Family Pics

I know I have been tagged to do a whole bunch of things and I promise I will get to that today! But I wanted to quickly show some pictures off of my aunt Linda's blog. She took our family pictures last saturday, and here are some of the fun ones we got! Maybe more will be posted later, but love these in the mean time. Thanks again Linda!

Yes for 8

Just a quick thought, since my time is short. Everyone get informed and educated on proposition 8! This will leagalize marraige as between a MAN and a WOMAN only. Go to www.preservingmarriage.org for my views as well as the LDS Churches views on the matter. And also check out www.protectmarriage.com for the views of several churches and groups around the country all banding together to defend the sacred institution of marraige between a man and a woman. Though this vote is for California residents only, it will have an impact on the whole country as well. Help others know about this issue that can make a difference. Use your voice! Spread the word!

The Gift of Music

A Gift indeed. I was so blessed to have the opportunity to go to the O.C. Tanner Gift of Music concert this Saturday. My parents had gone the night before and called me right after to let me know that I had to go. The concert featured the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Utah Symphony, guest conductor Erich Kunzel from the Cincinatti Pop Orchestra, and solo artists Denyce Graves and Brian Stokes Mitchell. So I called Drew, as I knew he would know more about the artists, to see if he wanted to go. He pretty much squealed with delight when I told him the guest artist. And now I can see why.

Brian Stokes Mitchell was so amazing. I was highly impressed by his talent and his genuine spirit. There are a lot of guys on Broadway right now that I think sound so whiny. Mr. Mitchell has a beautiful classically trained voice. But he played with it making it sometimes more classical, or more jazz. All of his songs were heartfelt and it was hard not to cry everytime he sang. He kicked it all off with the National Anthem and anyone there would agree it was breathtakingly remarkable. Also, he expressed that he was extremely honored to be singing with the choir and to be in this great hall. Sometimes people say that and don't sound like they mean it. It really sounded like he meant it after sharing memories of christmas with the MOTAB choir RECORD, lol. I appreciated him being there and am now a huge fan. Denyce Graves sang beautifully also, singing a medely of Broadway songs that was very lovely. Then she brought a great spirit to the concert when she sang a song as lady liberty calling all the weak and weary to her. It was quite touching. The Symphony and choir were amazing as usual and the conductor was fun and entertaining. All the artists complimented each other very well and seemed glad to be there.

The music performed was all American music. I really enjoyed all of the songs from musicals, and American composers. There is something about when songs are sung about God and country. It really touches my heart and makes me proud to live here.

I was so glad we went. We were lucky to get in on standby and to also get AMAZING seats (30 or so rows back from the stage). I know Heavenly Father knew it would bless both mine and Drews life and allowed us to experience the concert. I hope everyone will check out the artists featured in the concert when they have the chance. I also hope everyone realizes the blessings of music and how lucky we are to have so many opportunities to hear it here.

Happy? Birthday

Twenty years old. Does that blow anyone else's mind? Who knew I could survive long enough to be this old. This birthday was a different in more ways than just starting into a new decade.

To sum up the beginning of the day I went to Regional Conference, which was wonderful. Had dinner and presents with the family (thanks so much family! muah!), and went to the CES fireside. I had great food, great company, and great spiritual experiences. What a wonderful way to start off your birthday!

Later in the evening I was going to have a small birthday get together with some close friends. Drew came over with me after the devotional and helped me make the cake so that we could have some sort of dessert for the party. Whilst in the middle of making it, Drew got a call from my best friend Elise (his sister) saying that her and her husband were in an accident! Long story short, they got in a scooter accident and are fine for the most part. Just some scrapes, bruises, and broken bones for Jeff. They were very lucky nothing else happened to them, but we did we end up spending most of the night in the hospital. Not exactly the way I planned my birthday to be, but I was hardly worried about that after what happened. The next 10 hours were still bad, but then the sad streak ended with the offer of a new job! And a fabulous dinner at Olive Garden. What a roller coaster ride of events it was in those 48 hours!

All in all, an interesting birthday. But, I did learn that things never go the way you plan and so you just have to roll with them. Even, on your birthday. :) I was blessed with so much on my birthday this year. The gospel, family, friends (alive! :)), and opportunities to serve. It WAS a happy birthday after all.

My new life

I thought I would give a quick update for those who don't know where I am at or whats going on with me.

