Picky Picky

Work keeps me so busy

sometimes it still amazes me how

I have time to do it with everything going on in my crazy scheduled life!

But Kelly Lameroux is so awesome,

and always flexible with when I can work.

Sometimes im there for a few hours after school, and sometimes 

I am there all day when im not at school.

(Dont say anything, but ive even missed school to work!)

After working so consistently for the past few months,

I have found that I am actually quite picky

about the things I use and how I use things

and even where things are kept with the kids.

First off, 

I LOVE the Bumbo.

They are so fantastic. 

I use it all the time

for things like feeding, or just having Colton

sit there while I do the dishes,

and at one point it kept Colton from crawling

away when I was trying to do something.

Buuut, I guess all good things must come to an end.

Colton has now figured out how to get out of it!

He has figured out if he twists his body enough on leg pops out 

of the little hole and he can roll out.

I must say though, it is pretty funny to watch..

the first time I saw him try it I was

so confused on what he was doing.

The Bumbo is now more of a toy to him.

Sigh.. Little Stinker!

However,
I do not like free standing high chairs!
The tufts have one and poor baby Henry is so tiny that
it just swallows him up!
And plus, I feel like he is so disconnected from the table
when we eat.
The Lameroux's have one that straps tight
onto the table chair.
I love it.

To feed Colton,

my favorite thing to use are these! 

I dont think they have a name, 

but they are just a metal spoon with a rubber tip.

When the kids get older I like the plastic ones.

I have finally found a baby food that I like to feed to Colton!

I love love love baby food pouches.

I like them so much because I can squeeze a little bit
onto the spoon for him and its the perfect amount for his little mouth.
AND! I dont have to smell anything!
Because its not jsut like open like a jar would be,
I cant smell anything!
(And let me tell ya! I hate the smell of baby food! It is so gross to me!)

I also really like "Graduates lil crunchies"
Colton loves the cinnamon maple and the viggie dip flavors.
(The cinnamon maple one always smells so good! Haha)




I have also really grown to love video monitors!


This is the kind that I like!
It works great and it is so handy
when I am outside playing with the kids or cooking
or whatever it is.
I like it so much more than I like just sound ones..
Im not quite sure what it is,
but something about being able to see them
while they are sleeping in really
reassuring to me.

I also love that the Lameroux's always have
diapers and wipes close by. Not just in one room.
I love that.

I also love that they have a gate at the top of the stairs so that
Colton cant fall down the stairs..
It is so convienant when I am putting the others to bed.
They also have a gate at the top of the stairs on their back patio,
which I also super love.
They are just so smart and have thought of everything!

So, as you can tell,
I have become pretty picky about a few things..
which is kind of nice that way when
I am a mommy I dont have to guess on some things,
because I already know what I like!

So even with the sometimes fussy babies and
cranky kiddos,
I absolutely love my job!
Cause children are the greatest in the kingdom of God.
I feel so blessed to spend so much time with those kids,
I have learned so much already just within the few months that
I have watched them.
I love love love my job.
It also helps that they always keep me laughing,
there is never a dull moment,
they are so funny!

Four Eyes :)

Well I am now officially

a four eyes.

I got a new pair of glasses!

And in all honesty, I dont even care if they look to big for my face

cause I like them alot. 

Plus it switches up my look a little bit. :]

I like them, cause you can still my eyes.

Sometimes I have a hard time with glasses cause I have such big eyes, 

that wearing glasses sometimes looks funny because they awkwardly cover my eyes.

But these ones are bg enough that you can still see my eyes. :)

Target Optical is totally awesome to work with.

Shoot. I even qualified for the $25 kids lenses cause im not 18 years old.

Of course we still had to pay for the frames though.

When I went to go pick them up today,

the lady was so nice and even shaped my glasses to fit me perfectly.

She told me that if they ever feel funny to just come back in and they

can re-form them to me, 

and clean them while im at target.

So I really liked working with Target's Optical.

They are awesome and I would totally recommend them to anybody who is looking

for somewhere to get glasses. :)

Road Trippin' It

A few weeks ago,

Emily and I hit the road on our first ever raodtrip without any parents!

Just the two of us and Cletus (her car).

