Vacation in One Week!

Hey! So school has been going smoothly this week and everything else for that matter! Tuesday we went into town and did some shopping... uggh... not fun... a friend of mine asked if we got anything cool... I was like uh, no... dog food! lol Wednesday went well too! And I've been talking to my best friend every day! It's funny how you find yourself on the phone more when school starts and bored when you're the "Busy-est." Like I start school and I'm bored all afternoon after I finish... So I'm going to have to start crocheting or quilting again or try and finish a cross stitch craft which I never had taken the time to do. And then all my friends are in school as well but I find myself on the phone with them more now... Doesn't this seem reverse to you or is it just me? Yesterday I did school and then we went and got ice cream from a place nearby that we have coupons to for participating in the reading program and then we went and exercised... Sounds real great doesn't it? Ice cream then exercise. Well at least I exercised after I ate the ice cream. lol And today I did school. Oh... it's not taking me that long this week or next because I'm not going to have time to finish this next chapter in science so I get done a lot faster that way. And I should probably go for now because I'm going to make either 2 or 4 pies (lemon pies, but actually they're made with zuchhini! Our pastor gave us a HUGE zuchhini so I'm going to use it up. And make lentil/zuchhini burritos tonight as well!) for dessert tonight and potluck tomorrow at church. And Nana just reminded me that I still have to pack. Yippee! We leave for Orlando next Friday! Oh and another time (within the next week hopefully) I'll tell you about what all we have planned for the trip and stuff! It's all so great and so much! It's going to be awesome and totally fantastic! I don't know yet if I'll have a laptop to use while we're in Orlando the first half of the trip. If I do I'll update you all hopefully every day with what's happening and going on (and of course I'll have my phone and I can talk to you all as well), but if I don't you'll have to wait (and me too... if my memory lasts that long! lol :P) until two weeks from tonight (the 14th) to hear about my adventures! Hope you're all having a great week! Happy Sabbath! ttyl Love and miss all of you guys! God Bless `*~BuTtErFlY~*`

Shopping and 11 days til departure...

Hey everyone! Well... how was your weekend? Mine was fairly good for the most part... On Sabbath we had hospitality/potluck host so we had 10 people over for lunch! Haystacks! Yummy! Then after lunch and the delicious lemon cake, which I ate too much of, the six of us "kids" went up to the tree house where we spent the rest of our afternoon. A little while into the afternoon it started to pour really hard and out of no where while we were up in the tree house. But it didn't last too terribly long and continued off and on all throughout the rest of the evening. All our guest left around 5:30 and the rest of the day we just lounged about and eventually played a couple rounds of the game Balderdash, which isn't my most favorite game, but it was enjoyable to an extent. Sunday... We all went into town to go shopping for new clothes/clothes for our trip to Florida here in 11 days! That took like 7 hours and about 5 of it we were on our feet! UGGH! But we all ended up getting a few articles of clothing! I got a new jacket (which is my absolute favorite color; RASPBERRY!) and matching pants, as well as another nice pair of blue jeans. Oh, and btw, we had Twisters for lunch! Um, um, Yum! And then yesterday afternoon we came home and I talked to a few of my friends on the phone and watched a little tv. Oh and two of our neighbors (who I haven't seen in forever and ever... in like 2 months... but that's mostly my decision not to see them or hang out with them) came over for a little while and we justed talked... of nothing important... lol And then today... back to school... So I did school/a couple hours worth and just finished checking my email and stuff. Just thought I'd say a quick "hello!" to y'all and then I'm of to go finish cleaning the house. ttyl Hope all of you enjoyed your weekend and that your week is off to a great start! God Bless `*~Butterfly~*`

Thunderstorm!

Hey guys! So last night we had a really cool thunderstorm and rain storm hit us! We haven't had this intense of a storm in one month or more and it was awesome! At one point lightning struck really close by! And for those of you who don't know this... The sound of thunder (as well as the sound of my camera's shutter) is my favorite sound in the whole world! It it just so satisfying to me. So last night I just laid in bed... staying up quite late... just listening to the thunder boom and watch the brightness of the lightning crash. It was great! But I thought I'd mention that and share some picture with you that I took back in late June of a lightning show that was off in the distance. These pictures were taken from my front sidewalk and the lightning was all around... to the East and North, but far enough away (and without the rain so I cold actually be in the open taking photos) so you could just sit back and enjoy! Enjoy! Have a great one! God Bless `*~BuTtErFlY~*` P.S. These are the best and the two that are my favorite are... the 3rd and 2nd ones... I like the 3rd one because the lightning goes from cloud to cloud. And the second one is cool because it lit up the sky so brightly!

If Jesus is your friend… let it show in your face w/the biggest smile ever! Praise Him in all you say and do!

