Rachel's 8th

Rachel Lenae was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Sunday. 

So proud of this girl.

She is stunningly beautiful inside and out and I can't believe what a sweet, caring, loving little girl she has already turned out to be at only 8 years old. Plus she's got a contagious giggle that can't be beat.

I love her with all my heart!

The Kenealey and Perry fams came together once again for Rachel's special day.

 What fun is life without a little photo bombing every once in a while, right? 

The Bachelorettes

Annie, Me, Dez, and Karli

Sometimes I see or meet people and boom, right away I know i'm going to like them. Sometimes... not so much... in fact maybe a little bit of the opposite (judgey bad person thing to do, I know). But let me tell you, with these girls right here, it was like BOOM I LIKE THESE PEOPLE. We were BYU Sports Camp Counselors together, and shoot our friendship must have been written in the stars. It was meant to be. For the second time this Summer (Tonga being the first), i've formed very tight relationships with people in a very short time. I feel blessed to be surrounded by such incredible, uplifting people!

One of our very first nights when dearest Annie and I were roomies, we made this video with Dez. It was exactly what we needed to break barriers and bond.

Annie and I were roommates one of our first weeks, and then again on my very last week. FATE. Love her. Love her face. Love our retainers.

Desiree. Beautiful woman. She makes me laugh. Like, a LOT. And I pick up her sayings real fast.

I just can't.

Heygur.

Let it happen.

K bye.

A little bocce ball action here on Karli's 21st birthday.

Sometimes its blazing hot outside and we'll do some quick bonding with trees in order to cool off and use their shade.

Dez.is.the.coolest. Obvi.

Ohhhh my sweet Karli. The moment we met was the best:

Karli: "Okay this is kind of creepy but I know you because you're like best friends with Julia and you're all over her Facebook in tons of pictures. I'm her cousin."

Me: "Oh... yeah, okay I think i've seen you before too. Awesome"

The rest is history. I love her to pieces.

This is how we really are most of the time...

So much love. I miss them like crazy and I CAN NOT WAIT until the Fall when we'll all be reunited in P-town so we can party again! And not always be matchy-matchy in our super attractive counselor shirts haha.

We have created group text messages. It is constantly hilarious. I had to post just one snippet that made me smile quite a lot.

Also, we created a Facebook chat with all four of us. This thing is SO freaking funny. We get on there all at the same time and we just talk and talk and talk all at once and we coincidentally say the same things at the same time or we egg each other on or we encourage or we get the gossip flying. Other times we just get on there one and a time and give life updates and everyone else makes their comments on it, gives advice, consoles, encourages, etc. There are no barriers in this here convo. We talk about EVERYTHING. Women tell all. I wish I could post more, but I can't be giving away anyone's secrets :)

It is appropriately named: The Bachelorettes.

Shoot dang, saying goodbye to them last week was rough. Thank goodness for our online and texting conversations and our never ending use of snapchat. What in the world would happen to friendships these days without the use of our iphones? ;-)

There just aren't words good enough to explain how much I love and appreciate these girls. You think that nobody can be THAT close after only a month? I tell you you're wrong. They know just what to say and when and how to say it. Already they've helped me so much and they make my life a brighter and happier place. People like that are priceless angels for me!

Girls, you know I love ya.

And I miss you.

I literally can not.

Don't you dare forget about me while i'm away from Utah and y'all are together there in Provo.

:)

Um, k byeee.

She's A Perry Now

One of my best and oldest friends: Brenna Kenealey.

When we were super young, our siblings (10 years older than us) were dating, and we'd often giggle and wonder what life would be like if they got married. Imagine our 8-year-old shock when it actually happened. Best friends were now... well, what were we? What did having my sister married to her brother make us?

We decided it made us best friends with married siblings. When we tried to explain our connection to people in junior high and high school, a lot of people just didn't quite get it:

"So... you're sisters-in-law?"

"No."

"Yeah you are, you have to be."

"Nope, technically we really don't have any relation at all."

"Nah, you're definitely like sisters now."

"Okay, fine, we're sisters."

