My Daddy, I love him for Eternity

In the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, NY
My high school graduation
In Central Park, such a good picture
Seminary Graduation
The true side of my daddy, always goofing off and with such a great sense of humor


This last month has been stressful beyond belief. Things were finally picking up in school and things were meshing together until I talked to my mom last Tuesday about 2:00. She told me she was on the way to the hospital and that my dad had been hit as a pedestrian by a car. I immediately panicked. I imagined the worst that had happened and cried into Laura's shoulder for about twenty minutes. I got another call about an hour later from my mom. My dad was in bad shape. He had broken both the bones in his right shin, his right humorous, all the ribs on his left side and most the ribs on his right side, and had also broken the bone right below his temple on his head. The last injury was the one that gave him the most problems. He had severe damage to his brain stem which controls the drive to breathe and the drive to stay awake. My dad passed away on March 20 surrounded by his loving family.

This was a journal entry that I sent to my dad about two months ago, I made him cry. I want to write some special things about my dad. I have so many memories of going to work with my dad and how excited I was every chance that I got to work with him. He taught me the true meaning of working and a job well done. He would make sure that I was doing well and had tips to help me complete a job. He was always patient with me when I tried new things and wasn't always fast. I get along with my dad very well. Even when my mom and I fight, my dad can always come and talk to us and can talk to me in a way like no one else. He puts things into a perspective that I understand and brings me to a new light so that I can fully understand what he is saying. He has always been there for me, even through his ups and downs. My dad would come to my games in high school even though it would hurt him immensely to sit in the bleachers for so long. My dad is my comforter, ever since I was young I have gone to him when I was sad, hurt, sick, or just needed a hug and could curl up in his lap where he would rock in his big chair and rock me back and forth while patting me setting me in a rhythm that would usually end in me falling asleep curled up in his arms. Even though I am eighteen now and much bigger than I used to be, I can still curl up on his lap and lie on his chest while he rocks in his big chair and pats me to calm me down. His hugs always calm me down and have more comfort than anyone else. My dad has taught me the meaning of optimism. Even though he hurts a lot and has many health problems, I have never heard that man complain. He takes things in stride and has pulled through so many problems with a smile on his face. A good memory that links these two lessons together is when we found out that he had Poly cystic Kidney Disease. I remember him telling me nonchalantly and how panicked and scared I was. I went into my bedroom and laid on my bed and cried my eyes out. I was so scared that his kidneys would fail him one day and that would be the end. I cannot imagine my life without my dad, so that thought scared me to death. I finally got myself to stop crying enough and made my way upstairs to talk to him about it. I got to the top of the stairs and lost control again. I started to cry and he said, "oh that's no good, what's wrong honey?" I went over and he opened his arms and let me curl up in his lap, just like old times. I said that I was scared because I didn't want him hurting and I didn't know what to do or think about him having this problem. I was waiting for his kidneys to fail one day and I didn't like living in the fear that that created. He held me close and squeezed me tight and said, "You know what, sweetie, I'm scared too." He laughed and said that it came suddenly to him too. He told me that it was something that we just needed to accept and live with. There was nothing we could do about it, so we had to just live with it and not let it affect our lives. I was so awed that this man who had been told that his kidney days were numbered was telling ME that it was going to be okay. My dad has also taught me about the spiritual things in life. He has a subtle testimony and doesn't share it with the world like my mom does, so when it does come out it always catches me by surprise and fills my heart with warmth. When he taught the priesthood classes he would always review the lessons with me and tell me the stories he used and how he related the concepts with these stories just made sense to me. It was fascinating to me to listen to him. Another fond memory I have of my dad is his story telling. He would tell Shannon and I stories when we were little and I remember he would do voices and actions and would get so into the story. He told us Lord of the Rings and could do that Gollum voice, or the Smog the dragon cry so well that it would send shivers up my back and I could see my dad morph into the character just to tell the story. Even as I grew up, he would tell me new stories that he had in his head and what happened and how it all worked out and what it was about. Some of the stories I heard, I was amazed that my dad had come up with them. I would always bug him about writing and making sure that he was and he would tell me that he had a new story in mind and what it was about and all that jazz. My dad's imagination is one that extends out forever in all directions and I love it. My dad instilled in me the love to read and the ability to get lost in a book or in a story. He taught me what it was to read for enjoyment and to just absorb all there was when I read. This has helped me so much because when I had to read for school I had no problems with it. He is such an intelligent man and I can ask him any question and if he doesn't know the answer, he will find it. I could listen and talk to him for a lifetime. I remember countless times when I would be with him and we would get talking and I would learn so much just from talking to him, even if it was for a short period of time. I am so blessed to have the father that I do and have had the chance to learn so much from him. He is always there for me and I will never forget that. I could never thank him enough and I love him forever and for all eternity.

