HAPPY B-DAY LARISSA!!

Today is Larissa's birthday and we just wanted to let everyone know how amazing this woman is. She was our Young Women leader for a few years. She was so fun and all her lessons were amazing! She always had the best attitude. She was a great example to me and everyone around her. Not only was she so cool and down to earth, but she was also hilarious and so fun to be around. She was always so much fun, and had great ideas.

But, to every great beginning there has to be an end. On a cold and dreary day (actually it was quite warm, but my heart was cold) her and family moved out of our ward and across the contry. Her husband got accepted to Duke University in North Carolina. It just so happens that she moved on the day we went to girl's camp. So she made a mini-larissa for us, and we took her everywhere.

(left)This is a picture of her reading her scriptures, man she is good. (right) This is her at our faith activity. She always participates!

(left)This is her piggin' out on our refreshments. Vanilla ice cream in a waffle bowl with yummies on top really gave her a sugar high. She wouldn't stop talking and couldn't hold still!

This is her modeling her gangsta' look. Okay, really we were just blindfolded and being led through the church for our "Faith in every Footstep" activity.


This is her battle wound from Girls camp. We were all sitting around the fire and she just got too close. A piece of hot ash fell on her, right on her heart. but don't worry it didn't go all the way through. fewwww!

You may see this picture and think: OUCH!! But that really isn't the case. It was also part of our Faith Walk. We were split into pairs, one person had to touch a hot iron that had a short in it(that was me). The other had to touch the trigger to this mouse trap, which was loosened so it didn't even hurt. The only problem was that we didn't know this until later, we just had to trust... I mean... have faith in our leaders to not lead us astray.

Here is our amazing YW. There is a grand total of 4 girls, actually 5.

Thanks Larissa for the great person you are. I hope you had a great birthday. You deffinatly deserved it. We miss ya and think about you often. I'm glad you're doing well in NC.

ps. thanks for the clothes. You were right, a package was super fun. It was great to hear from you and get a package addressed to me! bye.

Hi Larissa, this is patti in person and actually typing by my very self. Amber has really taken to this blog business and i feel it my responsibility to take back ownership of pattios place. (how pathetic of me, I just had to ask amber what my blog was called) Happy Happy Birthday dear Larissa who remains in our hearts even though she is clear across the nation. We have had so much fun carrying you with us and now that you are older we aren't sure if you are eating like you should cause you haven't gained or lost weight. Actually, that is veryvery good. I thought about you all day yesterday as we were doing the giant roy youth service project of weeding and clearing the walk path that's suppose to be going in soon. I hope your day was filled with being pampered till it gushed out your eyeballs. We miss you extremely and miss that sweet little voice of easton's. Stay as young and beautiful as you are! Guess what, Justin berry got his mission call to taiwan and will be speaking mandarine orange chinese. Speaking of berry's, the family that moved into thier home has 6 boys and one girl. they just moved in and came to church for the first time. Susan got released as sec. and got put in as home a family enrichment leader. Guess they decided it was unnecessary to have more leaders than yw. I am putting together a card swap night , wanna come? Got any callings yet? take care

Is that a wrinkle?

I never thought the day would come when I would actually say 'I'm in High School'. Just the sound of it sounds so old! When i was smaller a high schooler seemed like an adult. They were so big and smart, and I swear I'm not that old. It seemes like they've shrunck over the years. Now, that i'm actually in high school it seemes like i'm too young to be there. I can't imagine what my partents are feeling. Their baby is a Sophmore...creepy!

I was a little nervous the night before school, 'did I have everything i needed?' 'what if i get lost?' 'will my classes be good?' 'will i have friends in my classes?' You know, the usuall pre-school worries. I had wandered around the school to a couple of my classes with mom on registration day, but I was so lost and mixed up the whole time that it did no good anyway. So I got there and found my locker just fine, then the rest of the day was a breeze! I didn't get lost once, i never even had a doubt in my mind of where i was or where i was going. I even helped a few people get to their classes. So, basically i'm a walking compass, what's up! Part of the reason is because i'm part bloodhound.

I have at least one friend in every class, or at least someone I'm comfortable with. Lots of my friends have my same lunch, and my locker is in the new hall and right next to a couple of my close friends. I have great teachers, the best in every subject. (that was lucky) So, all in all it is going to be a great year. GO ROY!!

Yay for sewing projects!

I'm very proud to say that I finally finished my sewing project. I made this hoodie in my sewing class in school. it was just plain and boring, so this last week I embellished. I had to stich it all on by hand because if I would have used the sewing machine I would have sewed it shut! The pocket was especially hard, but I'm proud to say that I'M A GENIOUS! (in a humble way) Well, don't be shy to comment on my sweet sewing skizzils ('skills' in ganster talk, just in case you aren't familiar with my lingo).

