TWIRP!

Since I'm sixteen now, I'm old enough to go to the dances! Yay! This year we are only having three dances at Senior: Homecoming, Winter Formal, and Prom. Usually we have Winter Formal and TWIRP during Winter, but we decided to combine the two. I was going to ask my friend Tanner Townsend to go with me, but I heard that he was going to be out of town during Winter Formal. Then my friend Neine called me, and asked me to be in her group. She goes to West, so I decided to ask Jacob, one of my friends from church. I carved his name into a pumpkin, and inside, I stuck a note that said "I finally got the GUTS to see, will you go to TWIRP with me?"

I stuck it in his car, and after Young Womens, I found it on top of my car, and he had carved YES into the back. :)

A couple of days later, I was walking to my locker at school after Environmental Club, and Jacob came running at me yelling "Kelsea! Don't look! Turn around!" Apparently, Kiahna had told him that I wouldn't be at school still, but she didn't know that I had Environmental Club. But I told his friend what I needed from my locker, and he grabbed it for me. So I didn't get to see what he had done until the next day. But when I got to my locker, it was completely covered both inside and out with sticky notes that said Yes! and candy. How cute. :

Crazy Bowling

Liza's boyfriend from YASE camp came up to Montana from Texas to visit her before he left for his mission, so we decided to go on a double date. I asked Parker Vonk, and we decided to go Crazy Bowling. :) Thanks to Clark for these awesome date ideas! ;) So we met up at Sunset Bowling Alley, and Jarrett and Liza bowled as one person, and Parker and I bowled as one person. There were 10 cards, and on the back of each was a description of how every person was supposed to bowl for that round. One of the cards said "Backwards," so we all had to bowl backwards, and another one said "Sitting Down." We had a lot of fun, and it was good to see Jarrett. :)

There's me sitting down. That might have actually been the only time I got a strike. :)

Here's Parker spinning around ten times. He got a little dizzy afterwards.

Liza had to help Jarrett bowl when he was blindfolded. That was definitely the trickiest one.

There's Jarrett doing a granny shot.

Dash For Dog Parks

This Saturday was the Dash for Dog Parks. It's a 2K or 5K race with your dog that Billings puts on to help raise money for the dog park that is being built. My dad helps out with it, and his vet clinics help sponsor it. Last year Buddy and I got 3rd place, and Tanner was determined to have Buddy win this year. Eddie and I started out running with Eddie, but about halfway through they left me in the dust and went on to finish first! :) They got their picture taken and then got the first place medal. I got a medal too, but it was for fourth place.... We had a lot of fun! :)

Here's the picture that the Billings Gazette took of Eddie and Buddy.

Date to.....Walmart?

During EFY, my friend Clark was telling me all of these great ideas for double dates, and Jaime and I decided that we wanted to go on one. So Jaime asked Colton Zaugg, and I asked David Asay. We picked them up at 6:30, and then we headed to Walmart for a game. :) David and I were on a team, and Jaime and Colton were on a team. Each team had a cart, and they had to go through the store and find an item that started with each letter of the alphabet. Trust me, it's harder than it sounds. After you find all of your items, you have to switch carts and put everything back. I think Colton and Jaime were trying to find the biggest things in the store for us to put away...

David and I, on the other hand, didn't make their job very hard.

Well, after losing David a couple of times, and having NO idea where anything went, Colton and Jaime decided to help us out....as long as we wore the hats.

After partying it up at Walmart, we went to Geyser Park and played mini golf, and then rode the go-karts. Colton and Jaime really enjoyed speaking in British accents and telling everyone that they were from London. ha ha Then we got ice cream at McDonalds, because Dairy Queen was closed. We sure had a lot of fun! :)

Trek

This summer our stake got to go to Martin's Cove for the trek. We got put into families and we pulled our handcarts through the valley. I had a great time with my family, and we had a lot of fun getting to know each other. It was also fun to spend time with all of my friends that I don't normally see during the summer. We had a great experience at Martin's Cove, and we got a glimpse of what the pioneers had to endure. They had the blazing heat during the day, and the freezing cold and harsh wind at night. Some of the tents even broke while we were gone, and I got a pretty bad sunburn.

