making HAPPY happen

Hello!

We went and saw Mitt and his cute wife at Hires Big H a few weeks ago. It was actually really cool! He was shouting things like, "We need to help this country! We need a president who has had a job to create jobs!" etc. It was really inspiring.

Old people love him. I had a few old ladies tell me how cute they think he is, and even a man talking about how "his hair even looks good when it's blowing in the wind!" Maybe a little odd, but he sure is loved. I'm also not sure why random people talk to me like we are best buds. It happened seriously like 6 times. Maybe they feel sorry for me?


We also attended this with the Hallsteds. It was a party.
**Make note of Brynn's Jedi braid. It's beautiful and finished off with cute little seashells she found on Florida beach. She is quite lovely if I say so myself.


Hyrum is always so fun to watch. He sure keeps us all entertained with his jokes and repeating of stories that happened 5 seconds before....when we were all there. He is so CUTE!

Last week was my birthday. I am now 21! It was a lovely day. My sweetie woke me up with breakfast in bed. He then ran off to school. For my birthday present to myself, I dropped my cycling class. I hated my first day. There were weird men and I was bruised from the seat for days. So not worth it. Derek was gone from about 9 - 2. During that time I chatted with dear friends and family. I have never heard so many beautiful birthday songs. When Derek got home he gave me a cute present of my favorite candy bar and a homemade gift card to the U of U bookstore to pick out a shirt before I graduate. He tried finding one himself, but they were sold out of my size. So even better, we get to go back now that they have all of their new Pac 12 stuff! He wrote me the sweetest note I've ever read. I had tears. Goodness, I am so blessed I tell you!

When Derek returned, we joined the Walker boys for Nielsen's frozen custard. We took Jacob back with us to meet my mom and two brothers and cute puppy at the park to play.

We love how well our families get along. All of our siblings are best buds. We have a blast together. We played soccer, minute to win it...

and finished it off with a big game of kickball. It was super fun! I was extremely sore the rest of the week. Pathetic, but true. I was wobbling around. We left and went to Spoon Me, then parted. We crashed instantly. We were exhausted from so much playing.

School is great. This second summer semester has slowed down a lot for both of us. Things are still busy, but we are feeling like we are able to enjoy summer a little more! We have had a blast swimming and riding dirt bikes up at the Walkers, celebrating many birthdays on both sides of the family, watching lots of fireworks, and squeezing lots of studying in between it all.

THE FOURTH OF JULY

We stayed the night with the Hallsteds so we could all wake up early for the balloon festival at 5:30...we all woke up at 8:30. Everyone except for my party animal mother was thrilled to sleep longer. :) We ran to the Provo parade, saw some friends, ate free hot dogs, shopped at Savers and found some awesome stuff, ran to Hapari's big sale and got a clearance swimsuit for 40% off (i LOVE it...(I just need to make a white tube top piece so I can wear their v-neck suits modestly, but I'm so excited about it cause this will allow me to wear 3 of my Hapari suits I haven't been able to wear!) After shopping, we all met at home to eat some food, then headed back out the door for swimming at the AF rec center! It was a blast. We played a big game of keep away, boys vs. girls. When we got home, Derek and I took the four wheeler out for a ride. We ended the day with hamburgers and an incredible firework show in my family's circle. Their neighbors all had the legit fireworks. It was incredible with them right above our heads. We were able to have a "why they were illegal" experience, but fortunately everyone was ok. One of the big ones shot off in the wrong direction...straight at us...and blew up literally 3 feet away from my mom and dad. It was so scary. All is well, except for their poor little ears. I was too freaked out to even notice how loud it was.

Life is GOOD, we LOVE family, and CAN'T wait to be done with school (even though we both secretly love it).

XOXO