{December}

December happenings: 

Jac, Daniel, Kaden, Toff, Austin, me, Gibs

 Cross country banquet... You've heard the spill about how I love my team and my coaches and everything so I won't go into that again :) But wow having the banquet over with was so bittersweet. I'm so thankful for all the memories I've had but it's hard to let go. Jac and I won the Pioneer Pride which made me really happy :) Who knew 12 years ago we'd still be friends and still be as crazy as ever :) What a blessing my team and my coaches have been in my life. I will never forget how much I loved Lehi XC :)

Ugly sweater day happened and so did an extremely long math competition. Nerds.

 Went on a date with Dallin and we decorated cookies and played just dance and played Sorry. It was so fun to spend time with Dallin, I haven't talked to him in a long time and he is hilarious! Our Santa cookie was pretty creepy...

 Went to lunch with these crazy kids. 

This picture makes me laugh every time. I was trying to show someone how to snapchat but then I started laughing, Connor is too cool for us, and Thomas's face is priceless. Perfect.

Jazz Bear Shopping is this thing our school does every year where we take elementary kids shopping for Christmas. These kids wouldn't have much for Christmas without this. It was such a great experience Our girl was named Alexis and she was in third grade. She was so excited about everything and was so fun to be with. When I asked her what her favorite thing was that she'd ever done she said Jazz Bear Shopping... It melted my heart :) She was so excited about her soft new pjs and her Monster High doll she's been wanting. Wow, that's the spirit of Christmas :) What a great morning...

Snowshoeing with the fambam is always a quality time. It is so pretty up the canyon this time of year. It was fun to spend time with my favorite kiddos and enjoy winter. Hmm. Cheesy but whatever.

CHRISTMAS. Seems to sneak up faster and faster every year. This year for Christmas Eve I worked at the Bakery all day (Bleh.) but then we went out to dinner at Chili's and saw Frozen. Ok, if you haven't seen Frozen buy tickets now because it is adorable and I was totally flipping out I love it so much. Really. It's great. Then we opened our Christmas PJs and went to bed. Christmas morning is so fun watching the little girls open their presents. I'd say Cam's karaoke machine was a hit :) I loved the Utah State sweater I got, Elder Holland book (my mom knows me too well), Scheel's gift card, and wool socks I got! Then we went to Grandma Draper's and spent some time with the cousins. It was a good Christmas and I really really love my family :)

 Zach and Lesh, Halea and Chris, Allie and Jake, me and Chase

(Notice how Chris is pretending Halea is there. We couldn't figure out the self timer) 

Lesh and I wanted to do a date over Christmas break and she had the fantastic idea to do an Elf date. We ate spaghetti with syrup and candy (and real spaghetti, we wouldn't want a hungry grumpy Kenzie all night), went ice skating, and went and saw lights and did a scavenger hunt. It was honestly one of the most fun dates I've been on. I went with Chase Montgomery and holy cow we were laughing all night. We did our scavenger hunt at the Riverwoods and here's what we had to do:

1. Build a Snowman

2. Take a picture with a stranger wearing a hat and gloves

3. Sing

4. Dance on the stage

5. Jump across the crosswalk

6. Skip

7. Take a picture with a Christmas tree

8. Make a wish in the fountain

9. Take a picture with the Zoltar machine (Those things creep me out)

10. Take a picture at Santa's house

11. Take a picture with the giant ice cream cone

12. Find a store like Gimball's (the toy store in Elf)

13. In Gimball's get a gum ball and take a bubble picture

14. Dress up 

15. Play hopscotch

16. Hula hoop 5 times

It was so much fun, we were all running around and laughing and it was the greatest time. My favorite quotes from Chase:

"My mom bought me this shirt for Christmas and I think it's so ugly but she wouldn't let me leave the house unless I wore it. She said when she saw it she thought it screamed Chase. What's that supposed to mean?", (After he dropped and broke a plate at Halea's) "I want to take the trash out so I can go say a prayer that I won't be awkward anymore.", "My mom also bought me these bootcut jeans. Do I look like I wear boots?" (See at trend? Maybe he should pick out his own clothes.)

Oh man. It was a good time. 

Good news. Beans is home. Like really home from a mission. Like missionaries do come home and 2 years isn't forever. It's been so fun. I love having him back, it honestly feels like he never left and everything is the same. Also. Min is in town. Min and Beans both- it's been quite a party. Having Beans come home has been a real eye opener to me. Sometimes missions seem like they'll never end but they are the greatest thing anyone could do. I love hearing his stories about lives that have been changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. He's an awesome example and I'm so happy I get to be friends with him. It feels like we all transported back to freshman year and wow, it's fun :) Min is so great too, I love her and miss her. She is so fun and so cute and makes me laugh. Min, Jac, and I went to Zupas on Friday for lunch (hence the Lobster Bisque picture) and it was great to just talk about life. So so happy. 