We might as well be. Our family friendships go more than 20 years back and we've spent a significant amount of time together with church activities, Christmas Eves, New Years Eves, baby blessings, baptisms, large family gatherings, Mariners games, game nights, and soooo much more.

Yesterday, Bren got hitched. Now, imagine the confusion that will take place in the minds of our old junior high and high school buddies, because now Brenna is Mrs. Perry. MY last name is Perry... And now HER last name is Perry. And no, we're still not in-laws. Her new hubby Tom is not my brother or my cousin; he actually happens to have zero family relation to me, it just so happens that we share a last name. 

It's a good last name. Welcome to the club, Brenna Perry.

(No offense, but I hope to leave this club sometime in the next few years when it's my turn and I convince some special man to share his last name with me for the rest of eternity.)

After they got engaged last November, Brenna asked me to be a bridesmaid, and I looked forward to the special day for months. That day was yesterday, and it was fantastic! It was such a spectacular day for a wedding, and Brenna and Tom looked marvelous, as did their families and their reception and the whole shebang. 

The night before the wedding a few of us gal pals got together and had a bachelorette party mormon-style. Bren's older sister Megan (also an old time bestie) put it together and it was a blast.

Chilled mini Martinelli's, snack bags for the long wedding day, pizza, and an outdoor movie. Good job by you, Meg.

The morning of was perfect. Relaxing, happy, delicious, and so exciting!

One benefit of having wedded siblings, we get to share the same nieces and nephew. Fat chance of finding a more beautiful set of blond haired blue eyed children anywhere... ever.

I mean come on, with dang hot parents like this... how could they not be so adorable?

(My sister, Bren's brother)

One of the highlights of my day was being the one to stay longer at the temple and help with bride/groom shots. I got to spend some extra personal time with them, plus I got to use my iphone to snap some shots of my own. Candids are THE best.

More random happy happy pictures :)

They are the best non-sisters ever :)

Tom looks SO happy in this getaway picture... I can't imagine why... ;)

Its a sister-sister thing. We be happy.

My before and afters from yesterday... good thing i'm not toooo shabby and cleaning myself up a titch.

YAY FOR WEDDINGS. I love them.

Marriage. It is awesome.

Congrats Brenna and Tom!!! I love you both!

Snoozing With Sinatra

"Man, i'm just so sick of hanging out with this impossibly cute cuddly baby all the time"

...

- SAID NO ONE EVER.

Amelia Mae is the latest addition to my pristine collection of nieces and nephew (still singular). It is of course my greatest hobby, collecting these cute little people. I spent the last few weeks living part-time with Rob and Diane and Little Red here. It was the greatest. They've lived just next door to me for the last two years, but actually being in the same apartment was more special because I was there in the perfect moments to be a part of the many spontaneous smiles and gigantic spit-ups and hilariously disgusting diaper blowouts. I took my turns babysitting and playing on the floor during wiggle time and settling her down and rocking her to sleep. It really is amazing how much a little tiny person's personality comes through even when they are only a few months old. This girl here, she's a good one. She likes me, so she's definitely a keeper in my book :)

Last week Diane and I were just sitting in the living room and Amelia was on the floor wiggling like she does (I swear she does this more than the average baby) and then boom, suddenly she'd rolled over from her back onto her tummy. For the first time ever. Diane and I just busted up laughing because it was so unexpected and exciting. We had fun repeating and recording her newly discovered talent for the remainder of that morning.

I love this girl any time of day no matter she's doing, but i'll tell ya what, there is something extra special about a peacefully sleeping baby. One day during wiggle time Little Red here got pretty tuckered out. Who could blame her? Moving her arms and legs all crazy like she does has got to be exhausting after a while. I happened to catch this video as she tried mightily to fight her exhaustion. But in the end, the heavy eyelids claimed their victory.

Amelia and I grew to be good dance buddies. I quickly discovered that the Frank Sinatra Pandora station was the key to calming cries and promoting smiles... and also apparently snores. One minute we were dancing and singing along and then boom, next thing I know she's out cold. How rude, leaving me to party all by myself.

