Trek!!!!

TREK!!! Trek was sooo amazing!!! Theres a ton to write about, so I will just write as I go...

This is the very first morning. We were supposed to leave the Stake Center at 5:00, but we didn't actually leave until 6:30. From left to right- Maika, Ashley, Jenessa, Me, Abigail, Mom, Morgen, Bishop Compton, Sister Compton (they are Zoee's babysitters). The stake leaders thought that we would have a really small group with just 14+, so they let 12+ go.


Martin's Cove, WY- we had a 7 hour bus ride up, but it was definitely worth it! We could each take 10 pounds in a 5 gallon bucket that doubled as our seat, but that didn't include bedding luckily!

The trail- there were 400 of us! The first day we hiked 3 miles to camp and had a fireside and dinner and everything. The second day was the reason we were there, pretty much- we did Dan Jones Cove, Martin's Cove, Sweetwater Crossing, and the Women's Pull- 13 miles total. Then we went back to the same camp, and the third day hiked back to the buses.

My mom and dad got to go as a Ma and Pa, but not mine. I visited them a lot, though. This was one morning when we were really tired.

My family, the Allgoods. We called the 2 boys in front Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum because they were complete spazzes, but they were definitely entertaining! We had a big family- 8 kids.

Pulling the handcart

This was the Women's Pull. Oh boy. We did the Women's Pull in honor of the women who pulled the handcart all the way to Salt Lake after the men were called to fight in the Mexican American War. This is what I wrote in my journal about it- The women's pull was the most spiritual out of the whole day, I think. It was a steep, sandy hill and all the brothers were just standing watching us. We sang As Sisters In Zion and had a prayer before going up the hill. We had to run up to the front carts and help them, and then come back a couple times to help others. I was trying hard not to cry because the men were taking pictures of us coming up the hill! Lovely... But I was surprised, even Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum came and gave us hugs and said they wanted to help the whole time. I couldn't even imagine what it would be like to pull a handcart by myself the rest of the way to Salt Lake. But we can liken it to ourselves today (my favorite part!) We can be willing to do hard things, and some people are single moms, things like that. I love being able to compare their trials to ours, but experience both! It was so amazing to see all the young women running to help each other, and the spirit was sooo strong. I know that I can count on the women and friends in my ward to help me with anything.

Sweetwater crossing, another amazing experience. We reenacted this because 4 young men were willing to carry the entire company across a frozen river with ice chunks floating in it. It was really hard to imagine what it would have been like then, because at the time it was 95 degrees and we were excited to get wet and cool off, but it was still amazing to see how determined the 4 young men were. They probably crossed the river 20 times, and they were exhausted by the end, but they kept going. It was so amazing.

Morgen got carried by Zac Efron. Not really, but doesn't he look like Zac Efron?

They have 3 new statues of the boys carrying people across the river, and they are super cool.

That night, we were all super hot, so once we got back to camp, we all went swimming in the river. I think that is where I got the majority of my 19 mosquito bites, but it was still really fun. We had to skip square dancing because swimming took so much time, but we got to do about 10 minutes of line dancing. It was interesting, and confusing...

I just thought this was super cute... Morgen and I were in the same company, so we were together for all of the activities, which was really fun!

The bus ride home. I loved these buses. We should have these instead of school buses.

The Tweedles tried to do the McDonalds Rap but completely failed, so I had to go and save them. Yes, I did the McDonalds Rap in front of the whole entire bus! It was awesome. I saved the day.

One thing that I will never forget from Trek is when we shared testimonies around the campfire with our families. Bishop Heninger shared that possibly, when we were in Heaven, we wanted to come down to earth and be pioneers, but Heavenly Father told us that He wanted to save us for 2010. That might not have happened, but I will always pretend that it did. Knowing that I was strong enough to wait until now will always help me to endure anything that Satan throws at me. In our Trek journals that we got, there is a quote by Elder Niel A. Maxwell that says The special spirits who have been reserved to live in this The Dispensation of the Fullness of Times will one day be praised for their stamina by those who pulled handcarts. It is so hard to believe that our trials are harder than the pioneers', and that they will praise us for doing well. I could feel them walking with us as we got to taste a small part of what they went through, and I know that they are always watching over us. I want to make them proud of me, and to rise up and be the person that Heavenly Father wants me to be- Nicole, a daughter of God. I am not afraid to rise up and take my place. I want my Father in Heaven to be proud of me.