I am now going to school at UVU and am actually enjoying myself. I am taking some religion classes so that they can eventually transfer over to BYU (also they are free), World Civ (awesome crazy teacher that I think I will learn a lot from), and Sociology (which at the moment seems like World Civ, but hopefully will be going in a different direction soon). Actually my Sociology teacher looks kind of like Tarzan and Weird Al Yankovich mixed together. See it? He is really cool though. Also my religion classes are great and I actually know someone in each one of them. That would have never happened at Weber. Its also good spiritual nourishment for the rest of the day and I already see the benifits of that.

As for my living arrangements. I am currently living in the Crestwood. The apartment I am living in is tre chic. Granite counter tops, leather couches, etc. And my own private room. :) The social activities here are fun and I have actually already had more social interactions than I had all last year at Weber. That's something I am getting used to, but loving. My roommates are all really awesome and we get along well so far. It IS still kind of awkward in the stage we are in still getting to know each other and stuff, but its getting easier every day. So now I have the luxury of both being with familiar good friends that I knew from high school, college, and this summer, and making some fun new ones also. I will let you know any more progress in that area.

As for my job, I just finished up working for a dating company the other day. So I am on the market! I interviewed for a job on Wednesday, so cross your fingers because I find out Monday. I had fun at my old job, but hopefully a new one comes along soon.

That's about it! My ward is pretty cool, but I have only been with them a week and next week is regional conference, so not much interaction there. But I plan on fully participating in all the activities. Wish me luck in all of the new aspects of my life!

'Tis the Last Rose of Summer

I think the hardest and also the most wonderful part of the summer was watching all of my best friends get married. Now that all the weddings are over with I thought I would just post some feelings about the events.

They were all very beautiful weddings and marriages to wonderful guys. I approve of them all and I feel like they really do bring out the best in my friends. Its hard to watch all of your friends find someone to care about more than you, not to say that they cared about me most. But no matter how much they still love me, I am down on the totem pole now. Its the way it is, and the way it should be.



Elise and Jeff are pretty much inseparable. And although I sometimes seem annoyed when Elise says something like "Ah, I just can't wait to be with Jeff again.", its really because I want that too. Not with Jeff mind you (ha), just with someone. I really love how Elise can bring out Jeff's crazy side, and Jeff has a way of toning down Elise's temperament when needed. They went through a lot of emotional challenges to get to marriage (extended leaves of absence) and I think that makes their relationship stronger. You know they love each other and are ecstatic to spend eternity together. I am VERY grateful they still play with me though. :)



Now Nicole and Garrett are a bit different story- but not too different. He was made for her. We knew it would take a special person to understand Nicole's personality and our sense of humors, and she found him! They have such similar personalities, which in some cases doesn't work. But it does! Their relationship is the cutest, and you can really tell that they are in love.

All in all I would have to say it was definitely a mixed feeling kind of summer. I feel quite alone (except for the BFF spot Drew filled this summer. Thanks Drew :)) and sad that I don't really have anyone to be that close to. Its unfortunately my biggest weakness and strength. I am fiercely loyal, but it often times leaves me feeling hurt. I thought of a poem I know to describe it. The first part goes like this:

'Tis the last rose of summer
left blooming and gone
all her lovely companions are faded and done

No flower of her kindred
no rosebud is nigh

To reflect back her blushes
or give sigh for sigh.

Those are my feelings, however varied they are. Mostly I am happy my best friends found awesome eternal companions that are perfect for them, and I have never seen them happier. So I guess lets just see what happens for me next summer....

American Idol Auditions

Alright, so I tried out. And to cut to the chase, I didn't make it. BUT we did make lost of lasting memories and got an inside scoop into the whole process of auditioning. I am not going to write more than this or post any pictures because my friend Drew took all the pictures and also wrote about it better than I could. So click here to check out his post! Feel free to comment here though.