So as I turned her around to cuddle up against me to continue her snooze, I snapped a picture because the moment was just too precious to not document.

And then I stood there looking in the mirror, looking at her. As I held the latest addition to my tiny person collection, I was hit with a wave of such overwhelming love for her. I can't quite explain it, but it literally brought tears to my eyes (i'm such a sap, this I know). I couldn't believe how much love could fill my heart in one moment. I can only imagine how this degree of love will be multiplied someday when I eventually have little people of my own. It will be nothing short of magical, i'm sure.

Amelia isn't the only member of this fabulous fam that likes to catch up on some ZZZs in during the day. I snapped this priceless pic one afternoon when they were all out for the count at the same time. Too good.

And now... more pictures of me with snoozing baby. Because I love them. And because I can.

Shameless baby selfies. Sorry not sorry.

 

Just Another Day At The Office

Guys, for the last five weeks I have had the most difficult summer job that has ever existed.

Get this - My employers just absolutely insist on paying me to do the following:

1) Eat every meal of every day at the cannon center where my food is made for me and the choices are endless

2) Sleep at the dorms so that I don't have to pay summer rent at an apartment

3) Spend time with other incredible, fun, hilarious, uplifting sports camp counselors who have many common interests and happen to form instant friendships with me

4) Take 9am to 3:30pm off every day to spend time with my family and friends

5) Hang out with hundreds of athletic youth

6) Play games

7) Eat popsicles

8) Go to a water park once a week

9) Eat free Hokulia shave ice

10) Watch sports

11) Go to hilarious talent shows

12) Party it up at 1-2 dances a week

13) Girl-talk with teenagers all day every day, haha!

Can you believe that?! Preposterous! How dare they demand so much of me?! 

Okay but lets get real, I lied.

BEST.SUMMER.JOB.EVER.

I mean yeah sure there was also some responsibility involved in making sure my group got to where they needed to go on time, didn't sneak out to roam the crazy streets of Provo, went to bed at a decent hour, and were spiritually uplifted throughout their week-long sports camp experience. Oh and also I had to wear the same shirt literally every single day. But honestly, I probably had a better time doing all these things than any of my girls ever did.

I had the opportunity to be with girls ages 12-17 who swam, played tennis, lacrosse, soccer, or volleyball. I loved each of my groups and am so grateful for what I learned through my experiences with them. I just hope and pray that in some way I was able to be an influence for good for at least some of them.

Okay, lets get to the fun part. 

Pictures!

So glad I never lived in Helaman Halls as a freshman. It was fine for the summer but... i'm not sure i'd have survived two whole semesters.

My very first group, gotta love those swimmers!

 Every monday evening we had a BYU football player come and give a little message to all the kids. We were uplifted and inspired every time and plus it got the campers pumped for their upcoming week!

I gotta tell you, one of my favorite parts of this job was witnessing the overt, hilarious, painful-to-watch flirting tactics of teenagers. I am SO GLAD i'm not in high school anymore!

Some of my tennis girls on their last day! Ah! 

 So every Wednesday after the water park everyone was starving. Thus, we'd spend counselor time ordering and devouring food. Sometimes pizza, sometimes Pita Pit, sometime Chinese. A LOT of Chinese. We did a good job making other groups jealous.

I love Utah mountains in all their majesty!

On our way to the waterpark. A bus packed to bursting with crazy little tweens.

It was a really fun last week for me. I had 15 volleyball girls and they were a hoot. They quite enjoyed stealing my phone and taking ridiculous pictures of themselves.

Oh shoot guys, don't even get me started on the crazy good times we counselors had together. More on this to come in future posts. But here's a taste.

I keep thinking about how much I regret that I haven't applied for this job for the last three summers.

And then I think to myself, i'm totally doing this again next summer. 

And then I realize, no i'm not. Because i'm going to be a college graduate, and it'll be time to get started on my real life big girl career. OHMYGOSH.

I'm so glad i've had this blessing and this opportunity this summer! It was so great!