We drove to Gilbert, Arizona
So she could spend the last few weeks before she goes off to start
school up at BYU- Idaho.

So we started the day off in the wee hours of the morning!
We got on the road at 5:30 AM

And Emily started driving.

All Summer, we have been wanting to watch the sunrise together, and we finally got to see it!
It was so pretty :)

We thought reaching 100 miles was pretty exciting,
only 800 miles left to go! Haha

Dont worry we made a Starbucks pit stop,

and we both got a salted caramel hot chocolate.

Its one of my new favorites, thanks to Caylee :)

Right after we stopped for a bathroom, gas, and Starbucks,

I drove.

We made it to New Mexico! :)

Aaaand you gotta love that cruise control! Its pretty great!

For lunch we stopped in Albuquerque and ate Chick-la-fe!
Cause I can eat their grilled chicken.
I love love love Chick-la-fe :)

After stopping for lunch,
Emily Drove :)


Ohh the things that you see on road trips..

We finally made it to Arizona!!
Except we missed the turn off to take a picture at the sign so we just pulled over,
but it said no parking so we just took a quick picture and hit the road again.

Of course once I start driving, we get stuck in construction,
going like 40 miles an hour.
I HATE driving slow! Especially in traffic and construction!

We were SO ready to be out of the car!!

And we made it!!
Or so we thought.
We were about 15 minutes away and decided to call her mom and tell
her that we would be a little over an hour,
even though we really were only about 15 minutes away...
But we ended up getting lost
and it really did take us a little over an hour to get there!
It was crazy.. I guess thats what we get for lying to her parents..
Haha

On our trip we saw...

A blue school bus

A spaceship

Lots of coppers!

Casa Blanca (Gilmore Girls reference)

and a rail runner.

And some funny billboards we saw..

"Topless"

"Free Craps Lesson!"

"Legs and thighs"

"Shush Yaz"

And of course you cant go on a road trip without having great quotes and playin games so here they are!

"It happened" - Emily

"I hate legs! I wish I had none!" - Stacey

"Look at those mountains! Stripes of pink!" - Emily
"What?! Did you just say their sexy?!" - Stacey

"PECOS"

"Free Craps Lesson!"

"OKay look at that sign! How do you day that?!" - Emily
"Fry bread" - Stacey
*Looking at two different signs - Emily was talking about the one that said To'haliihee*

"Are we shaving time?!" - Emily
"Shaving.. Hahaha" - Stacey

"Aw, last chicken... disappointing" - Emily

"And you dont need Jesus!!" - Ben Rector
"Ohh yes you do!!" - Emily (said in Chinese accent.)

"Oh, that guys hanging himself" - Stacey casually
"What?!" - Emily
"Like from the truck! He's hanging on and swinging!" - Stacey
"Ohh hahaha thats ALOT different Stacey!" - Emily

*Emily attempts to quotes a movie*
"I have no idea." - Stacey
"Well then i'll do it again!" - Emily shouts

"Im so sick of reading about Indians!!"

"Get off my butt" - Emily

"Well, it looks like we are going to be there on the 15th of never." - Emily


So we finally got their and unpacked Emily,
and she gave me the grand tour of their new house,
which by they way is absolutely beautiful!
We then ate dinner
(which Sister Downing made sure that it was all gluten free. She's so great. I love her.)
And it was so very tasty
after a long day of driving and snacking in the car.

And after lots of catching up,
we went swimming in their pool!
Let me tell ya,
it is SO hot in Arizona.
OH MY GOSH. Emily and I thought we were gonna die.

Then we had ice cream fro dessert,
and watched the Hunger Games
because it had just come out
on DVD that day.
But Emily and I were out in the first 15 minutes of the movie.
Driving all day takes it out of ya!
We were so exhausted.
I didnt know what their did as far as showers and stuff in the morning
before church,
so I showered that night as quickly as I could so I could finally go to bed.

Their wards church meets at 8:00 AM
which came EARLY!!
But we got up and were out the door on time,
and enjoyed a great sacrament meeting,
gospel doctrine with Brother and Sister Downing,
and Relief Society with Sister Downing.