Pass

I passed! Today I took the motorcycle test to get my licence. I know that I was supposed to do it two weeks ago, but that's another really long story. Anyway, my mom and I got there and did all the paperwork etc. Mom was having a hard time because she was so nervous. Major butterflies. So I told her I would go first. I have been driving around that motorcycle for almost 2 years now, and I was pretty sure I had a handle on the whole thing. Wrong. The guy giving the test was not a nice fellow. I would do something and then he was like "Is that really your best?" and I was all "Uhhh....looks like it". He was making me so nervous and so I totally messed up the second section where you have to swerve through cones (that were so close together!) and then come around and make a U-turn. So I started through the cones, was a bit shaky, and missed the last one. Dang it. Then turned around to go to make the U turn and came out of boundaries and started turning before the line turned yellow then came around and had to put my foot down. He took off 9 points! And he made sure that I knew exactly what I did wrong. "First of all you completely missed that last cone at the end, 1 point. Then you went out side the boundary,2 points. Started before the yellow line,2. And put your foot down before you finished, 5 points. So lets see here you have already lost 9 points and you have two more points before you fail, do you want to give up now or keep going?". "Ummm keep going I guess". So then I do a running stop. But he was saying I had to keep a certain speed and it made me so nervous to make sure I had that speed, I didn't stop that fast. So then he came up and said " That was terrible. You can have one more chance if you think you can listen to me this time." Gah! That was the problem in the first place. I did much better the second time and squeaked by with a passing grade. My mom wasn't so lucky and didn't make it through the test. Though, I was proud of her because I was even having a hard time with that guy. She will try again later though . So now its off to places around the neighborhood with my newly established status as a licenced motorist. Hopefully I wont have to maneuver through 2 feet apart cones and quickly U-turn only after I get to the yellow line while a guy is yelling at me, anytime soon while driving down the street!

I've Been Tagged

Um I thought to make this a little more worthwhile, I would add some pictures! Sorry, but some of them scanned in without being cropped. Deal with it.

20 years ago I was....
1- not born yet
2- waiting in the womb
3- kickin' like mad

One year old (since I wasn't born at that time yet)

10 years ago I was....
1-pretending to be a spy in the neighborhood and really spying on everyone
2-playing basketball ALL the time
3-Cheering the Jazz as the played for the Championship against the Bulls


5 years ago I was...
1-still only 15 :(
2-going to the McCabes pretty much every night.
3-starting to mesh with a new group of friends


3 years ago I was...
1- in Finland!
2- preparing for Les Mis, student council, and chamber choir.
3- having a blast working at Family Video, or maybe the "Book and Clothing" was added on by then, or maybe it was then called "Latter Day Specialties", ha.



1 year ago I was...
1-recovering from serious back and limb pain
2-going into my 2nd year of college at Weber State University
3- playing with all of the puppies!


So far this year....
1-I have taught piano at a music school
2-Spent a LOT more time with my family and am actually starting to enjoy being with them.
3- Watched LOST at LEAST once a week. If not more.


(This is the wonderful Drawing that Drew did of the LOST club. I am on the farthest right)
Yesterday I...
1-started a new job and completely lost everything I had worked on the whole day. Fabulous 1st day.
2- practiced singing at the McCabes and then ran home to have dinner at the Luau
3-watched LOST with Drew and Jared.

Today I....
1- watched the Cedar Hills Family Days parade.
2- Got soaked with the rest of ward victims in the water cannon by my dad.
3- Will be out on the elementary school field ready and excited to watch fireworks.



Tomorrow I will...
1-Go to the Singles Ward
2-Sing in the homeward with Todd accompanying
3-Decide who's turn it is to make chocolate chip cookies. I swear its not mine...

Family Days

These past two weeks have mainly been about my family. My grandpa passed away on June 29th. It was sad because we will miss him, but it was really wonderful because he had been in pain for so long and was ready to go. So we had viewings, a funeral, and lots of time together. My aunt and uncle (and kids)came from California, and since we dont get to see them much, we have been with each other every day since the 2nd! Its been crazy, yet fun. The funeral was a wonderful tribute to my grandpa and many said it was the best funeral they have ever been to. After that, we spent time with the family at the lake and at houses. Here are some pics of the fun times!

Me and Cousin Bo at the viewing (first time I actually saw her)

Mom with siblings and grandma at the viewing

Me as one of the MANY grandchildren placing a rose on the casket

My crazy family at the lunch after the funeral

Me and more family at the lunchen.

Backflips at the lake starting with Mariahs Walk on Water

Kali's stick legged flip. Elegant!

Brocks side flip. Nice and easy.

Mom and I at the fireworks

Horsleys at the Fireworks (moms sister and family)

Dad tickling Bo with his beard. She didn't like it at first, but she just LOVED Dad and it was so cute.

Hank and Loni eased up to the fireworks and got really comfortable with the sparklers. Nice Form!

Everyone in the family that came to fireworks.

Officially Official.......

Well Auditions for American Idol are on July 29th at the Energy Solutions Arena. So anyone who wants to audition, there you go! Also, I don't really know if I want to audition. It would be uber devistating if they told me I had a terrible voice and that I belonged at a wedding....on a cruise ship. Or something like that. Thoughts?

