RIVER RAFTING!!!

At the begining on August Zach and I took a little trip up to WY to go RIVER RAFTING! Now my singles ward has done this trip the last 3 years and I have never been able to go... until now!

I was totally stoked! I have never been rafting, so I was pretty nervous too! But I talked it out with my peeps and they calmed me down a bit. Kellie even knew the exact rapids I was going to be riding. I thought she was CRAZY when she said they were named Lunch Counter! lol! But turns out, she's not so crazy! She was right!

I was only there for one day! It was a quick trip, I had to get back to work, go to Katie King's wedding reception, and get ready for my awesome trip up to Payette, Idaho with Michaela!

So this was just the first of many vacations I took during the month of August. August was really BUSY! I felt like I was living out of a suitcase the whole month! But it was great! So here are some pics from my amazing adventure! It was so much fun!

Ewww....

At the geyser in Soda Springs!

It really did stink! Bad!

Zach wearing the pimpin' hat we found!

Yeah, I am cool! It's ok to be jealous!

The hat does that to people!

We were looking for a map of Idaho, but the only map they had

was an atlas of the Middle East. I though it was strange.

Do people in Soda Springs, ID, frequent the Middle East that much?

They had this sign AFTER the last gas station,

by that point we had already passed the last gas station

we needed to fill up at!

JENKINS LANE!!

I wanna live there!

Jackson Hole!

Zach wouldn't let me go inside! Boo!

Zach walking through the maze!

It took FOREVER!

I like posing like statues...

Me and the sheep in a kick line!

You can't see me, but I am totally in the middle of the raft!

My old lady knees wouldn't let me sit on the side!

It was super fun! AND FREEZING!

WHAT?!?! SHE CAN COOK?

Alright, so I actually have a lot to blog about. I will get to my river rafting trip in Wyoming, me and Michaela's awesome time in Idaho, and even my Alaskan cruise... eventually. lol! I don't feel like doing it right now! Now, I want to take the time to share my cooking experience with you all!

So one of my bestest friends, Rachel Dawn Porter Smith, loves to cook! And she is really good at it too! She loves it so much she even has a cooking blog.... Get in the Kitch! I recommend you all stop by and see the yummy recipes she has on there! I've tried many of them myself and they are amazing!!

Me on the other hand... do not cook! It is very rare that you see me in the kitchen except to make banana bread or some cookies or something tasty with sugar. But the other night I was feeling pretty hungry, so what did I do? I cooked! That's right! I'll say it again... I cooked!! I made an entire meal for me and Zach, which consisted of Spaghetti, peas, and garlic bread! Now, it may not sound like much, but it was pretty awesome if I do say so myself! lol!

So here is some proof! Pics of the lovely meal I made! I know it makes your mouth water, but if you really wanna try some yummy stuff stop by:

getinthekitch.blogspot.com

you won't be sorry! :)

Zach really likes Spaghetti!

Yummy!

I was pretty proud! lol!

HAPPY BIRTH-MONTH TO ME!!!

I have the most amazing friends in the world! Seriously! You can be jealous if you want to! But I mean it, my friends are the best! They do so much for me! I absolutely love them and this is why! Here is the lowdown:

To start off, a week before my b-day my good friend Kellie Romer took me to dinner, MJ joined us, and we went to Red Robin! I really liked it! Tasty tasty food! Although we totally forgot to tell them it was my birthday to get the free mud pie! LAME! But for sure next time we go we will!

After dinner, Kell and I were trying to decide what we wanted to do… movie? No… bowling?… no… mini golf?... hmmm…. Getting warmer… and the final decision was…. Drum roll please… Laser tag, go carts, and a shootout basketball competition! (which I totally won!) It was awesome! Kellie hasn’t done it since high school! (wow she’s old!) lol ;) I joke, but Kellie is pretty much my big sister! So I’m allowed to tease her. :)

Then we went back to her place, watched her wedding video (LOVED IT!) and had root beer floats! Lol! It was an awesome night. It was like I was turning 12! Not 22! Lol! Thanks Kell! It’s always fun to hang out and chat! LOVE YOU TONS!!!

Then on the day of my birthday is where the big surprise came. Rach and Michaela have been planning it for awhile; they just would never tell me what it is. I had been trying for weeks to get it out of them, but nothing. Not one peep! I was quite impressed they kept it a secret for as long as they did. I also tried to get other friends to tell me, but still nothing!!!

So what did they do? They took me to dinner The Roof (amazing!) and to the movies to see The Proposal! (So fun!) It was awesome! First of all, I love spending time with my friends, like I said before, they are amazing. Plus, yummy food and a cute cute movie! What is better then that? :) Nothing! It was a blast! Thank you girls!