Megan, Emily and I waited in the air conditioned car before going to to the Parks ward,
cause it was SO BLASTED HOT!!
Everyone kept telling us at church that you never ever get used to it.
So Gilbert was a beautiful city,
I just dont think that I would ever be able to handle the heat..
Haha I would never leave my air conditioned house.

We then went to one of their friend's ward [funny story about that - the Parks ward meets at 9:00 so an hour later the the Downings and we thought Justin was getting set apart during third hour but he didnt get set apart until after church but everyone went to Relief Society except for Emily's brother and Brother Downing - But we were all Starving! I could literally hear Megan's stomach growling. Haha but luckily we found like 10 mints in my purse, so we tried to use those to hold us over.. Haha but im not sure that it actually worked so great, because we were still starving.]
Anyways, their friend who is Emily's age,
received the Melchizedek Priesthood.
And it was a cool experience to be a part of,
and I am grateful that he was so welcoming in me being a part of it.
We then went to their house for
and lunch to celebrate.
They were so welcoming..
I definitely liked Sister Park!
She was so cute, and gave me a great big hug right when she met me,
which made me feel much more comfortable the rest of the afternoon.

We went home and before we knew it about an hour or so later,
Sister Downing, Emily and I were on our way to the airport!

Saying goodbye to Emily was so over whelming to me.
We got to security, and I gave Sister Downing a big hug,
I sure do love that woman. She is just incredible.
But when I gave Emily a hug, I just kind of lost it.
This past summer, Emily became more than my best friend..
And as cheesy as it sounds,
she became my sister.
[Shoot. Just typing this im cryin - and its been like over a month!]
But really, I dont think that I could ever
truly and fully express my gratitude to her.
For everything.
She is so incredibly talented,
and strong and so much fun to be around.
We made so many fantastic memories this summer:

-killing moths with an entire bottle of hairspray-
-watching the entire series of Gilmore Girls-
-Lulu runs-
-Both unintentional and intentional slumbovers-
-Meeting new friends-
-Learning to ride a tandem bike-
-Rockin out in the car-
-Baking-
-Running errands together-
-Doing homework together-
-Lots and lots of shopping-
-laughing, crying, and arguing over who gets the last "UGH"-
-and of course blogging-
And thats only to name a few! I feel like the list could go on for miles and miles.

Shoot. The room that Emily stayed in, is still known as Emily's room.

She will always be one of the absolute greatest friends that I could have asked for.
I love her so much and I miss her like crazy.
But if growing up in the military has taught me anything,
it's that it's never "goodbye", its just "See ya later!"
And I will see her again, hopefully sooner than later though!
I love our modern technology and the ability to skype with her often.

I am so happy for her
as she is starting this new adventure in her life
as BYU-I [DO]
Hahaha
But I really do hope and pray that she is absolutely loving every second
college and just absorbing everything with the best of attitudes.
I bet the boys are just all over her cause she is so beautiful!

Letting go is hard,
but its such an exciting time of life,
and I love hearing all about school from her.

So even though
it was such crazy fast trip to Arizona,
[Emily and I left early Saturday morning
and I was on a plane less than 48 hours later
on Sunday going back home to Colorado.]
I am so grateful for their hospitality.
The Downings are such great people.
I am so grateful for their constant life long friendship,
example, and for always having their door open.
(Literally, I would usually just swing the door open at their house here!
Knocking and ringing the doorbell is overrated! ;] )
But really, they are such a great family.

SO this post was crazy insane long.
No wonder, it took me hours
and multiple sittings to write..
Haha.

As scary as it is..

[I wrote this post a while ago,

but I guess never really got a chance to finish it,

but I think it's still pretty cool to think about it.

So here it is anyways.]

As scary as it is,

I am a SENIOR in High School and will 

graduate in 9 months.

As scary as it is,

College is literally just around the corner.

As scary as it is,

If I were to get engaged when carissa got engaged,

I will be engaged in 16 months.

As scary as it is,

Emily and I will be taking our very first road trip

all by ourselves on Saturday.

13 1/2 hours.

Arizona here we come!

As scary as it is,

by the end of this month,

both my seesters and brother have

kiddos.

We're getting old!

As scary as it is,

Rehearsal for the play starts on Monday, 

and we are supposed to be off book, 

and I am definitely NOT memorized.

