Trap Shoot Anyone?

Ok, check it. So at the Olpin reunion trap shoot, I proved to be quite a shot. Who knew? Not me. I still think it was beginners luck. Either way, It was sweet. I hit 8 out 10 in the first round. Beating out my dad, my brother Troy, and my brother in law Josh who have all shot plenty before. I had shot once. A year ago. It was awesome. So I wound up advancing to the finals and shooting against all my relatives that are serious hunters and were raised with a gun in their hands. I didn't win overall, but I definitely held my own and was the cheered for underdog. It was pretty sweet. We'll see how next year goes, hahaha!!!

Also, Mom, Davy and I were the only ones to finish the hike all the way. It wasn't my favorite hike ever, but we enjoyed our time together!!

Davy and I on the RR tracks

Me, Davy and Mom

Mom and Me

Hymn #19

"We Thank Thee Oh God For A Prophet"

Amen. Enough said.

Ok, not really, here's the story. So as a youth, President Hinkley was my prophet. Most people in my generation feel that way. I had the opportunity to be near him and feel his spirit through musical opportunities I had. Those experiences were HUGE in me having a testimony that he was a Prophet of God. When he passed away, I fully sustained President Monson as the new prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I never questioned him or his authority, however, I just didn't have the connection with him that I had felt with Pres. Hinkley.

On July 24th, (yes, pioneer day) we had the blessing of having President Monson attend my parent's ward, AKA: the ward that I grew up in. His granddaughter was blessing her baby that was born pre-mature and had lots of struggles. I heard word of it the night before from one of my best friends growing up. I wasn't 100% sure it would happen, but I figured I didn't want to miss it if it did. So I postponed the musical number that I was supposed to do in my Provo ward and headed to Murray. Relief Society and Sunday School were normal, but as Vicki sat there with Addie in her lap napping waiting for Sacrament Meeting to start, in walks President Thomas S. Monson. Three rows in front of us. I have been to general conference and other events with the prophet present, and it's always neat when he walks in and everybody stands, but this was exceptional. The little boy in front of me who was four or five looked at President Monson and then up to his big sister and said "Is that him? Is that really the prophet?" He was so excited to see the prophet and recognized him on the spot. I almost cried cause it was so precious. Oh wait, I did. Then as he was sitting on the stage waiting for the meeting to start, Addie woke up, sat straight up on Vicki's lap, and started waving at President Monson, even the 14 month old baby could feel his spirit and knew that something about it was unique and special.

The speakers were all super nervous, the bishopric was on their best behavior on the stand and so were all the little primary kids in the congregation. And oh yeah....guess who had been called to say the opening and closing prayers for the meeting? None other than Mamma and Pappa N. They had (some would say got) to pray in front of the prophet. Yikes. But of course, they both did great, cause that's just how they are.

At the end of the meeting President Monson shared some thoughts with us as well as his testimony. It was an absolutely incredible experience. I do not hesitate at all to say that I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet called by God to preside on the earth today. He is a loving man sent to guide us and keep us on the straight and narrow, for which we should all be grateful and sing saying "we thank thee oh God for a prophet!!!"

3-2-1-BLAST-OFF!!

Ok, so this post is only 2 months late, no big deal, summer time just gets super crazy busy, but what else is new? That's life, and I love it.

So in June our family activity was a rocket launching day. Everybody went up to the museum at Hill Air Force Base (except I was stuck at work) and then that night we all went to the elementary school to launch model rockets that we had built with dad as kids. This was one of my favorite things when I was younger. Dad and I built a SWEEEEEET rocket that was our last one and we never launched it. It was a Christmas gift to me from him that we made together. We painted it orange and black in honor of my soccer/high school colors...and just because orange is my favorite color. It is over three feet tall and breaks into three pieces for landing instead of the standard two. Well we finally got to launch it and it was a blast. Literally. The pieces scattered. One landed near us, one landed on the other side of the school, and another one ended up a block and a half away in a tree, but don't you fret, we got it all back!!

The kids had so much fun watching the rockets and running around chasing them as well as just running on the big open field pretending to be airplanes and rocket ships, so much fun.

Me with my rocket

Dad and Timmy launching

Me and Dad with the rocket we made.

I'm still not quite sure how the rocket got lined up with

Dad's throat but I blame it on Troy.

Rylee being a size comparison for my rocket.

Apartment Shopping

So I have to move out of my Provo apartment this month. I have lived there for four years now and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited to go somewhere new. However, on a scale of 1-10, 1 being I really don't like it, the world of apartment shopping is probably at a -4 in my books. I never moved once as a kid, I lived in the same house my whole life, and when I moved to college, I lived in the same apartments the whole time. Moving is not my thing. At all. So the last few weeks I have dedicated more time than I had wished to finding an apartment, driving to and from Salt Lake to check them out, creating lists and comparison lists of what is where and what I like and don't like about each of them. Well, tonight I finally picked one.

It is actually a house on the east side of the valley. It doesn't look like much on the outside but the inside has been redone and looks pretty good. I will have my own bedroom (big enough for my HUGE bed) and plenty of storage space throughout the house. It is well kept, has good landlords from what I could tell in the 20 minutes I spent talking to her, all of the girls there are very active LDS, most are all done with college. It will be a big change of scene but I am really excited. I'm anxious to go to a normal singles ward rather than a BYU ward. (Don't get me wrong, I love my ward and the people in it, but I'm just excited to ditch parts of the BYU mindset.) I don't move in until the 1st of September though so there will be a 2 week limbo in which I will be bunkin' up with my folks.

Now for the moving part....