Hey! I'm in between making/baking 6 dozen cookies; 2/3 of the way through almost so I thought I'd take a quick break and tell y'all what I've been doing. School has been going awesome and I'm really enjoying it. Although it really is all just review right now, but I'm enjoying it none-the-less. And my mom has been over at that friend of ours' house again cleaning and packing... yesterday and today... and again tomorrow and maybe Friday too. It's a never ending job... For those of you who know the story you understand what I mean... So my sister and I have just been home and in charge of cleaning, doing school on our own, and cooking. It's been nice and I don't really mind doing all the work. It'd be a little bit better however if my sister were willing to pitch in with her slightest bit of help, but I won't go there... And today I'm making cookies. Every Wednesday (except when I'm gone to FL for two weeks; which I have no clue what I'm going to do for my birthday btw). I make 6 dozen cookies to sell at my dad's work on Thursday. So that's what I'm in the process of completing right now. But it's a long, drawn out event because I have to chill the dough so it firms up and then bake 2 dozen at a time and let them cool and the pans cool for an hour and then start the revolution all over again. But right now I better go. I have things that I should get done here. Our family is hospitality host this Sabbath and I need to clean up and vacuum. Hope you all are enjoying your day and at the mercy of an A/C. Here it's 86 in the house right now and even hotter in the kitchen because it's 94 outside and we don't have any cooling device and with the oven on... that's exactly what it feels like, an OVEN! Talk to y'all later! Love and miss you all, my dear family and friends. God Bless `*~BuTtErFlY~*`

I put my confidence in the Lord! Psalm 11:1

Hey guys! Just wanted to say a quick "Hello!" I'm almost finished with school for the day; I only have math left, which will take me 45 minutes or so. I was getting hungry so I thought I'd grab some grapes and come snack a little bit while I write to y'all. And btw the grapes are really tasty! Hope you all are enjoying your day and learning a lot! I better go for now so I can finish my school work and have the rest of the afternoon off. My mom is helping that friend of ours again, cleaning and packing for a move, so I have to have the house clean by the time she gets home in a few hours to surprise her. Remember to smile because it brightens your attitude! God Bless `*~bUtTeRfLy~*`

Off to a Great Start! Not...!

Ok. So I'm babysitting right? Well the boy decides that he is going to make some bears and stuff out of modeling clay that you bake. Well he did and then I was going to bake it in the toaster oven. Well I turned it to 425F or so and set the timer for 20 minutes, thinking that should be enough to get it nice! Well 10 minutes into the process I'm sitting here at my computer typing up up some old entries in my old journals and... I smell smoke... Not good. So I run into the kitchen and well it's hazy and smoky. I open the toaster oven and the bear that was a bear 9 minutes before is now a puddle of liquid that is burning and stinks. Man... oh well. I feel so bad... He made this bear and it was such a good little bear, very detailed and artistic (with a scarf around it's neck) and I ruined it. uggh. Now it still smells awful in here and I have all the fans going trying to circulate some air and get the smoke out. I don't know if that clay was put in the wrong box and it's not really the baking kind or what... but I'll never do that again without the instructions. lol Well I better go for now. I should really go and do the dishes and vacuum and clean my room. The kids are in the other room watching "Little House on the Prairie" right now. Hope you're all enjoying your Sunday and that you don't have any mishaps like I did. lol ttyl `*~BuTtErFlY~*`

Hiking at Tree Springs!

Hey guys! Yesterday I had a great time! (Though I wish I could have had all my friends there with me!) We went hiking at Tree Springs in the Sandias. We went with a three friends of ours and our dog! It was nice and cool in the mountains (although it could have been a little bit cooler for the pace that we were going at), compared to the 94 degree heat at my house! I would say that it was in the mid 70s of so, pretty lovely! We hiked about 2-4 miles... My dad says 2, but you know... I'd say that with us gone for 3 hours or so it was more like 4 miles...! Our dog really enjoyed the walk, unfortunately though she gets car sick (which it's a good thing we took our truck and put her in the back) and her stomach was a little upset when we first got there. At one point you came to the "top" and could see for miles and miles; looking at the spread out view of South Mountain (from the west angle. lol) and the rolling hills of the Sandias above and below. It's beautiful country up there! That's what we did yesterday after church. Now today I'm going to babysit some kids for a few hours while my mom and their mom goes and cleans a lady's house (again) and helps her pack and get ready for a move. My dad was going to be working at the church for a few hours but I guess they don't have the supplies that he needs to get stuff accomplished, so he's back home for now. And I better go for now. The kid's be here in like 45 minutes and I need to go eat breakfast, clean up the kitchen, living room, and my room a little bit and maybe fit in a short shower real quick. So I hope you enjoyed your Sabbath as much as I did! And have a awesome God driven day today as well! ttyl Miss and love you all! God Bless `*~BuTtErFlY~*`

Forgot Important Trip!