As scary as it is,
I am growing up way to fast.

Even though life is scary,
its so nice to know that I have a loving Heavenly Father that will always be there for me. :)

Flipped Upside, Inside Out

Wow. It feels like I ask myself,

"Where has the time gone?"

every single time I blog.

I often feel bad that im not the best at keeping a regular journal or blog.. but I am so excited to say

that at the beginning of the summer I bought a journal,

and made myself a goal to write at least 5 bullets in it about my day,

every single day and to complete it before school would start.

And I am very very very excited to tell you that I finished it about 2 weeks before school started!!

Of course, I missed a few days here and there,

but it was really cool to look at how much of a habit it became, 

and how my bullets have become so much more lengthy and thoughtful. 

It was a really great feeling to finish a journal cover to cover

for the first time in my life.

This Summer I also found out that I have Celiac disease.

And let me tell ya.

It is hard stuff, trying to figure out what is going on in my body,

and what I can and cant eat.

It's all a little over whelming at times.

But I have been extremely blessed to have a really great support system.
Both of my parents, both of my sisters for always finding and sending me recipes,
and same for my old voice teacher Angela Kintner, my extended family, my leaders and especially
my friends. Everyone has been so awesome.

Shoot. My best friend Sarah Nelson

decided to go gluten free for a week,

as a way of supporting me.

And I would just like to say how grateful I am for that,

at first I was pretty upset about her going gluten free,

just because anyone who knows me knows that I dont like help or pity

or anything along those lines for that matter.

But she did it anyway... And I think that it has helped me so much!

To have someone understand even a fraction of what your dealing with,

makes it that much easier.

 She is just incredible like that.

She has a way of always knowing what to do and say.

I hope she knows that she is truly one of the greatest,

most kind, caring, and loving people ever.

Sarah, means so much to me and

I cant even imagine my life without her!
So thank you Sarah for being the best friend anyone could ever ask for!! <3 <3

SO THANK YOU to anyone who has helped me along this new journey of life.
You guys are pretty incredible.

Well school is in full swing now, and I am a SENIOR!!!

WOO WOO!!

This is my last "first day of high school school" picture!

It is just so crazy to think that in less than 9 months,

I will be graduated and starting a new adventure in life..

Whatever that adventure may be.

Not gonna lie, 

it's a pretty scary thought.

I guess I should get crackin' on those applications.. :/

I have packed on a few AP classes so my schedule is a little bit fuller than

I would like, but I have a feeling that im really gonna love

them. I am taking APES (AP Environmental Science) 

and AP Psychology.

I am also taking Theatre 3,4, DP

which basically equals to an AP class.

I just wont take the test because im not in IB.

Rehearsals for the school's fall play, "Almost Maine" have also begun.

I have to kiss Jared in our scene "This Hurts"

We actually kissed a few days ago just to get that first kiss over with

because it got to a point that in all honesty it was kind of stressing me out a little bit. Haha

So at Zach's surprise party last Saturday night,

we just kissed.

Im glad that first kiss is over, so now

the rest will be easy and I wont have to think too much about it..

I hope.
Last Firday was Senior Sunrise, and it was tons of fun!

Carissa had her baby!!

Meet Kyler James Johnson

Born on August 17, 2012

at 6:14 pm

7 pounds, 5 ounces

19 inches long

One very happy Mama!

I am so proud of Carissa, she is such an example to me,

and I am so happy for her. She is so strong and beautiful. <3

So, congratulations to Kyle and Carissa, 

I am so happy for you guys!

Yall are going to be such great parents,

and I cant wait to meet the little dude! :)

I just love this outfit! It's just so stinkin cute!! 

I also love his cute little chicken legs! 

Last week, I started babysitting for the Lameroux's which I will do weekly.

And the Tuft's want to go back to weekly date nights again too, 

so hopefully I will make pretty good money to 

be able to save up for school.

Seriously the thought of college is so scary.
What if I dont get into the school I want?
Or dont have enough money to pay for it?
There are so many "what if's"...
I just want to be into my school already and start now!
haha I am definitely getting ahead of myself, cause I still have my entire senior year left.. Haha.

