EFY

I learned a lot of things at EFY this past week, but one thought stands out in my mind more than anything.

I want you to think of our Heavenly Father. Just take a moment right now to let yourself be in complete awe of Him. Think about all He has done. Think of His creations--the gorgeous sky, the vibrant trees, the soft roses, the infinite galaxies, the worlds without number. Think of how He created everything we know about. Think of how powerful He is, and how He is perfect in every way possible. Think of how great He is. He is all knowing, all seeing. Think about all He has done for us. Doesn't that make you admire Him? It's easy to see why we worship Him, isn't it? Now keep thinking about Him and all He has ever done. Now remember this:

YOU ARE HIS CHILD.

He is an amazing, omnipotent being, He is an omniscient Creator of worlds and stars... And you're His child.

You're His child and He loves you. He knows you better than anyone else knows you. We are nothing compared to Him and yet He takes time to listen to you. You're his child and I know that He is so proud of you and who you've become and who you will be. He is so, so proud of you. He loves you more than the stars He lit, He loves you more than the sunsets He painted and the bird songs He wrote. He loves you more than the majestic waterfalls and the brilliant sun. He loves you as much as He loves Christ and He loves Christ as much as He loves you. He thinks you're important, and even though He has infinite creations to worry about, He worries about you. He cares about every tear you shed. He smiles when you smile, and He cries when you cry. He's proud when you win a sports game or sing in the choir or play in the band or get good grades. He knows how you feel when that person doesn't like you back. He has created ALL THESE THINGS--every star in the sky--and He loves YOU more than any star. He hears every one of your prayers even if they're short and repetitive. He wants to strengthen His relationship with you, and He wants you to know Him. He wants you to ask Him questions, and He wants to talk to you through the scriptures or through the spirit or through another person. He loves you. He loves you so much and He cares about you. Even though we were created from the dust of the earth, even though we makes mistakes and mess up sometimes, He still loves us more than any other creation.

I don't know if that makes you feel small. Sometimes it makes me feel small, but that doesn't change a thing. Sometimes we do feel small when we think about Him. Sometimes we think about Him and all He's done and we feel worthless, but that's not the purpose of my words to you. YOU ARE HIS CHILD.

You're an Heir to the Celestial Kingdom--His Kingdom. You are a Child of God, and He loves you and He cares about you and all your worries no matter how small and insignificant you may think they are. He loves you.

Whitney

My cousin Whitney returned home from her mission (to ROME, ITALY)!!!!! It was so fun to see her again and I'm so happy she's home! When she left a year and a half ago she was the tallest cousin... well, no longer is that true.

This is me, Whitney, Sadie, and Brian.

And let's not even mention Zach who is 3 inches taller than Brian. Lucky for Whitney, I haven't changed at all. :)

It was hilarious to see Whitney scrolling through her Facebook for the first time in a year and a half and exclaim every three minutes either "She's married?!" or "She had a BABY?!"

I absolutely loved seeing Whitney again, and I'm so excited to see her again next week! :)

The Fourth of July

As is traditional in the family, we set up our blankets in the MTC field so we could play in the sand pit while we waited for the fireworks to start. The Hair family (our cousins) came with us, just like every year (although this year Nads and Brian weren't there, since Nads was on a date and Brian's up in Idaho). This year Granddad and Grammie came with us too.

I was feeling very patriotic with my striped shirt, red shorts and violently red lipstick.

While waiting for the fireworks, we (Zach, Brad, Ethan, Owen, Landon, Sam, and me) went into the sand pit to play Ultimate.

Then the fireworks started.

Happy Birthday (yesterday) America!

Colonial Day

THE CANDY BOMBER FLEW OVER SCERA PARK TODAY AND DROPPED CANDY!!!! It was SOOO COOL!!!! Even though it was 103 degrees outside! (dang son) I was pretty much melting, but it was so cool to see the army stuff and the colonial fair. :) I loved it!

Please note Brad's hand awkwardly on my face.

THE CANDY BOMBER!!! *happy tears*

Karie, me, Ethan, Brad, Owen (tell you what, it's hot to have a small five year old on your hip for 20 minutes. Yeesh)

Granddad and Grammie :)

We found a cool truck with a machine gun!

And I was pretty dang excited

NO BUT LOOK AT THAT GATTLING GUN

Please note how Brad and Ethan are both taller than me... Now, with height in my family, I fall between the 12 year old and the 8 year old. *sigh*

They had a whole camo tent where you could touch stuff

Like machine guns

*giggles* whoooah

Dang son, that shell tho

The guns were so heavy!

Like... really heavy

But they were very very pretty

Then we went to the Colonial fair.

The printing press was SUPER cool!

And Granddad let me try on his hat. :) I think I look pretty dang awesome.

For those of you who live in the Provo/Orem area, GO TO THIS THING. It's a beautiful place and it's so freaking cool! For those of you who do not live in this area who used to, I took these pictures just for you. :)

Fathers Day

Yet another late post. But at least I'm actually getting these ones up (eventually)! Right? Fathers Day was pretty crazy, since it was my mum and da's anniversary too. (Happy 19 years of marriage to them). My mum got him a tree, the same kind of tree that was outside of their first apartment. So we planted a tree.

Us standing where we want the tree to be (and me falling over)

Karie, Dad, Owen, Me, Brad, and fabulous Ethan

Somehow I got stuck with the tiny shovel.

Owen's face. Oh dear.

It was the perfect temperature for sitting and reading

Brad found a rusted chain while we were digging

And I was very enthusiastic about him not letting me see it (please note that sentence is dripping with sarcasm)

It's a cute little tree. It's growing pretty well in our yard, even though the heat is pretty bad here. But my dad is taking pretty good care of it.

Pictures of Youth Conference

Okay so this is really really late. But hey, I got them, right? :) Here are the promised pictures from Youth Conference!

Please note my brother Brad and my dear friend Ian copying Olivia and my pose.

It totally rained on us out on the lake

Bro Trapnell fishing while Brad and Ian pedal him around

So we tried the knot game... with four people... doesn't work well.

A very intense game of "the floor is lava"

Playing the spider web game in which the boys picked me up and lifted me through the web. Thanks guys for not dropping me on my head.

We all had a good couple inches of mud on our shoes from a hike.

My horse's name was Billy the Kid, and he liked snacks and wandering off.

Our cardboard and duct tape boat. It floated for like four seconds.

Archery!

I was actually pretty decent at it.

That pool. Oh man. Since I can't swim I was behind the camera watching the boys, judging the cannon ball and belly flop competitions.

Just look at this place though.

Gorgeous.

SPOONS. THAT GAME OH GOSH. SO BEAUTIFULLY INTENSE AND VIOLENT SOMETIMES.