It's the most beautiful time of the year

We have a new addition to our apartment.

It is our first Christmas decoration (and it will probably be our only one we get this year) but hey, it's fine.

Along with our new addition, we have a game to go along with it. Written upon our fridge in pink writing is this:

Mistletoe 

Magic

Madness!

(all the roomies names are listed underneath it too)

Our goal is to get as many tally marks by our names as possible.

I'm sure you can guess what that means... ;)

Happy (almost) December!

Love,

Kate

"It's the most beautiful time of the year

Lights fill the streets spreading so much cheer

I should be playin in the winter snow

but I'mma be under the mistletoe"

-Mistletoe, J.B.

It's time for Christmas music.

Thanksgiving was great.

Every Thanksgiving it's a tradition for my family to eat pie for breakfast up at my grandma's house. It's awesome because it just gives us more reasons to eat pie, and I love me some pie. 

So on Thursday, Me, Kam, Kon, and my dad all rode our bikes up to my grandma's house for pie first thing in the morning. (We met the rest of my family there. It was a party.) Kambry and I raced my dad and Konner. We took two separate routes and Kam and I won by a long shot ;) ...but maybe it was only because we were chased by a crazy little dog for like two blocks so that made us book it. Who knows.

Anyways, back at my grandma's house...

I had a sliver of every kind of pie and loved it all. We went back later that afternoon to give thanks and to feast on some delicious food and to spend time with all of our family. 

Pretty much the entire day was good. I can't remember the rest of it though.

This is me and Kam with our cute cousins Finn and Oakley.

 Oakley is my favorite. He is one of the only little cousins that actually likes me... Maybe it's because we look alike?

 

Two out of the three little ones don't really like me and I think it's because I'm not around very often. They act they don't know me and I get offended.. So then I chase them and tease them and they run away from me and avoid me even more. (As you can tell in that first pic of me holding my cousin.. he was trying to get away from me)

Later that night me, my sister Kam, my mom, and my aunts Staci and Summer went to Walmart to participate in the hectic Black Friday craziness. We got there at 8:30pm and got home around 2am. It was insane. However, we were lucky to be out of the commotion because we were standing in line for an item that was located in an aisle that was away from all the mess. So we were in a safe haven, so to speak. 

 This was our "pretend to be happy" face. In all honesty we were tired, annoyed, bored, and super uncomfortable. I seriously hate black friday at Walmart... However it is very interesting to see the entire Sevier Valley show up in Walmart just to fight over dinky towels.

It was a success though, don't get me wrong. We left Walmart happy and with all the items we wanted/needed!

Well I have two more days to enjoy with my family before I have to head back to Cedar. I've had a blast so far. Now that Thanksgiving is over, Christmas is on it's way and Christmas music is safe to play.

Ooooh I love this time of the year! It's so joyful.

Love,

Kate

Hunting Christmas Trees

I came home to Richfield Tuesday night and I get to stay till Sunday. I have had so much fun with my family already and I am excited for the next few days I get to spend with them.

My family went Christmas tree hunting and it was definitely an adventure. It was simply great!  While we were out and about lookin for the perfect tree we came across an old mine! It was pretty neat but it smelled funny. 

After driving for a while and only seeing dead burnt trees, we finally found some greenery and we scouted out our soon-to-be Christmas tree. My dad had me, Kam, and Kon take a turn at sawing the tree down. 

Once it was down, he had me and Kam haul it down the mountain back to the truck. 

It was quite the rough experience! But it was sure a fun one, and definitely worth it.

My family has so much fun together, we have definitely been making memories that will last a life time.

Love,

Kate

It's the little things...

My heart is full. 

"Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end."

This line stuck out to me today as I listened to Kalai sing Be Still My Soul.

I live for joy. 

My paths are thorny sometimes, but it's alright because I know where I am headed. I know what my destination is. I know who the Lord wants me to be and I am on my way to get there.

D&C 45: 62 "For Verily I say unto you, that great things await you..."

We are given this life because we are strong enough to live it. I know this to be true. Although our paths may be thorny sometimes, we should not give up. The best is yet to come!

