The Temple

My little brother was able to take out his endowments while everyone was in town for the Christmas party. I have to say that it was one of the most amazing sessions I have ever done. It was so great to be able to see all of my brothers and sister-in-laws in the temple. I could even feel my dad there. 

I apologize for some of the photos. Alan was kind enough to take photos for everyone, but he had about 4 cameras. We weren't quite ready when he took this one.

 He got this one for us. I think it is really pretty. I would have cropped it but it's focused on the temple. Which in retrospect isn't a bad thing.

 I don't often share my Testimony to people, and I never do it online but I want to say that I know that the temple is the house of the Lord. I know that when I go to the temple I always feel that comforting spirit and I feel closer to God. I know that he loves me and only wants me to be the best that I can so that I can return to live with him. I know that because of the priesthood and temples my family will be together forever. I know that my dad is watching over me and my family and that I will see him again. I know that Ricky and I are sealed (or married) for time and all eternity and that knowledge always gives me such comfort especially now that he is getting ready to deploy. 

I Love Temples.

Ricky and I are hoping to be able to visit all the temples in Europe while we are stationed in Germany. It should be an amazing experience. 

Kent Family Christmas Party

While in Idaho Ricky and I were able to visit quite a few friends from high school and spend time with my family. It was great because everyone got be there. For my family that is a big thing. The family Christmas party was great. We played lots of Minute To Win It games and had a gift exchange for adults and kids. It got a little crazy but as always was a blast. Here a few pictures my mom took (I didn't even think about my camera the entire time).

Andrew stacking cups and Troy trying to hook candy canes.

 Daryl cheating at the balloon game.

 Up front is Sarah Marie doing the Rudolph game and Cara in the background doing the Gingerbread face off.

 Me, Robert, and Daryl staking bolts, with Alicia doing the balloon game.

 All the presents for the gift exchange.

 Me doing the balloon toss game. I was winning until the very end.

 The last game was a team contest. We had to race though a Christmas song pictionary then put 6 balloons into a pair of nylons and sing a Christmas carol. It was all very exciting and funny and if I remember correctly a tie.

All in all it was a great evening. 

Traveling

After about a week in Vegas Ricky's parents drove us back to Idaho with them. On the way we stopped at this particular gas station and got some snacks. When I came out the door there was a group of ducks that  started following me back to the car. 

 It made me laugh. They got very close so I fed them some of my cheese puffs. The ducks loved them.

 If you look closely you can see some cheese puff crumbs on the ducks beak.

It was a fun experience to have ducks so close. Another great memory.

Vegas

So Ricky and I got invited to go to Las Vegas with his mother and step dad to go see the National Finals Rodeo. It was a pretty cool experience and was great being able to hang out with family.

 While there we went to quite a few expos. After 3 days of that Ricky, Gunner (Ricky's little brother) and I were done so we went to an aquarium at one of the hotels. It was really cool. 

There were jellyfish.

 There was a shark tank with lots of sharks. 

 This really cool fish.

 Star fish

 An octopus that wouldn't stop moving. We couldn't get a clear picture of it.

 But I have to say the best part was the stingrays. 

 They were in a pool and you could pet them. I am a chicken but I got up the courage and touched a few of them but some of them just freaked me out.

Gunner absolutely loved it. He had no fear and would constantly come back to pet them again and again.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera the night that we went to the Rodeo so no pictures, but it was really cool. An experience that I will never forget. Thanks Mom and Ken for letting us come and do that with you!

BIG NEWS

So there was a lot of BIG news this last few weeks. First off, my little brother got his mission call! We are all very excited for him. I didn't get to be home when he opened it but thanks to skype I got to still sort of be there. 

This is him reading it to everyone.

He's going to the Benin Cotonou Africa Mission. He leaves March 7th and is so excited to go. 

In other BIG news, Ricky got Orders!!!!! We're going to the base Ramstein in Germany! We're still not completely set on the date we have to be there because Ricky still has to deploy but it will probably be either June or July. We are ecstatic about this news and can't wait to get there! So much to do and see! I'm not gonna lie I am going to be sad to say goodbye to all of our friends here in Texas but I wouldn't pass up this opportunity for anything in the world. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Ricky's face when he first found out. It was priceless. Now we just have to get through this deployment and then we get to go see the world!

Thanksgiving

So Ricky and I got to spend Thanksgiving with family for the first time in almost 3 years. Tony, Ricky's brother just moved about 4 hours away from us so we can actually go see he him more then once a year! I didn't take any photos while we where there but I did get some of Chester on the way up and by I, I mean Ricky cause I was driving.

We were trying to get one of him looking out the sun roof but he kept realizing there was a camera out. He's funny about cameras. 

But Yeah Thanksgiving was really good. We had a lot of fun being with family. Plus I didn't have to cook the whole meal! 

Time to play catch up

Wow I haven't blogged for almost 2 months. Shame on me, because so much has happened. Unfortunately I don't have all the photos uploaded that I want to show the world so those who read this will just have to deal with what I do have.

Right now that is just Ricky roasting marshmallows over an open flame.

Ha Ha Ha!!! I love how hard he is concentrating on making sure he doesn't burn it. 

This is how we have to do it in Texas.

Scotcheroos

So everyone has been posting food stuff lately and to not feel left out I have decided to post my favorite recipe of the week. 

Scotcheroos!

Basically they are a type of rice krispy treat, but so much more!

