Very Inspiring!

I have a cousin named Burgon who is blind and deaf. The Desert News did an article on her that I wanted to share with anyone that wants to be inspired :)
She is an amazing gal and we love her.


Burgon's Article click here

Kel Kemp Golf Tournament 2009

My Grandpa Kemp died from cancer about 5 years ago. Since then, every year around this time there is a golf tournament played in his name. Proceeds go to The Huntsman Cancer Institute.
This was a great year! A great turn out, and so much fun!!
We play 18 holes of golf, and I am always with my wonderful Mom, sister, and sister in law. It would be safe to say we arent the best golfers, but we try hard and we have A LOT of fun.
My awesome team!

This year I hadnt picked up a club once. I was rusty. I hadnt played since last tournment and my sister hadnt played in 2 years and I think my mom and sister in law maybe once.
Yes, out of the whole grassy area my ball lands in this puddle. But dont worry, my mom had her trusty ball getter outter!

We made about a thousand of these little holes in the ground, but luckily we are so bad, it would take so much grass out that we could just go the 2 yards it went and patch up our little holes like nothing happened! The funny thing is, right after I took this picture I was up to swing, and I did the exact same thing right next to theirs. Oops.

We did however do a lot better then we have in years past. We even got one under par(how many times it should take you to get in the hole)which is the first time I think ever.

Kaysie was my cart partner. Its always a great time.

This story is going to make me sound like I am a 10 year old boy, but I bought a fart machine online that sounds exactly like someone is passing gas. I had it hidden in my purse and right as my sister Kami was about to hit a ball I pushed the button and got a nice little toot through her back swing. Oh....good times. My sister and I had tears we were laughing so hard at that machine. I got my mom once when she was bending over to put her tee in the grass. 18 holes is a long time! You gotta do what you gotta do!
Kaysie and I were adding up our score after and apparently we did it wrong. For the last 5 years we have always come in last. So when we came up with the score of 57 and saw all these people that were in the 50's we thought we did so good! Then we realized we did it wrong and actually got 95. The point in golf is not to have a high score. So, we were awarded the DFL(Dead Freaking Last). We did come out with some new golf balls (Kami will put these to good use as she lost about 50 balls that day haha) and a gift card to ColdStone!

After a fun filled day of golfing we go in for a lunch, and a raffle and silent auction. There were great prizes this year, and unfortunately I didnt win one of them. But its ok! Because it is all for a great cause.
The whole Fam after the tourny.

I have to give a HUGE shout to my cousins Annie & John. They organize this whole thing everywhere and put so much hard work and time into the whole thing. Its always very organized and such a great time. Thank you guys so much for another great year!!!

Road Trip USA

I went on my very first long road trip last week. I had the time of my life.
My long time friend Alex has been in Florida selling security systems over the summer and needed to drive home. He didnt want to drive alone, and anyone who knows me knows I will leave at the drop of a hat to travel...so the trip began.
I flew into Orlando Fl around 10 at night, so just went to bed from there.
If you know Alex, you know he is a goof ball, and that he is not afraid to talk to anyone. He met an old guy named Ray, and found out Ray was retired from DisneyWorld. Alex, not being shy asked if he could hook us up :)
Apparently Ray can get up to 3 people a day into Disneyworld for free. But, Ray is a smart man and likes to make money, so he charges $50 which he just pockets.
So we went to Walgreens to pick up Ray. I was slightly scared because It was kind of random to pick up a stranger and drive to Disneyworld.
Also, the car looked like this, and I didnt know how we were going to fit ol Ray in.

We get to Walgreens, and Ray is on his little scooter. We unpack the car, put me in the back and then pack it around me. I couldnt move and the only thing that wasnt covered was my face.

We loaded up Ray(even he was covered in stuff) and headed off to Disneyworld! While we were driving Ray announes to us that he is legally blind. And driving a scooter??
Ray pulled through and got us right in, free parking and a pass to all 4 parks for $50 total. So $25 a person. After he gets you in, he takes the bus back to Walgreens :)

And so the first day of an awesome Road trip begins.

We started off at Disneyworld doing all the Disneyworld things...Splash Mtn, parades, food, rides..

And then rode the rail over to Epcot.

I had never been before so I was really excited! It was so great! I wish I would have had more time. We spent the rest of the day there and wasnt able to make it to any of the other parks, but I wont complain! It was so great!
We tasted delicious drinks

Hung out in all the different countries areas

And closed the park down. What a fun time.
After that, even tho it was really late we decided to start our drive. We drove 2 hours and made our first stop..somewhere still in FL.
The next morning we woke up and had a big breakfast!
I wanted to see an aligator SO bad..but it just didnt happen. On one of our stops I did see this big stuffed one.

And we of course induldged in a yummy Fl orange.

