Update!

Actually I found my sisters blog and pictures are abundant there so I can share more of life! I got to go home for the 4th of July and I got to go home on the 2nd due to the 3rd being celebrated in Logan. On the third this was the weather smack in the middle of the afternoon (all day had been sunny) . . .

That's right - HAIL! It left TONS of water! The streets of Arco had large puddles filling them!

And then after this we went and worked on the parade float for Mountain View RV Park and Cafe - I used to work here and now my brother Cody and sister Shayna do.

This is me, Mom, and Dad enjoying the parade! Not only was it 4th of July but Arco has been around 100 years too! We went to the fireworks later that night and forgot the camera but as usual they were great and the rumble off the mountains was amazing! I hope you all had a great Independence Day! It's truly wonderful to live in a place like America!
This is a part of the float. Adam is in red and like last year these guys threw all their candy at the beginning of the parade - we were offered bark.

Promise

So I have not been as up to date as I should be on my blog - what can I say life is really exciting and I am keeping busy- not to mention my internet at my apartment is down and I am too lazy call and get it fixed. But I promise pictures and stories are coming soon!

To prove it I will tell one now! Monday when I was at work my friend Kyle asked what my plans were for the day. Other than working I had none and so he drove up from North Ogden to play (Tiffany had her family vacation this week and was not around). We went rollerblading at a park down in the Island and then made pizza. We were later joined by Brennen and Marlin and my neighbor Mary - they all know Kyle and I have met them all before but not done a whole lot. Well we decided that we would go up to Hyrum Dam and cliff jump.

Let me explain here, I have NEVER had the desire or thought to go cliff jumping - it's NEVER appealed to me and I wasn't sure Kyle was going to go either but when he said sure let's do it I figured I would at least go to the dam with them - turns out it's not bad (ok the first time was hard and the second time was HARDER - yup didn't get easier). Also let me explain that I have boundaries and people can't just convince me to do whatever - I knew I was safe and ok or I would not have jumped. This is where we jumped but that's not us.P.S. Weird note . . . there was a lifeguard at the top of the hill - not really in the position to come get you quickly - we assumed they were watching the whole reservoir and had contact with a boat out in the water, just an interesting side note.

AND I also want to throw out a thank you to my friends - holy cow you are amazing and I love you all! Thanks for choosing to be a part of my life and/or letting me be a part of yours.

Little Toy Trucks

So pretty much last week continued from the week before and previous post in being AMAZING! I love the people in my life and surprisingly I didn't really feel overwhelmed by being out and about all week. Amongst these days was Saturday which I have been planning for quite some time. My friends Will and Joseph came up from Salt Lake area. Joseph brought up a girl named Tiffany and together we went to Minnetonka (kind of like mini tonka hence the little toy trucks) Cave which is pretty great and had a picnic afterwards - if this looks familiar I DID do this last summer as well!

When you first go in they tell you to NOT touch the formations as the oils on your hands won't let the minerals in the dripping water collect and allow them to grow anymore . . . oops!
Ok really this one is already dead so they let you touch it. Inside the cave you can see a fault line and Will decided to call it Natalie's Fault and this stalagMite is near there.
I don't remember where we were at in the cave when Will snapped this one but I think it was in the room where you get to experience complete darkness - there are two places this can occur on Earth in a cave OR at the bottom of the ocean.
This is outside the cave. As you can tell the picture was taken with PERFECT timing as it captured Joseph's oops look and Natalie's initial reaction to the water on her head while Tiffany and I are still smiling.
We attempted a log over the creek picture again this year and this year and probably due to last years experience it only took us two tries! There is Will, Natalie, Me, Tiffany, and Joseph.
This is a part of the creek that is right by where we ate lunch in fact the little bit of log you see is the very same one we are sitting on in the picture above AND below because I went and found last years log photo.
I was looking for last years log picture when I found this one - yes I am making a weird face BUT this past fall I lived with a girl names Ashley and when I showed her these pictures she yelled out "OH MY GOSH THAT's MY DAD!" Yup I had seen Ashley's dad even before I met her AND he made it into TWO of our photos. The world is a small place and I love it.

Week of Blessings

So this past week has been amazing (not necessarily outstanding but it was one of those that shows a person how blessed they are for the people, places, and things in their life) and I liked it a lot. Let me share a little about it with you
MONDAY:

• I worked my job as usual - not necessarily the most exciting thing but I am grateful for a job that allows me to be me and also doesn't cause me any stress.
  
• My friend Katie and I attempted to hike to the wind caves - yes attempted because our plans for a hike and picnic were thwarted by rain and hail :( BUT we went to her sisters and ate our lunch while we watched a movie. I love that girl!
• I went to the chiropractor.
• I took my friend Kendra's car back to her (she let me steal it for my appointment)and I decided to spend the rest of the night with her and those at her house (Ashley, Jackie, and Paula). I love just BEING with those people I love!