My dad was such an outstanding person who lived his life to the fullest and didn't hold anything back. He loved his family dearly and would do anything for us. My dad wrote an epic fantasy novel and loved what he did. He put his stories into something real.

He was my hero and my idol. My life will forever be changed without my daddy, but I know he is watching over me and that he loves me..

A Bright and Sunny Week, and a Cold and Cloudy Beach

This past week was not particularly exciting, because my main focus was work and school. I've been playing catch up with school because I seriously needed some extra points, so that has kept me busy. Plus just keeping up with everything... Like sleep for example. I slept for six hours on Friday, I crashed about 2 and woke up around 8. I turned my alarm off twice and then just decided to sleep on. It was very refreshing though. I needed a day to get away from everything and have a good long time to just relax.

Hair Colors, Tests, Lawn Adventures, and Ladybugs

I got creative and crawled into a bush for this shot. The clouds were awesome. We get some wicked ones around here.

Spring has arrived! This is the street going into my house and it is so beautiful.

This is step one of our backyard.. Up to my ankles just off the porch. It was crazy.

No, it's not a robot. It's our lawn mower. that's how deep our grass was. We almost lost the mower a few times haha

TA DA!!! It's so pretty now and you can actually see the fence.

From our back porch (compare to picture above of forest) is now mucho improved.

My hair started out blonde..

Then changed to a reddish brown colorAnd is now at a real brown color that I like a lot. It's gorgeous!

Well, I am a bit behind on keeping this thing up to date. Well, if you couldn't tell by the title, I have now gone another shade darker for my hair. I finally got it to the shade of brown that I like and I think I will keep it this way for a while. Laura did the dying for me, after I did hers of course. She has gone to a very dark brown, and then the bottom half is black. It is a subtle difference, but looks really good.
I have had lots of tests in school the last few weeks and am happy to say that I have done well on most of them. There is one I don't want to talk about, but I am very proud of myself and all my hard work. And if I did awful on a test (which I admit, I did on a few..), then I did as much extra credit as I could so that I could boost my grade. Hopefully it helped! Ok, now off my soap box..
Work is finally picking up and I'm getting more hours than before. I now have a set schedule which excites me because I am now guaranteed at least twenty hourse a week. Not much, but still more than i had before! Still the same, I am job hunting to see if I can use my extra time wisely. I am looking for a waitressing job, and have actually found a few places that are hiring.

I am very excited to announce that we got a puppy.. Well sorta. Her name is Dutchess and she is an eleven year old German Shepherd and she is actually really big, though we all just call her Puppy anyway. Well, it's Keith's mom's dog, but we are watching her for a few months and we decided taht we needed to unbury our backyard so that when she went outside we didn't lose her in the shrubbery. I borrowed a lawn mower from Colton's family and we all went to work. Me, Laura, and Shane all hit hyperfocus together and cleaned the entire yard. It's not that big, but when you have to mow it, it seems much bigger. We stayed out for an hour and a half with Shane mowing and Laura and I going around the perimeter where the mower couldn't reach and pulling out weeds, some of them almost as long as my leg. It was actually a lot of fun and the ground was damp from recent rain, so everything mostly came out well. We had to clean out the mower quite a few times because with the wet grass it made it very hard to get it to work right. We have about five bags of grass and about three of just weeds. It was a lot of work, but oh my it looks amazing! I have posted here pictures of before and after so that you can see the difference..

