On My Mind

I have been super busy lately and I have A LOT of pictures and stuff to post but I wanted to put this one up first. Not a day has gone by that I have not thought of each one of these six people and they are each so important and special to me. I have many good close friends currently serving missions- but these are the ones that are right there in my heart. These six have written me lots since I have been home and are such a great support to me! I love all of my missionaries!!

Hermana Cynthia Crookston

Uruguay, Monte Video West Mission

Elder Kevin Kleisler (the one on the right)

Denmark Copenhagen Mission

Hermana Maria Ure

Ecuador Guayaquil South Mission

Elder Chris Dyson

Salt Lake City Utah Mission

Elder Dallin Yarrington

Illinois Chicago South Mission

Elder Seth Leonard (The one on the left)

San Antonio Texas Mission

FLOOD!!!

It rained enough on Sunday that the water stayed in the streets for a few hours. The end of my street was completely covered!!
Water up to my knees!! This NEVER happens in Arizona!! Crazy!

Yay for lots of water!!!

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to play in the flood! Here I was practicing my martial arts, lol j/k!
Of course my partner in crime, Cristina joined me! It would not have been any fun with out her!

The water was high enough that people were actually out kayaking in the streets!! So insane!

A Hiking We Will Go

I love love love spending time with my dad!! It seems that since I have been home from my mission he and I have grown so much closer and it is so amazing!! So anyway my fabulous dad and I decided to take a hike on Saturday afternoon. It was surprisingly nice- only like 92 degrees or something due to all the monsoons!

We went to one of our fav places "oak flats" and there was plenty of water from all the rain! We brought the dogs along as well and Brad (a family friend).

The dogs loved jumping into the pools of water and swimming around- the worst was when they would get out and shake off right next to us.

Some of the gorgeous scenery. It is amazing what a 45 minute drive away from the city can bring! It is so peaceful out there and I just love sitting and enjoying the beauty that our Heavenly Father created.

What?!? lol I LOVE hiking!! I think I was seriously born to be an outdoors kind of kid! I guess I was born into the right family cause my dad is always willing and ready for the next adventure!

Mission Pals

There is just something super special about the friends you make on the mission. I feel like we just have an awesome forever bond! I don't know how to describe it but I am truly blessed- that is for sure! Plus the best part is I still have A LOT of my mission left, which means even more awesome mission pals! But anyway, today I had lunch with my pal Elder Woodhall. He and I were in District 44D (best district ever) in the MTC and both came home early on medical release. Elder Woodhall has only been home about a month and he goes back hopefully week after next. We live with in about 20 minutes of each other so we finally got together today and caught up. We had so much fun just talking about the past, present and future! We both will be serving in the San Antonio Texas Spanish Speaking mission and we are so excited to get there! I am so grateful for all my mission friends! Basically they rock! :)

Dancing in The Rain

Since I started to struggle in the MTC and all the way up until now several people have recited this quote to me: "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about learning to dance in the rain!!" It is truly a great quote and has been a strength to me but well this week I took that quote seriously!!! lol

Monsoon season has begun here in AZ and it is the BEST time of the year!! I love watching the storms and I just can't help but play in the rain! Luckily I have an amazing best friend who loves dancing in the rain as much as I do!

Cristina says "Yay for dancing in the rain and jumping and splashing in giant puddles!!"

Getting wet- fun fun!!

Jump Cristina jump! I caught Cristina in mid jump- I love her hair, it looks like a mane! he hee

And then Cristina caught me in mid jump- but apparently while I am jumping in puddles I look kinda scary! ha ha

Super wet best friends! Yay for spontaneous fun!

Test Run

On Saturday Dad, Brad, Uncle Jeff and I loaded up our quads and headed out to the desert to ride! We had to try out the new quads, of course. lol My quad looks so good with some mud splattered on it and my helmet resting on the handle bar. I was so excited to get this bike out there and give it all I got! Man can it go fast!!!

My uncle Jeff- this wash that he is in was really sweet, we booked it up and down that thing! I followed Jeff most of the time we were on the trails, which was so fun cause he was always gunning it so I got to go as fast as I could so I could keep up with the 400. I always like riding with my Uncle, he is so cool and he likes to go fast just like me!!

Dad spotted a cave up in the rocks so we all turned off the engines and Brad was the first to go explore!!

Look what I found in the cave! lol Wonder how long that's been there, do you think it was from the cavemen?

Mother Nature provides everything you need- even bandannas. lol My dad found this bandanna in the dirt and decided to use it to keep the sun off his neck. I said GROSS! He just shrugged. Boys are totally dirty! lol

Another perk to riding, when you stop to let the engines cool off you can actually see how beautiful nature is out there. But when I'm on my quad I never pay attention to that stuff- I am always going too fast anyway, everything is a blur! ha ha

Quads rock!!! I used to only like dirt bikes, always wanted to race motocross- but now I am taking quite a liking to quads as well. I totally love riding and I can't wait to go out again! I especially can't wait to take my new quad to the dunes- my dad just bought me some sweet ITP Sand Star paddles too!

Dinner at Joe's

Joe's BBQ is one of my absolute favorite places to eat, so I was thrilled when my friends decided to go there Thursday night. Kendra, Jordan, Cristina and I all had a yummy dinner and enjoyed the random conversation and good times! It was especially fun for me to hear the story of Jordan's proposal to Kendra as well as all of her wedding plans and what not! So exciting!!

Jordan and Kendra- the newly engaged couple!

Kendra so cute showing off her ring! It's gorgeous!!!!

Cristina and I perfectly content with being single- for now at least! lol