Family

I just love being home with my family. They are so awesome and I love playing games with them, laughing with them, dancing weirdly with them, and I love that I can be my complete self around them. Family is the best! I love eating the delicious meals that my mom makes everyday, watching movies and relaxing with them, and just everything about home and family. I'm so happy.

Here is a cool shot of our new pet fox....well, at least it always hangs out in our backyard. One day there were three of them! Foxes are awesome. So is family. Family, foxes, fun, free, fantastic food.

Gingerbread Houses

We went old school and went back to one of our old traditions - making gingerbread houses! Hooray! It was lots of fun.

My house was a haunted house, but it did have a sweet action chimney.

Matt with his awesome house that had a huge peace sign

Ben and his house...if you look closely on the roof you can see a gummy bear being speared by a sharpened candy cane.

Dad helped me glue my pieces together and get it started, they were very lopsided because the walls were all different sizes. I had a very huge gap between my roof and wall.

Courtney and her cute house

Happy Christmas!

Pealing oranges to make delicious fresh juiced orange juice! Delicious

me and the bros

Matt showing off his new long johns. Now is the time when on sprockets ven ve dance...

check out my new socks to wear with my cowboy boots! awesome. I also got a sweet action guitar chord book and jason mraz and cat stevens books.

Here are just a couple of some of the pictures from this Christmas. It was a good one. I just love Christmas and I love being able to relax and be with the family and have a little break from school. It's awesome. Life is great! In case you are wondering what I am wearing in all these pictures, we call it the penguin suit. It is very warm! We very much missed the rusts and paganos being with us. Happy Christmas! It even snowed a little Christmas morn, even though it didn't stick, it was better than nothing.

Katie's Wedding

So this post is kind of old...but worth it. A little while ago my dear friend, Katie, got married in Spokane, Wa. So of course I went! I'm so glad I did. I love Katie, she can always make me laugh and is such a great friend. She looked so beautiful and I'm so happy for her and Josh.

It started raining during the pictures outside of the temple. So this was our attempt to stay warm and dry. And I got to hold the camera lady's back pack.

I also got to see another dear friend, Rachel Clark! It had been a while since I had seen her and it was very heart warming. I miss her and love her to pieces. She is so easy to talk to and I admire her so much.

Congrats again Katie and Josh! My other favorite part was that Rachel and I got to help clean the house before the reception! I felt to useful and I like that. The reception was so beautiful and everything was just amazing. Hooray for good friends and good times!

Thanksgiving Break

I love this kid! He is adorable and so sweet and I love how into football and tackling he his.

Me and the Cam-jam. Tender. Also we didn't take a lot of pictures this break. Silly us.

I went to Utah for Thanksgiving break. I stayed with Ashley and Jake and Ben came and stayed at there house too! Hooray for family! It was just the break that I needed. I was able to catch up on some school work that I had been falling behind in. And I was able to chill with family and hang out with my awesome nephew and Ben and I bonded with late night conversations. I just love my family so much and loved this break! On the last night, Ben is the only witness, but I lost my mind a little bit. I could not stop laughing for sooo long! It was crazy. I kept trying to stop and pull it together but then I would laugh all over again. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time, it felt good.

Things I am particularly thankful for this year:

- I am so thankful for Ashley and Jake and for them letting me crash in their basement and do my laundry and eat all their food and just their awesome hospitality. They are awesome.

- for Ben and his sense of humor and how we always have awesome conversations and laugh really hard. Ben is always so chill and easy to get along with and I'm so proud of him for going on a mission.

- for Matt and how awesome he is and how he is always involved in lots of things and such a people person. He can always make people feel included and he is the life of the party, I admire that Matt.

- for my Dad and all that he does for me. For his example and his humor and his musical talent and I just love him to pieces.

- for my mom and how she taught me how to work hard and her example to me and how she is always so giving and how in shape and strong she is.

-for Marg and Mike and Bradley and Mr. Smiles for their support and love and I just love you guys so much!

- So basically FAMILY!

- technology and new computers that work so fast and make school so much easier

- a car that gets me around to where I need to go

- good friends

- education

- warm clothes

- blankets that are fresh out of the dryer

- food

- freedom

- the gospel and a testimony

- the scriptures

- garbage disposal

- washer and dryer

- things that smell good

- music

- and oh so much more.

Life is good and I have so many blessings.

Mother Teresa

People are often unreasonable, irrational and self centered.

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and genuine enemies.

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you.

Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.

Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.

Be happy anyway.

The good you do will often be forgotten.

Do good anyway.

Give the best you have and it will never be enough.

Give your best anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.

Help them anyway.

In the final analysis it is between you and God.

It was never between you and them anyway.

Rachel shared this quote and I thought it was amazing. Thank you Rachel and thank you Mother Teresa.

Ben is going on a mission!

So my brother, Ben, opened his mission call yesterday. He is going to serve for two years for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the :

Long Beach, California Mission

He leaves February 2nd, 2011. I am just so proud of my little Ben Hen. Ben is an awesome kid and I'm so glad he is my brother. We have really bonded over these past couple years. He is so funny and very chill and I just love him to death. He is going to be such a great missionary! I'm proud of you BEN!