Last Sunday, I got a calling.
I am the Young Women's Music Director.
So I will arrange if I want the Young Women to sing in sacrament meeting,
or at New Beginnings, or things like that.
As well as every Sunday.
McKenzie is our new pianist.

This week I had to do "time for time" for English after school,
cause I missed the last few minutes of class,
but it turned out to be a huge blessing in my life
because I had a really great missionary experience with my teacher.
She watched the movie, "Mormon in America" (At least thats what I think its called)
that was shown on PBS
and she said that after it ended, she turned to her husband and told him that she wanted to become mormon. Haha she said that she has been
 watching us members of the church since and with Mitt Romney
running for President,
she has realized that she wants exactly what we have.
She loves that we focus on the family, and how we are constantly serving each other.
She said those two things stuck out the most to her.
And I love that. She had so many questions and really opened up her life to me
and shared some things that were really cool to me.
She told me that at one point in her mom's life, she was all alone with her son,
and she had moved and the members of the church
immediately took her in when no one else did. She and her son moved in with members.
They took them to church,
helped with bills when she couldnt pay everything,
brought meals into her.
 None of them asked questions about what
had happened, they just served her constantly.
She had said that when she went to visit her mom and younger brother she went to church with her mom and
sitting in sunday school with her mom, she said  it felt like "God's arms were literally around me"
she said she felt protected and loved.
I guess her mom bore her testimony in that meeting and she felt something that
she wants again and has never known how to get it back.
Her mom never joined the church.
That is of course the run down version of the story,
 I dont know why,
but this story was a huge eye opener to me.
What a blessing it is to have grown up in the church.
Her story is so saddening to me, but I think it's important to remember
that holds so much hope.
And its my prayer that I can be the Lord's messenger to help her find the truth.
You can just tell that she wants and needs the gospel in her life and she is starting to realize that.
So please pray for her and her family that they will feel of God's love,
and turn to Him for all things and trust in Him constantly.

Even though it feels kind of like my life has been flipped upside down and inside out,
I know that there is one thing that will never change.
And that is the Gospel of the Jesus Christ and my testimony of it.
I know that it is the only true church on the Earth today.
I am grateful for my trials and the experiences that have been placed in my life right now.
 I am so grateful for my older brother Jesus Christ,
and his atoning sacrifice,
so that He could feel what I feel,
and know exactly what I go through in my everyday life.
I know He knows and loves me unconditionally.
And I can always turn to him for help.
And I cannot wait to run into his arms,
and to hear him say,

"You did it. Welcome home."
And that my friends is pretty is a comforting thing to know.

Anyways, I think that catches up the majority of things going on over here since I have last blogged.
Happy Labor Day Weekend!
I hope everybody has a fun and safe
three day weekend!! :)

Put On Your Big Girl Panties

Wow! Where has the time gone?

I cannot believe that my mom left almost 4 weeks ago to help 

Brielle and Carissa,

Gramma's and Granpa.

In all honesty, every day has gone by so slow,

but looking back on the last few weeks, 

it has gone by so fast as I have tried to keep myself as busy as possible.

Between homework (Yes, mom and dad I actually do it, just slower than you would like.. haha)

working, babysitting, Girls Camp, The Allred Family Reunion,

and getting ready for...

*DRUM ROLL PLEASE*

SENIOR YEAR!! WOOP WOOP!! 

The time really has flown by. 

But just because it has flown by, doesnt mean that it has been easy.

I have a new found respect for my Mama.

"I mean, she's has the mommy hair cut, she's super mom!"

(Name that movie! ^)

I have always known that my mom does a lot,

but man. She really does A LOT.

From cooking dinner, cleaning, and helping me with everything that I need.

(It's no secret that I am very spoiled and that she has very good patience)

But its hard work to cook dinner every night! 

A few nights ago, I was making chicken,

which should have only taken about a half hour.

But it took an hour and a half!
I felt like by the time it was done and I was cutting the chicken,
I might as well had one of the moments like
the sister in the movie, "Just Like Heaven"
when she's cutting into the lasagna, and she finds a plastic sponge bob in it.
It was just that kind of day.

As you can probably easily tell,
 I dont really have the best patience with cooking,

especially when I have no idea what im doing.
So bless my great husband that he may have a HUGE amount of patience with me
when it dinner time rolls around.

