The Family Down, Missions, and Halloween

This weekend was AWESOME!! On Friday, Lauren, Seth, Brooke, and Riley drove down for the weekend. Riley had to do temple work for his mission Saturday morning. Brooke and I were in a Christmas mood, so we put in a pine tree scentsy, and I turned on Harry Connick Christmas music. ;) After everyone got home from the temple, we had Panera for lunch with Grandmary, Grandpa, and Clark. What yummy sandwiches. Then, all of us kids went to the park, where we rode bikes, scooters, and longboards. It was really fun!


Today, we drove up to my cousin Todd Locken's ward, where he was giving a talk in sacrament meeting because he returned from his mission recently. For those of you taking a break from Facebook and reading my blog that don't know Todd, he served a mission in El Salvador, San Salvador, West Belize Mission. Lauren, Brooke, Seth, and Riley left after Sacrament meeting. It was very sad =(

But afterwards, we ate delicious food at my Aunt Vicky's house!!!

Anyways, Happy Halloween, everybody!!!

This picture really made me laugh... But it would probably scare little kids.

Happy General Conference!

Have you heard??? Riley got his mission call! He is going to the Mexican Tuxtla Gutierrez Mission, where he will become a fluent Spanish speaker. His mission is all the way to the very bottom of Mexico, the border of Guatemala. We're all excited for him. Did I say "we"? I meant me. I am so excited to here about all the baptisms he'll do, who his companions are, how the food is (I've heard it will be spicy!),etc. Good luck, Riley!!

Happy General Conference, everybody! I think this was the best one yet. (But then again, I think that about all of them. ) At this General Conference, President Thomas S. Monson challenged us to be grateful. Personally, I would like to challenge you, and myself, to be grateful by doing two acts of service, in or out of your family twice a week. Also, give thanks to someone, anyone, every day. This becomes a great habit in daily life. It may even be a missionary experience! Have a great October!

The Library

On Tuesday, Brooke went to the library, and I asked her to rent the second Anne of Green Gables book for me, Anne of Avonlea. Unfortunately, it wasn't there so she put it on hold for me.

Instead, she rented out two wonderful books for me to read until we could get it! The first book was From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, which I loved! Even that I finished it that day. I recommend it, along with the other book, which I started and finished the next day, Small Steps, by Louis Sachar. It's a sequel to his book Holes.

A Poem

This poem is dedicated to my ipod shuffle. I have just one true love.
It is in my room above.
I listen to it day and night.
I will never ever win the fight-
because I realize it would make me scoff
if I had to turn off.
So how can I fall asleep in bed,
if my one true love is dead?

I love you ipod! :P

An Interesting Project with an Interesting Story

Finally, our english teacher, Ms. Waugh, gave us an interesting project to do. We had to find someone that was unknown and making a difference in the world today. After researching, we were to present this individual to the class. I finally found a person named Kristi Chrysler, and became very interested in her story. She had Autoimmune, or Lupus, disease. She had five children, and the third, a boy (She didn't give the name), was born with Autism. The doctors told her that she should put him into institution. Kristi did not like that, so she set off on a massive research journey to find out if her son had hope. She traveled coast to coast, and eventually discovered, with the help of scientists and physicians, that there ws a treatment, and some even recovered. She soon found a physician, Dr. Tammy Born. He happened to also be an expert on lupus disease. Her son recovered in five years, and Kristi recovered two years after.
Now she is an expert on many illnesses, and gives speeches wherever she can. She loves giving light to those in darkness, and hopes to let the world know that there is hope, there is recovery, and there is a bright future awaiting them. I hope you were as interested in her story as I will always be.

Lauren's Engagement

Lauren is engaged! Who's the lucky guy? Seth Niederhauser. He is the most amazing person I have ever met.

I am probably the 7th most excited, after Lauren, Seth, and both their parents. Miracles happen, and one thing is for sure. Seth and Lauren were made for each other. Congratulations!!!

Spacers

At one time in their life, many people must have spacers. Unfortunately, now it's my turn. I got three blue (Yay! Pretty!) spacers on my bottom teeth - two on my left and one on my right. As a result, my teeth feel sore and I can't eat any of Mom's delicious home-made cookies. At least I can always have a smoothie. . .

So, I have no idea what else to have. After all, I could never bring a smoothie to school, and I don't want to live on the exact same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Well, who would? So there's my problem. Suggestions? Recipes? Cookie smoothies?