Blonde Again!

I decided to lighten my hair again for the summer and I'm loving it! I'm so blessed to have my cousin Katie as my amazing stylist!

Betty WHO????

Being the compassionate service leader in a singles ward often means little of the traditional responsibilities of a compassionate service leader in a traditional or family ward....so my committee and I try to reach out to the sisters in creative ways. :) A few weekends ago my committee and I decided to have a girls night to help the sisters get to know each other. I was in charge of dessert so I started with my famous raspberry lemonade cup cakes. Delicious.

In order to demonstrate my skills I also made chocolate cup cakes with white frosting and sprinkles.

I also made up these deliciousness!!! Buttercream frosting, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and gram cracker crumbs on top of chocolate cup cakes....smores Divine. :)

The finished product was lovely.

The yellow cupcakes were covered with chocolate frosting with crushed and cup up candy bars on top. They turned out beautifully.

Here are all the girls. We had so much fun and surprisingly made a pretty big dent the the cupcakes. :) It was a great night.

A season to celebrate!

A little background: during the last weekend of April I drove to Fresno to take my licencing exam. I was very nervous. I walked away from the exam knowing I did my best....then I drove home to wait for the results. The result I thought would come out on Wednesday, I went online first thing Wednesday morning to view my results....it turned out however the results didn't come out til Thursday so I had one more day to wait. That same day my sister Brianna was headed down to southern California for the wedding of one of her besties from BYU, Alisson. At the last minute I decided to go along and visit my good friend Hillary. Hillary and I had a nice visit that evening and went to bed around midnight. The next morning I woke up at 6:47am!!! I was ready to check my results. I woke up Hillary and signed in to check my results....and I saw in big bold letters PASSED!!! I could hardly believe it! I called my mom and she couldn't understand when I told her the news through my raspy tear-filled voice. :)

After we got ready we were off to spend the day celebrating at DISNEYLAND! :)

It was a beautiful day and there was hardly anybody in the park. This is what the line looked like for space mountain.

I got Mickey mouse ears with my title and the day to help me remember the day. Here we are on my favorite ride, toy story mania. We also met up with Brianna and her friends for lunch and visiting.

Here we are again with our "I'm celebrating pins.:)

Mickey ears shadow!

Traditional hat pic: this time teenie-bopper.

The next day we slept in, went to lunch, shopped, and relaxed. Another great day!

On Saturday we met up with my brother Matthew and I hitched a ride back home with these guys so I would be home for Mothers day. :)

Yet another Griffith Disney fan in the making :) This is my nephew Bed, he's already working on his attitude face for hat pics in his future.

Benny's blessing and Mothers day

On Mothers day weekend my brother and his family came up to celebrate the day and bless their new baby Benjamin. Baby blessings in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are a way of dedicating a child to the Lord. Here's my parents with their grand children Adden and Ben.

Here's the group shot after the blessing. My sister-in-law's family was able to make it extra special by attending the service.

Here's Benny after his blessing...he looks just like his Daddy in this one.

Here I am with the man of the hour. Soooo cute!

Easter Weekend 2011

Easter weekend this year we started our celebration by dying Easter eggs with our good friends the Richards. They turned out beautifully.

Hill and I with our favorite eggs. :)

That night we helped Brianna finish her spring break project of painting the living rooms.

Hill touching up.

Brianna still smiling after 5 days of painting...I think it was the fumes.

The Sunday before Easter I spoke in church. I talked about the meaning behind our celebration of Easter and how the Atonement of Jesus Christ makes it possible for us not only to be able to live again spiritually and physically, but also to overcome those things that are most difficult for us in this life. I spent time on Easter morning pondering the feelings that Mary Magdalene must have felt on that first Easter Sunday long ago, when the Savior appeared to her. It really helped to bring the spirit of Easter to my heart.

After church we celebrated with family and friends back at the ranch. Here I am with my Easter basket, including a frame holder that said, believe. The Easter Bunny let me know that it was to help me remember to believe in myself as I prepared to take my licensing exam the next weekend.

Easter dinner was full of yummy foods including this delicious fruit salad. :) Love spring time in California.

After dinner we had an Easter egg hunt with our friends and family who came to dinner.

Group shot after the hunt.

Cousins shop that evening. :) It was a great day, a great weekend.

Callies visit

Last week my baby sister came home from BYU-Idaho for spring break. We started the week off right by taking a hike on our property and wading in the creek soaking up that California sunshine.

That evening we had a BBQ at Lagoona lake with a bunch of friends to celebrate...it's a great place... if you don't count the wind and all the disgusting geese that plagued us. :)

On Wednesday we went down to southern California to visit our brother and his family. While we were there we got to play pirates with this little guy, complete with a treasure hunt. Aaaarrrr matey!

We also got to meet this little guy, our new nephew Ben. So cute.

On Friday Callie and I took a hike with friends, here I am with our friend Ariel, ready to go.

Love, love my sister.

On Saturday, our last day together, we took a family walk in Moro Bay. It was a beautiful day and wonderful to be near the ocean and with these great people.

Guess who!? I've been wanting to take some shadow pictures this one turned out great!

It was a great week and it went by too fast, we miss her already.

Climbing a mountain...

Today was a beautiful day on the central coast. My sister Brianna, our friend Heidi and I headed to SLO to go hiking. Here I am on the trail, loving the great outdoors.

Brianna did a good job keeping us entertained during our breaks.

The view was gorgeous all the way up!

Here we are at the top!

All three of us made it to the top!

I'm so blessed to live in such a beautiful place!

On the way back to the car me met these guys hanging out in the middle of the path. Gotta love country living.