We were basically on the border of FL/Georgia at this point so soon after we passed into Georgia. I was so excited to see Georgia. I wanted to sit down and have a nice meal and meet some Georgians with their southern hosipitality, and make life long friends...nope. They werent having it, and I never felt the southern hospitality. But their state was really beautiful.
Every 5 ft I swear we saw signs for PEACHES. We stopped at a million exits and they were no where to be found. Finally, after a couple hours of driving we stop at one last stand...ta da!

I think my exact words were "Finally, a fresh peach from Georgia". Then the man behind the counters says "These aint Georgia peaches! We all out of Georgia peaches, these are from South Carolina." That will do I thought. I only bought one tho.
Onward we went! I have never, ever sang so loud, and so proud before in my life. I am not afraid to say that I have the WORST singing voice in history, but a combo of comfort with my best bud sitting next to me and 2,400 miles ahead I didnt care. I sang Celine Dion, Salt & Peppa, and Moulon Rouge at the very top of my lungs.
Then we rang across this cute little town. We had no plans at all, just stopped where we wanted and when we needed to use a restroom. I have always loved the name Dalton so we stopped in Dalton, Georgia.
I Loved, loved loved Dalton Georgia. There wasnt a soul in sight.
This is the new house I picked out for myself..

I was there taking pictures for quite awhile when I noticed no one had even driven by, and there were stop lights all over.
So I had a Notebook feeling run over me.

Look at this cute little coffee shop that no one was at.

Words cant express how I feel about this little town.
After taking a lot of photos we had dinner at a little burger place and hit the road!
On to Tennesse!

We found signs all over the place pointing us towards Ruby Falls! For as much hype as they made it I thought it had to be good. So we stopped. And it was SO amazing.
Its this little castle on top of the mountain. The ride in makes you feel like you are in Hawaii, its so tropical and green and beautiful. When you get to the top there is this awesome building

Basically you go to the top of this building...

And start a hike. It goes into a cave that had a huge water fall falling into it. It is so beautiful. We missed the last hike by minutes, but the brochures were great :)
It had an awesome view of some city in Tennessee..

We stayed the night there in Tennessee and same story, new state the next morning.
We drove through Kentucky

By this time Alex gently told me we couldnt stop as much. So we drove all the way through Kentucky and it was so so pretty...but no stops.
We went through Illinois, same story, but I didnt even get ONE photo. We had no idea where we were or what direction we were going (Thank you GPS) so we actually thought we would go through Chicago and have pizza. Ha, Chicago was the opposite direction but its ok. So no pictures of Illinois.
Next up, Missouri! I have never had any desires to go to Missouri. Shame on me. It was so great! I loved it. We drove by the St. Louis Arch and river and had to stop.

We stopped at this cute little place that was playing the best old fashion music. I wanted to dance like a grandma on the boardwalk.

We got lunch and sat under the arch for a picnic!

I just found out today that you can actually go up into the arch. If only I had done any kind of research on these places! It was still such a great stop. After lunch we took a long walk to stretch our legs down the river and back in the car we went!
On our way out of Missouri from like a hundred miles away you could see this HUGE roller coaster. It was the biggest roller coaster I have ever seen. 400 Ft. I love crazy rides and told Alex I didnt care how much it cost, I would pay for both of us if he made one more stop. So we drove up...it had just closed.

So, to Iowa we went!

We stopped in Iowa, and it was pitch black. No lights no towns that we could see and then comes Craig, Iowa. It was tiny and we had to drive down a long scary road to get to a gas station. For some reason I was scared, I thought for sure we were going to get murdered and never found. We pull up to this TINY gas station, with a lady with no teeth working the counter. She didnt even acknowledge us when we went in. Well on the radio the song Mambo #5 came on and Alex started singing it to me across the gas station and for some reason I was inspired to say "Dance party!" and me and Al started dancing...sure enough, the scary gas station lady started dancing behind the counter. It was great fun. All the sudden Craig Iowa was a blast!
I dont know why I wanted to make friends so bad on this trip, but right after we stopped in another part of Iowa for dinner. There wasnt a lot to chose from, and it was like 10 PM so we stopped at another gas station that had a Subway that was still open. There was a MEAN gas station worker there, and she wanted no part of us. So that made me want to be her friend even more. Alex went to the rest room after so I thought it would be a great time to get to know her since there was no one around. She yelled at me, so we left :(
We drove on and crossed over into the....uh....nice state of Nebraska.

Here we stayed the night and caught some sleep for the long drive ahead.
Nebraska was nice and flat, but we ran into some great thunderstorms!


We had some great times on this trip.
We saw some amazing sun rises and sun sets!


And we would not have been able to make it through without my trusty blow pops( we had like 5 a day)and Funyons.
Thanks Al for a super fun trip!

My summer book...

Well it only took me a whole summer to get through it but I can now cross this off the list as well.

I wanted to read a good book over the summer and I was referred The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by quite a few people.