Had some friends over Saturday night to play games and we had a lot of fun. Sometimes game nights are lame but not yesterday :) We played Quirkle, Taboo, Bananagrams, Just Dance, and Apples to Apples. I love my friends so much.

Finally went to Temple Square! Cold, but worth it to see the lights and all of the people there to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Logan's family sent me a part of his Skype call where he left a message for me. I would be lying if I said I didn't cry for a while and give myself a little pity party because I miss my best friend. But really it was great to hear his voice. He makes me smile. Here's the link if you want to see what a good friend he is to me :) 

Some quotes to make this post actually worth reading:

"Our problem is never that we have no strengths; the problem comes when we do not recognize our strengths and build upon them."

-Gerald Causse 

"One of the secrets to a joyful life is to recognize that doing things the Lord’s way will make me happier than doing things my way." -J. Devn Cornish 

"Charity is our love for the Lord, shown through our acts of service, patience, compassion, and understanding for one another. Charity is also the Lord’s love for us, shown through His acts of service, patience, compassion, and understanding."

-Bonnie Parkin 

As much as I hate the cold, December is really a great month to make great memories. I feel like so much has happened and I am thankful for it all. 

Love,

Kenzie 

{Wowie Wow}

Lesson. Don't get behind in blogging. Warning. These are all going to be out of order and random but I'm too lazy to fix it so oh well. Better than nothing. Here we go:

 Thanksgiving in a nutshell :) It's always fun to have the whole family together, especially the Kynastons. We don't get to see them very often but when we do it's always a good time :)

 My cousins are literally the cutest. 

 The whole fambam… 

 Awe and we're all smiling. Record.

 Jessie girl… 

Mase had a soccer tournament down in St. George after Thanksgiving so we headed down for a quality trip. Highlights were: doing a speed workout on a random softball field, running uphill for a mile because I don't' know the roads in St. George, seeing Don and Cheryl, singing with my Mom and Mase  early in the morning, going to Valley of Fire with Gma O, stopping at Cove Fort on the way home, eating peppermint chocolate pretzels, going to Smiths in my PJs, reading Mockingjay, taking a nap in the park, seeing cute Christmas lights, spending time with my cutie sisters… Good times :)

 My friends and I went to Roxberry to get smoothies and watched Studio C for like 2 hours :) Sometimes I wonder why we go out in public. 

 Awful picture but uh… We saw Catching Fire. And I'm slightly obsessed. (Hence I read Mockingjay again.) The movie was SO well done, so intense, and there were 3 attractive men in it. Score. My favorite was watching Jackie afterward. "I am not Katniss Everdeen. We are in Lehi, Utah, not the Hunger Games." haha :)

First Lehi boys basketball game of the season, complete with a trip to Uswirl.

 St. George beauties.

 I biked to the temple one day. #crosstrainingprobs 

 Grace and I were twins! 

And this is why I love being a big sister :)

Last week the xc team went to California for the Footlocker meet. As always, one of the best weekends of the year. There's seriously too much to even talk about it was just really fantastic.

 Ethan Garlick. The funniest, randomest, smartest kid you will ever meet. My favorite memory with him from this trip was when we had a snapchat drawing contest on the way home from the space museum. He won every time. And his categories were hilarious (cats in space, carrot people). Also. When he meowed to an entire song. Only Ethan.

 Waiting in line to get our packets for the race. Austin, Gibs, and Justus photobombing like a boss. 

 California lovin'. 

 Coach Rowe shaved his beard into a handlebar mustache for a day. This is Thomas's impersonation of him. Seriously spot on. 

 Kaden. I love Kaden. He really is basically a big brother to me. I loved hanging out with him and especially talking with him on the way home. He's got quite the testimony and he always has my back. 

 Daniel! So happy he came because he almost couldn't. He is so fun to hang out with. We had some quality good times on the bus rides. "So, if we were stranded on an island, you wouldn't eat me?" "No, Kenzie." Wow, what a true friend haha :) 

 Space museum fun. We went to the space museum last year and I think they had cooler exhibits this year! It was way fun, mostly because we were making our awesome music video :) Rowe challenged us to a music video competition so we worked so long on it and it was SO FUN to make! Rowe ended up deleting his video so we were the only competitor but still, it was awesome. I'll tell you more about it later.

 Race day. Holy cow it was cold. Not Utah cold but pretty darn cold and wet. 

 Connor's ponytail was absolutely disgusting. #baller

 My hair after the race. So wet.

 YOLO.

