*.....Butterflies.....*

Ok... So I went on my first roadtrip home ALONE last Wednesday... Good, but interesting... So let me rewind first...

Well I have been babysitting my cousins all of last week, and we went to my aunt's house to swim... We were in the pool for maybe a whole hour because it was like we were swimming in the freezer... Ugh.. But anyways, out of nowhere this HUGE black and yellow butterfly swam over the pool... All three of us stopped and just stared at it... Well we then got out of the pool and went over to my other aunts house to help put up a fence (about 5 miles down the road) and while we were putting up the fence, again this huge yellow and black butterfly was hovering overhead... I had to just stop and stare.... I have not seen any butterflies around here ever, and I saw 2 butterflies that looked exactly the same...

So anyways, moving on, the significance of the butterfly? Well, as some of you may know my cousin Brittany Currier died during my sophomore year in highschool... She was my best friend. But back to the butterfly... When they did the drinking and driving seminar thing at the high school she was in it.. .And they had to write a letter to friends and family as if they had died... Well at the end of her letter she wrote, "everytime you see a butterfly, think of me, know I am there, listen closely to the beating of the wings, hear my voice in the wind as I am carried away." So every single time I see a butterfly I think of her... So I was already thinking of her, and I packed up to drive home at about 5...

Well on the way home Britt and Dars cross are on the side of the road... And the entire drive there I was anticipating those crosses... I didn't know how I would react, especially being alone. Anyways, so mile marker 110... I came to their crosses and all of a sudden the song switches to Who You'd Be Today by Brad Paisley.... I just started bawling... And I look over at the crosses and there were 2 black and yellow butterflies hovering over the crosses... I just could not believe it... (idk what's up with the prius advertisement... "i'm gay" haha if you've seen jeff dunham)

I have been missing her alot lately... And I guess I needed those butterflies to realize that she is never very far... It has been so long ago since this happened... But I still remember exactly when I found out... I hit my back against the counter and just slid to the floor... She is always in my thoughts... But I am very thankful for those little butterfly reminders... :)

Now that I got you all down... Let me bring you up... Well continuing my drive home... I was in NAPI and I was pretty upset because Kenny had not called me, and he was like really worried about me driving home, but I had not heard from him... So I was upset... Well anyways I had dropped my Sprite on the floor and picked it up to take a drink... Well I opened it and it exploded EVERYWHERE all over me... I just had to smile and laugh... I knew that was Britt telling me to stop being stupid, I knew Kenny was trying to call me something else was wrong... So here I am sitting with Sprite all over and just alone in my car laughing out loud... Loser I know... But I guess I think we just need to pay attention to all the little things... The people we lose never really leave us... Oh and about the calls, Kenny tried calling 9 times... My phone is not the greatest and never got them...

So all in all I made it home safely... A few bumps and butterflies later... But I made it :)

I'm still Alive :)

Man, I am definitely no good at this blogging... I get on to see how everyone else is doing and never write anything...

Well my camera is still on the fritz, it came back and they fixed the lens, but now it won't read the memory card, so I have to send it in again ugh... What a PAIN!

This month has been really busy for us! We have been home every weekend for one thing or another... It has been alot of fun, but the drive does get old... But I am thankful that we live this close to family and are able to go home for not very much :) We are going home today as well... Kenny has to get his foot x-rayed, we gotta see if he is gonna have to have surgery afterall (he broke his foot back in june and has had a walking boot) so we will see, I hope he doesn't have to. :( anyways, we get to stay home until monday this weekend, so it won't be AS quick of a trip...

My sister is in Hawaii until next wednesday... Lucky I know!! I am gonna finish up my Physics class next thursday (well this thursday)... I am so excited, and then I get 2 weeks off until I start the next semester! I am hoping that we can go camping one of those weekends... I have not been this entire summer and I'm bummed...

Well... I'm gonna borrow my grandma's camera for this weekend... So hopefully I will have a few pictures to put up soon!

South Padre Sun :)

So I know I told you guys that my camera is broken, and it is... But I do have a few pictures from our trip, at least of the first day...

We went to South Padre Island for Dav's "Senior Trip" I guess you could say... I had so much fun... I love my family so much and really am so lucky! We had a blast!! We laughed the whole week :) But anyways I think I wrote some about my trip in the blog before this... So this one is mostly just to add a few pictures :)

But good news... I sent my camera off friday... so hopefully it will be in soon and then i can take pictures of everything else that has been going on :)

Haha yah she graduated... But I am pretty sure she will ALWAYS be a kid at heart :)

Can you believe how big Jaeden is getting?? I can't... He is so much fun and has grown up so much... Haha I think he looks like a little frog here :)

We all tried so hard to do this... Haha but it was alot harder than it looked... Tris and I decided we were just too heavy, because we could never do it... Haha and we were right... It was made for people under 80 pounds!!

Doesn't he look so graceful :)

Haha he ALMOST got it... But then the board just sunk and he ate it :) But it was still fun!!

