The Summer is Ending

It is official. It is the last day of Summer.  The population of Provo has quadrupled. My internship has ended. I had to say goodbye to some of the classes I coach. And school starts tomorrow. But no worries, it has been an incredible summer and school isn't so bad once you get into the swing of things.  Plus, ONE MORE YEAR TO GO and then I am done! That is a strange thought, I wonder where I will be. Interestingly enough we talked about this in church yesterday kinda, we talked about faith.  As the teacher asked how faith plays a role in our journey, my thought was that there are just a lot of unknowns in the world, and in life.  We don't know everything.  There are things in the past we don't understand, there are things in the present that don't seem logical, and the future sometimes feels like a giant abyss of a question mark.  This is where faith comes in. Faith that what happened in the past  happened for a reason and helped us get where we are and where we eventually want to be.  Faith is knowing that with the Lord on our side everything will work out and will be for our benefit. Faith is knowing that we have a loving Heavenly Father who sees our potential, has a plan for us and knows how we can best get there.  We sang "Lead Kindly Light" today, the  first verse explains this perfectly: 

Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom, lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home; lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

It is ok if we can't see very far into the future, as long we trust in the Lord and continue onward one step at a time in faith.

 This plane was made by one of the girls in my gymnastics classes that I had to let go of because of school. She gave it to me as a going away present.  Coaching gymnastics has to be one of the most rewarding things that I do with my time. I love gymnastics and I love the kids that I get to interact with.

This is a huge book that I took a picture of from my internship at the State Archives in Salt Lake City. The internship was an incredible experience. I loved the work that I did there and the people that I met.

 

The Stewart end of Summer lunch :) Josh, Kristie, and Alex made us sushi and pot-stickers(nicely making me my own veggie ones fish free).  It was a lot of fun!

Kate and Kye Browning

 Kate and Kye :) So great. They are so perfect together and are so happy.  I am thankful that I was able to be a part of their day, especially to go to the temple with them to see them be sealed to one another for time and all eternity. It was an incredible sealing and the spirit was so strong as they began their new family with the Lord. Congratulations! 

                The beautiful outdoor reception.                                  The dinner the night before.

Danielle's Wedding

Jacob came down on the train to Bountiful to go to Danielle Ycmat's wedding with me. We had so much fun! I am so excited for them and  their new adventure that they are starting together.  It was also so good to see everyone and for them to meet Jacob. All of my favorite people together.  Unfortunately Chelsea was the only one took pictures BUT they were great pictures! I'm so glad that I have her to capture such great pictures of me and Jacob.

The Little Pleasures in Life

It's the little things in life that are so great. The simple pleasures that bring us joy.  Such as racing tin foil boats down the creek on BYU campus, dominoes, playing games at the wall on the cool video game tables, and visiting Tammy at the glass art studio.

 I love this place! It is so beautiful and such a great environment with great people!

 Racing boats with Jacob and Spencer was so much fun.  Henry, Helga, and Beatrice were great competitors-Jacob's real boat smoked us though of course. 

 

How cool is this? the table is a video game. 

Yay Dominoes! It looked really cool and epic!

Kendall Camp!

The traditions of Kendall Camp have continued from since I was a kid but have also changed quite drastically.  Kendall camp out used to be exactly that, a camp out, what I remember most clearly are the camps at Sunset Campground I think...or maybe Sunrise campground?  Well anyways I think it runs in the family for the women to not be able to sleep in because I remember waking up early the crisp mountain air and slowly unzipping the tent zipper (which is one of the best camping noises) and accompanying my grandma on a walk to an overlook to watch as the sun rose.  We then returned to the camp to find Karen sitting by the fire preparing mugs of hot cocoa. This may possibly have happened only once or a hand full of times, but it is one of the best memories I have of Kendall Camp outs.

Anyways, back to the traditions, they consist of homemade matching shirts, coloring in coloring books, both adults and children participate, playing games, jump roping and double dutch, s'mores, and lots and lots of food including scones and homemade root beer!  The camp out has turned into our Kendall Canyon Day. It's so fun to be with everyone to just relax and enjoy each other's company in the fresh mountain air!  This year though we had a nice little surprise of rain haha but it was fun hiding under our umbrellas and watching the boys hang tarps from the trees!  I love you all Kendall family!  We missed those who weren't able to make it!

Sami found some of the little green inch worms that we used to collect and she enjoyed showing them to the kids and watching them inch their way around!

 COLORING!

Kate's Bridal Shower

So instead of doing a normal shower,  we had a pool party for Kate!  It was so much fun to see everyone and to just have a good time talking, eating and swimming!  The Gardner's were nice enough to let us use their home and their pool!  It felt just like high school....except most are either married or getting married and there were only girls at the party...but still! 

 Sami got this great idea from pinterest to make wedding cake cookies for the shower. They were super cute and super fun to make.  I convinced Sami to let me do the piping on some of the cookies because I wanted to be like Cake Boss.  I felt JUST like him!  Except for he probably would kick me off of the show for the crookedness of the piping.  I love Sami so so much!  She can make me laugh harder than anyone! I'm happy she came to help me with the shower and brought her cake cookie idea for us to do together! 

Happy Wedding planning Kate! Thanks for getting married so we can all have an excuse to get together!

Jake and His Hand

This is Jake.  He burned his hand when he was holding a firework.  He is 15. Nough said :)