my angel...

so this past week i've thought a lot about a certain angel. her name is shannon kathleen buckner hamblin. i ran across some pictures of her that i didn't know were on our computer.

"i would run my hands on my head and my hands would be covered with hair. i would sit in the shower and cry as i watched my hair go down the drain. before it fell out i decided i would just wear scarves and hats and that i wasn't so vain that i could handle it. losing my hair was one of the hardest things emotionally i've gone through."
-shannon hamblin

(that's her and her sisters/ girlfriends at the price is right, million dollar spectacular..)

(this is us at a timeshare in park city... i completely forgot about that trip before i saw this picture..)

(this is a picture of my sweet mother that is proudly framed everywhere in my house..)

(this is her holding my now eight year old cousin as a baby..)

(trip to disney land...?)

(two year old portrait... i guess now i know where i got my blond hair...:))

(silly baby..)

(such a cute baby..)

(that's us..)

(oh how she loved him..)

(that's her senior picture..)

(this is us in florida... josh's tank..:))

(this is my grandpa's stinkin awesome model A..)

my mother was a woman of many talents...

(basketball..)

(state champ in basketball..)

(cheer..)

(volleyball..)

(pageant girl..)

(and yes... she was prom queen..)

now onto my favorite...

(my parents were married in the provo utah temple..)

(courtship..:))

(their wedding announcement..)

i have had a hard time remembering a lot about my mom. for the last seven years i've sort of forgotten that she was my mom. i've prayed and prayed to be able to remember her and to know her like i used to, unfortunately i won't ever know her that well while i'm here on this earth. but i'm so happy that my family is a forever family and that i know that she's with our father in heaven watching over me right now. memories aren't forever, but my family is. and i am so grateful for that knowledge.

what's new...

so, i haven't written in a while... just wanted to catch you up on everything! so basically everything has pretty much been normal. for christmas we stayed home which was a first that i can remember for us. it was a little bitter sweet considering we always have a hectic household for christmas. i missed it, i do have to say, but i guess there are some new traditions to be made. elder josh

is coming home in less than two weeks from today! his date to come home is the twenty seventh of january and his homecoming talk will be just two days afterwards on the twenty ninth. this month has been going by pretty slowly i guess if i consider how much time i've had on my hands. i think it's just because good 'ol josha is on the very tail-end of the best two years! but, i do have a lot to do before he gets home. this upcoming saturday is preference! my first dance date and i asked an amazing guy named james itri

(he's the one that's not jimmer fredette...:) i guess he's pretty cool too..) anyways james and i met this year and he's become one of my really good friends. i'm way too excited for this date... (check back next week for more on the date.) hmmm, what else has been going on? well ohs is doing pretty well in men's and women's basketball. at g.w.s. our boys unfortunately didn't win the tournament but we did beat lone peak, which was kind of a big deal! and they've won all their games since. our girls had an awesome game against springville on friday which went into overtime... (mad i didn't see that...) but i'm so excited for the season and wish all the amazing girls an awesome season... and cross your fingers for no acl tears/ any injuries at all...:)

in honor of my very own elder...
st matthew 28: 19
"Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son, and of the Holy Ghost:"


...oh and p.s. i got an a- in physics for the term... not a c...!!

brown...

so i died my hair... it's been about a week and a half and i'm still getting used to it. i like it don't get me wrong but it's wayyy different. at first it was like black, so so dark but it's calmed down since then! people seem to like it so that's good haha. it's kind of an adventure and i think it's fun!

sixteen and never been kissed...

so about a week and a half ago i turned sixteen. it's pretty crazy! it's not like it's some huge dramatic change from fifteen to sixteen in your maturity level but at least for me there was a huge dramatic freedom/ responsibility change. i got my license on halloween because i couldn't get it on my birthday and as soon as i had my license i was pretty much out on the road practicing that stick. and a week later i went on my first date. my friend morgan took me on my first date.

we went bowling then to farr's fresh icecream. the first game i bowled a fifty two then the second game i bowled a one hundred and ten! the best score i've probs ever had! we were competing against my cousin mackenzee and ty.

kenzee and ty bowled first and their final score ended up being something like one hundred and eighty two and then i bowled next and i finished with one hundred and ten and morgan only needed to knock down like five pins to win and he knocked down four so we tied! haha it was good because then neither of us got the bragging rights haha. it's been a good couple weeks!

"don't you ever grow up"...

so basically i'm way excited that i'm gonna be sixteen in four days! it's pretty crazy to me and i seriously don't feel like it's here. but it is. right around the corner.
i look back and think how i thought that twelve was so old (only because i was a beehive obviously) and then fourteen was huge (only because i was a miamaid of course) i thought that i'd be like mature and stuff...
i still wish that i wanted the sit cris-cross applesauce. i wish i still got excited and ran to see my dad when he got home from work. i wish i could still have my hair parted down the middle with my moms signature pigtail braids in my hair. i always thought i couldn't wait until i was grown up because i would grow out of my baby fat, but baby fat was cute back then. it's not so much cute when i have fat now. i'll be honest as excited as i am to turn sixteen and flee the house in my truck whenever i want, looking back on my years... kind wish i never grew up...

(paige ellen hamblin age 6)

(paige ellen hamblin almost 10 years later)


"oh darlin' don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up. just stay this little. oh darlin' don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up. it could stay this simple. i won't let nobody hurt you, won't let no one break your heart, and no one will dessert you. just try to never grow up."
-taylor swift

allison mae...

so allison mae powell has been my best friend since like first grade? who really knows? allison is like what, five feet eight inches of pure gorgeousness. she dances for the academy of ballet and is absolutely crazy!

she has the best sense of humor and we laugh so hard together. she and i have had our rough spots but i think that's what makes us so close. we've been through literally thick and thin together and we can conquer anything together. if i had to be stuck on an island with one person it would be allison;)

"... you're a true friend, you're here till the end."
-hannah montanna

"as the days go by"...

so life is going pretty well for me right now. physics is kickin' my butt, but i've come to realize that it's the only thing making me work really hard. my birthday is coming up soon and i am ecstatic! i'll be sixteen finally and i am getting my license on halloween! if it weren't for pre-planning i wouldn't have been able to get my license right away but now i have absolutely everything i need to get my license i just need to be sixteen! my only brother joshua is coming home in three months and twelve days from this very day! my sister hailey is all grown up and wearing heals now. she's going to byu and living down there too, she's loving it. baby emma rae is starting to walk now and becoming more of a trouble maker! dad and paula are still same old same old. just the rockin' parents everyone wishes they had! so i would say, all in all everything's going great!

"as days go by, i can feel 'em flyin' like a hand out the window in the wind..."
-keith urban