He has grown SO SO SO much! You all would be so surprised... He is pushing 5'11 now and he is only a freshman... Well I guess a sophomore now... But he dwarfs me now :(

Haha this is Bratty she actually did pretty good on this thing... But don't get me wrong this sand boarding thing had us all eating sand :)

Haha this is probably the best picture I have of me sand boarding haha... Pretty much all the time I was on the ground haha... But it was still fun :)

Aww... All the kids playing in the ocean the first day :)

Wow... When I went to look at the pictures I had from South Padre Island (I was thinking I only had like 20... haha I guess I went a little picture taking crazy... I actually had 142... In one day, I know that is a little much right :) But hey at least I finally got some pictures on here :)

Ugh!

Ugh... So I took my camera to South Padre Island... and it worked the very first day... After that when I would go to turn it on it would start to and then turn right back off... Ugh! So I need to send it in and get it fixed... So needless to say there won't be any pictures on this blog either :(

So we went to South Padre Island and we had a blast... It has been so long since our family has laughed that hard... To see my dad in tears because he was laughing so hard was so awesome... We went deep sea fishing and caught a 55 pound fish (no joke!!) I will definitely post pictures of that as soon as I get them!! But my mom and I tried to reel him in and he literally almost threw us both overboard!! It was kinda scary! We were sure we just snagged the bottom of the boat because it was THAT HEAVY!!

Then we went to the waterpark... schlitterbann... it was so much fun... You literally stay in the tube the entire time... I mean you go around a lazy river in your tube, and there are like "exits" off the lazy river to the rides... So you NEVER get outta your inner tube... LAZY huh?? But we had so much fun :) Dav and I put sunscreen on, but were SO SO SO SO burnt by the end of that day... (Again I will try to find another picture eventually) But I am definitely a white girl... And I burn and peel, that's about it... I was hoping for a tan but pretty sure that is not going to happen...

Other then that trip I have just been super busy with school... today alone I went to the school to work on my homework... 3 hours to do 5 problems... UGH! So you can see how much time that takes up!! But it's ok... This weekend we will be going home, Andi just got a total knee replacement so we want to go see her and make sure she is ok... But ya... I will post another soon... HOPEFULLY with pictures :) Love ya!

Slackin.....

Haha so I know I have been slackin on the blog lately... I just get so busy and find other things to do... But I know that's no excuse :) Anyways, I'm on Kenny's computer (because I forgot mine at home this past weekend) so sadly this blog will not have any fun pictures :(

But no worries I will post lots of fun pictures later!!! So, I have started my summer class... I actually started it 2 days after my Spring semester ending... So needless to say I didn't get much of a break... But it turns out my family and I are going to South Padre (in Texas) for my sister's "senior trip" for a week :) We are leaving Sunday!! So that should be lots of fun, who knows maybe I will get somewhat of a tan while I am there!!

Hmm... We are still unpacking boxes (and yes it is driving me CRRRRAZY!) I feel that we should already be completely unpacked and it is just not happening... Dav is movin into this madness today :) So that should be fun! I'm so excited for my sister to come and live with me!!! YAY!!! Well I just wanted to let those of you that read this thing that I am still alive and kicking, just busier than ever :) Haha I will post fun blogs with pictures later :) LOVE YA!

Lucky 7....

Me and My Little Man :] Kisses :]

Ok, So I know it's been way too long but i have just been EXTREMELY busy... Only a week and a half of school left yay!! And I CANNOT wait!! Except I don't get much of a break... My last day of this semester is May 15 and I start the Summer semester May 18... Haha not much of a break but that is for another blog... Anyways....


Well April 7th my new nephew was born... His name is Richard Wayned Ballard III... I fell in love when I first saw his picture. He was a big baby, but oh so cute! So of course that weekend I went home to see him, and the other munchkins :] Haha everyone knew the rules when I came to Stef's house... Sheleeha gets the baby, end of story... Haha I think I let Kenny hold him twice for like 30 seconds at a time the entire weekend, and pretty sure I only let his daddy hold him once... Haha basically I never put that baby down! Lexi and Kayden are going to be such amazing older brother and sister. I have never seen a child as patient as Kayden is. I have never in my entire life seen Kayden get angry with Lexi, he does nothing but look out for her and help her in anyways possible. And Lexi, wow let's just say little miss attitude already. She is so amazing haha and you can ask her I'm her favorite :] Anytime I was not holding that baby, I was carrying her around :] Ugh I loved it! And I cannot wait to go back and see them... Ok so you're probably wondering what the Lucky 7 means, I mean I have only mentioned 3 right?? Well I have 4 more nieces and nephews :] duh!



