Thankamony.

My life is so full. I am blessed in way too many ways to count. Sometimes I don't feel like I deserve everything I have, but I know I was given what I was given for a reason and "because I have been given much, I too must give." 


"For of him unto whom ^amuch is ^bgiven much is ^crequired;"
Doctrine & Covenants 82:3


Today, I am overwhelmed with gratitude and I want to express it on here since I'm not very good at expressing it out-loud.

1. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

(Greg Olsen)

"I have felt His light and I have felt His peace, stronger than anything. If I could shout to all the world, bring His truth to every man, I would wear away my life to say:"

"He is the Way. He is the Light. He is Life. No other road, no other name. His power to save. I testify with every breath I breath, with all my faith: He is the way!"
(Jenny Phillips)


 I am so thankful to be raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm thankful for the knowledge of who I am, where I came from and where I am going. I'm thankful that I am never alone. I will always have my Savior. I will always have my Heavenly Father. I know that my prayers are heard and answered. I know that everything in my life has a purpose and a plan.

2. I love Luke Maughan.

"I set out on a narrow way many years ago

Hoping I would find true love along the broken road

But I got lost a time or two

Wiped my brow and kept pushing through

I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you

Every long lost dream led me to where you are

Others who broke my heart they were like Northern stars

Pointing me on my way into your loving arms

This much I know is true

That God blessed the broken road

That led me straight to you"

Luke is my everything. It was definitely a higher power that led us together. There is no one in this world I would rather spend Eternity with. 

3. I love my parents.

I lucked out in the parents department. I can't express the amount of gratitude I have for my mother. She is the strongest, smartest and most amazing woman I know. She bends over backwards for her children, her siblings, her best friends and her parents. I hope to be half the mom to my kids as my mom is to me. I love her so much. My dad is a genius, a comedian and a best friend. He's patient, kind and loving. He's a father to so many people. He is one of my biggest heroes.

4. I love my siblings.

The best thing in the world is to get a call from one of my siblings. I miss Brooklyn, Austin, Adam and Emmalee so much. There are lots of advantages to being the oldest child, but having to leave the home first was one of the hardest parts.

Brooklyn is my best friend. It took awhile for us to change from siblings to best friends, but when we finally did I scored the best best friend ever. Brooklyn will always bend over backwards for me. She is the most helpful, caring friend I have. Austin is a stud. He is smarter than I am and probably smarter than I ever will be. Austin reminds me so much of my dad. He's hilarious, spiritual, smart and so aware of people's feelings. Adam is my cuddle bug. He has become so smart and witty since I left. It's weird to think they are all growing up without me. Emmalee is everyone's little princess. She is spoiled rotten because she's so dang cute. She is going to be a heart breaker someday. (And yes, Lauren is a sibling too, but she's in a different category.

5. I love my grandparents.

My grandma and grandpa Falter are incredible. My grandma's ability to laugh at herself is inspiring. Ever since I can remember, "Crazy Grandma Marg" ALWAYS had a new story for us to laugh about. My grandpa is also a genius like my dad! They have such forgiving hearts. They support their kids and grandkids no matter what!! And anything my grandma cooks is amazing. I love getting letters, newspaper clippings and packages from them in the mail. 

 

My grandma and grandpa Belnap are also incredible. My grandma is the most selfless lady in the world. She is constantly taking meals, visiting, giving rides and helping in every way that she can. My grandpa is always working or teasing. They are so humble and full of faith.  I love getting a bag with cheese-balls and homemade jam. Grandma and Granpda will make everyone they meet a part of their family.

6. I love my aunts, uncles and cousins.

Bryden William Belnap is the happiest, most loving man in the world. 

I love having the Belnap gene in me. These are very loving, service oriented, and goofy people. They have a heart from their mother and the brains from their father ;). Having Marci & Scott, Barbi & Justin and Jeri Kay & Steve so close to me has been such a blessing. I always have a place to have a home cooked meal, do my laundry and be with the people I love the most. Lately, I've been having lots of much-needed bonding with Barbi. She's helped me get through some hard time of rejection. These Belnap siblings also produced some amazing kids. I love that I have so many cousins in the same town. I love cousin bonding activities like bowling, rockband, Glee and dinners. My cousins are some of my very best friends.

I also love the crazy-goofy-laugh-at-everything Falter gene. I love getting together with the Falters!!! The Falters always laugh. They always are smiling and having a good time. They laugh at themselves, at crazy grandma and my crazy uncles. I never see their angry or stressed out sides. All I see is happiness. They are all very positive and optimistic. I love getting letters in the mail from my aunt Tracy. She has always been so kind and thoughtful. I love all my cute little Falter cousins. I wish there wasn't such a gap between us. 