Assembly Required

Our computer desk is just a large table right now with junk all over it. This is because we got a new computer desk, but then it was damaged, so we had to take it back. So I disassembled the desk we worked to put together, and took it back. Then we had a brand new desk to put together. Guess who got the job?..........I can't say that it was too hard though. Just annoyingly time consuming. There were 20 different kinds of screws and nothing was labeled properly. I was very proud of myself for getting it all done though. Now I wont stand with my head schlumped down and hands dangling lifelessly at my side when I see " Assembly Required" on the box. I can do it.

Don Mess with the Jones Women

Uh yeah, this kid was talking to Mariah at school and was telling her that her friends were stupid. So Mariah, being the "ain't takin' no crap" girl that she is, said something mildly rude back. BUT THEN, the boy says " At least I don't have a down syndrome sister!". This is where Mariah practiced self control because she didn't want to get in trouble and not get to Lagoon Day. So she didn't hit him. Then she came home and told me the story and I was pretty mad. WHO SAYS THAT? Who could be such a slime ball? Does this sort of person even exist. Yes he does. I can say that first hand now because we saw him walking on the side of the road while the women of the family were driving home from somewhere. Mariah started screaming "that's him!" so my mom quickly screeeched a u-turn, and pulled up right next to him. I was ready to give this kid a piece of my mind. My sisters and mom elected me to be the voice of the family, and I had no problem with it. I said "Um I heard you made fun of my sister for being down syndrome? Not cool man." He was all "Tsh... who the heck are you anyway?". My mom started yelling from the front seat "Mariah Jones ring a bell?". He was like "Shes lying". I said "WHY would she lie about something like that?". Then Mariah got up and was like "HEY! You know what you said!" and he was like "Whatever, I'm not listening to this" and walked off. If only I was younger, I would have beat that kid. We didn't leave without the last word though. Oh NO. I yelled after him "You better watch your BACK kid! You hear me!". THEN we drove away. Seriously, don't mess with my family unless you want to get tracked down in a Denali with a bunch of angry and dangerous women inside.

Hard Times: Sibling Style

This has been quite an unfortunate few days for some of my siblings. Its kinda sad, but good in the end. So that makes a perfect blog topic right? Lets start with...
JUSTINE
Girls camp started and my mom went up to help with rotation activities for the day. They were sewing footballs for the humanitarian center and as you can see, Justine was having a good time so far at camp. See!


Then Justine's rotation took her to the archery station where she actually hit the target! Needless to say, she was prrrty darn excited about that. So, she came bounding up the asphalt to retrieve it. Unfortunately she isn't the most coordinated and fell flat on her face. Like seriously, no hyperbole being used. She scraped up her face pretty badly. See.


The only thing that actually calmed her down was putting a band aid on. The theme for the camp was "Superheros", so naturally, they put a superman band aid on her. Since her lip was split, she also wanted a band aid on it. My mom wasn't too sure about that, so they put another band aid underneath it. That was good enough for her. Then finally one more on her knee finished the "healing" process off. It was funny how much her mood changed with each band aid. See...




Notice her happy Superman pose.
I don't know what band aid companies put in those things, but they work like magic every time. Now to....

BROCK
I don't really have to say that my brother is a stud, but he is. This includes how he is on his baseball team. They pretty much all look to him because he is probably the best one. Not to mention Dad decided to be the coach this year. So the team had a pretty good season and Brock kicked some butt. See!


They made it to the tournament and unfortunately lost in the second round. Everyone one was sad, but mostly Brock. Like seriously, no hyperbole used. He was bawling in front of everyone. See. (he is on the left)


I felt bad. He just gets so competitive about these things. So I asked what I could do to help. " I just wanted to hit a home run", he said. So I told him that at the baseball party we should get a Homer Simpson pinata so that everyone could "hit a homer". Haha, pretty good if I do say so myself. That made him cheer up and he is looking forward to the party now. Yay for Homer. See!

Lagoon = FUN

We went to Lagoon for fun times with the family. We ususally do this every other year with my dads work, so this was one of those years! We started off with wicked, which.........was WICKED! My stomache hasn't felt like that since they opened the Samurai. The beginning is the craziest part! Anyway, we went on a lot of rides, but I couldn't go on many because I still had to work for a few hours that night. When I got back everyone was eating and as you can see in thep picture, the Archuletas are right in the background. My dad works with Davids grandma and we were hoping he was going ot be there...but alas. *sigh* Anyway. I am pretty proud of my mind control skills. We have been brain washing Justine all week that the sky coaster was soo much fun. She even had actions. She would point to three of her fingers and say "Lacie, Justine, Dad" then bring the fingers up high and swing them down just like the sky coaster. This imagery helped even when we were right there in line to do it, she was so excited. Usually we would never be able to get her to do that. The problem was that the line was waaaay too long and we were going to have to wait until next time. She was upset. Once the day was coming to an end and my dad had to leave, Justine FREAKED out! She wouldn't even move and was just yelling at me because she wanted dad. Finally I was just sick of it, so I took her to the car and we waited there for an hour and a half for the rest of the family. It wasn't the best end to the day, but I would rather that than have her sit and yell at me. It was fun over all. Lessons learned: 1. Go to the sky coaster first to avoid a huge line. 2. Make sure dad sticks around for the whole time, otherwise Justine will freak out. 3. Make sure David Archuleta is notified well in advance for Lagoon Day.