Me and My Little Man

Haha Uncle Kenny wrestlin with the kids
Dying Eggs....
Showin off our eggs :]
Lexi's egg :]
My mini Me holdin the baby
Tripp's first Easter
Daddy and baby
So cute :]
I love this picture :]
Before church on easter sunday :]



Ok... So I'm sure most of you know by now that Kenny's sister moved to Texas :[ we all miss them so so so much, but it was such a good opportunity for all of them... Adaryan is doing so good! He has made a ton of new friends! Heck the first time we went up there, he was invited to like 4 girls' parties all in one weekend... And school wise, he is so smart and picks up everything so quickly! I cannot believe that he is already learning stuff that I just barely started to learn in college!! And don't get me started on sports! He is such a natural athlete! He will definitely go far and I am so so proud of him! Next... Dayon :] yes she is my neice too (kinda weird huh) we're about the same age :] but she is a freakin athlete! She did so good her first year of college, and now they want her all over... So she is probably going to be moving further away to Kansas City, Missouri but again that is the stuff that she has always wanted... WNBA here she comes! 5 foot nothing, but will rock your world! haha... And Avyonne... Wow that little boy is just like the rest of the family, he has so much energy, and is already beginning to follow in his brother/sister footsteps regarding sports... But he is also one of the sweetest boys :] haha we definitely have a good time, haha even when he is wrestling me to the ground (along with the other 5 boys) haha... And finally, Malachi, a beautiful baby boy whom the Lord needed more, the Lord had bigger plans for him, but we love him and miss him so much!

So I guess 7 is a lucky number (for now) I'm sure that number is going to change... But for now it fits right?!? I am so so so blessed... I have one of the most amazing families a person could ask for... My parents would do absolutely ANYTHING for me, and I mean that and truly believe it... And my brothers and sisters continue to amaze me on a daily basis! I guess I am one of those people you could say just "got lucky"... I was born into a great family, and inherited a great family... What more could a person ask for?!?

Spring Break :) phew......

Haha ok... So I finally got a few seconds to get on here and write about Spring Break... I was SO SO SO busy the entire time...

First of all we left Friday right after our Econ lab... which got over at like 9... we made it to texas by 6 so we could be there for day day's welcome back from college (from spring break) dinner :) it was SO SO SO good!!!! haha, i guess any food is good for starving college students right?? haha we played tons of games and just hung out and visited... i have to say i wrestled around with 5 boys all under the age of 6 and lexi... haha that was not a fair fight but i held my own... they would jump over my back and i would have to flip them over... let's just say i was a little sore the next day when we went to the mall :) but it was fun :) this is how i looked after wrestling with all those boys :)

Anyways we stayed there until monday and drove all the way to k-town that day (i think about 11 or 12 hours) you would have to ask kenny because adaryan and i did most of the sleeping while he did most of the driving :) but we had to go then because bratty's birthday was tuesday and i couldn't miss it :)

lexi playin on the chair in texas

on the road haha don't we look beautiful... ugh it was FREEZING driving through texas weird huh?

so once we got to k-town it seems like we went 120mph the entire time we were there... it's hard to see ALL of both our families, but i think we do pretty good :) So tuesday we had dinner at my grandma's house for bratty's birthday :) so good... we ate lasagna... she just turned 11 wow huh?? she is so amazing i love her so much! we played canasta because that is what she requested... haha and our team won :) go us!! (bratty, me, and dav) wednesday we ran around town kenny got a cool new phone then we went to a dinner at the church (friend's scouting dinner) then rented movies to watch with my family.... thursday was my dad's and my brother's birthday... so we had another dinner at my grandma's... jaeden is 9 i can't believe it he is getting so big... and we played yahtzee i pretty much kicked butt then too :) oh and p.s. i got sick during this whole thing too (from dav ughhhh) :) friday we drove to cortez to see my brother Tristan play in the varsity baseball tournament... haha yes he is a freshman and playing varsity... he made the last 2 outs for the game playing second base... he is SO tall now haha beats me by like 5 or 6 inches lol... haha then after the game steph and i got all dressed up to go out with the boys... we suggested the dollar movie but they chose outback :) so we got ready and went to eat... we talked and laughed and had a blast!! haha while brycee was seeing if his teams were winning :)

haha all dressed up how cute :)

saturday, this is when it really got crazy... bratty had a soccer game at 11, and there was also a breakfast at kenny's house... how are we supposed to be in two places at once?? haha well let me tell u... i stayed for bratty's game and my mom got me roped into sidelining lol... haha stacey was pretty proud i could remember all the signals lol... so after that bratty and i ran to kenny's ate some breakfast... visited with his family... it was like 1:30 by this time... so we went over to aunt june's to talk to her for a little bit and say bye... then over to nana and papa's to say bye... by this time it was like 2:25... we then went to ktown to get a note to take my sis from the track meet after she ran cuz she was way sick... haha the thing was she ran at 3 and it was already 2:35 and we were still in ktown... how do you make it to aztec in 25 minutes? especially when the la plata bridge is out and you hit every light?? i have no idea but we did it... all the way to koogler and i got to see my sis run... she looked so good and ran a 65 400 WOW and she is WAY sick... she's amazing :) so afterwards we got everythin together said goodbye to my family and headed to alb... we left about 630 (because andi flew out of alb the next day at 6am to southlake) phew.... what a week... oh let me add everyday we were up by at least 7 running around with family and watching the kids (kayden and lex) for stef while she did her bus run :) no sleepin in for us!

how cute again :)

haha i know where are all the pictures of everything else i did right?? haha well i was running around so much that most of the time i forgot to grab my camera ugh... but at least i got a couple :)