It was hard, but so worth it. It was a great experience for all of us, and we were able to feel the Spirit. A big favorite of the people who went was the Women's Pull. It was a steep hill that had a lot of sand at the bottom, and was rough and rocky at the top. It represented a time with the men were either dead or extremely sick, and the responsibility was put on the women's shoulders to push the cart. The men had to stand on the sides of the path and watch the women struggle as they pulled and pushed their handcarts up the hill. It was a neat experience. I'm so glad I went on the trek. :)

Here are a few kids in my trek family. This was after our hike to prepare us for the trek. Of course we had to get a picture with the temple in the background! :)

EFY

This year of EFY was absolutely amazing. It was by far my favorite year, and I enjoyed every single minute of it. We had a pretty small company this year, but I really liked it that way. It gave us a chance to really get to know everyone.

This year I went with my friend, Brittany Bangerter. We've been friends since we were in diapers, but she lives in Helena now. It was great being able to spend time with her. :)

This is our entire group.

While we were there, Brittany and I met the funniest boys ever. Their names are Matt and Clark. We had a lot of fun hanging out with them, and dancing funny.....

On Friday we had plenty of free time, so a couple of us in our company went to the sno shack.

The boys in our company were so awesome! They were a lot of fun to be with and they had such great testimonies! :)

When Brittany and I heard that all of the boys in our company were doing the Musical Program, we decided to do it with them. We even tried out for solos and I got one! :) I sang I'll Seek the Lord Early. And, with the persuasion of Brittany, I also decided to sing a solo in the Variety Show. You can probably guess what I sang. Yep, Mercy. :)

This year of EFY is one that I will never forget!

Utah

After YASE camp, Tyler picked me up bright and early to see Harry Potter 7! We were both really excited, but we were a little worried about being to stay awake for the whole movie. Neither of us were very smart, and we had both stayed up really late. :P We thought the movie was awesome, of course, and so did everyone else because at the end everyone clapped. ha ha When we got in the car, I said "Tyler, Harry Potter is done! Now what do I have to live for?!" Afterwards, he took me to Brittany's and we hung out all day. We went to Trafalga, where I kicked butt at mini golf (not), and then her friends came over and took us to a stake dance. We had a good time, but Brittany and I didn't stay up very late because we were exhausted.

Young Ambassador Camp

Earlier this year, my friend Liza asked me if I wanted to go to YASE camp with her at BYU, and I was so excited to go. I love the Young Ambassadors! Tyler gave me a ride up to Utah on Sunday after our camping trip in Idaho, and I stayed the night at the Barry's. We had a lot of fun, and after all of the kids went to bed, Emilee, Leah, and I watched Emma. What a great movie!

In the morning, Liza and her mom picked me up, and we headed to BYU! We were both so excited and nervous. The first day wasn't the greatest because it was auditions, and we were both a little nervous about the dancing.... Even though the first day was a little scary, the rest of the week was amazing! We felt the Spirit the whole week, and we had so much fun learning our songs and meeting new people. We had a lot of awesome counselors, too. I feel like YASE changed my life, and I hope I can go again next year! The performance was a lot of fun, and Tyler even came to see it. :)

This is Michael. He was our dance teacher, and he was awesome. I'm not sure who the other kid is, though....

Here were two other counselors.

Liza and I had a blast! We made a lot of friends and discovered our inner dancers! ha ha ;) What a great week.

Cousins Camp

This year I wasn't able to spend as much time as normal at Cousins Camp, but I had a lot of fun seeing my cousins, especially my little bud, Devin. We all had a of lot of fun watching all of the Harry Potter movies to get ready for the grand finale! When Cousins Camp was over, we all went to Island Park to camp for the weekend. Unfortunately, the mosquitos were terrible, but that didn't stop us from having a lot of fun. We especially loved the four-wheelers, and Grandma and I went on quite the adventure. :) It's so nice to see all of the family!