So I hopped online and bought it. Because summer is so busy, it literally did take me the whole summer to read it but I enjoyed it.

Usually when anyone tells me about a movie or a book I always go into it with an open mind and no expectations, so that I can give it my own thoughts. But because this book came so highly recommended I will admit I went in with high hopes.

Also..nerd alert! I Love reading/learning about World War 2. And the book is based around that time.

Its about an author who is looking to write a book about World War 2. She gets in contact with a farmer from the Island of Guernsey and they start writing back and forth. He is apart of a literary society they formed during the war. So everyone in the society starts to write this Author so she can write a book about what they went through during the war, while the Germans had occupied their island.

There were a lot of characters to try and keep track of, and I didnt love the way the 2 authors wrote the book, but over all it was good! The whole book is written as letters, which was interesting and a nice change. It took me awhile to get into it, but once I did I enjoyed it. Cant say that I loved it, but I did like it. I wont say a lot more in case anyone is interested in reading it.

I bought the book, so if anyone would like to read it, you are more then welcome to borrow my copy!

Also, this is not a very good review of this book, so dont take my word for it. (Reading Rainbow right there :) )

Homemade Ice cream

About a month ago I made some homemade ice cream! It was my first time ever, so there are some things I could definitely improve on the next go around.
I looked everywhere for a good ice cream maker. I couldn't find a good size for a good price. I looked on KSL, I looked at Walmart, then my friend said she got a huge one at DI for $5. I hit up every DI in this valley and couldn't find one. (PS. I now have a huge love for the DI. I find all these things I feel I could make into a fun project) Anyway, my sweet sister brought hers out since I couldn't find one.
So the process began.



I don't know what it was about making the ice cream, but I was really excited. Some of the fam came over, and I really started to get sad that Summer is almost over. I have had some great times RELAXING this summer. Its been a summer I have never quite experienced, but I enjoyed it. It was good for me. My parents have a very peaceful backyard and my family has spent many hours chillaxin.
I love that my nieces and nephews love my dog so much. It is so fun to me. And since everyone in the fam has a spouse and kids, Ecko is kinda my second half. Haha, as lame as that sounds. But, the kiddos love her.

She has such a love for life. A great example to all of us.

Gus Man

My mom and Millie

The toppings
Butterfinger, Oreo, Peaches, Raspberries, Cookie Dough Bites, and Grahm Crackers


I was so patient. I let the ice cream maker do its thing, even longer then it told me to, and it still turned out like soup! I was kinda bummed. Oh well, everyone humored me and slurped their ice cream soup.
Mei Mei proudly showing her choice in toppings.

After we all had some ice cream soup I was cleaning up and put the left overs in the freezer. My dad later in the evening decided he wanted seconds. When I pulled it out, it was the perfect consistency. I wish I would have thought of that sooner.
Cute K Bell kissing Millie good night.

Even if it didnt turn out how I expected, I am still happy I attempted and get to cross it off the list! Next time is going to be awesome. Look out Cold Stone.

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My friend Lindsay and I went to the Farmers Market down town on Tuesday night. I enjoyed it. I did think it would be a lot bigger, but the taste testing was great.
I bought a loaf of cinnaburst bread, a basket of white nectarines, and some jalapeno jelly. I got a couple pictures but I looked like I was 400 lbs so they will not be posted.
Then this last weekend my brother and his family invited me up to the Park Silly Sunday Market (I think that's what the sign said). It was so great. I loved it. If you haven't been up there, I would totally suggest it. It was raining when we first got there, so I didn't take my camera in for the market, so again no pictures. But the booths were great, the food was good, the music was fun...just over all a great time. Thanks for the invite guys. I didn't buy anything, but there were a ton of things I wanted. There was a lady that would buy old vintage skirts, and sew little designs on them. If my legs were 2 inches longer, one of those skirts would have been mine! But, those old vintage style skirts that sit right below your boobs just don't look good on my body type. Oh, but they were so cute. I must have walked past her booth 10 times. After those 2 Farmers Market experiences, I will definitely go back. With lots of cash.

Swing Batter Batter

I played softball with my work again this season. And I found out that I am the WORST softball player out there. But, I sure had a great time. And everyone was always so nice to me. Even when I struck out....AGAIN and AGAIN..

I am SO incredibly lucky to have this woman in my life. I LOVE her so much. This is my Grandma Killian. And at the ripe ol age of 86 she came to a lot of my games, and sat on that hard concrete.

As I said earlier, I suck. Bad. So one game we didnt have enough girls and they stuck me as catcher. I loved it. You do like 100 squats a game, a way better work out then standing in right field and watching the ball whiz right over my head and way off from my mit that I stuck up there just to pretend like I was trying. Just kidding, I really did try. But I would be better off saying I didnt.
Heres the team! We took 4th place.

I really did have fun, even if Softball isnt my sport.