Tanksgiving!!! Nothing better than a thanksgiving with my family, in my ALMOST favorite place ever. r,a

This past thanksgiving I got to go up to Oregon to see my family. My aunt, Lynnanne, was very ill, and it brought our whole entire huuuuge family up to Beaverton to get to do the thing us Taylor's do best-- BE THE MOST AMAZING FAMILY EVER.

So, mostly the trip was us just getting to be together, and to hang out. I've grabbed a few of the photos which I really think sum up our times there, and will discuss in brief detail (say detail the fancy way in your mind while reading that please, de-tail) the goings ons on the trip.

Multnoma Falls:

We got to take a day trip to Multnoma. I've been SO MANY times in my life, but I always love getting to see how beautiful the scenery is. I also love getting to sing along to Mylie Cyrus (how do you spell that girls name?) songs on the way up in the big 12 seater van. It is always so much fun just getting to mess around with my cousins.

For Thanksgiving we went over to the church. First we had an intense round of family b-ball. Yes I did play in a skirt and some heels, and yes I was dang good at it. Mostly it just turned into Julianne, Taylor, and I trying to tackle each other, but hey, isn't that what basketball is all about? Oh wait-- that's a different sport. Anyways, I wish I had some photos of that, but certain people don't let certain photos from their certain cameras into the hands of ANYONE else, so we will never see just how rockin I was out there on the court. (Oh well, it honestly may be for the best.)

We also made these cute turkeys out of oreos and peanut butter cups, it was fun getting to see how creative we all got, there were pirate turkeys and zombie turkeys. Then it was even more fun getting to eat them later.

We spent a lot of time in with Lynnanne. It is always amazing just to be near her, she is such a beam of love and joy. We decided to brighten up her room a little by adding colorful snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. They were all so beautiful, who knew we had such great cutting skills?!?! Us Taylors really do know how to rock.

Taylor decided that his goal of the trip was to get as many photos of me taking naps--with my own phone! He got me at least 5 times. I would even fall asleep with my phone in my hand, and somehow not wake up to him taking the phone, taking the picture, uploading it to facebook, and then putting the phone back. Taylor is one sneaky individual, let me tell you! One day I will find a way to get him back... mark my words.

After getting to spend so much time together as a family, it was really sad when the week was over. That was the last time our whole family will be together for many years! But I am so excited and happy to say that I know our family will all be reunited before we know it, and get to spend a looooong time together after that. I'm glad we all came together, and once again, did what we do best-- BE THE MOST AMAZING FAMILY EVER!!

No 2-oh-10 posts?!?! This cannot stand.

Alright, alright. I guess it is time to either update the ol' blog, or just delete it, as it sits, unread, unupdated, unloved... so, UPDATE it shall be. But with what?! WITH WHAT?!?!??!

Here's a list of what is to come:

Thanksgiving in Orrregon

Christmas in DC

Some random photos I had developed

My Birthday in Seattle

And boring college life randomness (get excited for that little gem!)

You can expect to see these start appearing as quickly as today! Or as slowly as never. We'll see how things pan out. But, at least, I have posted this, which does count as a blog update, which should keep all my blog followers happy and at bay for at least a few hours!!

Thanks for staying loyal all you fans out there. You won't regret your daily checking in, to see if I have posted more more MORE for you to read. Your diligence will pay off...

Pioneers! O Pioneers! By Walt Whitman

Come my tan-faced children,
Follow well in order, get your weapons ready,
Have you your pistols? have you your sharp-edged axes?
Pioneers! O pioneers!

For we cannot tarry here,
We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger,
We the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you youths, Western youths,
So impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship,
Plain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Have the elder races halted?
Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the seas?
We take up the task eternal, and the burden and the lesson,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the past we leave behind,
We debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world,
Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

We detachments steady throwing,
Down the edges, through the passes, up the mountains steep,
Conquering, holding, daring, venturing as we go the unknown ways,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

We primeval forests felling,
We the rivers stemming, vexing we and piercing deep the mines within,
We the surface broad surveying, we the virgin soil upheaving,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Colorado men are we,
From the peaks gigantic, from the great sierras and the high plateaus,
From the mine and from the gully, from the hunting trail we come,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