It was funny because Justine just ran up and did this pose right after mom said that we were taking a picture.

Eating ice cream. Notice the Arhculetas in the background talking to Dad.

Um, yeah the White Roller Coaster scares me...

A great example of Justine in her "mood"

Bumper cars, gotta love em.

FYI.......

JEREMY BENTHAM IS DEAD

omg

Shiftin'

My sister Mariah is almost 15 and feels like she is now privileged to drive everywhere. My parents are kind and let her drive around the neighborhood, but not much more than that. So Mariah asked me if I could teach her how to drive stick shift. She came to the right person :) I would have to say that I am very good at driving stick and have been right from the very start. But that's off topic....so we went to the school parking lot. Brake, shift neutral, e brake, open door, switch places. Here we go. We tried the "mashing the berries" "stirring the tuna" thing, but its a bit more complicated than that. It took her a while to visualize what to do with her feet, and the car almost overheated, but she learned. She will have to practice out on the road of course, but she should be cruisin' in the stick shift car in no time. After all, she had a great teacher.

At Last

Well after all the talent that has been coming out of Utah with Dancing with the Stars, Dance Wars, and American Idol, its official. American Idol has booked the Energy Solutions Arena for auditions in July. The world is finally seeing the large pool of talent that exists in Utah and I personally think that the judges are going to be blown away when they get here and think "why weren't we here from the start?". Another Utah hopefull for the Idol title? I think so. Start warming up Utah vocalists!

The Drive Home

Well I didn't get what I wanted. I was cast as a bird girl. Which, don't get me wrong, is a great job. BUT they decided to cast 12 bird girls! So its just another way of saying you are part of the chorus. Anyway, no big loss, its better not to do it. I was a bit dissapointed, but since I had such a drive a head of me I thought I could shake it off during that hour ride. I did. And luckily there were many things that were entertaining to keep my mind occupied. First of all the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile passed me!( its hard not to notice that giant hot dog cruisin' down the road). Secondly, there was an airplane that had a Jazz banner behind it flying around by the freeway. I have only seen this done in California before, so it was fun to see the Jazz banner flying proudly in the air before the big game tonight. Then, someones trailer came off of their hitch and the deisel next to me slammed on the breaks and then started skidding twards other cars! It was the first time I had witnessed an "almost" accident or any kind of accident. Kinda scary, kinda cool. Lastly, there were probably over 30 people paragliding at the point of the mountain. Then one of them started doing these "flip"-like things and it looked like he was going to die! But then I realised it was just controlled chaos. Wheew. All in all, pretty exciting drive home compared to the usual one. And anything is better than thinking about what could have been with Seussical.

Sunshine Day

I went for a walk outside today. It is seriously a beautiful day. With all the crazy weather that has been going on, I thought we would miss out on a perfect spring day! Fortunately, I could walk in the nice weather. Since its "Bubble Week" at the AF rec center, they are closed and I have had to find alternate means to exercise. I thought I would take my dog on a walk. She is always dying to get out of the house and she deserves a day out as much as the rest of us. I learned early on that the leash just wasn't cuttin' it. She would be rushing ahead, while I tried to hold on. Or linger behind and then the walking part for me wasn't really even happening. So I took off the leash. It worked so much better! I would keep my steady pace, but she could linger or run ahead as she pleased and she always caught up with me if I got too far ahead. I am sure that its not a good idea to not have your dogs on leashes, but in this case it worked. Perfectly! She would sometimes have an encounter with other dogs, but handled it with tact. Ha, she ran into a poodle and I don't think she could figure out what it was at first. Then it ran up to her and started barking and biting her and she kind of stood up on her "tippy toes" and slowly turned away like " whoa....I am just gonna leave now...". Ha, it was so funny. I liked her company and I think she will have to be my new walking buddy. We made it back safely and now she is just laying out on the stairs re cooping. It was fun! Hopefully we can go on another walk soon. :)