Okay Okay. I'll Update.

It's just that there's so much. It's overwhelming, and to be honest, I don't know where to start. I have three weeks of vacation to cover, and I'm thinking I'll just post one week at a time. I guess I'll just start writing and see where it goes. Good luck, whoever you are. Remember, there are no expectations to read all of this. Don't feel obligated.

First week: Cleveland, Oklahoma
Lets go back in time. About four weeks ago my parents, my sister Allison, and I packed up the car, hopped in it at 4:30 a.m, and drove to Cleveland, Oklahoma where we met up with my brother and sister and their families for the Little Hazard Reunion (just our immediate family.)

It was so fun to see Griffin, Ashland, and Zoey. They are the cutest little family, and Zoey is such a fun one year old (we celebrated her first birthday while we were there.) She is smiley and loud, and has no teeth at all. Haley and Bennett also drove up from Texas. I always have fun with these two. No matter what.

Before I go on I want to make sure that those who couldn't make it this year know they were missed. Logan, Rachel, Evelyn, Jack, Addy, and Matt. We wish you could've been there!

We were lucky enough to experience the "record breaking" heat that has been going on in the south, and let me tell you, it's pretty horrible. While we were in Cleveland, we read a sign that was posted in front of a Catholic church-- "In Hell, this is cold." They really got me with that. I definitely never want to go to Hell. That scare tactic really works.

Anyway, despite the heat, we had tons of fun times and made many good memories... most of which involved water :)

Wooooohooooooo! 

This is one of my very favorite pictures from our whole trip.

This picture is kind of an optical illusion. Do you see it? 

This is me and Haley watching in wonder as my dad did his infamous "one leg kick." No matter how old I get, that swimming technique will always be the most unique. AKA the weirdest thing ever.

After a while, the wonder wore off and we decided to play some basketball. Does he ever come up for air? :)

Bennett loved squirting my dad with the hose. I wish I had a better picture. He could be fully entertained all day long with this activity.

Happy first birthday to Zoey Jane! 

She is one fashionable little girl.

Yummy cake

 Me and Griffin before the birthday festivities

 Four of the originals. Logan we missed you!

I really miss Griffin.

 On one of the days we were there, we went to the Tulsa Aquarium. It was lots of fun.

Looking at the stingrays.

Grandpa and Zoey.

 Griffin feeding his daughter to an alligator. You should've seen the looks people gave us. :)

Me and my main man, Bennett outside the aquarium.

Of course, there was lots of boating. 

This would be a picture of me wake boarding. That's right. 

The Boating Queen

 On one of the last days, most of us went shooting on the Seller's Ranch in Drummond Oklahoma. It was fun and a great success. Everyone hit the target at least a few times. If you've seen me shoot before, you know that that's a big deal :)

Here's Mom showing off her skills. At this point I was in the car getting something and all I could hear was lots of laughing and screaming... 

Here we are showing our bad side. 

On our last night in Oklahoma, we went to Joseph's to eat with Ashland's family. It was delicious and so much fun. After we ate everyone gathered outside and hung out for a bit.

Haley, allison, and Bennett walking back from a really pretty winery that was across the street from Joseph's.

Griffin and Ashland

Attitude! Work it Ash!

This is cute

Ashland, I love this picture of you and your dad. 

Grandpa and Bennett

My favorite part of this night was the ride home from Joseph's. I rode with Griffin and Ashland and we got into the music... if you know what I mean :) I still have not seen Ashland's full blown hip hop skills, but she showed me at least some of her moves. She's already got all the Hazard's beat.

Zoey was one tired baby, but we still got her to smile.

Girls day! We all got feather extensions in our hair just because we wanted to. I was stressing because I already have some, and didn't want to be a feather freak. So I put my feather in a place where it would only be seen every once in a while... in the three weeks that I've had it, I think it's been seen two times. Maybe I was a little too discrete. Everyone else's turned out really cute though :)

We also did a lot of other things. We went and saw Griffin's office in Tulsa, and I was very impressed. We also went golfing and played tennis, of course. Even though we spent most of our time out and about, we also spent a lot of time just sitting around the house and talking. In my opinion, these are some of the best memories.

Overall, it was a super fun week, and I was sad to see it end. I'm already excited for next year!

Until next time, 

So long

Remember to Remember

Until today, I had never heard of 17 Miracles.
What is that? You might ask.
Well...
It's a movie.
 And it's phenomenal.

And I strongly recommend it.

This trailor does not do it justice; but just know that 

the stories you hear and see will stick with you for a long time. 

Maybe even change the way you think, 

and what you value most.

_____________________________

A few years ago, I had the incredible opportunity to do trek with my ward. I remember spending months preparing for this big trip. We sewed our own dresses, learned old time dances and pioneer games, ate pioneer food, and read stories about individuals who had experienced the journey for themselves. When the big day finally came, I was certain that I was prepared for anything. 

I was wrong. 

I never expected to have such an amazing spiritual experience.

I never expected my testimony and my love the for early saints to grow so much.

Trek was a turning point for me. This is one of the few times that I can pin point as a testimony building experience. I remember sitting around the camp fire on the first night and listening to my Bishop talk. As he bore his testimony, I felt my own testimony expanding inside of me. It was one of those times where you just know that it's right. The spirit was so strong, and I have never forgotten it. This was one of many spiritual experiences I had in those three days.