By the time my dad got home that night,

I was pretty frustrated.

And as great as he is, he helped me finish dinner

and it was pretty tasty if I do say so myself.

But thankfully, dad has cooked the last 3 nights.

It's been pretty nice.

After finding out that I cant have gluten,

Its been even harder trying to figure out what I can eat.

And even though she is far away,

my mom is still trying to help me as much as she can as far as finding things 

to cook. And let me tell you,

it has been a huge adjustment.

It feels as though my entire life has been flipped upside down.

But I am feeling better than ever.

So much in fact, that I wont ever go back to eating gluten.

Next up on the list for "playing mommy" is cleaning.

Alright. Here's what I have decided.

I hate cleaning, but I love clean.

Even though my room is a disaster more often than not,

I ask myself 

"Why do I let it get so dirty?"

Because I hate cleaning.

So if we just kept things clean we wouldn't have to clean them,

because they would just be clean.

Too bad that is simply impossible..

because a lived in house is obviously gonna be, well lived in.

Well, it was a pretty nice thought though, I think.

There are 3 things that I hate most as far as cleaning goes:

1. Doing Laundry

2. Doing the dishes

3. Sweeping/vacuuming

And I have to do all those things before school starts.

Really lame, but they all need to be done.

In fact I think my laundry stopped just a few minutes ago..

Bummer..

This whole experience has made me realize that eventually we all need to put on our big girl panties.

I am just grateful I get a little test run, before going to college and truly have to grow up.
And I've had a pretty great example of that to me my entire life.

Though it's hard,
She's strong, so I can be too.
She works hard, so I can too.

I have realized how incredibly blessed I am,

because over the past few weeks, 

I have been thinking about just how grateful I am that

I know that Families are Forever.

So even though we are apart now,

We will be together forever, 

and that makes me so unbelievably happy.

I LOVE AND MISS YOU LOTS MOMMY!! <3 <3

And just in case I dont tell you enough,
I think that you you are pretty incredible
and I am so grateful that I get to call you my mom. <3

[Sorry if this post was all over the place!, I tried to organize my thoughts to make sense. Hopefully it worked!]

"Go in Peace"

So for the last year or so, I have been praying for peace.

And though I have been very happy, I have not felt completely at peace for a really long time.

And so by the time Girls Camp rolled around, I knew exactly what question I was going into my solo experience with.

 Through out the week leaders and other girls had told stories about how they had experiences where they needed to have faith until the very end. Some its was a week some a month. Some only a few days. But I was so confused on where my end would be.

Trying to have faith until the end of something that you dont even know what it is,

is so difficult.

I was really struggling with what I was doing wrong because I just could not recieve

that peace that I had been praying for over a year.

I was doing everything I needed to be doing.

Praying, reading my scriptures, keeping my standards, going to church and mutral.

I was so confused.

So friday came around and it was time for our solo experience.

I got my letters from home, and headed off to find a place by myself.

I pleaded with my Heavenly Father,

asking why? Why haven't you given me peace.

I was angry because I didnt understand.

As I was flipping through my scriptures, I read a quote that I had written in,

that says:

"please understand that what you feel and experience now, is not what will forever be."

and at first I kept thinking like,

yeah right.

But as I thought about it, it did bring comfort to me.

But still not peace.

Bishop Hart came by and whispered, time to go.

And he turned around to get the rest of our ward.

But I just could not believe that Heavenly Father left me there.

After doing everything he has asked me to.

I was mad that he was just gonna watch me walk away from my solo experience,

with not even a hint as to when this trial would be over.

So I looked back down to my scripturesto close them and decided to read one more verse.

(I was in Judges 18 by the way)

And the last thing that I read was, verse 6 and it said,

"Go in peace"

I was immediately overcome with peace.

I got down on my knees and said a prayer of gratitude.

I know that I was promted to read that last verse so that I  could recieve that peace that I needed.

I know that my Heavenly Father hears our prayers and I am so grateful

for my Saviors atoning sacrifice, so that He can know exactly what im going through.

I know that if we hold stong until the end, he will help us through it.

Even if it seems like he doesnt.

I know that I am a daughter of God,

who loves me and I love Him. :)