Today my heart is content. I am filled with love, hope, peace, and joy. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life. I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for his love and for sending his son, the savior of the world, Jesus Christ, to sacrifice his life for us so that we may live with Him again. How beautiful is that love. True love.

Today I am especially thankful for friends; good, honest, trustworthy, loving, kind, dear friends.
I know that the Lord blesses us with different people at different times in our lives for a reason. Each of those reasons, however, are to help us to learn and grow so that we can become the person He wants us to be.
I am surrounded by amazing people... people who I never imagined would be so dear to my heart. But I can tell you this-- the Lord definitely knows who we need in our lives and he will make a way for them to be there if they're meant to be.

These are some of the people who have been huge blessings in my life lately:

• Tiana. I love that girl. She is like my sister. She's my best friend and I honestly do not know what I would do without her. She always knows how I am feeling and always knows how to make me feel better. That, I am thankful for.
• Kylei. She has taught me so much already in the past couple months that we have lived together. She is fun to be around and always makes me smile.
• Joey. He is a good friend. Plain and simple. He is a very good listener and I know that he cares about me. I look up to him in so many ways. He is one of my best friends.
• Bryan. He is a very kind and loving person. Every time we talk, I feel like we teach each other. He seems to always know exactly what to say. He inspires me to be a better person. 

All these people and so many more have had such a big impact on my life. I can't thank Heavenly Father enough for blessing me with people like them to help me, teach me, and love me. 

Great friends can make all the difference in the world. They have such a big influence on your life. I am so grateful for the people that have been placed in my life. I am growing to love them more and more everyday.

Love,

Kate 

Tiana's 20th Birthday Party

Hi. These are some pics from Tiana's birthday party that we had for her. It was a good day. 

This is our good friend Garrett.

This was a bunch of people playing wackee six.

We played Just Dance 2 and 3.

This is Randy Rhodes! My cute cousin Robin Khyl's little brother. 

This is my lovely friend Alyssa :)

This is my dinosaur friend Ben.

This is Tiana, Tanner, Me, and Ben. These boys were so nice to come celebrate T's bday with her!

Hailey came too! Love that lady.

We are definitely blessed to have great friends and people in our lives. 

Love,

Kate

Surprise Photoshoot

Tiana's twentieth birthday was this past week and me and my roomies surprised her with some cute new shirts and a necklace and we had a photoshoot! Here are some of the edited pictures.

--Kylei, Fenja, Tiana, Alyssa, Cydney, and Myself--

We took some individual shots.. This is Fenja.

 

This is me.

 

This is Kylei.

This is Tiana.

& this is Alyssa.

We had a blast getting dressed up! And the balloons were a great addition to all the pictures. 

We all had a good time together, and most importantly, Tiana was happy!

The photoshoot was a success.

Love,

Kate

Beauty in the Breakdown

"Don't confuse your path with your destination. Just because it may be stormy doesn't mean you aren't headed for sunshine."

He [the creator] has great things in store for you.
Love,

Kate

Just trust in Him.

I am thankful for my friends.

You know what?

I believe that everything happens for a reason. 

I have no doubt.

I have faith in Jesus Christ.

I am thankful for prayer.

I know that I can talk to my Heavenly Father wherever and whenever and I know that he listens to me.

 and

I know that he loves me.

I am thankful for the spirit and the comfort it brings me.

I am so thankful for my mom...  more than she will ever know. Although she wished she could have given me a hug tonight because I needed it, I could feel her love stronger than ever even though we were just talking on the phone.

I love her so much. 

I am also thankful for good friends. Tiana sent me this quote tonight after I got off the phone with her:

"Every experience God gives us and every person he puts into our lives is the perfect preparation for a future only HE can see."

Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. All we gotta do is trust in him with all of our hearts and lean not unto our understanding. In all our ways we must acknowledge him! Then he will direct our paths in the direction we need to go.

Put Him first and everything else will fall into place, I promise you that.

I know that it is true.

Love,

Kate

Happiness

Proverbs 16: 20

"He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he."

I trust in HIM.

Do you?

Love, 

Kate