7. I love my future family.

These guys have already done SO much for me! It's so nice to have a new family to support me and lean on when my immediate family is so far away. Everyone is so supportive of each other. All the letter stuffing, rides, meals, video taking, couch shopping, tie shopping, bed shopping, tv shopping and envelope labeling. I love them all so much.

8. I love my school.

Utah State University is where it's at. Utah is such a different place than Washington. It's taken awhile to get used to this culture, but I love every part of it. Everyone is friendly here. I already have so many amazing friends. I love that so many people around me have the same values as me. 

9. I love my best friends.

We made it to, through, out and beyond the awkward stage together. 

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."

Throughout the last 6 years, we have gone through different trials and experiences, but through it all we stuck together. Other people came in and out of our lives, but us three  were and always will be a team. :) We understand each other. We laugh at each other. We listen to each other. I just hope they don't forget about me when I'm married because even if I'm not their best friend, they will always be mine.

Christmas Break (:

There's nothing like being home for the holidays. When you go off to school or move out, you forget how much the little things mean to you. Simple things like giggle outbreaks in family prayer, bathrooms you can walk in, full cupboards, a jug of milk that is not labeled...etc.

This break has been especially amazing because I've had Luke here with me to share it. There's nothing quite like a Falter family Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we have the Belnap Christmas, complete with the nativity scene and Christmas hymns till our throats are too sore. This is the night we remember why we are celebrating Christmas. We asked Emmalee: What is Christmas about? Emmalee: PRESENTS! Obviously she's been watching the Grinch too much, because last week she told us it was about Jesus, our Savior. She has to be the cutest, smartest five year old in the world. :) I am a tad biased though.

Then that night, we crunch into one room and wait patiently for Santa Clause. This year we went to bed a little later than usually because we went on a last minute shopping run for my dad. We felt bad for him because we thought my mom had more. Too bad he didn't appreciate any of it and now he's trying to take it all back. It's the thought that counts, right?

Well us three big girls were in the bed laughing and talking until Austin left to get sleep and Adam and Emma were in tears, scared that Santa wasn't going to come. And Luke was probably crying too...just quieter ;) No matter how old you are, Christmas Eve is definitely the hardest night in the world to sleep too, especially when your little sister kicks your face all night. You got to love the 6:30 AM wake up call from your little brothers and no matter how hard you try, you can't convince them to sleep any longer.

Then, we all line up on the stairs and listen to each child run down and find what Santa brought. That's the best part of Christmas morning. It's fun being the oldest cause you hear everyone else's happy screams while you wait. And this year, I wasn't the last one, so I didn't get lonely. Christmas morning was successful, we made my mom cry at least three times, my dad cry and I made Luke cry. That's the goal... get a gift that makes them cry. It's the best. Then we celebrate all together with a big Christmas breakfast and lay around watching movies the rest of the day.

On Sunday, our family was asked to sing in church. We were going to sing this amazing version of Silent Night, until the week before when the ward choir sang it... so we sang Angels We Have Heard On High because our family sings that amazingly together. Well, we sang the first two versus, messed up and laughed the entire third verse. It was a tad embarrassing and very awkward walking back to our seats. The entire congregation was laughing or trying really hard not too... but it was fun. I love my family, laughing and singing. Great combo :)

Christmas at the Falter's was great, as always. We had Luke's initiation...sitting with Uncle Eric. The Falter family is so funny!!! There is such a variety of personalities. All mixed together they are hilarious!

Grandma Falter: What's 90 feet long, green, bumpy and lives in the ocean?

(Punchline: Moby Pickle.)

Grandma Falter: (on accident) Pickle Dick.

It was a special treat having the Darin Belnap family with us this year. We had fun reminiscing on old times like throwing rocks at people's windows, sending old woman to the hospital, crashing into wood piles, learning new vocabulary (book), wearing face-paint to the reservation, backfired plans to scare our siblings and sleeping on our parents floor in a thunderstorm. We always have great times with DJ and Mckell. This year we watched a thousand and one movies, went bowling, had an "adventurous" night at Walmart, and made mud masks.

Kylee: *Saying Family Prayer*

Mom: *Whispers* Darin!

Kylee: Please bless Karen.

Mom: Darin!

Kylee: Please bless Garin....?

Mom: UNCLE DARIN!

Kylee: Please bless Uncle Darin!

Dad: MAREN!

This was definitely the best Christmas break I've ever had. Thank you to my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, best friend and fiance, for making it so amazing :)