Laura gave me the nickname ladybug because I would point out every ladybug that I came across. In our little backyard, there were tons! I saw probably at least thirty and I kept running out of names. I was very intrigued though because I remember working in the yard at home and was always excited to find a ladybug. One bug that I actually enjoy finding..

That is about all that is exciting for the last few weeks. Enjoy pictures!

Birthdays and Motocross

The trickers that were the 'half time' show.
So in light of reading the next picture's title first, this is one person that was not only on a small bike, but it was a teeny bike. He was hilarious to watch go around the track because he could barely sit on the bike without his feet hitting the ground..
To explain the picture above.. for one race they did a spoof where it was older people but on little tiny bikes, so this is the starting line and you can see how big they are and how small the bikes are.
My only clear picture of people jumping the very end, but if you look at the videos below you get lots of live action shots.



There were actually two highlights to this week! The first one is that my adorable niece is a year old! On February 19, Eva Bug celebrated her birthday and though I didn't get to talk to her because she was asleep by the time I called, her parents were both very happy that she had a good birthday and I got to see lots of cute pictures :)

The next exciting thing that happened, if you couldn't figure it out by the title, is that we got to go to a motocross event yesterday at Arco Arena (the Delta Center of Sacramento). Keith scored some free tickets from school and took quite a big crowd out there. It was me, Keith, Laura, Jacob, Jeffrey, Robert, Beau, and Beau's roommate. We all got to sit together up in the nosebleed section (which actually really wasn't that high because the arena is pretty small... So it actually had a perfect view). It was hilarious to visit and spend some time with my roommates and to make some new friends.. I have cousins that do racing for Almond Racing, but I didn't know much about the sport until last night when I was asking everyone around me questions so that I could learn more. I learned the hard way that the white flag means last lap and the checkered flag means that there has been a winner already. The winner usually does something cool over the last jump of the race and in all my trying to catch it, I kept trying when the checkered flag went up, but by then everyone had slowed down and the trick had passed me by. I got some good pictures and videos which are posted on here just to show you how awesome it was. There was a cool 'half time' show of trickers that set up a steep ramp and did tricks. I got a video of the final run where they all do their best trick and some good still photos too. We saw some wicked crashes and there was also one rider who had to be taken off the track on a stretcher because he crashed so hard. In that heat, they put up the red flag which meant that everyone had to get off the track, wait for the injured rider to be removed, and then continued racing in the order that they were when the race stopped. I was awed at how much cool stuff I learned and by the end of the night, I wanted to get out on the track and try it myself.

After the show we went to McDonald's after Laura made us all crave McFlurries. It was an exciting car ride that I had to battle to keep my shoe on my foot and not have it tied to anything.. I eventually lost because I am no match when Laura is holding me down and Jacob has my foot. My shoe was tied to the seat belt and my sock was stuck into the window.. Luckily both were rescued in time, so that I still have them. I enjoyed spending time with friends and seeing something new.

An On Time Post for Once!!

This is adorable Eva Bug at Christmas, she is getting so big!
This is my ENTIRE family. We finally have a picture of all of us together, left to right: Brandon, Dad, Shannon, Me, Logan, Eva, and Rachel. Unfortunately.. Mom is taking the picture, but I have lots of pictures with her in them too!! This was at my Uncle's cabin with like three feet of wonderful snow to play in!