Party with the Barrionuevos

My mom's sister and her family came up to visit us for the weekend. We had a lot of fun spending time with them. :) We decided to go boating at Yellowtail Dam on the fourth of July, and we had a blast. I even faced my fears... And let me tell you, I was not too happy about it.

This is the look of complete terror. It seems to be a reoccurring expression. I think it says "Who on earth is responsible for making me do this!"

After a fun-filled day at Yellowtail, we went to Laurel with the gang from Cousins Camp to watch the firework show. Devin wasn't a huge fan of the loud fireworks. Right before the show started, some people lit up paper lanterns and lifted them into the sky, just like Tangled! I almost died! :)

Girl's Camp

This year I got to go to Girls Camp and be a 3rd Year Junior Leader. Being a Junior Leader is so much more fun that just going. :) I brought my non-member friend Dei along, and we had so much fun being leaders over the 3rd years.

had a great time getting to know some of the girls, and we are excited to see them at Senior next year. This year we decided to have a Virtue Walk that included everyone, not just the 1st years. Instead of playing a role in the Virture Walk, I wanted to walk the girls around so that I could see it all too. It was such an amazing experience and one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. It was so neat to hear the stories of righteous young women in history as well as Sister Taylor's personal experience. Girls Camp is such an amazing place to be and I am already excited for next year. I have to admit, though, I wasn't a huge fan of the mosquitos or the fact that the showers worked about half of the time we were there. :P I even got a spider bite on my ear and it was so swollen. ha ha But we had so much fun doing the skits and I was the star of the night. ;) Everyone dug my monkey footie pajamas.

I love Girls Camp!

Pryor

Dei and I decided to go out to Pryor today and ride horses. Tanner and Natalie came along for the fun, too.

Then we went for a ride in the dune buggy, and got a little crazy. :P

Kaona's Sixteenth Birthday

My friend Kaona turns sixteen tomorrow, so I decided to surprise her. :) I showed up at her house this morning, and let me tell you, she was not excited to see me at seven in the morning! ha ha I had her open the gift I gave her, which including some wicked awesome glasses and a poster of her future husband, Ryan Reynolds.

Then we went to IHOP for some breakfast.

And, of course, we had to go to Laurel's house and show off her stuff. :)

Judd had a fun time playing with our glasses, too.

Heart and Sole Race

Today I ran another 10K at the Heart and Sole Race in Billings. About twenty minutes into it, I saw a sign saying "10K Mile 5", and I realized that I can't run 5 miles in twenty minutes! Turns out I ran the 5K! Just great! ha ha Oh well, I still got a cool shirt. ;)

Here's a picture of Dei and I after the race. She cheered at the finish with the rest of her cheerleading squad.

Poor Eddie

Well, it turns out that Eddie's bone wasn't healing like it should, so he decided to go with surgery. :( I hope he is able to heal quickly and without a lot of pain. You're in our prayers, Eddie!

This is the x-ray they took at the vet clinic. ha ha

Tetom Dam Race

This weekend my mom, dad, Natalie, and I went to Rexburg for the Teton Dam Marathon Race. On the way there, we stopped at only my favorite place ever! The Playmill! We saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and I have to admit, the guy who played Joseph was pretty cute. :) We figured out that the Playmill does a camp every summer like the Young Ambassador one I am going to next month, so we thought that would be a lot of fun for me to do next summer. We got to the hotel in Rexburg pretty late so we went to bed pretty soon after we got there, but when we woke up in the morning, I realized that I had forgotten to bring tennis shoes! My mom and dad weren't very happy with me. So my dad, Natalie, and I made a quick stop at Walmart for some shoes while my mom went with her friends to start her race. She ran a half marathon (13.1 miles) without stopping! What a stud! I'm so proud of her! Maybe someday I'll have the guts to do that too. :)

