In Memory of Leigh Case

I have never known someone well enough that once they died, i would be in this much shock. For some reason, the death of my best friend's mom has really been hard. Leigh was one of those people that you could be so goofy around and she would laugh and play along! she nicknamed me "kayla-boo" and was basically a second mom to me all through elementary and Jr high school. I remember showing her all of me and Shelby's crazy dances we made and practicing our cheer try out in front of her and she was so supportive and sweet about everything!

She died of a rare disease called Lyme disease, and we aren't sure if it was the medication she was on, the Lyme disease itself, or overdose that took her life. she has been sick for about 6 to 7 years which was really hard for their family to go through.

My friend and I decided to make a huge sign and write "we are here for you HANDS DOWN" and have everyone handprint it with their name aside and deliver it to the Case family which turned out to be a HUGE success! the football team was let out of practice early, dear friends of ours and even some people we didn't know showed up and handprinted the poster for them! we also had tons of construction paper and markers for them to write a sweet quote or note to Shelby. when we delivered it, Shelby was so touched and her dad started to cry which of course, made me tear up a little bit, but it also made me feel like I was making a difference in their life, which then was all I wanted to do.

I will always be there for my good friend and will cheer them on as they continue through life and I know someday they will all be reunited again!

Utah! EFY and more!

The pics are all messed up but atleast they all made it on! haha! EFY was AMAZING! i met such great people (yes, boys:)) and many great speakers! I will miss my company so much but its good we atleast can all keep in touch through facebook and texting! my favorite part of the whole experience was the huge YW/YM medley that ALL of the youth sang together! it was the "Zion Medley" which made about 99.9% of the room in tears! (yes that includes me) and from that we went straight to the testimony meeting which was amazing as well! After EFY i went to one of my big family reunions and luckily got to take Mckenzie with me! there was a huge tarp/slip 'n' slide for everyone to go down which is what we spent doing the whole time in soffees and t-shirts:P after that we hiked up a small hill behind the house thing and there was a HUGE feild that went about 1 mile around of just green! as we kept walking we saw hay barrels stacked that we climbed and boy was it just B-E-A-UTIFUL! I gained anew respect towards Idaho!

this is Max:) he was 17, 6'4'' and... well.. yeah:)

me in the green!

the "fantastic four" on the hay barrels! look at the view!!
by the hotel there was a river so i snapped a shot of my baby!
this is how me and Kenzie felt about leaving EFY behind:(
the "sexy six" (landon, jake, kenzie, me, blaire, mckell)
"Few Are Chosen"

Update!

Sorry it has been so long, but here is what i am up to lately! today i gave a talk in sacrament meeting and wow!! nerve wrecking to the max! but i survived!

Look at my new best friends! they are oh so sweet! They live across the street from me and today i got lucky to steal them for about an hour just to show off to my family how lucky i am to get to watch them on some weekends:)

Luke (Chub) (yes i have nick names)

Zack (bones)

Look at this sweet picture I took of my baby dog:)

My Bug!!

I found this pic on the computer and i edited it to make it cool! I love this bug!

Moms Day Out!!!!

I am doing moms day out again this year! last week was the first day, and it was "western day"! this weeks theme is animal day! it is such a blast and a great way to earn money in the summertime! here are pics i took of each of the kids last week (these are not all the kids that attended, but just some)

Babysitting Palooza!!!

SUMMER!! - need i say more?:)

I love summertime! sleeping in, watching movies every night, lessons, friends, shopping, friends, swimming etc.! One disadvantage about summer activities is that it all costs money!! I happen to be very blessed because I am a female:) i have the "nurturing abilities" that men do not have- says my father. With that ability, I get tonnnsss of babysitting calls! It is so nice to know that a job is just a phone call away from anyone! i get a call ATLEAST once a week for babysitting and it rocks! its such a fun and easy job!

This past week i have babysat 3 families, and that is pretty normal for a summer week! today, actually, i babysat for a sweet family for 9 hours!! it was long, but fun and definentaly worth it! i love getting to know kids, and learning how to pull different strings;) GO BABYSITTING!

Hmmm... I'm now sensing a shopping trip....

dolly's with dad

I came home from school the other day seeing this. yep, they are playing dolls.

A Normal Day at the Cooks.... and Conners Birthday!

First of all....

Its Conners birthday!!! WOOHOO! big 6 year old!!

Now the fun part,

So I walk out because Addi, of course, leaves the house without me knowing and i see this:



and the only way to get them home and bathe, is to.....
give them a bubble bath!!!!!! Am i going to be a great mother or what!?!?

My New Room!

For Personal Progress, one of my ten hour projects was doing my room! I painted, bargained and decorated it! then celebrated with my cheer party! (which will be my next post)

this is what you see when you walk in

my bed!
my shelves right by my bathroom!