Well, this week hasn't been too thrilling but I will post anyway because I am trying to form some sort of habit.. School was extra crazy because I had a test in every class that can have a test.. I had a biology and statistics test on the same day, then a Psychology quiz the next day. I know I did well in Psych, and I am sure I got an A in Stats, and actually did well in biology too! It was very nice to have the weekend free of stress because I had Skyler and Daniel come into town on Thursday night. I don't have school tomorrow, so I didn't have to worry about homework or anything while they were here.
We hung out a lot and just caught up on times missed. Friday was spent piled on our couch just talking and filling each other in on what has happened the last few months. I went to Chili's with Sky and Daniel Friday night while Laura was at work and we had a fun time joking around and telling stories. Saturday we (Laura, me, Sky, Daniel, and Shane) all took an adventure out to the Roseville Mall which is HUGE! We took like four hours just to walk around the mall, only going in a few stores. It was great fun to see all the stores down here and window shop. Saturday night we spent calmly at home watching movies and lazing around. Sunday morning Daniel and Sky left very early because they had to brave the storm to get home on time. It took them four and a half hours to get through Donner's Pass, usually an hour and half to two hours at the most. I spent all morning on my computer updating them with weather and traffic and making sure they were safe. They blew a tire in the pass, but made it out ok.
Saturday morning I got to plan with Jacob, the guy Laura is dating, to plan a special surprise for Laura for Valentine's Day. He came over to our house before he went to work and put a dozen roses in her car for her to find. I came out and opened the car for him and talked to him a bit. It was so cool to see the surprise on Laura's face when she found the flowers in her car. It sure was tricky! I have been plotting behind her back for a few weeks now helping him out in deciding what to do and how to do it. It was a very cute idea and I was happy to help!
I have been trying to squeeze in hours at work this last week because not many were given to me to begin with, and with no school it will be nice to get in an extra day to work! This week is Eva's birthday and she is going to be one! I can't believe it has already been a year since she was born.. I remember the day like it was yesterday! Well, this next week is filled with school and work and I will hopefully stay on top of things and post next Sunday. Until then, Arrivederci!

I'm Very Behind, So I'm Not Even Going to try to Catch Up..

It poured rain today and afterwards the clouds cleared and we had a gorgeous, perfect rainbow! It was so bright, you could see all the individual colors.