Here's the recipe:

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup peanut butter

6 cups Rice Krispies

Topping:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

                      To make mix together the corn syrup and sugar in a saucepan and cook on med. until it begins to boil. Remove from the heat and stir in peanut butter. Add Rice Krispies, then press into a 9x13 pan. (I grease mine cause some times they like to stick to the pan)

 For topping melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips together then spread over cereal mixture and let it stand until firm.

They are amazing! I hope you get a chance to make and enjoy these fantastic treats!

Bike For Sale

So Ricky is trying to sell his motorcycle. Not because I'm making him, but because he wants to get a different one. 

This is what he has now, a Buell Blast. It's still fairly new and doesn't have a whole lot of miles on it. If you know anyone or you yourself are interested in buying this, it is on craigslist at http://abilene.craigslist.org/mcy/2645311198.html

The Reason he's trying to sell it is so he can buy this.  It's a Honda CRF230M. Basically what I understand about this bike is that it's nice and it's dual sport so it can be used both for dirt biking and city driving. Plus it gets 30 more miles per gallon then his Buell. So feel free to share the cite and let people know about it so that we can sell it!

Achievement Days

So I am the new Achievement Days leader. The previous leader is going to have a baby any day now so to help relieve her of some stress they put me in charge. I'm not going to lie I'm a little nervous about running this program, but I am very excited to do it as well. I did my first activity 2 weeks ago. We painted candle holders. The idea was that we all have the light of Christ in us and we can share that light in our own unique ways to those around us. Not many girls were able to make it to the activity but even with that I think it went over well. 

This is the example I made. I really loved that even with the paint on it the light was still shining through.  I just hope the next activity goes as well if not better.

Surprise

So Ricky went on a TDY to Little Rock, Arkansas a while back and was gone for 2 weeks. When he got home, he surprised me with these!

Even though roses aren't my favorite flower I was still really happy to even get flowers! It made my day! Love you Ricky!

Trouble

So these last couple of days my dog has been extra destructive. Sunday he destroyed Snoopy (a stuffed toy Ricky got last year for Christmas). 

This was all that was left after Chester was done with him.

And this morning I woke up to this...

This is Chester in our neighbors yard looking through the hole he had dug into our yard. He's been working on the hole for a while but this morning he decided to pull the boards off and there was just enough room to crawl through, but not enough to crawl back.

Needless to say I'm not a happy camper today and he is in so much trouble.

Labor Day

Labor Day for me and Ricky was spent out by the lake, with friends. It was beautiful weather. I think it only got up to 90 degrees. The reason we were all there is because of a birthday. Our friend's little girl was turning 2!

 Everyone Enjoying the nice weather.

 The younger kids gathering around for cupcakes.

 Running to go get his daddy.

 Enjoying another cookie.

 Isn't she so pretty? I bet she's going to be a knock out when she gets older.

 I love this photo. He wasn't sure about me but I got a half smile!

 Everyone relaxing.

 Helping the birthday girl get her water shoes on so she can go play in the water, and get cleaned up.

 More relaxing going on.

The boys were building a pool. It was adorable to watch them running and grabbing water from the lake and dump it into the pool a few feet away from the lake. 

I know I didn't get any photos of me or Ricky, but we were there. I really just wanted show of some photos. I love the bright happy colors in these.

Camping

Did you know that the military gives their men a four day weekend for labor day? I did. So with this knowledge I made sure to ask for those 4 days off from work. Why would I do this? Because Ricky has been dying to go camping, so Friday and Saturday we did just that.

We went to a State park about 2 1/2 hours from Abilene called Colorado Bend State Park. It was surprisingly pretty for Texas. There were hills and actual trees. All the sites were only a few feet away from the river (which looked more like a creek to me)

We arrived Friday afternoon and set up camp,

 Got on our bikes and rode to a place where we could cool down in the river and go exploring.

Right away we started seeing wildlife. This is only on of the many deer we saw.

 I didn't get any pictures of the place where we went swimming but it was really pretty. After cooling down we started hiking up a trail that led through some amazing springs. 

Me playing in one of the pools on our hike.

We only went about a mile or so but it was up through some very slippery rocks and pools.

This is one of pools I loved how green most of the plants were around it.

The water had worn away the inside of this rock.

You can see the streams where the water would usually be flowing, but since it's been so hot and dry the water was really low.

After getting back to camp we made dinner.

If I look tired it's because I am. I had to work Thursday night until 2 am. So not much sleep for me, which is why I decided I needed a nap and let Ricky go fishing. 

I woke up to some deer raiding our camp site. We had left the bread out on the table and they pretty much ate it all. I was so surprised I didn't think to take a picture. I really wish I had though. On a bright note we saw quite a few cardinals. 

We didn't stay up too late but as soon as we started trying to sleep the raccoons came.

 They were right outside of our tent and I don't know about you but if you hear something creeping around your tent at night your last thought is of sleeping. Eventually the animals stopped making me jump and we were able to fall asleep. 

The next morning we got up had breakfast and Ricky wanted to show me the fish that he caught the night before. So we went out and within maybe 5 minutes or so he had caught one.

Ricky casting. He's really proud of this picture.

 The fish he caught. Look at the grin on his face. Isn't he just the cutest.

There were a ton of these little frogs by the river. 

Anyways, after that we went on what felt like a 20+ miles bike/hike, but in reality it was probably closer to 15 miles. We went to a natural spring. It was gorgeous but our camera died like right when we got there so no pictures. Sorry. But Yeah all in all it was a great trip filled with adventure and excitement for all. Ricky is already planning our next camping trip.