By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower.

Life is so beautiful, and God reminds me of that every day :)

Hey my few followers, whom I love so dearly :) I wanted to write a quick short blog about my summer so far, it has truly been the best!! The Wednesday night small group parties, dancing in the rain, talking to the adorable kids at the pool, falling off the hammock, telling miss molly we wont take the ice cream, watching the sun rise and set, cookin pancakes with amazing people, catching toads, sleepovers with my buddies, soccer with philo, taking pictures of everything, driving with my daddy, crashing my bike with Alexis, being evil when playing apples to apples, working at the pool, dancing in my rainboots, late night prank calling, early morning practices, Taylor Swift Concert <3, swing dancing at youth group, horse shows with mommy, feeding zinny marshmallows with Lauren, having water fights outside with the best little brother ever, clipping the goats, naming the stars with somebody special, soaking up the sun, roaming Slater and seeing the "pancake" face with Lo, pig races with Emily, extreme cupcake decorating, getting ready for the mission trip, and even those sometimes dreaded early morning drivers ed. classes have made this summer crazy good!! Summer 2011, I love you... :)

Peterson Critter Collection :)

okay, i thought i should share a few pictures of my animals, because they mean so much to me, and they are just plain awesome :)

 Jimmy the turtle :)

 Peaches :)

 Kiwi :)

 Salsa :)

 my dork of a dog :)

 Molly :)

 Jimmy :)

Kiwi :)

Molly :)

 Zinny :)

 Mr. Snowby :)

 Salsa :)

 Peaches :)

 Razzy :)

Zinny :)

What I have been up to :)

Well, we only have 9 more days of school, so I am extra pumped for that  :) I mean, who wouldn’t be :) Summer 2011 here I come!!  This summer will be absolutely ahhh-mazing!! I have so much planned like going on a mission trip with my youth group and drivers ed. (I don’t know if I will be the greatest, LOL) and of course summer swim team!! :)  I guess I am a bit sad though because I will be swimming for Ames instead of Ballard :/ But the best thing about this summer will be spending LOTS of time with my friends!! :) I love them soooo much :) I have had such a great freshie year though, so it will be pretty sad on the last day, but I def need a break :)

Last week I went to the Pella Tulip Festival, with my one of my besties Lauren, and it was so much fun!! :) Here are a few pictures from my day :)

Some really pretty flowers from a sweet store called Thistle :)

 Hehe, this family was so cute, I had to ask them for a picture :)

 Lauren and I :) she is such a beautiful best friend :)

 Hehe, me and my huge feet :)

 Our group :)

 it's tulip time :0)

  two of the coolest people i know :) just sayinnn'

 Holly and one of the drums :)

 Tulip Time 2011 :)

 we had such a great day :)

I LOVE HER :)

A Few Christmas Traditions :)

Every Christmas there are a few traditions that we absolutely must do as a family. And tonight we made our yummy Christmas cookies. We also decorate our house "a lot" and when i say "a lot" i mean a lot. Every room is full of trees, lights, and sparkly garland. Last night we watched Charlie Brown’s Christmas :) and last week we went to Jolly Holiday Lights :)

 Earlier this year in school we talked about traditions and why we follow them and why they are important to us. These Christmas traditions are very important to me because I do them with my loved ones :) There are a few new traditions I really would like to try this year, and they are for Jesus. This year I have become much closer to him, closer than ever. And I would like to thank him for his sacrifices and celebrate his wonderful birth :) I would also like if my family will also celebrate the true meaning with me, so this year I want to read the birth of Jesus, out of the bible, as a family. I think that would be a very neat new tradition. And for once, I get to start this one :)

Jolly Holiday Lights :)

Jolly Holiday Lights :)

Making the green frosting for the yummy cookies :)

Homemade Christmas Cookies!! :)

Cupcakes we made for the tour of our home :)

My first blog ever :)

Hi anyone who is actually reading this :) I decided to try a blog because my friend Lauren told me it was a really fun and neat way to express yourself :) so I am, and so far, I’m a bit lost getting my page set up and everything (technology stuff isn’t always my thing, hehe) but otherwise it’s pretty neat so far :)

So I guess I should tell you a bit about myself :) well I’m a freshman and involved in competitive swimming it’s a great sport but it’s so intense and overwhelming at times... I am also really involved in church activities :) The church I go to for all these activities has really taught me so much :) they helped me open my heart up to let god save me :) a few things I am also involved with are speech, chorus, schoolwork, overflow, small group, friends, and family activities. So that’s a bit about me :) you could say life gets a little stressful at times but I have my friends, family, and god to help me during those times :)

Before I get too far into this blog thing, I want everyone to know I’m not the greatest writer, but  hopefully this will help me  :) one more thing… sorry about my obsession with smiley faces, I seriously try to cut down on them each time I text, post, or write something, it’s just so difficult for me!! Guess this is my first blog ever :) bye for now :)