Well, to sum up the last four months in a few quick sentences.. I got a 4.0 for my first semester and survived my finals. I got a job at Aeropostale in Arden Mall and only worked there for a few months because I was seasonal, but I got some freaking cute clothes while I was there! Laura got a job there as well, but not the same location as me. I went home for Christmas and had a blast visiting friends and family alike. January was a flash of lots of spare time because I was between jobs and semesters. Now I am a full time student at American River college, I'm taking Stats, Biology, Core Conditioning, Personal Safety, and Psychology Human Development. I love it all! I'm so happy to be back in school and learning again. I missed it dearly. I got a new job at Target thanks to my roommate Keith who currently works there and got me the go in to call for an interview. I work as Instocks and I love it. I have enjoyed learning new things and working with new people. I also get to train on Plano and learn something different and new. I enjoy working at Target and have a good day every day of work.
Well, today I have been feeling very nostalgic so I am going to post some videos and pictures that I found that mean a lot to me. These are a look back over a lot of time this last year I believe.. I will now try to update this at least every two weeks. I update my facebook probably every day, you think I'd have a little more motivation for this one haha.
This last week has been filled with working and getting ready for my first two tests which were today. On Saturday I went up to Cisco Grove with the ward to go sledding and see that snow really does exist in California. We got up there and donned our gear and hit the slopes. We had a gigantic tube that fit three people and we had a blast cramming as many people as we could on it to go down the hills. Well, after practicing control on the little hills we headed over to the monster hill that was basically the side of the mountain. I went down it on the tube with Patrick and Colton, but I'm the only one who made it to the bottom of the hill and that's because I was injured and couldn't move to get off. I fell into the hole in the middle and slammed the snow when we went over a jump. I bruised my hip bone and have been on the mend with lots of ice and TLC since then.
Well, one of the videos on here is of Eva, my niece and just last week I found out that she is gong to be a big sister, and not only that but to TWINS! I am so excited that Rachel is having twins! But all growing up I wished I had a twin and that I could have twins, now she is living my dream, but that's ok :) Shannon and I decided we may as well be twins because we have so much of the same taste and are so alike. She just came a few years early.. My other twin is Laura and living with her has been very interesting. We get along most the time and I love having her here to talk to and go through life here in California with.
Oh, and on the light of new things that have happened in the last few months, we got a new roommate. His name is Keith and he is 23 and goes to UTI with Laura and Shane. Actually, Laura met him in class because they had a class together and she thought he would be a good person to live with, so she brought him over to show him the house and we all got to meet him. We couldn't find any downside to him moving in so we let him.. He moved in on December third and it has been very interesting getting used to having someone new in the house. We have our usual traditions with us three, so now we get to do everything with Keith too and one more person makes it lots of fun. It has been entertaining living with him and he has introduced rock band into our house which makes for some very fun nights with me, him and Shane. (Laura has sworn off guitar hero and rock band) He has been fun to get to know and it's been great having our house finally full instead of one ominous empty bedroom.
Over Christmas break I got to fly back to Utah and spend five days with my family at my uncle's cabin up in the Rocky Mountains by Strawberry Resorvoir. It was a blast and we had to snowmobile in the last four miles, that was quite an adventure! I got to stand on the sleigh on the back with Rachel and Eva in front of me. We had our share of snow with 1 foot Christmas Eve and 2 feet Christmas Day. It was very nice to spend time with my family because it had been so long since I had seen them. We had fun playing games and chatting. I was then home for another week where I got to spend time with my friends that I've missed and got to go to two missionary farewells of my friends that are leaving. James Lawrence went to Honolulu, Hawaii, and Carson Williams went to the Dominican Republic. It will be a long two years without these two! I went to a few parties for New Year's and this was my first year to get a New Year's Kiss! I rode the train home the next day and had a really good time on the sixteen hour ride through desert, salt plains and mountains alike. It was a beautiful ride and I made some friends along the way.
Well, along with living with three UTI students I sure get my share of work on our cars, particularly Laura's. She has a '98 Chevy S10 Blazer and over this last month I have helped her replace her ball joints, idler arm, wheel hub, bang out her back plate, change her oil, change my oil and some other random small jobs. I have gotten use to greasy hands and I love to get down and dirty and learn new things. It has been an educating experience with her learning so much just from asking her questions and her willingness to teach me.


I loved being home for the holidays so that I could spend some time with my siblings!
Chantel and I were living it up on the 'wedding stone' in front of the Salt Lake Temple. While in Salt Lake I went to Temple Square to see the lights. It was beautiful and so much fun to hang out with friends!
Next, it was Bryce's turn to take a picture with me in front of the temple.
This is probably the cutest picture of Eva ever, I was using the smile shutter on my camera which will only take pictures when it detects a smile, so I smiled the whole time and just waited for her to flash one so the camera could capture it!




Top: This is me getting my finger too close to Eva who immediately opened her mouth and bit me. So I tried to wiggle my finger out and this is what I got!

Second: This was a few weeks ago at a tumbling gym and I have been learning arials for a while now and I'm finally getting them figured out. I learned how to throw back tucks a bit different, so there is me trying it out and doing better than the cheer prep!

Third: This is an amazing stunt that we were going to do for the field opener last year and our group was the only one who did it right. Notice when Marlies comes down she is still holding the Arabesc, she doesn't need to touch the ground because we are amazing enough to be able to get her back up there. This is by far my favorite stunt and my favorite group! I miss my girls!

Bottom: This guy's name is Hawk and he's a famous tricker here in Sacramento. He was at the tumbling gym doing tricks and parkour and we were talking about corkscrews, which is the trick that he does, and I got him to do one for me. His are so high and so pretty! I want to learn one!