From Nebraska, from Arkansas,
Central inland race are we, from Missouri, with the continental
blood intervein'd,
All the hands of comrades clasping, all the Southern, all the Northern,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O resistless restless race!
O beloved race in all! O my breast aches with tender love for all!
O I mourn and yet exult, I am rapt with love for all,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Raise the mighty mother mistress,
Waving high the delicate mistress, over all the starry mistress,
(bend your heads all,)
Raise the fang'd and warlike mistress, stern, impassive, weapon'd mistress,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

See my children, resolute children,
By those swarms upon our rear we must never yield or falter,
Ages back in ghostly millions frowning there behind us urging,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

On and on the compact ranks,
With accessions ever waiting, with the places of the dead quickly fill'd,
Through the battle, through defeat, moving yet and never stopping,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O to die advancing on!
Are there some of us to droop and die? has the hour come?
Then upon the march we fittest die, soon and sure the gap is fill'd.
Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the pulses of the world,
Falling in they beat for us, with the Western movement beat,
Holding single or together, steady moving to the front, all for us,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Life's involv'd and varied pageants,
All the forms and shows, all the workmen at their work,
All the seamen and the landsmen, all the masters with their slaves,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the hapless silent lovers,
All the prisoners in the prisons, all the righteous and the wicked,
All the joyous, all the sorrowing, all the living, all the dying,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

I too with my soul and body,
We, a curious trio, picking, wandering on our way,
Through these shores amid the shadows, with the apparitions pressing,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Lo, the darting bowling orb!
Lo, the brother orbs around, all the clustering suns and planets,
All the dazzling days, all the mystic nights with dreams,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

These are of us, they are with us,
All for primal needed work, while the followers there in embryo wait behind,
We to-day's procession heading, we the route for travel clearing,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you daughters of the West!
O you young and elder daughters! O you mothers and you wives!
Never must you be divided, in our ranks you move united,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Minstrels latent on the prairies!
(Shrouded bards of other lands, you may rest, you have done your work,)
Soon I hear you coming warbling, soon you rise and tramp amid us,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Not for delectations sweet,
Not the cushion and the slipper, not the peaceful and the studious,
Not the riches safe and palling, not for us the tame enjoyment,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Do the feasters gluttonous feast?
Do the corpulent sleepers sleep? have they lock'd and bolted doors?
Still be ours the diet hard, and the blanket on the ground,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Has the night descended?
Was the road of late so toilsome? did we stop discouraged nodding
on our way?
Yet a passing hour I yield you in your tracks to pause oblivious,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Till with sound of trumpet,
Far, far off the daybreak call--hark! how loud and clear I hear it wind,
Swift! to the head of the army!--swift! spring to your places,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Hey Pals! November is upon us!!!

HEY THERE campers! How's life? This is me, currently:

I just got done jogging and watching Glee, so now I figured I'd sit and cruise on the computer for awhile, jet around on the good ol' world wide web for a few ticks of the clock. Today was a pretty lame day, if I do say so myself. It started out bad, and I fear that means it was destined to remain bad! But I did get clocked by a moto-cycle-cop going well above the speed limit (it's incriminating to divulge how above I was going) and he didn't even pull me over. Oh happy day! Hmmm, lemme think of what else is happening right now. We've had some really hard times in my family recently. Illness, and all the really not fun stuff you never want to have to deal with. It makes me so sad! But it also helps me realize how much I love my family, and my friends, and how glad I am to have all of you in my life! I know I know it sounds so corny, but it's the truth. I need to work on showing all of you how much I love you... so if you want a hug come get one. Well, there was me being nice, enjoy it while it lasted!! Bwahahaha.

School is still going well, just 3 weeks left! Can you believe it? I know I can't! It really did fly by. And somehow I'm busy all the time now, who knows when that happened! I'm always schooling, playing with friends (and yes I do mean playing, complete with slumber parties in the afternoon at the park), working on church things, jogging jogging and more jogging, or staying in touch with all of you! Oh sure, there's still time for my favorite shows, and there's always time for music, and never will I give up my nap time. But I do seem a lot busier than I have been in months past, and I even have to use a planner. In my old age I seem to already be forgetting the everyday things. Eeeeegad.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, just for life in general. I feel it's either gonna go really really well, and the majority of the world will know who I am, or one of these days I'm going to go on a rampage while looking for parking at school and end up just mowing down pedestrians and cars alike... that would probably land me in jail for quite some time and result in life being not so good. One of those two is our outlook. Hence you all crossing your fingers. It makes a difference! Oh, and wishing at 11:11 pm, that always helps too. Oh, and today is 11/11, so you can totally break out a wish any time before midnight.