Zorrito: the birth of a legend

Zorrito was not my favorite play ever at first, but then once we started our performances, boy was it a blast! its crazy how fast we all grow together once the performances start! they are so fun! Here are some pics;)

we were dancers and had the funnest fans ever!!!!
these are at the cast party!
some people were crazy and jumped in our pool!!
It was so much fun! the PPD (Post Play Depression) how ever, is the hard part, but no worries, we are having a cast PPDP coming up! (Post Play Depression Party) Thanks for you guys that came and saw it!!!

Weirdos

My parents just left to Africa two days ago! It will be a fun adventure for them! but until they get home, a young couple is staying here with us! they have an adorable little baby boy named Jack! haha! and get this, Addi seems to relate him to "apple jacks" the cereal, and so his new name is apple jack!! hahahha!!!

here are some pics of what savannah and conner looked like when we went to walgreens to get a movie at the redbox. embarrassing? yep.

conner is in his swim suit

Savannah in her pajamas with high heels on:)

Walkin in a Disney Wonderland!

First of all, this is my 100th post!!! I have been waiting for this day!!

For all you cruisers, you all know that Disney cruise line is the best!!! And I am not a cruiser, but after this one, I know that this is the best! check out the amazing trip to "a whole new world"

Here is the boat like 30 minutes before we got on...

See the yellow Mickey head on the right? thats the entrance!!!
The first day, they had a HUGE party to celebrate take off!
The first night we arrived, was probably the worst, because the water was very choppy and the boat rocked back and forth like crazy, and I wanted to hurl!! For dinner our waiters (the BEST ones on the boat) asked me what I wanted to eat for dessert, and I replied "Nothing... I am not feeling that well thank you" and my waiter came with a plate with a dome cover lid thingy and i was worried he got my order wrong! here was my dessert:
The first morning we stopped in gorgeous Nassau, Bahamas!!! Baby!!!! we got to go to the nice water park called Atlantis and see the most amazing hotel ever!
The next morning we stopped at Castaway cay(disneys private island) for kayaking and chiling!
by chilling I mean this:
Look at the beautiful weather!!!!
My favorite people on the boat were Victor from Colombia(left) and Romy from India(right) they did magic tricks for us and were just so nice to have around!! Ill miss them...

One ight they had a pirates theme night, and at like 10:30 they had a feast!!! like 2 long tables of food and desserts!! they had these cool pirate ice sculptures there too!

This is just half of one of the tables!!! mmm food! the sad thing is, is that after around 8 oclock i dont want food anymore no matter how hungry i am! its so weird! i just cant get myself to eat anything! so I sat and watched my parents have a feast!!
But see, this is before 8 oclock;)

Another cool thing, was that they had a show every night with real performers! they did a real good job except for the fact that 3 of the 4 shows were about "dreams come true with a pinch of fairy dust" and "reach into your heart and shout with us DREAMS COME TRUE" my dads face? priceless.
Our room server dudes made awesome animal thingys with towels!
After we got off, it was to Disneyworld we go! where there were MORE shows about dreams coming true! My dad by then, just wanted to die poorthing so I sat and rubbed his feet for him during the performances;)
What a great experience for my family and myself! It was so fun! My favorite part was probably building my esteem for my dream coming true!!!!! hahhahaha!!! seriously, i have had enough of that!!!

THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!!!

Melts my Heart to Juice!!!

first of all, I have not forgotten to post about my cruise!! I just need to wait for my mom to put up the pictures because I am too lazy to put them up myself :P

Today Savannah came in my room very sad. she had her burret(a stretchy beanie type hat thingy made of yarn) in her hands that was so stretched out that it wouldnt even fit over Einsteins head. She was sad because she thought that when i wore it I stretched it out, but i had to tell her my head was not that big! haha! she left very sad because she really really liked that hat! darn it!

I then went to the mall and got her a "S" bracelet and a soda chapstick thing at Claires (her favorite store) just because i felt bad for the poor thing! She loved it so much and I think that was the best $3 gift i ever bought! (yes, i am a clearance shopper;) like mother like daughter)

Tonight after i put them to bed, i got a "mysterious" note on my counter, and i read through it. I don't ever think i have teared up on one of her notes, but I can't say that again! It was the cutest thing it said stuff like "thank you so much for your gift" and "you are the prettiest, best sister ever" and the best part of the note read; "Kayla is as pretty as a rose, and when she blooms, I hope she never closes" sadly, I had to think about that for a minute until i finally got it and then teared up! How does an eight year old think of that?? or is she just reading a lot?? hmmm I dunno! but I realized how lucky i was to have such a sweethearted, intelligent, thoughtful little sister and how i wouldn't change her for forever and a half!

Addi!!

Addi was eating spaghetti and her chin was stinging and so here was the only way to get her to stop screaming:

Excited!!

sorry i am no such a good poster :/ i wish i did post more often but i am busy busy busy! and i do read all of your blogs!!!

My cruise is on the twenty third and i just cannot wait!!!!!! I have been counting down and i cannot believe its only in 15 days!!! aaaah!!

just thought i'd let you know ;)