Hey guys!

I don't know how I completely forgot to mention this back in June, but I did... This year our family decided not to go to our conference's camp meeting that is held each year. Our church is always closed for the Sabbath of camp meeting so we made plans as a family to go hiking and have a picnic lunch at a place that we hadn't been to in a few years. We chose Jemez! It's northwest of here (that's all I remember) and is really pretty! There are real trees as well as evergreens. First we stopped at the Soda Dam, where it smells very strongly of minerals. (This is a drawing that I happen to have of it on my computer so I thought I'd share it with y'all) I, of course, took tons of pictures, but unfortunately can't put any up here at the moment. But maybe some other time when I get around to doing photos of DDC 2007 as well. Anyway! It was nice! There is a stream/river flowing through the dam over the rocks/cave and people were swimming in the base (where the person is standing in the drawing...). We walked on top of it all and then drove to Jemez falls! We took the short hike to the falls which is very beautiful! My family and some friends of ours had been there several times before in the years past, but it'd been at least 3 years since we'd gone. When we got to the falls I took several pictures of it, but of all days... I forgot my tripod. So I had to steady myself and my camera on the railing/ledge taking some short time exposer's of the waterfall trying to capture the mood! I love still photos, but the one thing that they don't encapsulate the feeling/sound/setting of the moment! Anyway.... then we walked above the falls, where you can stand right on the edge before it drops off! Which, btw, I did not do, but my dad got quite close. I wasn't going to risk it with me or my camera. lol It began to sprinkle a little bit so I didn't take as many pictures as I would have like to. I didn't want to the chance of getting my camera or lens wet or harmed. We hiked back to the van, taking a different route than on the way there. Back at our vehicle we ate garbanzo spread, strawberries, and peach pie for lunch! And lemonade to wash it all down! It was really really delicious! Those were the best strawberries that I've ever had in my whole life! The perfect sweetness, texture, and flavor! Yummy! Then we drove to Bandelier National Park, some Indian cliff dwellings/ruins/caves. It was very cool and I took another bundle of photographs there! It was the perfect temperature, except that it started raining and we had to turn back just before we got to the highlight of the park! The Ceremonial Cave, which is the largest and I was bummed that I didn't get to see it, but I'm sure I'll get another opportunity, Lord willing! That evening we came back towards home but my parents surprised me/us by going to camp meeting for the evening. We were only like 10 miles away so we went just that little way to enjoy the concert being given by Rudi Mucelli. I'll try my best to get pictures of Jemez, Bandelier, Bonito Lake, CO, and everything else that is blog worthy up here a.s.a.p. I did get 7 pictures up yesterday, so that was nice, even though it took be 3-4 hours! lol Well I better go for now. I actually have to vacuum today. I've been putting it off for like 3 days now and it has to get done today! You all have a good Sabbath tomorrow and enjoy the rest of your day and let it be God driven! God Bless y'all! `*~BuTtErFlY~*`

:) Live Life to the Fullest! :)

A goat!

A pink rose (my favorite color!) taken like the first week that I got my camera at the botanical garden!

A caterpillar on some dill/dillweed growing in our front yard!

A grasshopper on a yellow yarrow bush in my front yard.

A zinnia (my favorite flower!) in the front yard that just bloomed a couple days ago!

Here is a picture of bee on the Russian Sage in my front yard.

Here is a bee on the echinachea flower in my front yard.

Two Days into School and Lovin' It!

Ok Guys! How are you all doing? Things are going great here! Babysitting was really fun! And I enjoyed it immensely! Then that night I spent the night at a friend's house. She leaves for college (SWAU) next week so it was a last chance opportunity to spend time with her before she heads out and off on her own. We slept up in the tree house and it was perfect (weather and everything) except that their dog liked sleeping in the sleeping bag too and left me very minimal room. And my back hurt a little bit the following morning because I'm not used to sleeping on such a hard surface. I had a nice time though! I got back home not too late in the morning the next day and got all situated and began school! I did one subject and almost fell asleep... so I laid down on my bed for 15 minutes dozing and then woke up and went another 2 hours and finished! Yesterday afternoon I did mostly nothing... just taking some pictures of all the blooming flowers in the front yard and messing around with the photo editing software on my computer! And in the evening my parents had a board/bored meeting to go to (my sister went as well), so I just stayed home and cleaned the house like crazy and chatted with a few friends online and just goofed off. When my parents got back I did the dishes and cleaned my room and the house looked great so I went and made a phone call and finally got in bed around 10:30 p.m. This morning I slept in quite a bit and did devotions and ate breakfast. I did school, which didn't take me very long, but that will be short lived because I have more subjects headed my way come Monday. Now I'm just uploading pictures online and doing some stuff. But I'm headed to the kitchen right now, because I have 6 dozen cookies that I need to make and sell. I was supposed to do it yesterday but completely forgot. So you all have a good day! Oh... I'll be putting some pictures up on here this afternoon/here in a few minutes or so. So check back soon! Have a great one and let the Lord shine through you! God Bless `*~Butterfly~*`

Babysitting = Awesome! I love kids!

