Mi Familia y Travels..

Estas fotos son para mis padres que estan en la mision en Chile.

Welcome to Arizona!!! My once upon a time home. It's on a rare occasion that I get to come back and visit. This visit was exceptional. I got to see my brothers and my grandma. Do some soul searching. There is just never enough time even when you extend your trip a week in a half! I wish I could have seen my cousins! I am so thankful for the time that I had.

Conner was so in love with Carrie! It was so cute. He is such a sweetie.
Me, Cass and Colyn hanging at their 4th of July party!

Happy 4th of July! I love Holidays. Every holiday calls for something extra fun to get out and go do.
Cute toes means someone got a pedicure! Me & Cass
Me and Cass at the movies! Eclipse for the 2nd time for me and 1st for her. Me and Carrie were getting ready to go hit the town!


When me and Cass were looking at these pictures we decided Leah looks just like Carrie and Olivia looks just like me. This pic could have been of us!






Midnight Brownies!! Yum..









Adorable Olivia

This girl has been there through it all with me. I love her to pieces! Miss Carrie Ann, I'm so lucky to call you one of my closest friends.
Me and Miss Bella, she is absolutely darling!
My nephew Bear, cutest little guy ever!

So cute!

Travis trying to be the next John Wayne. I've tried to teach him a thing or two but it's not really helping considering he's a little too scared to get on a real horse.

Me and my Meda girl


Me and Shep, he is such a handsome boy!




This little brown eyed beauty is one of my best friends daughters. Miss Leah Bee.




Me and the boys. My brothers Colyn, Travis & Jason. It was so good to see them. They are all such amazing people. Such great examples for me to look up to. I wish we had the other brothers in this pic too.
The Ladies at our family party at Jason and Kathy's



My Grandma Mary and I. She is such a fabulous woman. So witty and funny. I love her!


My nieces Isabella and Gracie. They are so beautiful inside and out. This is my brother Jason. I love him! He always calls and checks on me. I am so grateful that in our family no matter what the age difference is, we are all so close to each other. We are so blessed that with in each of us it is just as important to the other to stay close.








Me and Cass, this is at about 1 in the morning and we were just hanging out! We had just gotten back from Qt I'm pretty sure. And my little Livi Bug. She is so stinkin cute!

Elsie and Meda, cutest little girls ever! Elsie is Nat's sister Annie's little girl. They are dolls. Oh don't worry that just me and Cass grabbing some ice cream at midnight!

Me and Kathy at Cheesecake Factory. She made that night so memorable. She is such a strong woman and so motivating. I love her!

Cassie striking a pose!! ow ow!
My sister in laws Kathy, Natalee, Cassie and me on our girls night out!

Me, Kathy and Cass out at the movies















My nephew Travis is so big! Me, Trav and Nat went to this restaurant in downtown Scottsdale called Los Olivias. So good! We were with Nat's friends and a blind date. It was really fun!





Too much fun in Az!! This is Shepard my nephew aka: Sheppy. He was totally
modeling for the camera.
So cute! Love this boy.



























Jaxon, Shep, Meda, Conner, Gracie at the airport sending me back to Utah. These kids are so amazing and special. I love them so much and miss them every day!






Gracie girl. Meda.


Tear! I love my sis in laws! We need Kathy in this pic! Natalie and Cassie brought me to the airport after we went to lunch. It was a sad day! I had so much fun with these girls. I wish so bad we lived closer. I had so much fun spending time with my brothers and getting their personal advice on life. It meant so much to me. Thanks so much for letting me come and stay! I am definitely going to miss the QT runs, swimming, giant cheese crisps, taking pictures, going to the gym with Colyn, family parties, the blind dates, midnight ice cream, the talks we had till the middle of the night, the circus animal cookies, holding baby Bear and miss Livi Lu, shopping, the movies, cheesecake factory and laughing until we cried! You guys all make me feel alive and happy. I'm so glad that you're my family.

Brave

I have been in Az for nearly two weeks now. It has been so great spending time with my family and friends. Tonight I can't help but feel a bit lost. How is it when we are surrounded by so many loved ones and so much to do but we still can feel empty or alone? Maybe it's just me. Tonight has been a bit hard for me. I saw friends whom I love dearly. Had a lot of laughs. Reminisced of good times. I would catch myself not commenting or smiling and I would have to remind myself to enjoy the night and be happy. As I got home to my brothers house I just started to pour my heart out to my sister in law. I was explaining to her things I'm trying to overcome and how I'm on this journey to find balance. To find the will and intuition to live my life. The other day a close friend of mine asked what I do when I feel discouraged. I had just been reading this book to my nephew and in it I read; Inspire is: To breathe life into a persons heart, to make her feel joy to be alive. This gave me chills. I felt like it was meant to be the motto of my life. I told her this hoping it would lift her spirits. When we try and not focus on ourselves and try to be there for someone else, it truly lifts us up. As my sister in law and I were talking she told me I was brave. It meant so much to me that she said that. I don't think she realized it but at the moment her faith in me lifted me up from feeling like the world was closing in. Today especially {& every day} I am grateful for the ones who are close to me in my life who have never given up on me.

Asphalt & Pavement

As I was flying into Orange County last week I couldn't get these thoughts out of my head: There are no trees, There is no green, No Space, No empty land, So much smog, Too many cars, People everywhere, Tall buildings. I couldn't help but think to myself that what I was looking at looked like it had started out as a big city with buildings everywhere and later little bits of greenery and a few trees were "added". I felt like I couldn't breathe! I'm someone who loves being in wide open spaces where it's so easy to look around and find beauty in the earth. That might sound odd but I absolutely love the earth, trees, grass, wheat fields, the blue sky, wild flowers.. There is so much serenity in absorbing the beauty of the world outside. I had such a great time with my family at the beach {pictures to come} but I couldn't help but talk about all these thoughts I couldn't get out of my head. I'm just a lover of the land. Maybe it's the Irish in me. I don't like getting caught up in the building fascinations of the world. With "what's next"?? California is a beautiful place, that's where I was born! I just wish there was more green life for everyone to enjoy. There should be more land than concrete. The beach is one of my favorite places to be, so peaceful. That will never change. Now I'm out in Queen Creek Az. Love it. It's so different from Utah or Cali but it's still on the outskirts of the craziness of the city. Room to breathe. It's been so great having time to discover a new area. I'm so happy and grateful I have this time in my life to do this. It's been amazing spending time with my family and life long friends.