And in other news, my sister's due with her second baby, her first boy!!!, in just a few days!!!!!! I'm so excited. I'll keep all of you posted, never fear. I can't believe I'm going to have a nephew! I can't wait to see what they decide to name him! And to see how cute his little smooshed face will be. I love being an aunt.

Adios me loved ones. Seriously, come get your hugs before I change my mind on dulling those out so liberally. And if you live in Seattle, give the city a kiss from me, I miss it like mad!!!

Vancouver, WA . Rocks my socks . October 2009

Apparently October has been a busy month... I mean, nothing, and then look at all these posts! Lucky you guys, getting post after post! You must be doing something right! This past week I flew up to the Portland airport to spend a few days with my mom. I also had a chance to get to spend some time with Emily and her husband Dustin, and then some times also with Josh and his wife Joy and their daughter Alexis. I think it's funny that I went to visit my mom, and didn't take ANY pictures of her or her husband. Heh, whoops! So, the highlights of my trip, are as follows:

I got to go out to dinner with Emily and Dustin, and then to one of my favorite coffee houses, Rimski's. Somehow Emily and I lack the ability to take good photos together, either I look dumb or she looks dumb... so we had to pick and choose. Dinner was great, I had fish n chips, near the NW coast fish is always the way to go.

Rimski's was also awesome. We tried to take a picture of the three of us at the table... it didn't work out so well. We went with this picture... it's a winner.

While with my mom:

We went shopping, bless her and Fred's hearts for buying me new clothes. We watched a few movies. Went to church. Chatted. And I had a ruckus with all her animals... they have quite a few.

Then I got to see Josh and Joy and Alexis. Alexis gets cuter and cuter every time I see her, which I always think will be impossible because she's already as cute as can be. We went out to dinner, and after Alexis got over her jitters of not really knowing me, we became best friends. She even helped me out and played some guitar hero with me. I love them, they're such a cute family.

After my quick 3 days trip... I flew back home! It was a super fast trip, and I wish I would've gotten more time to spend with all the people I love. But, I guess that's just the way life is some times. :) Love you guys!!!

Back up to Hebgen!

Back in the beginning of October we decided to head back up to West Yellowstone for a few days. We had gotten a canoe back in September and hadn't had the chance to take it up to West yet. So, being the super strong folks that we are... we loaded it ontop of the car. I took a picture outside of the grocery store in West. You can see Sam with his head poking out the window.

It's always amazing to be back up at Hebgen Lake. Only after mid September, it's also freeeeeezing. It snowed a few times while we were up there. Fortunately our goal was to go up and just be lazy... don't worry we accomplished it. We had at least one fire a day, if not all day. There was a lot of s'mores eating and hot cocoa drinking.

There was also a lot of snuggling with Sam, we're good at that too. We all claimed a couch, and snuggled in with our blankets, reading, sleeping, and "working on homework".

Dave and Grace woke us up early one morning for our canoe ride. Fortunately they're good people and I got to take my second canoe ride of the season, just sitting and taking pictures. It was SO beautiful. The only thing was, it was the first day of duck hunting season. I thought for sure we were all gonna die. It sounds like a world war out there!!

Finally the time came to head back home. It was sad, because I knew this it would be the last time I was up there this year. Fortunately I had Rachel to keep me cheered up, and to lend me one of her awesome hats to keep my head warm. I love Rachel.

The Killers!!!

A few weeks back, we went to a concert. Dave and Grace so graciously not only took their girls, but also Taylor, Brooke and myself to the Killers concert! It was a lot of fun. They played at a bigger arena than they have before (this was my 3rd time seeing them), but they still were AMAZING.

The first band was the Nervous Wreckords. They were pretty good, seemed to play just a few chords over and over, but still entertaining.

The second band was Mariachi El Bronx. I LOVED THEM. In fact, I still haven't gotten their cd, I need to go do that. They were, yes, a mariachi band. But the singer just sang in English. The music was so spanish though that I swore it was spanish he was singing in... but it wasn't. They put on a great show. And the lead singer had the best smile, the whole time. The poor guys had a pretty rough crowd. More power to ya Mariachi El Bronx!

And then the Killers came on:

IT WAS SO FUN!!! They played most of their best songs, and just had a really good time. Brandon Flowers knows how to entertain the crowd, and I thought we were going to lose Juianne and Rachel they were SO excited.

Good show guys, good show. Until the next time I see you in concert, adieu.