Hey guys! So I babysat 5 kids today, 1 of them my sister. More on it later. Just wanted to say that all went well and I just love kids! I've never ever babysat before but it's awesome! I was there for over 5 hours. Unfortunately I'm not being paid, but it really doesn't bother me because I enjoy it and I offered in the first place out of kindness. Maybe that's what I'll do next summer break... Babysit! Anyway... I better go for now. I'm staying the night at a friend's house before she leaves for college and I start school tomorrow; so it's my last chance. And I have a few things I need to get done around here... dishes... arrgg.. and cleaning up my room a tad bit since I kind of left in a hurry this morning... Hope you all enjoyed your day as much as I relished mine! ttyl Have a good rest of your day! God Bless you! `*~BuTtErFlY~*`

Glasses & TieDye!

Hey Guys! Well...! I got my new glasses yesterday! They are so cool! They're transitions and it's so cool to be able to see in the sunlight without a glare in your eyes! I've never been able to wear sunglasses before because I've worn glasses and never had prescription sunglasses. It's neat to walk outside and watch them gradually change literally before your eyes! My sister got new glasses as well and she loves being able to see each individual leaf outlined on the tree and the lines on the telephone poles! lol We went shopping most of the afternoon yesterday and I got some new pants and my sister and I bought some white shirts and stuff to tiedye. When we got home I quickly ran all the whites through the washer machine to wet them so they would absorb the dye more easily. Then after dinner we got everything set up and we tiedyed! It was so much fun! I did 2 shirts, my sister did 2 as well, and we did 4 pairs of socks. We were going to do a towel too, but we ran out of dye. We only had three color dyes, but you can make like 6-9 different shades by mixing the turquoise, fuscha, and yellow into different combinations. We let it sit all night and this morning I got up before the sun (at 6:00 a.m.) to rinse all the clothing articles out. It was 55F outside and was just perfect for a light jacket with the sun just below the horizon. I went to the backyard and got a huge metal tub that we have and carried it to the front yard where I rinsed it out from dirt and filled it with cold water. Then I brought out all the tiedye stuff that was wrapped in Cling Wrap. One by one I cleaned them all from the precious "stains." It took 3 tubs of water before everything was finished, but it was well worth it! My sister and I both did a bull's eye technique and she did one that looks striped (like a referee) and I did a random scrunch one too. The scrunch one you just grab little bits of cloth here and there and rubber band them and dye each "knot" and in-between if desired. For the bull's eye you grab the cloth from the middle and rubber band it (that one is hard to describe without a illustration) all the way down and you put a different color in between each rubber band... So that when you open the shirt up like normal you have a different color rings forming a bull's eye. And the way my sister did the stripes was she folded the shirt like a fan and then did stripes and it turned out really cool and awesome! The favorite of my two is the bull's eye, although the scrunch look turned out spectacular too! Right now the clothes are in the dryer and hopefully I'll get to wear them today! I have to go though. I might be "baby"sitting (for the first time) 5-6 kids today, so I need to go take a shower and get ready to go. Of all days... the day before school... I babysit... Just the way I imagined it... not... but I'll enjoy myself anyway. Ok, now I really have to go my mom needs to use the phone, so that means I have to get offline! Oh... and high speed should be coming here within the next month/anytime now! You all have a blessed day and let it be God driven! God's Blessings to Each and Every one of You! `*~BuTtErFlY~*`

TieDye! Almomst Forgot!

Ok!

I just remembered that I forgot to mention that Thursday evening we all tie-dyed t-shirts and towels! They turned out very cool and my shirt looks really awesome! All 6 of us kids wore them Friday and Sabbath and people looked at us funny like we were all siblings or something (because we do all have the same hair color... lol). I just thought I'd mention that. And tiedye is a lot of fun! My sister got a kit for her birthday and she's planning to do it here tomorrow or so. It's a blast and you get to use what you make! My new trend is tiedye! I love it!

Oh and also if you all could specifically pray for my back. I don't know what I did to it... if it was chasing the kids or swining them through the air and holding them and picking them up or what... but Saturday evening it really began to start hurting even without me moving. I'm going to the chiropractor today so maybe if something is out of place it'll be fixed, but if you all could just pray that it is healed or that at least it's not as painful; I'd grately appreciate it!

Thanks to everyone for taking time out of their day to see what I've been doing!

Miss you guys and hope that I can see all of you very soon (and in heaven)!

ttyl

`*~bUtTeRfLy~*`

Back from one of the Greatest Trips ever!