I was only doing a 10K (6.2 miles), but that is still farther than I have ever run! I started off pretty good, but most of it was uphill, so it kind of wore me down. I walked quite a ways up the hill, but I ran the whole way down. I finished at 1 hour and 5 minutes, so about a ten minute mile. I was the 91st person to finish overall, and 7th in my age group, 20 and under. After my race I realized that I had a blister on my heel, and my feet were hurting pretty bad. I've learned my lesson! I've decided that running isn't all that bad, and I've even signed up for the Heart and Sole Race 10K that's going on in Billings this Saturday. :)

Don't I look cute.... :P

Bad Way to Start Off the Summer

Last Friday, the first day of summer vacation, Eddie was dirt bike racing in the South Hills while I was having a party at our house. At about 8, my dad called and said that Eddie had crashed during his race and broken his collar bone. Poor Eddie! We all felt really bad for him, and my mom asked Sister Eisele to come over so she could go to the hospital. Luckily he only broke his collar bone, but his bike got a lot of damage too. Hopefully his bone heals properly!

Wicked

Natalie and I got to see Wicked! We were so excited! We went with Grandma, Grandpa, Lindsay, and her friend, and we stayed at the Stewarts house. Tyler, Jacque, Brynn, and Leah came along for the fun too. When we got there we spent the night playing Rock Band.

Saturday we messed around and shopped, until it was time for Wicked!

And, of course, it was amazing!

First Date

One of the best things about turning sixteen is....dating! :) I went on my first date with Jacob Needham, and we went with Liza Smith and Parker Spratling. We went to Phipps Park by Ironwood and hiked around for an hour. Then we went to BBY for some yogurt. We wanted to watch a movie, but we couldn't find any good ones in the $5 section of Walmart, and I refused to see Insidious, so we decided to go to Jacob's and watch Inception. We had a good time. :)

Choir Tour

Every other year Varsity Singers goes on a choir tour. This year we decided to go to Denver. Since I would be flying out of Denver for Florida later that week, I decided to fly there and meet everyone the next day. We got to go to places like a museum, the Denver Zoo, a Rockies game, Casa Bonita, and a Murder Mystery. It was fun hanging out with the seniors in my choir.

Sweet 16

For my birthday this year, my parents decided to get creative and they bought me a gift to represent every year of my life. :)

0-1: I loved watching movies, and my favorites were Babe and Black Beauty.

1-2: When Eddie came home from the hospital, I tried to give him a drink by pouring water on his face.

2-3: The first time I pooped in the toilet, I ran out of the bathroom saying "I made an L!"

3-4: I loved playing with figurines and having them interact with each other.

4-5: I was so into princesses. (And I still am! :) )

5-6: My little sister was born and I loved helping out.

6-7: I was taking a road trip with my grandparents, and out of the blue, I yelled "I am SO freaking bored!"

7-8: I got really into jumping rope, and I even joined a club at the YMCA.

8-9: I got baptized.

9-10: We have a really cute picture of all of us kids with oranges in our mouths.

10-11: We went to DisneyLand for the first time.

11-12: My mom taught Spanish to my 6th grade class.

12-13: I got into basketball and played for my middle school team.

13-14: My parents gave this to me because I won a lot of awards at my eighth grade graduation.

14-15: I starting singing and really began to love it.

15-16: I got my license and started driving.

For my sixteenth birthday party, I decided to do March Madness Sweet 16. I thought it was so clever, and I was so excited to have it. We were going to play games and have a championship at the end. Turns out, Makelle was planning a surprise party for me. It was so sweet and I was completely surprised! All of my friends were there, and I had so much fun. Makelle even put together a game to test how well everyone knew me. I LOVED it! Makelle is such a sweetheart. So, I didn't end up having my March Madness party, but this was so much better! What a great way to spend my sixteenth birthday! :)