A Kind Word

You just never know how far it will go.

I was paid a sweet compliment by a sister I served with very few times in our stake. It really brightened my day and made me feel like maybe I'd accomplished something in my calling.

Let's be more free in expressing gratitude to those around us, maybe even those we aren't in contact with that frequently. You just never know.

YOSEMITE!

Wow.... That is really the only word for that place. Wow. It is INCREDIBLE! COMPLETELY worth the 15 hour drive to get there. Well, we actually found out if you drive straight and only stop for gas, lunch, and dinner (30 min each), it's 13 hours of hard driving time. WORTH IT. Now you KNOW you need to go if you know how much I hate riding in the car.

Pictures and details to follow soon. A favor to ask. While we were there, just a few minutes from our campsite, a small family fell over the Vernal Falls. They haven't been found. I'm just asking you to pray for their family and for them that they will find peace and comfort. It was a really tragic accident and heartbreaking to hear about, especially when being right there.

Happy Fourth!

We hung out with the Douglass Fam for most of the fourth. First thing, we headed up to Banks and most of us rafted The Main (Payette River). Ben stayed on land with his mom and the girls because a)the girls can't swim, b)mom hates rafting and needed man power to put on an AMAZING half-point bbq and c)he pulled his hamstring in his softball game and couldn't swim if he needed to save his life. I only rafted the first half, then Ben, the girls, mom, and I headed to the Gutter (a local river hangout) to play on the boogie boards.

Our Waite cousins met us there and we had SO much fun in the water together, even though it was FREEZING!

Ellie ADORES aunt Jen, though it's hard to tell in this pic :)

She did have fun kickin around in the river, until she tipped over and got her face wet. Poor thing!

Anyway, it was a fantastic day. We were happy and blessed to spend it with loved ones!

Brook's First Real Haircut {I Don't Know What Possessed Me!}

Actually it wasn't me at all! Brook had to beg me to take the first cut- I stood frozen with the scissors for like 10 minutes! It was really hard, but looking back on how her hair looked, I think it was definitely a good choice!

So long!

Not anymore!

She's going to LOVE those waves when she gets older... NOT!

She loves it and I do too! We'll see what Daddy thinks....

Fun at the Boise Zoo with Our Cousins

Completely Self-Gratuitous Post

The other day, my little sister Stacy was over, and we decided to make jewelry while watching episodes of Monk. I sorta got on a roll and basically did nothing else all day. It was fun! Here are some of my creations from the day:

Purple Glitter Earrings.... I may be obsessed. Look for these to come in EVERY glitter color ever made.

Would you guess they were made from ugly buttons?

My new favorite necklace:

I'm calling it "Charmed"

My take on the Vintage Button Necklaces out there:

Okay, so my buttons aren't vintage. The purple ones are, the ivory ones are shell buttons I got at Joann's a coon's age ago! It's been so long, they're probably vintage now :)

Let's call this one "Shell We Dance?" Okay I'm a dork

This one I refashioned using a necklace/clip on earring set that belonged to my great grandmother on my mom's side, Vione Hyatt Cottrell Stolar

I LOVE the metal roses!

I {heart} big hearts!

This one looks weird when it's not on...

Maybe it looks weird on too, but I think it's the shirt! Sorry I'm WAY to lazy to change outfits to match my jewelry just to take pictures of it!

And this is the bust for the evening.. it seemed like it should be cute when I started, and then it went horribly, HORRIBLY wrong... the more I did, the worse it got... so yeah. Not every creation is a success, but don't give up!

I call this one "Our Love is Timeless"

It's dedicated to Ben :)

"The Attention Grabber"

Hence the exclamation point.

This ring was made using an old clip on earring from my grandma, Trudy Keithler Smith. I believe it belonged to her mother, Adina Clark Keithler. The match to it is missing :(

Well, I hope you enjoyed my post :) I am obsessed with making jewelry. If you haven't tried it, maybe don't start, because it is seriously addicting!

I just bought a kagillion beads from Craft Warehouse on MAJOR sale, so look for more jewelry posts in the near future! Unless you all beg me not to post them :)

I'm linking up to