Hey Yall!

I'm back home now! And I can truly say with the biggest smile ever on my face that it was one of the best and greatest trips ever that I can remember! My family in CO is so awesome! Thanks to you guys for having my sister and I for a whole week and taking the time to do things and make it as fun and comfortable as possible!

Unfortunately as you might have noticed I never got any pictures put up...! oh well. There was quite a few changes in plans... first of all we never went to Jason's Deli after all. So for the friend of mine that asked how it was... sorry... I don't have an answer to that one. Instead we went to Taco Bell for dinner before the baseball game because we were short on time.

The game was great though! The Colorado Springs Sky Sox (the farm team for the Colorado Rockies') were playing the Tacoma Rainiers and they won 9:5! Unfortunately I only got like one picture of the game itself. I decided to just sit back an relax and enjoy myself without the hassle of my camera. It actually started raining around the 4th inning and lots of people left, but we just wrapped up in blankets and I covered my cameras and waited it out. Thankfully it quickly passed over us and all was well again! Afterwards they had the fireworks show that lasted for about 10 minutes or so. I kind of lost track of time because I was taking lots of pictures of them, looking through my view finder the whole time and focused with my finger continually on the shutter! But I get to re-live it because I did take those pictures! lol 453 pictures later we went home! But as we exited the ball park they had Sarah Lee bread trucks out there just handing out free loaves of bread. My uncle told us all to grab some. When we got back to the house we counted it all and ... 12 loaves of bread was our jackpot! lol No clue what they're going to do with it all. Oh and we stopped and bought ice cream on the way home and had 5 scoops of it at 11:00 p.m. lol it was good though although a little late in the night.

And Sabbath/Saturday morning/afternoon we all drove to the Denver Butterfly Pavilion! They had a whole insect and bug section and also a few sea creatures and of course the humid and hot room where all the butterflies just flew about carefree around you! I took about 200 pictures of butterflies which I need to go through! Some are really really nice!

Oh and I found out that my dad had a meeting that he had to be at in the afternoon on Sunday, so that cut our visit short. My parents spent as much time driving there and back as they did at the house and 8 hours of that sleeping... So I would have had time to put more pictures up here but time was cut short and I spent my time else where than at the mind dulling and hypnotic screen.

Anyway. After the Butterfly Pavilion (which I really really enjoyed!) we went and ate lunch at Sweet Tomatoes on our way home! It was very good even without dessert! lol

That evening I just talked on the phone, chatted with a friend, and was just plain lazy. My parents got in around 9 and we left at 9:30 the next morning.

All in all, it was a spectacular journey and an awesome way to end the summer before I start school in 2 days!

Yesterday afternoon we dropped my dad off at the church for his meeting and then came home and unpacked and cleaned and put everything away, which surprisingly didn't take me very long at all... But I still have a lot of laundry that I need to do tomorrow!

Today I got up really really late, I slept for 11 hours and even though didn't sleep enough! I've already done all the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Now I'm just waiting for my dad to finish working at the church so we can all go to town. He took the day off to spend with us since he hasn't seen us for a whole week. We were going to go to town tomorrow, but since he has the day off today we changed our appointment and are going to go get my sister's and I's glasses! They'be been ready for pick up for a week now! I can't wait! I'll probably send pictures of them to all of you who want one! And of course we'll do our 2 week shopping today, with our huge list!

But that's what we have planned for today! And tomorrow comes vacuuming, laundry, and whatever else needs to be done around here!

Ok. Well I better go for now! I have to get a few things wrapped up...

If you could all pray for me and I'll pray for everyone of you as well that would be greatly appreciated. It's hard being a Christian and a teenager in this corupted world!

Miss all of you!

God's Blessings to every individual!

May your day be a blessing to others and God driven!

`*~BuTtErFlY~*`

Change in plans

Hey...

I know. I know... 4th post today... lol a record...

We're not going to the butterfly pavilion after all today. We're going to the baseball game still and watching fireworks. But we're going to eat dinner at Jason's Deli instead of Sweet Tomoatoes. My friend's dad works for Jason's Deli too...! Anyway. If all goes as planned tomorrow morning we'll be going to the butterfly pavilion then and then my parents come in that evening!

ttyl

have a great one

bUtTeRfLy

Daddy Daughter Camp 2007

July 19-22

We had the truck loaded and ready to go by 8:30 a.m. or so and we hit the road sometime around 9 ish. We met our friend and his two girls at a gas station where we bought ice for our coolers. Then my sister rode with our friends all the way to our final destination. But we stopped at a town for a restroom and then we went to Gran Quivera Indian Ruins at the Salinas Pueblo Mission. I got my national passport stamped there too since it is a National Park! I took about 100 pictures there, most of which I hope to sell! It was a hot day but nice and I had a nice time! I decided to to put sunscreen on because I thought we wouldn't be long, but paid for it later...