And not to forget, my sweet mother, gave me flowers and breakfast in bed. It was a great day! I had so much fun!

Then later that week, My dad took me out to dinner… TWICE! Once at the Cheesecake Factory with my bros, and then to Tepenyaki with Marina. Mmmmmm…. Foooood…. Yummy. :)

Thanks to everyone who helped make my birth-month so great! You are true friends and I love you all!

This is what Kellie and I look like in the dark!

Yep, Laser tag! We cool!

After our delicious dinner at The Roof!

Friends FOREVER! lol!

So, I'm pretty clumsy! MJ and Rach gave me

On the Go Neosporin! lol! I've definitely used it!

At the movies!

Me, Rach, and Michaela! These girls are the best!

We bad... we know!

Preston was REALLY hungry at the Cheesecake Factory!

Birthday Cheesecake... mmm... yummy!

Flowers from my mommy! LOVED THEM!

One gone... two come back!

Curls and Colt!

Well this summer has been a little bit crazy with the cousin folk. The missionary cousin folk that is. First of all, my cousins Colton and Caleb, came home from their missions. These boys intentionally put their mission papers in in the same day, so they would get their calls the same day, and would leave pretty close to the same time! lol! Well, Elder Caleb Gorringe went to the Brazil Sao Paulo South Mission and returned July 2nd. Elder Colton Meyerhoffer went to the Dublin, Ireland Mission and returned July 3rd. Yes, just one day apart! And because of these boys coming home we've had a lot of Gorringe family time lately. It's been great! And my out of state cousin's were in town too so we all got to hang out! It's been great! Here are some pics from my missionary cousins return!

The fam waiting for "curls"! aka Caleb,
at the airport.

Me, Michelle, Lynzi, and Caleb

Caleb with his Grandma's

His mission buddies!

The Gorringe family! Cole (far left) will be serving in Finland soon! :)

Caleb's first request..."I want some ribs!" lol!

Then Colton came home!

Everyone waiting for Colton at the airport!



I was really excited for him to come home!

Colt hugging his sister and his niece.

Colt and his brother Carson.

Then my cousin on the Jenkins side of the family, John Meyer, was called to serve in the Denmark Copenhagen mission. Elder Meyer gave an amazing talk at his farewell, that had me in tears btw, on sacrifice. He left July 15th for the MTC. Good luck Elder Meyer! You will be a great missionary!

Johns face... on a cake! lol!

Elder Meyer and Zach! Zach's tie says

"On a mission from God" lol! Very appropriate!

I am so proud of all my cousins for choosing to serve the Lord for 2 years! These boys are amazing! I have many other cousins who are serving right now! I love them all and can't wait for them to return!

Elder Justin Haslam

Elder Jake Haslam

Elder Reed Bullen

Elder Richard Bullen

Elder Lewis Jenkins

Elder John Meyer

These boys are all currently serving with Elder Cole Gorringe going to Finland very soon! I don't think I forgot anyone. (I AM SO SORRY IF I DID!) My cousins are amazing! :)

STADIUM OF FIRE!!

The 4th of July started the same way it does every year, with the annual Jenkins family breakfast in Plain City. It was nice to see the family, as always.

Then it was of to Aunt Susan's for a Gorringe family luncheon. Since Caleb and Colton came home from their missions, we've had a lot of family time, which is awesome! :) The missionaries came over and gave us a little lesson and sang a nice little song for us!

My cousin Rachelle really wanted to go bowling, so we squeezed a cousin bonding experience in at the bowling alley before we hit the STADIUM OF FIRE!!!

I've been looking forward to the concert ever since I heard that SHeDAISY was going to be opening. As most of you know, I am a huge SHeDAISY fan, so I was super stoked because I got to meet them too. I even had them do a station id for the radio station! It was awesome!

Then came the Jonas Brothers! My little sis Michelle is a huge Jo Bros fan, so I think she was even more excited about the concert then I was! She had a blast, and so did I! The whole group consisted of me, Michelle, Mom, Aunt Joyce, Uncle Daren, Brodi, and Lynzi! After the concert was the fireworks! One word...AWESOME! I love the fire in the sky! :)

Here are A LOT of pics from the events of the day! Yay for 4th of July and for freedom! God Bless America!

COUSINS!

Bowling, bowling, bowling...

Guitar playing missionary.

Me and the SHeDAISY girls.

All of us!

Yay!

Michelle was REALLY excited for the Jonas Brothers!

Lol! I love this pic!

PRETTY!

FIREWORKS!