Sorry, my computer is being stupid, so just tilt your head for the first pic. In case you can't read it, the words on the pocket are amber jo and the little pink things on the sholder are flowers. The middles of the flowers are buttons. Well, I guess that's all, bye!

I'm a slacker!

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm just as bad as Mom! (no offense) I get so caught up in everyone else's blog that I forget we have one too. Well, mom is still in the process of posting about her Washington DC trip that she went on 2 MONTHS AGO!!

We just got back from our family trip. We started out by driving to Island park for our anual Rencher Reuion. Is was great to see everybody again, especially how we missed last year's. We had 3 days of non-stop food, games, rock band, boating, and catching up. If you know the Rencher family then you know how LOUD, and INTENSE they all are. I'm suprised we all still have our sanity and our hearing! Don't get me wrong, I love them all to death, and I would rather them be obnoxiouse and crazy then mellow and seriouse. There is never a dull moment with them.

Next we drove to Shelly, Idaho to visit my G-ma Harker, who is doing amazing might I add. When I saw her i was shocked. She looked SO good! I don't think I have ever seen her so happy. When we pulled up to her new home (which looks like a hotel) she was outside waiting for us. She has new (actually they are quite old, one is like 97) friends who she adores. She is the social queen. The place was so nice I would even consider living there. It was so good to see her so happy and settled. GO G-MA!!

We spent that night at Pam and Lane Harker's farm. Were we talked and laughed and watched olympics. then we went to church with them the next day. I really gained an appreciation for my ward and the girls in my Young Women at home. The ones there were giddy, annoing, silly girls. They talked about who liked who for, literally, 15 minutes into the lesson. I wanted to smack them. Thank you Roy 10th ward!

Then we spent that night at Craig and connie Rencher's house. Thanks for the hospitality. That next morning (monday) our family got to go through the Twin Falls Temple open house. It was so beautiful. It truely was a bit of heaven on earth. And i think the cookies after the tour were make in heaven's kitchen! Deliciouse.

Our last stop was Walla Walla, Washington (say that 5 times fast) where we had our Harker reunion. Not all the Harkers were there but it was still a blast. We had 4 days of swimming in the pool, playing games, eating 3 meals a day, and going on an "African Safari". Great job on all of those who helped plan and put it all together. It was so fun to see my family who I haven't seen for a long time.

All in all it was a great week. Full of driving, visiting, eating food, and having a blast. The only tricky part was figuring out ways to get comfortable in a car with lots of luggage and a 6 foot 4 brother, and an older sister, and me all shoved in the back seat. I must say, we got pretty creative. :)

Many new things!

A week after Youth conf. our family went camping with some friends. That was tons of fun.

On the 10th was our Stake Lagoon day. If any of you don't know what Lagoon is it is an amusment park. There is a new ride called Wicked, and boy is it WICKED! You start out by going from slow to fast in like 2 seconds, then you are shot up straight in the air so all you see is the sky for a minute, then you go over the top and go straight down till you almost hit the ground. Every time i went on it i was amazed at the smooth speed. Sweet! Here is a film, it's not mine but you get the point. P.S. thanks Ashley for teaching me how to work it. It is a lot faster than it looks. Anyway, that was a way fun day, and very tireing. My friends and I stayed from opening to closing, about 11 hours of non-stop fun and addrenaline.

Just this last week I went to girls camp. Momma went with me and that was fun. It was stake camp and our theme was "I will be your light in the wilderness" (1 nephi 17:13), and our ward theme was S.W.A.T (Spiritually Walk And Talk). We had the funnest leaders who planned so much fun things. they even named a star SWAT for us which i thought was pretty much awsome! I met new friends, swam in the river, did polar bear (jumping into the freezing water up to your neck and reciting the YW theme) which is always fun, and lost all sense of hygene. The first thing I did when I got home was shower and take a nap. I never thought i would miss my bed sooo much. After sleeping on a huge root/mound, I really appreciated my 55 year old foam bed. :)

I also got a hair cut a week before girls camp. I have never had my hair cut by anyone but my mom till now. I also haven't had my hair cut short since 4th grade! So this was a HUGE thing form me. I love being able to blow dry and staighten my hair in just over 15 minutes! i'm used to an hour! Here is a before and after picture. Oh, yeah, Erin got her hair cut too.

This isn't the best picture to show my short hair, but it's the only one I have so far.

Well, Logan and Ashley are coming to visit for a week and I CANT WAIT. I try not to think about it too much, because it gives me very violent, sabertooth, killer, butterflies in my stomach. That is how excited I am. I haven't seen them forever. That is the worst part about being the youngest, everyone you love gets married to people who you love, then they leave to make you miss them more than anything. I'm tearing up thinking about it. Man, I'm pathetic!