 It was honestly the craziest race I've ever been in. It was so muddy and wet, you were sliding everywhere. It was such an adventure. You just had to kind of forget about all race strategy and try to survive. It was so much fun! It was fun to not worry about times and just work hard and remember what cross country is all about. After the race we were all so happy and we were singing and dancing and it was so great. I love these girls and I love my whole team. It hit me this trip that it's my last footlocker. I can hardly believe this is my 4th year of cross country, it went so fast. I've met the most incredible people and have learned so much. I'm really going to miss my xc kids. I'm so thankful for the memories we have had. Something else about this trip that was fun was after the race me, Jac, Mary, Austin, and Rowe just talked for hours in the hotel lobby. Coach Rowe has been one of the most influential people in my life so far. He has always pushed me to become better and he's always believed in me. I seriously love talking to him and hearing his stories about his crazy high school years and his parenting and all his energy drinks (haha). He's so real and so honest and I love how he knows that he's not perfect and he's ok with that. (That sounds weird but it makes sense in my head.) Basically he's just really great. Coach Jamie has been a big inspiration to me this season too. She is always positive and helps me set goals and reach them. I'm so thankful for her encouragement and I love when she runs with me. She seriously helps me so much!

 There was this fantastic restaurant at the food court right by our hotel called Stone Oven. We legitimately ate their 3 times. It was amazing. And the bread was the best thing I've ever eaten. 

 The last night of the trip we usually go to the beach but this year it was FREEZING so we didn't go. Instead we got a game room at the hotel and played games all night! We played Smurf (see my Sadie's post for more details on that. It was just as funny the second time playing. Double smurf!) and we had noise canceling headphones and people would put them on and be blindfolded and sing. Too funny. Riley definitely won all :) It was hilarious :) I wish I had the videos because they are seriously so good. We also had "fight night" that the boys have been so excited for. But after a few bloody noses Rowe had to stop it :) Oh, and Sami Austin beat Connor in an arm wrestle. Classic. After all of this went down, me, Jac, Halea, and Maddy talked in our hotel room until 3:30 am. 3 hours of sleep makes for one tired bus ride home. And wow we looked good :) My favorite thing of all from the trip is the music video, it explains it all. Please watch it :) I love it so much :) Lehi XC Footlocker 2013 :) From Ethan doing math, to Justus being a weirdo, to Brady sleeping in the elevator, to so many awkward dance parties. I really love my team. I really love Footlocker :) 

 This past Wednesday I went up to Utah State to visit campus and meet the cross country coach. Coach Spence is so great and he is so easy to talk to and I appreciate so much the time he put into informing me about their program and their team. I have such a good feeling about going to Utah State. Every time people ask me why I want to go there I don't even really have a reason except for that it just feels right. I just feel so happy about going there and I'm really excited to be an Aggie :) I'm still trying to figure out whether or not to run, some praying and fasting should help me out with that, but I am so happy to have finally decided where to go to school :) 

 On Friday, I went over to Kaden's and we made cookies and danced and sung around the kitchen and Halea and Lesh came over and we played Spot It and talked about life and it was just really great. Sometimes the simplest nights are the ones that mean the most. 

 In Young Womens we had to "build Christ- centered homes." How fun is that, right? I'm so blessed to live in my home with the greatest family in the world.

Danielle (in the middle) gave her farewell talk today. She's going on a mission to Salem, Oregon. She did the most amazing job and is going to be such a good missionary. As much as I get sick of work, I sure do love my bakery girls and all of the memories we have. (Alesha, Dewey, Danielle, Jenny, me… Brittany wasn't there.)

Watched this lovely movie yesterday with Mason. He says he didn't really watch it but he was totally into it :) Gosh, it's the cutest. I'm so lucky to have Mase as a brother. I've felt a lot closer to him lately and I think he's quite a stud. 

The past few weeks I've had a few experiences that really made me think about what I believe and why I really truly do believe it. The gospel is my life and it makes me happy. And every time I've questioned for a second if it was true, it's always always reaffirmed that it is. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is real. It's true. It's here on the earth. And I'm a part of it. I love that. 

"Friends have seen your happiness and, therefore, those friends have been prepared to hear and choose to accept the gospel. And they have confidence that you will be the friend they will need as they come into the kingdom. Wherever you live, you have friends who are searching for the greater happiness you have found in living the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. They may not be able to describe that happiness in words, but they can recognize it when they see it in your life. They will be eager to learn the source of that happiness, especially when they see that you face trials just as they do." -President Eyring

This was an answer to my prayers the other day. The work of the Lord is never in vain. It will work out. God promises. And He's the best at keeping promises.

"Prepare, believe, be ready, have faith. Do not say or do or be that which would limit your service or render you ineffective in the kingdom of God. Be ready when your call comes, for surely it will come." 

-Howard W. Hunter 

"Bear up and be strong. Be hopeful and believing. Some things in life we have little or no control over. These have to be endured. These are not things anyone wants in life, but sometimes they come. And when they come, we have to bear them; we have to believe; we have to hope for an end to such sorrows and difficulty; we have to endure until things come right in the end." -Elder Holland

Elder Holland just has a way of helping me know that everything is always ok no matter what. What an amazing man of God he is. 

I love this gospel, I love life, I love my family, I love my friends, I'm really lucky. And I'm also so happy to be caught up on blogging :) 

Happy December,

Kenzie