This ward knows how to party.

This past weekend was a dream come true - our ward finally had a ward camp-out, after almost 

a decade hiatus. I dunno about anyone else, but I was stinking ecstatic. 

Friday afternoon we packed up the van and headed east, arriving at the Ensign Ranch an
hour later to this beautiful sight.

{More ecstatic-ness.}

After gettin the lay of the land and saying hi to everyone who had shown up so far, our big momma tent was assembled, sleeping bags were rolled out, and charcoals were prepared for one of my personal favorite parts of camping. Foil dinners. Ohh yes.

And they didn't disappoint.

One of my most favoritest babysit-ees. Isn't she a doll!

Game night consisted some amazing Dutch Oven desserts, a round of Chubby Bunny, some Girls Camp songs, and a handful of Minute To Win It challenges. I represented the Cedar River ladies as I went up against two of the Priests in a task titled "Chocolate Unicorn" and emerged victorious.

Not sure if I should be proud of that fact or what... but hey, you never know when 

the skill of stackin food {or more specifically, dingdongs} on your head may come in handy!

While the boring grownups talked around the campfire, us older kids went out into the field that night for some star tipping {We all had headaches for hours haha. [: But it was well worth it.} and ghost stories before hitting the sack at 1am. The next day everyone enjoyed breakfast prepared by the bishopric, followed by a hardcore Ninja Destruction tournament,

and an epic pyramid. I do believe I've still got a bruise on my spine from those knees haha.

I love my ward, I love my fam, and I love camping! 

One whole decade ago

this little princess became my sister. All the spunk, wit, and energy our family needed came bundled up
in one little package, complete with dimpled cheeks and the curliest hair anyone in our
entire family had ever seen.

 Sarah Bear. I still remember the night you were born. Getting dragged out of bed in the middle of the night so that we could get Mom to the hospital {no hard feelings; I realize you probably didn't have a say in your time of arrival}. Getting pulled over for speeding on the way and watching Dad leap out of the car, shout to the cop that Mom was in labor, then bolt back to the car and leave him in the dust {I think you just might have heard that sassy little interchange... That would explain a lot [: }. Sleeping over at Gramma & Grandpa's that night with Merr & Lydia, unable to keep in our ecstatic giggles as we thought about a brand new baby sister that we would be able to see and hold the very next morning. Hearing what your name would be. Sarah Elizabeth.

    You are the energizer bunny of this family. You aren't afraid of what anyone thinks. In fact sometimes I wonder if you just aren't afraid of anything {except bugs!}. Even at an early age you showed a natural gutsy "stage presence" & I guess we can safely say you never once had a problem being in the spotlight.

We became especially close, you being the youngest, and I being the oldest. I felt this naturally fierce & protective kind of love for you {and still do!} and wanted to make sure you knew you had someone looking out for you. We became bestest buddies. I remember when you used to beg me to piggy-back you everywhere, all day. It was your preferred mode of transportation.

From the very start, I was so amazed by how bright you were, how quickly you picked up on things. You said and did things that kids twice your age would never even think of trying. You put us older kids to shame with your plucky readiness to try something new & your never-ending enthusiasm for anything fun. And now that I'm old and boring, you continue to show me how important it is to stay young - to get excited about the little things and find the fun in everything. You have taught me so much.

And now you are ten years old. I really cannot believe that.

Most stylish 10 year old this side of the mountains, wouldn't you agree? We Krops
know how to do birthday presents.

So, littlest sis, happy birthday, and thank you for bringing sunshine to our family and my own life every day with your dances, handstands, giggles, songs, silly faces, and inspiring persistence to be the happiest, best freckle face you can be. You have so much potential and so much to give. I wanna be like you when I grow up. I LOVE YOU.

Today I am my to-do list's worst nightmare.

I'm going to run with my mother. I'm going to finish & send off my letter to Elder Batschi, plus finally write back to Elder Bezzant, Hancock & Bond because the letters keep comin and I feel like a completely terrible friend each time I find one in the mail & fail at responding. I'm going to weed the side of the house where five trillion dandelions decided to have a party and make a bajillion babies while we were in Hawaii, then deep clean my room. And then I'm going to pick up four of the cutest kids in my ward and have three hours of playtime. Finally, when they're in bed, I'm maybe going to attempt to finish my currently-in-draft-status post about said trip to Hawaii & some other stuff. But that's only a maybe.
To-do list, you better be shakin in your boots. Rawr.

Harry Potter brings out the giggles in us

So tonight as we finished unpacking & sat down to a family movie night of HP 7 Part 1, which I hadn't seen until now (preppin for the 15th!!!) Lydie was trying to get me pumped by telling me about her favorite song from the soundtrack, which is the music in the opening scene. In short she just couldn't find those notes, which I found stinking hilarious & couldn't stop laughing at her attempts. Covert footage via phone was in order. Golly I just plain adore that girl. She is the cutest.

Aloha, real actual summer weather

Familia. Kauai. 12 days. This girl is happy.

{And so are these feet, soon to be free of that running shoe tan line.} 

Yeeeeeee. [: 

Just how cool is my family?

Merritt's face cracks me up. We love ice baths!

Yeahh. Pretty much swept the Maple Valley Stake 5k/10k. That's how cool. [: 

It doesn't get much better than this

Memorial Day weekend was spent doing one of the things we Krops do best: sailing. It's something my family has been doing for as long as I can remember. My parents co-own the Syntony with my grandparents & some family friends, and we go up and cruise the San Juan Islands as often as we can. Puget Sound is one of my most favorite places on the planet, and I'm convinced there's really no better way to explore the islands than on a sailboat. Nothing beats sitting on the deck with the sea breeze in your hair and the sun on your face, or peeking into a tidepool to see a tiny, perfect little world inside, kayaking past bright orange sea stars and a sea otter or harbor seal along the shore, or hiking the islands among the gorgeous red madronas and huge douglas firs. Now that I've waxed poetic and nerdy, I will stop. Anyhow, uploading and trying to arrange multiple photos on a blog post always ends up making me want to punch Blogger in its unintuitive little face soo I made this little beauty to help me share those four days of no make up, no cell service or internet, no worries, and all the time in the world to enjoy family and God's creation. Pure paradise as far as this girl's concerned. You'll see why:

Time to catch up? Yes. It's time to catch up.

When my siblings are off at school... I'm kinda really bored. Humph. And my conscience has been naggin' at me to update this thing because I swore to myself I wouldn't let last summer's blog hibernation happen again. It made me sad when I had to cram three of the best months of my life into one post. History will not repeat itself this time. Time to take advantage of this productive feeling & get this off my chest. So if you wish to be swamped in pictures and rambling from this girl... continue on. I'll really try hard to keep this short.

Easter was simply perfect, complete with egg dyeing a few days before 

as usual, a beautiful Easter sacrament meeting the day of, and a huge family 

dinner at Papa & Nana Krop's that evening. I can't imagine a better way to 

spend such a special day than with my family.

The past two years I've lucked out majorly by way of
employment. Assembling street-brushes is my game. Working 

consists of counting out a certain number of plastic 

straws, depending on what type of streetbrush I'm 

making, bending them in half, and wedging them into

the semi-circular brush frames, usually while watching 

a movie {Most recently it's been Forever Strong 

followed by the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice [: } 

or listening to music. The pay is phenomenal and by 

the end of the summer I should hit my goal of $4,000.

 

Merr was lucky enough to have two of the 

cutest Tahoma fans cheering for him at his last 

few games, if I do say so myself. Not that he even 

needed much cheering anyway, being the crazy 

soccer star that he is. I taught him everything he 

knows, of course. [: Not. But he does me & those 

left side positions proud, he does.

Photobombbb.
I'm my own kind of beautiful. Haha.

Once again the annual pre-summer clean up at our cabin was done in a downpour

worthy only of western Washington. But I couldn't help but smile as we chopped wood, mowed grass, raked leaves, and cleared the trail while talking with relatives I hadn't seen since Christmas. My hilarious uncle felt for a ring under my gardening glove and demanded an explanation for the absence of such, then gave me a smack on the bum and a command to come home next time with a man. I'm in no rush to get hitched, and I had to tell him not to get his hopes up. Sorry, Uncle Claus. I love my family & working hard - pouring rain and all. It was a good day. 

Oh. Also, Merritt jumped in the lake. He is insane.

After such soggy adventures there was only one thing to do - hot dinner at Chipotle and a 

double feature at the dollar theater. For those of you who haven't seen the Adjustment Bureau,

GO SEE IT. And for those of you who haven't seen the Green Hornet, I suggest the opposite. 

Quite unimpressed. We actually walked out. Guess ya can't have it all...

This little lady is quite the Miss Barry Bonds. I've been spending some time out in the backyard

with her, trying to keep my miserable pitching skills up to par with her hits & have had not so much

success but a whole lot of fun. This is her grand slam face. Watch out.

When Mother's Day rolled around, Dad surprised us with crème brûlée {store bought, but 

hey that's fancy stuff all the same}, complete with authentic preparatory measures. 

Anything for this lady! I love you, Momma!

The newest addition to our family. This is Jessie. Cutest thing ever.

Last adventure: DATE NIGHT. And this was not just any ol' date, 

folks - this was the date signifying my stud muffin brother's entry into the dating world. 

You heard me ladies; Merritt is now sixteen and eligible. I had the honor of 

attending this momentous occasion, and let me just say, doubling with my brother was a blast.

Merritt took his friend Christina, and I went with my buddy Justyn. Dinner took place

at the marvelous Buca di Beppo, and then it was off to the Sounders game against Portland. 

It poured the entire time, but that didn't keep us from sporting our rave green and blue and 

screaming ourselves hoarse for our boys. Just how we Seattleites like our soccer games. 

After the game, soaked to the skin and happy about it! Far as I'm concerned this here boy
should get a medal for handling the insane Seattle streets with much more patience & quick 

thinking than I could ever posses. With a stick shift. What a stud. 

All in all it was a very good night. 

Events not pictured: Upon getting back from Provo in April, I was asked by a friend in my 

ward to play on his outdoor 18 and over co-ed soccer team, and that's been a lot of fun. 

I really, reeally have missed soccer, and getting back into it felt so great. We have
some serious fun and I have a great time playing with them.

Also, lots and lots of running with my amazing mom.

Andddd getting my SCUBA certification. But that's
another story for later.

And that's that. Major events from the past two weeks, consider yourself somewhat documented. I feel 

very accomplished. Now watch, there probably won't be another one of these for two
months haha. We'll see. 

Life is good.

I barely have time to post or even open my laptop these days

And I'm loving every minute of it. [:

PS I'm in love with Parachute.

Happy Friday.

& this is why I love Sundays

And my family. And living here. And my life in general.

Actually this is only one of many reasons. But in short, I just double love being home.