Speaking of brothers, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANDON!! I hope you had the best day, because you so deserve it. You are one of the best brothers a girl could ever ask for. Thanks for all you do for me. I love your genuine kindness, and your support in all I do. I miss you and Erica like crazy. I'm counting down the days till Christmas!

Mom is still in the process of writing a post. So look for that soon. :)

Busy are we!

I'm back. I took a little summer break away from my blog. Thanks to Amber for keeping Pattio's place alive. But now it's time to get back on the circuit and catch up on everyones' lives again. Wow, Summer came and went like a whirlwind. It started out with Erin and I taking a little trip to washington D.C. We left June 6th for 6 days. We went with her History group from high school and got to hear the Best History teacher every show us the sights and teach us the history of the actual sites and the inside scoop on all the monuments. I loved it! Erin and I had a blast being there together. I felt so patriotic. My favorite place was gettisburg. It was a very powerful feeling of deep appreciation and a realization of the miracle of that war. I learned so much and actually being there to hear and see how it all went down was an experience I'll never forget. When we came home we squoze a camp trip with the family and a few friends into june.

July was filled with girls camp for a week but a month of preperation. I wasn't the camp director, thank heavens, but I did have to teach 85 girls how to square dance. oh yea, it was stake girls camp. They had so much fun and wanted to keep dancing into the night. Then we had logan and ashley come for a week where we got to just play. We went camping for a couple days and floated the rapids at lava hot springs. Ashley took a few seuveniers home with her on her legs from the rocks, and may I say the river got a piece of ashley. But all in all we had so much fun with them. Why can't Ohio be closer.

August was family month. We hit the Rencher reunion and celebrated jay and Louis's 60th anniv. in Island Park. Then we left from there to Walla walla Wash. for the Mike Harker reunion. It was fun seeing so many family members all crammed into one week. So I was curious as to how big our families were getting so I did some calculating and found out that there are 86 in the Rencher bunch and 143 in the Harker clan. That is some "multiplying and replenishing" right there in two families.

So, what will september bring? So far a quiet house with Erin gone to USU and Tanner gone to BYUI. And jars and jars of canning. Who's sick of canning? Lucky Amber is still home and LOVES all that stuff. Can you sense the sarcasm just dripping off the page. Will she be able to survive being the last chick in the nest? We shall see!!!!wooahahaha! tchow for now

The substitute

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I'm getting really tired of the 3 posts on my mother's blog, so I decided to take charge and put a new one on.

On the 19th my mom and I (amber jo) went to youth conference. She is the first counselor in the Young Women presidency, so she was able to come with us. That was really fun to have her there. Some people my age hate it when their parents hang out with them, but I like it. Anyway, we left in the morning and drove to East Canyon. Some of our leaders and the 1st couselour in the bishopbric are anti camping, so we got to stay in these sweet yurts. You are probably wondering what in the world is a yurt. Well, it is kind of like a teepee, but instead of a cone shape, it is a cylinder with a cone on top. they were held up by criss-crossing wooden slat fencing things, with canvas-ish tarp things covering them and a clear plastic hole in the top to see the stars. There was a bunck bed and a couch and little gas heater inside. They were like Indian hotels. They were set up on these cute decks and were right on the edge of East Canyon Lake, and suprisingly clean and new. Here are some pictures, just click on the empty boxes and it shows you. Mom accidently forgot her camera. (can you tell i'm new at this, if anyone knows how to put on pictures from the internet let me know).

After we unpacked all our stuff into our yurts we went boating on the lake. We have a really small ward (only 9 youth, boys and girls combined) so we had 2 boats, boys in one and girls in the other. I went on the tube for a bit (which was a huge break through because i'm terrified of water. All you Rencher's know, because you have seen me at family reunions. :) We did that for like 6 hours, stoping only for lunch and dinner.

We spent the rest of the day hiding from the sun because of our sunburns, playing different games, talking, and just haveing a great time. The girl's yurt was up until 3-ish in the morning playing Pit, talking, and laughing till we burst. Believe it or not our YW president was the one who kept us rialed up. (she is the best president in the WORLD!!) It was way fun. Good times, good times.

It wasn't until we woke up the next day that we found out the yurts weren't at all sound proof. So, all the boys in their yurt about 15 yards away, heard us all night! Oops, sorry bishop. :)

That day we went on a hike on the actuall trail that the pioneers when on, it was called Big Mountain. If you ever want to find a fun relaxing hike that is it. It wasn't way steep and only about 5 miles. The weather was beautiful also. Thank you mother nature!

We then went home, got cleaned up, when to chuck-a-rama (an all you can eat buffet in town) then crashed at home.

*Highlights*
1.I got a sweet tan
2. I conquered my fear of water
3. I made some way fun memories
4. It gave me something to write about on this post

Mom might want to say more and she might want to put on pictures so this might not be the end of Youth Conference. (The key word here is "might"!!)