Then we went to the ghost town of White Oaks, which was a complete joke. Ghost town is the truth, and it's not at all what they advertised it to be. They had quite extravagant billboards that spoke of gold panning and an old museum in a school house and the graveyard where New Mexico's first governor is buried, etc. But there was like no body there and it was like anyone who was was watching us because we were the only tourists there. Oh and the church there... lol... literally it was just a little tiny tiny tough shed with the smallest steeple ever on top.

So we turned around and continued driving to Carrizozo where we stopped at a park and ate lunch. We ate garbanzo spread that my mom had made and peanut butter bars, which were a big hit throughout all of the weekend!

Then we cruised to Bonito Lake, our final stop for the week(end). Oh, btw, our friends brought their pop-up camper, so we were not tenting this year. So we found an empty camping spot and pitched it. We had most everything set up within an hour or less (or at least it didn't feel like long at all.) After we got everything in order we ate grillers for dinner and drove down to the lake, where it was so beautiful at "sundown," with the sunlight shimmering across the water, seeing the ripples! I took some pictures, but they didn't turn out exactly like I saw it or watched it in person/wanted them to. But they're good all the same just a little hazy because of the lighting that late in the day. btw. Bonito Lake means beautiful lake in Spanish.

Then we went back to camp and played baseball with a plastic ball and bat.

Friday morning... We ate oatmeal for breakfast. Well everyone else did... I had cereal because I really don't care for oatmeal all that much. It was so chilly that morning and no one wanted to get out of bed. Finally the sun came up over the tall trees and warmed the atmosphere up some. We had devotions and sand a couple of songs. Then we cleaned up and got stuff ready for a hike.

We drove to Sierra Blanca (which means white mountain in Spanish). It's a really tall mountain near Ruidoso. It's really pretty up there too and I took a bunch of neat pictures! The drive all the way to the crest was amazing! The steep cliffs off to one side and the sharp wall of a mountain on the other! With such an awesome view from all over! When we got to the "top" (at Ski Apache ski area) we geared up and hiked for 3 hours or so and about 3-5 miles. Thankfully it was nice and cool because we were up at such a high altitude with lots of trees and the clouds helped a lot as well! It was a very pleasant hike and I really enjoyed the undisturbed nature! I shot quite a bunch of photos of flowers, trees, and the rolling hills, meadows, and valleys!

That evening we played baseball with 4 neighbor kids and ate Pizza Hut for dinner! Yum!

That night it was warm and I was burning up... Much opposite from the night before when it was so cold that I couldn't sleep but 2-4 hours off an on and that was only because I finally put a blanket on the inside of my sleeping bag and warmed myself up. The second night... Friday though I slept well for being warm, but I had a sunburn from Thursday and it was kind of hard to sleep on my shoulders... ouch...

Sabbath morning we had bear mush for breakfast and then had our own church service. After worship we hung around, not doing much. Playing baseball mostly.

Then we went on a hike at a place not too far from our camp site. There was a good sized stream (for New Mexico anyway. lol) and some small waterfalls (really and truly it was really only water flowing some steep rocks that were taller than normal... a New Mexican waterfall for ya) and an old partial stone house and a chimney of a non existent old log cabin. It threatened to rain and thundered very near-by so we turned back. Right after we got back to camp it started to pour, but we had just enough time to put up a tarp from our pop up to some stakes that provided us shade and shelter. The rest of the afternoon we just waited out the storm.

Oh and we had a little bird who decided to join us for "lunch"/a snack and protection from the downpour. He was so tame and he just didn't care if we petted him or stepped an inch away from his little body. We were always afraid of squashing the poor little guy with our feet. We named him Tweet Tweet. lol... very original name I know... lol Actually the bird stayed around until Sunday when we left... He felt so safe with us that we actually held him in our hands! That evening the rain subsided and we played some more baseball with 3 of our neighbors. That night, the last night of all things, was perfect weather and I slept really well.

My mom called us that evening and shared some great news with us all. My cousin was born! She is so cute and just adorable! I can't wait to meet her and hold her! And hopefully I'll get to do both of those at Thanksgiving!

Sunday we woke up, dressed, ate oatmeal, and started packing up and tearing down everything.

But 11 we were all done and out of there. We stopped in Capitan to go to the Smokey Bear Museum. It was in the Capitan mountains that the cub, who they named Smokey, was found in 1950. Did you know that the name/slogan of Smokey Bear actually came about before he did? And when they found him they thought he was the perfect story for their advertisements or whatever. It was very interesting and cool and I learned a lot!

