to experience a beautiful life.


which sometimes is just enough to nearly wear a girl out: