Happy Birthday Lily!

Lily Dayton turned 12 today (I think... I'm awful!) She is growing up so fast! I'm pretty sure that she is taller than me now...Lily holds a special place in my heart, because she was my first niece. I was 10 when she was born I believe... She is such a sweetheart. It amazes me how obedient she is, and she is such a good helper. I wish I had more time with her...It is so nice living so close to the Dayton's now, and I'm so thankful for Lily! She is quite the little athlete too! She is in all kinds of sports, and is just a busy bee! I hope you have a great birthday Lily. We need to get together and play some basketball sometime, and I need to take you out for ice cream after that or something. I love you so much and am so thankful you are my niece.

I believe I was 10 or 11 in this picture..

Daytons visiting...

Believe this was 4 years ago?

Couple years ago...

Beautiful Lily! This was taken at my wedding.

Happy Birthday Laurel!

Miss Laurel Heaps turns 10 today! I can’t believe how big she is. Laurel amazes me. She is such a whitty, clever, smart, creative, funny, and a beautiful girl. The stuff she says and comes up with cracks me up. I was lucky enough to live with them for 8 months, and Laurel would say something funny every day. She would be up late reading or drawing, or writing funny notes. I believe she had the highest amount of points in the accelerated reading program in her school. She was at 200 something percent of her goal. She is awesome. I spent a lot of time with her at the piano when I lived there. It was something I enjoyed, even though I am sure she got annoyed with me a lot making her play the same section over and over again. I am so thankful for Laurel and the wonderful person and example she is to me. She is so sweet, and I love her big hugs she greets me with when I see her. Happy Birthday Miss Laurel. I love you!

-Aunt Bethany

Jeremy's Wedding..

Family reunion quite a few years ago.

Just a movie night.

she wasn't impressed with me in this one but it the most recent I have of us... haha

Happy Birthday Kasey!

Kasey Nicole Garner Gentry turns 23 today on February 23^rd! Happy Golden Birthday! I don’t really know where to start with Kasey. She is one of my best friends. She is fun, she is gorgeous, she is witty, she is creative, she is a great mother, great wife, GREAT friend, and always willing to help. She did so much for my wedding, and the photos and everything turned out perfect!

We have always gotten along really well, and I am so thankful that David married her. Kasey and I are pretty close in age, and it was nice because I didn’t have a sister who was ever close to my age… Kasey and I have SOOOOO many memories there is no way to list all of them. I remember a few in particular when David was back east for a few summers and she drove to Show Low to just spend a weekend with me. It was fourth of July weekend, and we made a jammin’ CD and drove to Heber to watch the fireworks. We also went thrift store shopping and bought some rad glasses. I drove to Mesa too to hang out. I loved how Kasey would be at all my shows when I was in my band, Alaska and Me. I don’t think she missed any that were in the valley. One night after a show, we went to IHOP for dinner. I remember that being a blast. We even went to Disneyland together. David, Kasey, Kasey's brother Justin, and I drove to Disneyland one weekend and it was so much fun. We were there from 8AM to Midnight! We road every ride and had so much fun.
Kasey is one of those people that you can just do nothing and have fun, and you just enjoy being around her. I am so thankful she is in my life, and I know I can talk to her about anything and everything. Happy Birthday Kasey. I love you so much.

Our new shades from the thrift store.

Some football game.

Trip to Show Low...

IHOP after a show.

Another show...

Disneyland!!!

Disneyland!

Gentry Family Reunion. She had appendicitis,
I got shoulder surgery..

3AM showing of Twilight. I just had surgery the day before this.
She had Emery the next day. Definitely not my favorite picture. Haha.
But great memories!!

New Hair...

This is the result of me being totally sick of my old hair. Cameron dyed it for me. After we dyed it, it was close to pink! Let me note though, it was not Cameron's fault! He did a wonderful job... My hair was too light for the exact color I wanted. Anyways, after several rinses, it was not as bad, and here it is. I love it, and feel like a new me. It was much needed:)

Happy Birthday Adam!

My little nephew Adam turned 5 yesterday...When I was working on this blog last night, my internet cut out and luckily saved all the writing... Anyways, I can't believe how big he is getting. Adam is such a sweetheart. When I lived with them, he would always tell me if my hair was pretty, or not so pretty. I appreciated his honesty! It was not pretty when I just blow-dried it and it was a huge fro. There are so many cute things that Adam has said. One that sticks out was the first little while when I moved there, Julianne would always call me Laurel. Well when Adam was saying a prayer during lunch it went like this "Please bless that Mom won't call Aunt Bethany, Laurel, in the name of Jesus Christ, bless the food, Amen." He also said that his Mom was prettier than I was because she had earrings on and I didn't. I'm fine with that:) One night when we were tucking him in bed, he said he was stuck like fudge. Another time after getting out of the bathtub, he said he wanted to put lotion on to get cozy. He would ask me to put on the sneaker, bleacher song, AKA "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift. He would sing little parts of the song walking around the house. I loved it! I love you Adam, and hope you had a great birthday.

If You're Going to San Francisco...

Sooooooo, long time no update. I am so thankful that I missed the exit on our way to Free Museum Day in Sacramento on Saturday February 5th, because it led us to a day trip the the bay area. It's only about an hour and a half drive from where we live, so we went to Pier 39. We did a lot of walking, and you know you are out of shape when your calves hurt the next couple days. Here are some pictures...

Driving into the city on the Bay Bridge

I am super impressed with Cameron's photography skills...

This one as well... This was such a confusing staircase at the Embarcadero Center...

Cool view from the Embarcadero Center

Again...

Again with the photography skills..

We found this private park and it was so gorgeous and peaceful..

Alcatraz... Hence the scary and creeped out face.

Happy Birthday Lyman!

I just wanted to write a little about Lyman and tell him Happy Birthday. I have to thank Lyman because if it weren't for him, I would not be able to handle teasing. He started dating my sister Miken when I was 5 or 6 I believe... Lyman teases so much, and he hurt my feelings a lot when I was so young, but now I don't take crap from anyone. So I have Lyman to thank for that. Lyman is so fun to hang out with and be around. He is such a chill person and very easy going. When he laughs, you laugh. I cannot think of one time since I've been living here in California when I have hung out with him, where we have not had a good time. Thanks Lyman for being awesome! I hope you have a great birthday