Childhood Mem's

*Kudos to Melissa for providing me with this latest blog post. What a gem, seriously. :]

1. Where did you grow up?
I lived in Grace, Idaho for the first two years of my life, then we moved to Idaho Falls, Idaho where I resided for the next 17 years.
2. Do you consider your childhood a happy one?
The happiest. I couldn't have asked for a better childhood. I loved the fact that I had a big family. It was a huge challenge for my parents to raise us all, but I loved every minute of it.
3. Do you have any siblings?
Ha.. I have 5 other sisters (3 older, two younger) and 3 brothers (two older, one younger). And I love 'em all!
4. Who did you think was the smartest person in the world?

Definitely God.
6. What about being a child do you miss the most?
Going outside to play knowing that the whole neighborhood would be outside too.
7. Where did your family go on vacation?
We've been to several different places, but I always just loved making short trips to Grace, Idaho to visit with my grandma. Those were the days..
8. What is something you really wish you hadn't started earlier in life?
I can't really think of anything I wish I hadn't started.. But one thing I wish I had started was the piano. I played for a little bit, but never practiced and hated it. Now, I'm trying to teach myself and it's not as easy as I know it would have been if I were younger.
9. Did you have any serious accidents or illnesses as a child?

Nothing too serious. I cut my wrist open using scissors when I was trying to make a quilt for my Young Women's project. And I have a nasty scar on my knee when I fell hardcore on my way to church. Nothing stitches couldn't fix.

10. Did you have any nicknames?

Boo-Boo.. let's not talk about it.
11. Name 5 school days accomplishments.
-The only one I can think of is becoming a Geography Bee finalist for our school. How sad is that?! I had pretty good grades though. I was in advanced choir for four years.. Nothing too awesome.
12. What stories have been told about yourself as a baby?
My grandma would always tell me what a terrible child I was in church. She said my dad had to take me out every week; and every week as I was yelling, I'd never fail to wave and say goodbye to the bishop behind the pulpit.
13. Did religion/church play a part in your childhood social activities?
Oh yeah. Girls Camp. Primary Activities. Mutual. My parents were very diligent in making sure we went to every activity there was.
14. What objects do you remember from your childhood? to list a few:

Always had one of these on our home from grandma's!

We were way into pogs and slammers. I think we still have some too.

Lisa Frank.. EVERYTHING. Notebook, backpack, folders, pencils, etc. I was obsessed.


Barbie Jeep.. minus the creepy kids.

A short and easy read for when I needed an extra point to meet my A.R. goal. And I will admit that I read every one of these books..

Wouldn't go anywhere without my gellie's!

Seriously, the best computer game ever.

*I could make a whole blog post about memories as a child. I probably will, in fact. the 90's were very good to me.

The Big 22..

Layne may not be able to read this awesome post I'm dedicating to him, but I just thought I'd share with the World Wide Web how much my big brother means to me:

• He takes such good care of me. He helped with college applications and gave me lots of encouragement. That meant the world to me.
• He would always come visit me in Logan. I loved having him there to hang out with me.
• He would always send me thoughtful texts or facebook messages. I saved every one of them.
• He doesn't care what people think of him.
• He's such a goof ball. It's easy to forget all of your problems when you're around him.
• He's makes about 20 new friends every day.
• He's very smart.
• He may not think it, but I think he's a great speaker and I love hearing him bear his testimony.
• He's good at everything he does.
• He's the life of the party.

Layne and I weren't close at all growing up. We just didn't have much in common, and it was hard for us to get along. After we got over the fact that we were complete opposites, we became best friends. It was hard seeing him leave for 2 years because we were so close. I would miss our late night talks,and his spur of the moment visits to Logan. But I know that his descision to serve a mission will be the best descision he has made thus far. Since he's been on his mission, I have felt closer to him than before. He is such an amazing example, and I love hearing from him every week. I wake up every monday morning at 2 am just to read his emails. That's the perfect way to start off my week, is hearing from him. I can't wait for him to return with HONOR in 1 year and 8 months.

Layne in a nutshell.


Still his goofy self, even on the mish.

By the way.. If any single ladies are reading this- My brother will be available in a little over a year and a half. Although, I will have to approve. ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAYNER!
I might just have to print this off and send this to him..

Dear Social Life,

See you in two months!

Since my social life went down the crapper, you'll have to endure posts all about my nieces and nephews. Which should be totally fine, because they are so fetchin' cute! Not to mention hilarious! But as for the whole social/dating scene.. probably won't see a lot of that for a while. Anyway, enjoy some cute pics of my niece and nephew!

1

Sweet little boy.

Classic Avery

-I don't have any pics with Jace, I wonder if he'll let me do a photoshoot with him?

-and I was bored with my hair and decided to cut some bangs. Looks a little rough, but it's okay because I'll see my sister soon and she'll fix em up for me! Right, Chelle?!

Young Love

(I thought I published this one, but I guess I never did.. This was when I was nannying over the summer.)

I love being around little kids, they are so funny and don't even mean to be. I've probably laughed more in these three weeks that I've been nannying than this whole year.. They're great. My neice, Avery, is so cute. She's in the whole "Boyfriend, kissing, fairytales, Prince Charming stage." Last week we drove out to Texas to meet with my sister's husband so we could all celebrate her little one's birthday. Anyway, her husband (JD) lives with 3 other guys, so we all crashed with JD and the three other guys for a week. Well, there was this guy living there that was actually pretty attractive. Avery had a little crush on him.

I was sitting on the couch with her and she comes and whispers in my ear:
"Laurel, I've got a secret.."
"What?!"
"There's three guys sitting at that table." (haha, really Avery?!)
"Do you have a crush on them?"
Avery blushes and goes into shy mode, which is rare.
"Yes.."
"Is it TRAVIS!?"
"Shhh! I don't want him to hear."
"Do you want me to ask Travis if he likes you?"
"Yes! But not yet, let me hide."
Avery hides behind the couch and gives me the 'thumbs up' cue.
"He's talking to the other guys right now, I don't want to inturrupt them."
"Just say, "Excuse me! I need to talk to you!"



I never found out if Travis liked Avery or not. Maybe in a couple of years though, Ave.