By the time we got out of there it was near 2:30 p.m. and we were quite hungry. Unfortunately for us... in that tiny t own there is not much to eat for travelers, so we continued on our way to Carrizozo hoping ot find some place to eat, even if it was just a grocery store. Much to our dismay however there wasn't even so much as a grocery store in that speck of a town. There was only a fruit stand on the side of the road that served as a market... There were also two convenience stores/gas stations there. So we ended up stopping at the fruit stand and buying a bag of peanuts and a honeydew melon. We ate there and pulled some chips, almonds, bananas, bread, crackers, and peaches out of the camper and truck(s) and made a very fulfilling meal out of it all.

And we hit the road once more, my sister once again riding with our friends.

When we got home we unloaded and I took a much needed shower. And that concludes DDC 2007.

Next year we're hoping to have my friends from Idaho and my family/friends from Texas as well!

I hope you all enjoyed reading about it! And I'll have more of the past going ons posted up here hopefully within the next couple days and all up to date.

You all have a blessed and God driven day!

`*~BuTtErFlY~*`

P.S. lol. I didn't realized how long this was. Hope you all enjoyed the full story!

Butterflies, Tomatoes, Baseball, and Fireworks

That's what's planned for this afternoon here in the next hour or so!

Let me explain more! :)

We're going to the Butterfly Pavilion (as I've mentioned before in almost all of the past few posts) this afternoon, and then we're going to go to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner! yum yum! and then go to a Sky Sox game (which is the Triple A team for the Colorado Rockies! Baseball!) and then after the game there will be fireworks! So I'm going to go charge my camera up right now, because it's going to be a full afternoon and evening! For sure I'm taking my tripod! It'll be awesome! I'm so looking forward to this!

But right now I really need to go. The boys are in the other room fighting continuously and I need to settle the argument and fix us something to eat!

You all enjoy your day as much as I'm planning to!

Oh and if you read this guys... please comment! It lets me know what you think! Oh and if you do, please remind me to mention about tiedye... got it? thanks!

Smiling is infectious; you can catch it like the flu,

When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling too.

I passed around the corner and someone saw my grin

When he smiled I realized I’d passed it onto him.

I thought about that smile then I realized its worth,

A single smile, just like mine could travel round the earth.

So if you feel a smile begin, don’t leave it undetected

Let’s start and epidemic quick, and get our world infected!

~(unknown author)~

Attitudes are contagious! Is yours worth catching?

Smile! See how much it brightens your day!

God Bless yall

`*~BuTtErFlY~*`

Past "Forgotten" Events (DDC-New Cousin)

Hey!

I just remembered that I have completely forgotten some really great things that have happened back in July. As I think you all know whether or not I mentioned it... I went camping with my dad, sister, a friend, and his two daughters. It's our annual event that we call Daddy-Daughter Camp! We went down to Bonito Lake near Ruidoso, New Mexico taking a pop-up camper! On our way there we stopped at the Salinas Pueblo Mission/Gran Quivera Ruins. It's a national park! It was cool and I took a bunch of pictures that I need to put up here sometime tomorrow or Sunday! I'm going to hopefully try and sell some of the photos too! Anyway. We got to where we would make camp and found a empty trailer spot and parked there for the week(end). The lake there is so beautiful and with the sun slow in the sky shimmering across the water it just looks amazingly awesome! I took some gorgeous pictures of it that I'll put up this weekend. I won't go into very much detail at all (which is hard for me... arrgg) but that week(end) we just played baseball, spent time with each other and our dads, hiked, and just plain hung out! It was really nice and relaxing. We hiked almost all the way to the top of Sierra Blanca. (which means white mountain). And on Sabbath afternoon we hiked down a trail where there is a really pretty stream (oh... side note... it was just so green and the foliage so lush, so pretty!) and some old log and rock cabin ruins. We didn't hike very far, but up at some point there is this really nice pool of cool/cold water that you can go swimming in, though we didn't.

Oh and that Sabbath evening my new cousin was born. She is so cute! So adorable that you can't help but love her! And her parents (my aunt and uncle) are planning to come to our annual Thanksgiving get together afterall, so I get to meet her and hold her! She'll only be 4 months old by then!

Well I better go for now. I'm going to write another post right now, but it's about a different topic so I'll start another one.

You all have a great day in Jesus!

Oh... btw... I know that lately I haven't been very detailed and haven't really gotten into the good stuff that's been going on and just brush the scum on top, so I promise that I'm going to type up each individual story a.s.a.p. and put it up here about DDC, CO, school, my friends' visit(s), and everything else that has been going on. Oh and I'm getting new glasses, and my new phone, and I'll just make a list and write about each on in length! So stayed tuned and check back often.

`*~BuTtErFlY~*`

Bear Creek Nature Center, but no bears

Hey guys!