For a long time after trek, my testimony grew more and more. I always remembered the examples of the pioneers. I continued to read their stories from books like I Walked to Zion, and Fire of the Covenant, and I continued to feel a deep sense of love and appreciation for everything they had done. I was so grateful for my own experiences. They changed the way I thought about life, and what I valued most.

However, like they do for everyone, many of my memories began to fade. I always valued my experiences and the way my testimony had grown. I just forgot to remember them. Every once in a while I would think back to those times and have a few seconds of appreciation as I did before, but as my life moved on, so did my memory. 

That is, until I watched 17 Miracles.

As I watched this movie, all the same deep feelings I felt as a 17 year old girl came rushing back. I was once again filled with love and gratitude. I watched the stories on a screen, but knew that they were more than a movie. I (along with everyone in the theater) couldn't stop the tears as I re-realized that the sacrifices made by these people were real. The loved ones they lost were more than characters-- they were a mother, a sister, a friend, a husband, or a child. The miracles that took place really happened, and the trials that they went through have made my life what it is.

Today I realized that all of that... is too much to forget. 

Remember to be grateful. 

Remember to remember.  

Until next time,

So long

Guilty Pleasure

A little girl told me the other day that when she grows up and gets big and goes to preschool, she can "handle knives." Probably my favorite line of the week.

___________________________

This week has been a good one. A really good one. The greatness of it all, and probably the only thing I will really write about, is the Fourth of July.

My mom was out of town, so I was planning to spend the day with my dad and "take care of him." You cannot imagine the sense of guilt I get when I think about leaving my dad, or anyone for that matter, by themselves on a holiday. My dad kept telling me that he would be fine... he would just go to the rodeo by himself and watch the firework show... by himself. That was supposed to make me feel better. Can you imagine?

After a lot of thinking, anxiety, and sorting out, we decided that the plan would be to go to the parade as a family (Dad, Allison, and I) and then spend the rest of our day with our own activities, or go to the rodeo and watch fireworks if we didn't have plans.

The parade was great. Of course, the guys from Ray's Chevron were the most entertaining... and the most good looking :) I liked standing with Dad and Allison and seeing so many people we knew walk in the parade. There's nothing like a small town Fourth of July.

At the Parade

Later on in the day, I was invited to go four wheeling and horseback riding with Jenna Davis and Melinda. I was excited to go, but almost couldn't bring myself to because I knew I would be haunted all day long with the guilt of leaving my dad behind, all by himself. But I did go, and I really enjoyed it.

We ended up going to the sand dunes... but not the ones that everyone else goes to. We went to some that were about a mile off the main road to the right. I never even knew there were sand dunes out there. But I was glad they did, because despite the usual busyness on the Fourth of July, these ones were completely empty and calm. We had the whole place to ourselves.

After a ride on the four wheelers, Jenna asked me if I wanted to ride the horses. I, of course, said yes, but just to make sure I would have no problems, I asked if her horses were nice. Jenna and her family assured me, "Oh yeah, you shouldn't have any problems. You've ridden before, right?" I nodded yes, but with hesitation. I didn't want them to think that that actually meant I knew anything. I've ridden before-- I still don't really know what I'm doing. They told me to hop on and everything would be fine.

This calmed me down, and I pushed all my little fears to the back of my mind. Why was I so worried anyway? I love riding horses. What could possibly go wrong? It's not like the horse is actually going to run away with me on his back!

After thinking all of this through, I jumped on that horse (Kip) with confidence. After about two whole seconds of comfortably sitting in the saddle, what do ya know?

He takes off.

No, he wasn't running, but yes, he was walking with a purpose. He knew where he wanted to go, and he was not about to listen to some inexperienced stranger sitting on his back. I grabbed the reigns and tried to steer him back to the rest of the horses. But he had other plans. He shook his head in the opposite direction. He headed straight up a pretty steep hill, over sagebrush and lava rock. I kept trying to get him to turn around, and he kept shaking his head. This went on for a few minutes. All the while, I had an audience of about eight people that I didn't really know. Great.

Finally, I took real control and told that Mr. Kip to stop! I said it really forcefully, like someone who has a lot of authority. I said to that horse, "WO!"

And that horse stopped.

He still wouldn't turn around, but at least he stopped. Finally Jenna's dad came and led me back. I was surprised at how calm I stayed. After that, Kip and the other horses that I rode listened to me. No more problems. It was so much fun to ride through the sand. I really loved it!

The only thing that could've made it a little better is if the sand we were walking on belonged to a beach in North Carolina :)

Four wheeling

Jenna, Melinda, and I

I'm really good at going off baby jumps...  

These two on the other hand... Not so graceful.

Don't worry, they didn't flip or anything :)

Horse back riding

Me and Dapper Dan. I loved this horse!

That's me riding the wild one, Kip

The sunset was so pretty!

This was my favorite picture from the night! It was so gorgeous! 

Anyway, all in all, this years Fourth of July was a success. Everything went well, except I didn't spend it with my dad. I went home around ten to spend time with him, and guess what...

He was sleeping.

Guilt, guilt, guilt...

Until next time,

So long

Feathers

I feel kind of funny posting a picture of myself... like I have reverted to jr high or high school-- but I just want to say that I actually got those feathers I mentioned a few posts back. In fact, I got three: a black/green one, a reddish one, and a black and white one.

For those of you who doubted, here they are! :)

They are fun.

Just so You Know

My sister rocks at photography

There's a lot more to see at allisonkayphotography.com

Until next time, 

so long