24 years ago

my parents were married in the Los Angeles, California temple. And since that time they have raised 5 very happy and blessed kids.

Happy and blessed because we have them as our parents and our best friends.

There are some nights when we are all sitting around joking with each other, sharing stories from our day, laughing together and simply being a family- and it's those times I realize how much love my parents have created in our home.

I am so thankful for the choices they made in their lives that brought them together and made us a family :)

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

2:06:44

of running my heart out to finish my first half marathon :)

Here's a little glimpse of what was going through my head all that time:

"Keep going karina, you're not tired. Man this canyon is pretty!! Don't I have any more upbeat songs? You do not have to pee karina. Is that girl passing me again? ooh that's a blister... I love you john mayer, it's just hard to listen to you when i'm trying to run fast. yay! a water station!! Well, I can't feel my feet anymore. oh yeah karina, you are doing this and you feel great!! "we gonna light it up, like it's dynamite" Ok that was the longest mile of my life. Thank you downhill!! I cannot believe where I am right now."

I don't know what worked better, listening to my self-encouragement or simply ignoring myself to push through it :)

After Brynn and I finished the half-marathon (btw Brynn finished under 2 hours!! isn't she amazing??) we went back and sprinted with my mom as she came in which I loved.

I did way better than I could have ever hoped for and that makes me SO happy :) this whole week I've been feeling so strong and just plain confident after running a half marathon. I've proven to myself again that I can do hard things :)

It was one awesome experience which I will be sure to do again :)

summer night

nothing like a long bike ride late at night to one of my favorite places with my sister. we played for way too long on the swings making ourselves sick and taking more pictures than were necessary :)

and man we had some good faces :) haha

then we were big babies who were too scared to ride home in the dark and had our mom pick us and our bikes up.

good night :)

Freckle Season

yep it's summer!! And I've been neglecting this blog... so I will just post some pictures of random happenings this summer to make up for lost time :)

It's my third summer working at the Pioneer Village Photoshop in Lagoon and my first year as one of the managers there. It's almost like a whole new job this summer with the different responsibilities I have there now, but this should be my last summer working there... ready for a change :)

Even though I do have fun with the girls I work with :)

My little sister Brynn is now graduated from high school! Which means she will be down with me at BYU in the fall!! I'm glad I'm here at home this summer to help her make the transition of moving away from home. We have already made plans for when we are down at school to go running together, go grocery shopping, share clothes, and have late nights studying together in the library :) it's gonna be good.

I've had the chance to go up to Heber a couple of times to watch my little cousins. I even was able to watch the kids overnight and play mommy the next morning getting them ready for school, making breakfast, and cleaning the house. I loved it :)

On the Fourth of July weekend, my little brother Landon ran a 5K in Salt Lake and we all came out to support him! We spent that morning walking around the Capital Building, and seeing a few places in Salt Lake.

good times. I will post more later!

falling asleep...

is a lot easier to do when I'm down at school. I am completely exhauseted by the end of the day that it takes no time at all for me to fall asleep. But here at home it's a little different. Because I'm not completely exhuasted I have energy to read before I sleep, watch movies with my siblings, and I now have dreams almost every night, and boy there have been some weird ones. haha

Last night I fell asleep listening to my little brother talking in his sleep :) I love that boy.

My favorite ways to fall asleep:

• after a head scratch
• reading children's books
• listening to my dad play "If You Could Hie to Kolob" on the piano in the other room

bliss.

Organizing

I've loved to do it ever since I was little :) Last week I decided I wanted to clean out a closet in our house. The boxes in this closet haven't been touched since we've moved in, so after some time working on this.....

TA-DA!! :)

sorry the pictures aren't rotated.... they are on my computer but they keep loading this way

I got to go through old music my parent's loved, books we read as kids, and disney movies we grew up with :) After I found a few home videos of us, we all watched them as a family and laughed over our little selves :)

and this is my get-up as I cleaned the closet :) haha I found all of this costume while I was cleaning and I couldn't help myself :)

I love organizing. :)

Road Trip :)

The other week Holly flew up to Utah so the two of us could take a road trip up to Idaho for our good friend Dani's wedding :) The drive was beautiful and Holly and I sang songs the entire way :)

The start of our trip :)

"Welcome to Idaho!!"

Holly and I were able to stay at her cousins house in Kuna which allowed us to be close to Meridian where Dani lived. It was so sweet of her cousin to let us stay in their home and their four daughters were some of the sweetest and funniest little girls I've ever been around. :) We read stories with them, played with them, stayed up late talking to them, and they taught us how to make button jewelry!!

While we were in Idaho, we were able to see a lot of Holly's family and the small towns they live in. Her cousins had some little chicks that we were able to hold :) You can also see our button jewelry!!

We are Bridesmaids!! :) I loved being there for Dani's wedding to help out, get to know her family better, and celebrate her wedding :)

Dani and David walking out of the temple as Husband and Wife :) She was GORGEOUS :) It was unreal to see her married- I'm so happy for her!!!

In between the wedding luncheon and the reception, Holly and I went back to Kuna and we got a tour of the small town from Holly's cousin and her family. Their family comes to play at this river during the summer- doesn't that sound fun!!

Dani had a "candy bar" set up at her reception stocked with blue and green candies to match her colors :) she even made that sign that says "Love is the 'sweetest' thing" :) how cute is that!!

It was really fun to carry around a bridesmaid bouquet :) We even made button rings to match Dani's colors!!

David and Dani's first dance to "The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson :) When it was time for Dani to dance with her dad, Holly and I started bawling!! We were just so happy for her!! And it was so sweet to see her share that experience with her dad.

Once faster music started playing, Holly and I also got on the dance floor :) My favorite part of the entire night was when Dani danced with all of us bridesmaids- we all just went crazy and had a great time :)

Holly and I decorated their car :) We were very nice though and didn't make it too messy!

Drive home from Idaho!

We stopped in Burley to stretch and look for Burley men :)

It was such a fun road trip and I hope Holly and I get the chance to go on another one!!