TUESDAY: I really didn't do a whole lot this day besides work and a walk with Natalie! :)
WEDNESDAY:

• I went to work :)
• My friend Celeste and I made brownies after which she took me to the chiropractor for a quick fix then left to see her boyfriend,
• He became her fiance quite soon after that! :) Hooray I think they are SO cute together.
• Natalie got off work and we went to Caspers and the new Walmart with her roommate Katie and friends Dan and Bryan.
• We watched Never Been Kissed with Natalie's roommate Tara and fell asleep (HAD a SLEEPOVER) to Pride and Prejudice.

THURSDAY:

• Natalie and I woke up and discussed our weird dreams - we blame it on the pizza
• We had breakfast and watched The Little Mermaid
• Then I went home and packed to go HOME HOME!
• My aunt Heather picked me up and I got to ride with her and the girls to Pocatello
• Spent the day with my aunts and cousins - watched them play in the mud and yearned to join (why didn't I?).
• Got picked up by Stephanie, Jessika, and Shayna and got to stay the night with Steph in Idaho Falls

FRIDAY:

• Got appointments out of the way
• Went to my Aunt Jeanette's and got to play and laugh with Kristy and she took me to meet my dad
• Got HOME
• Ate Cody's cooking for free with Adam and Amberly and got to see my family

SATURDAY:

• I attended a Father's Day picnic with my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandma and grandpa!

SUNDAY:

• It was Father's DAY and I LOVE MY DAD!
• I got up and got to go to church
• My friend Maria was IN Arco - she goes to school in Nebraska but was visiting and I got to chat with her and loved it all
• I got to see two return missionaries from high school
• I got to spend the day with my family AGAIN!
  
• I got to stay another night at home

MONDAY:

• My mom and I woke up early and she brought me back to Logan for work then hung around
• Grandpa took us girls out to lunch
• Mom and I had a nap
• I went and got to hang out with my dear friend Millie and got a phone call from my friend Erika

And even though it's longer than a week this is continuing today: TUESDAY:

• After work Celeste came by and we did a few things together
• Kyle and Tiffany and I get to go to the temple and that combination of people and place is so wonderful!
  

Duckbert

Explanation: Duckbert resides at the Willow Park Zoo in Logan and was named by my friend Nick. When I asked him about the Facebook fan page he made for the duck he insisted we go and see him. So last night we went to the zoo and got to feed the ducks (duck food stinks and it stinks more when you've spent a bunch of dimes and held it in your hands for a while . . .it lingers). But so much fun and I got to see Duckbert who is a ruddy shelduck like the one below(there are TWO at the zoo but you can discover which is Duckbert by the fact that he will talk to you lots) - go find him one day! AND DURING THIS . . . I ran into my friend Katie who pretty much I love - it was truly a great event! :)

Also I was informed that you can let geese bit your hand and it doesn't hurt . . . so I don't know if this is completely against all zoo rules but I allowed a goose to beak(?) my hand and it was cool! :)

SNOOPY

So Monday night my Grandma and Grandpa and I went down to the Heritage Theatre in Perry and were treated to the current production of Snoopy: The Musical (We met up with the glorious Parkinson family (Tiffany, Kenny, Nate, Charity, Sherylynn, and Dave) and Kyle came too). The play was great. My friend Tyson played snoopy and did very well - he's super talented. If you want to see a cute fun show it's a good one.

Here is the cast: (top row) - Charlie Brown, Snoopy (TYSON), Peppermint Patty (bottom row) - Sally Brown, Linus, Woodstock, Sally.

My favorite song was the one about Snoopy being "The Great Writer." It was funny and so enjoyable. The other great song was "Poor, Sweet Baby" which Peppermint Patty sings to Charlie Brown (Chuck as she calls him) and it ends GREAT! :)

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the ride and company! :)

Learn something new everyday . . .

And no one ever said it had to be useful information that you learn right? So here is what I learned the other day.

*After the concept of the movie UP came up I guess there was some curiousity of how many balloons it would actually take to lift a house, so people figured it out. Most houses weight between 80,000 and 160,000 pounds - they estimate Carl's on the movie to be about 100,000 lbs. Considering 1 cubic foot of helium can lift 0.067 pounds, it would take 1,492,537 cubic feet of helium to lift the house—or about as much as would be contained in 105,854 balloons, each 3 feet in diameter.
This figure doesn't account for the weight of the balloons themselves, though - a 3-foot latex balloon—which is bigger than your average party balloon—might weigh about 1 ounce. So 105,854 of them would add 6,615 pounds to the weight of the house. The weight of the strings also needs to be taken into account. If you were to use a typical party balloon of 11 inches in diameter and 26 inches of curling ribbon you could life lift 4.8 grams, or about 0.17 ounces. Assuming these flimsier balloons could withstand the strain—and not counting the extra string that would be involved—it would take more than 9.4 million balloons to lift Carl's house.Pixar workers estimated the number of balloons at 23.5 to lift a 1,800 square foot house like Carl's BUT they only used 20,622 in the scene.

So there you go! You now know that it can take anywhere from 100,000 and 23.5 million balloons to lift a house depending on the size of the balloons - just in case you were thinking of making a trip and not get away from home at the same time anytime soon.

*http://www.slate.com/id/2219775/?GT1=38001