Yesterday we went to Bear Creek Nature Center for the afternoon. We brought along some Subway sandwiches and ate at a picnic table alongside this stream that sounded so awesome and looked spectacular! It was so green and the growth so abundant. We were up in the "mountains" (foothills) of the Rockies'! Really cool! So we ate lunch which was super delicious and then we went on a fairly sized hike considering the little fellows and the major threat of rain and thunder. But in the end it didn't rain until quite a while later in the evening. But it was fun still! Lately though my aunt says that nearly every day someone is struck by lightning around here so we were taking it easy. I took almost 200 pictures and just had a totally amazing time!

After hiking we went to Old Colorado City which is like the very old/first part of Colorado Springs. I think very few original old buildings are left, but a handful are. Now it's just mostly a tourist "trap" with souvenir/gift shops all along main street. We walked up and down the street going in about 2 or 3 stores.

After that we ate dinner at Qdoba and it was so tasty! It's a Mexican place (kind of fast food type but not necessarily) and I got a burrito with pinto beans, guacamole, and pico de gallo.

Then we went shopping at Wal Mart which took forever and a day, getting stuff for my cousin's birthday (party) which is today! Congrats to him too!

When we got home we put some groceries away and had some ice cream.

That evening I called and talked to a friend for a while and then finally went to bed.

Now this morning I woke up kind of early (well early for what we have been doing)... at 6:30 a.m. You see lately we've been going to bed at 1:30 or so in the morning and waking up around anywhere between 7-9 a.m. so yes, I am tired and not fully awake yet. But right now I need to go and eat some breakfast because we have to leave here in about 20 minutes to go to my cousin's birthday party which we are having a swimming pool. Bummer though I left my swim suit at home.... aarrgg. I have some pictures that I want to put up here but don't have the time at this very moment, but I'll try and get that done tonight!

Y'all enjoy your day and let it be God driven!

God's Blessings to Everyone!

`*~Butterfly~*`

Live Life to it's Fullest!

Hey everyone!

So it's been one day shy of a month of you guys not hearing what I've been doing. But for almost all of you...you've probably heard from me at least once a week and know what's been happening. I'll just mention the BIG highlights which were totally awesome!

I got a phone as most of you know.

And then my friends came from TX for the weekend of the 27-29 of July. It was so great and awesome to see them! We had a total blast seeing them and spending time with all of them. We biked, hiked, bowled, walked, talked, and just had an all together outrageous time!

The 29th was my sister's birthday so we all had a party at a bowling alley and had ice cream and cake!

The 30th-3rd was VBS. I'm the photographer so I took a ton of pictures and then at the end of week I put together a Power Point Presentation to show on Sabbath at church! It turned out very nicely!

And on the 1st my cousin came down from CO with her dad to spend through Sunday with us! So we had a blast!

On Sabbath the friends of ours that were here the week before with us passed through again on their way home from vacation and dropping their son off at college. So we had them stay with us as well as my uncle and cousin that night, so we had a full house! Oh one thing I need to majorly correct is that I said "friends of ours"... well they're more than just friends. They're family! They are some of the people that I am the closest to and actually know them quite better than lots of my family. I just had to say that...

We went hiking that afternoon and then enjoyed spaghetti for dinner.

Sunday morning I did some last minute packing because my sister and I were coming up to CO with my uncle and cousin to spend a week with them and my aunt and 3 other cousins. My friends/family who were at my house as well pulled out of the driveway the same time we did.

And here I am now with my family (without my parents... they stayed home and will come up at the end of the week to come get us! and btw yesterday was their anniversary!). So I've been here like 2 days now and am loving it.

Yesterday we didn't do anything or go anywhere. But today we're going to a butterfly pavilion. I'll take just hundreds of pictures I'm sure! It's going to be neat and awesome, so cool!

Last night there was a double rainbow and I took some cool photos of it! Hopefully I'll get them up here sometime soon since I have high speed internet access here!

I better go for now. I have things that I need to get done including eating breakfast because I'm just starving. You all have a good day! I'll try to keep you posted each day with what I'm up to. That's something I try to do when I'm on vacation is keep you up to date on my activities!

Talk to yall later!

Love and miss yall too!

God Bless

`*~Butterfly~*`

Put a smile on and be positive!

Hey yall! I'm in good ol' wonderful colorful beautiful Colorado with my uncle, aunt, four cousins, and sister! We got here yesterday! I'll be here for a week, until next Sunday or Monday! So far it's been nice! The little guys just want all your attention and lecture you about Star Wars... lol! Anyway. Sounds like we have quite a schedule planned out too! Butterfly Pavilion where I will take hundreds-a thousand pictures, go to a Rockies' game, swim, and do so much more. I'll be taking lots of pictures and put them up here since I have high speed and have that capability! More on my past 3-4 weeks some other time! My cousin wants to play a game on the computer. Yall have a great week/day! Miss you all tons! God Bless `*~Butterfly~*`