Trek was amazing, and if you ever have the opportunity to go, GO! :)

Family Pictures

What do you do when both you and your sister are bored and its a beautiful day outside? :)
Here is the latest shoot...

I tried an updo... it is definitely not professional, but it was fun!

This picture is pretty cute, aside from the fact that both of their tongues are sticking out!

I was surprised that the boys let me take pictures of them too! I didn't take as many, but here are the best. I am convinced that I have the cutest little brothers in the whole world.

And of course, we can't forget Zoee.

FOOD!!!

So I decided that I just want to be a plain chef when I grow up, not a cookie chef in specific. Lately, I've been helping out with dinner to help with my boredness, but it's super fun!

Kaya came over the other day and we decided to make a full meal instead of cookies. Obviously, I am still learning, because we almost had unleavened breadsticks (I doubled the water on accident, but didn't double the yeast) but luckily they turned out alright. Actually they turned out delicious. So we had breadsticks, salad with garden lettuce, and spaghetti, and my dad made us strawberry shortcake for dessert that night. We were stuffed.

Here are some other things I've been making lately.

Spaetzle (its German).

They are just flour noodles, but really yummy with cheese, and really fun to make! You use a cheese grater type thing and grate the dough into boiling water.

Enchiladas- these were a HUGE hit! They were super easy and everyone loved them.

POPCORN!!! This kind of popcorn is ADDICTING, I'm not kidding. You put in enough kernels to fill the bottom of the pan and about 3 tablespoons of peanut oil. Then you put about 1-2 tablespoons of salt in a blender, blend it, and add that in the pot. I guess that salt is too big, so when you blend it up, it becomes more fine and goes in all the little cracks of the popcorn. Sometimes we blend parmesan cheese, too. THEN- turn on the stove and shake the bowl until all the popcorn is popped!!!

I have been saving the best for last- MINI CHEESECAKES!!!! These are soooo good!!!! You mix together 2 packages of cream cheese, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla, then squirt it onto Nilla Wafers and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. They are a piece of heaven, I promise!!! The only bad thing about these is that I froze them overnight because I wanted to give them to my dad, and they weren't crunchy anymore after they thawed. But they still tasted delicious! And it makes A TON!!!

Cookie Chef

I have a new life goal. I want to be a Cookie Chef when I grow up!!! I am now famous for my cookies. They aren't anything special- usually just a plain chocolate chip cookie recipe- but I bake cookies almost every Sunday and give them to people. As soon as I figured out that I was famous for them, I decided to start experimenting and branching out to other types of cookies. Today I tried Oatmeal Raisin with a twist and they are amazing, if I do say so myself. They actually don't even have raisins- they have apples. Just in case they didn't turn out, I did half with raisins and half with apples.




Here is the recipe, if you want to try them-


1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups quick oats
1 cup apple pie filling


Beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar for 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, beat. In another bowl, combine remaining dry ingredients (cinnamon, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and oats). Add to wet mixture 1 cup at a time. Then, add apple pie filling one spoonful at a time. I used homemade pie filling, and the apple slices were pretty big, so I cut them up into smaller pieces, but I don't know what you will have to do with storebought. Drop by spoonful onto greased cookie sheets- bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes.

Summer Projects

So far I have been pretty busy this summer!!! Thats a good thing!!! Here is some stuff I have been doing so far (besides babysitting).

I cleaned out the entire fridge. That was a 2 hour long project.


We got a 3 barrel crimper finally, so I had to try it out and crimp my hair! I thought it would take forever since I have so much hair, but once I got it figured out it only took my about half an hour.

My mom tried to make Funnel Cakes. They turned out really yummy!

Last year at Girl's Camp, we got a mini postcard booklet with pictures of Jesus, and I didn't want it to just sit in my drawer. So I went to Ross and got this picture frame for $13, and put my favorite pictures in it and put it in my room! I love it!

I finally have shelves, and I finally put stuff on them! Now my room is all matching and I love it!

While cleaning my room, I got distracted with how much freaking change I have! So my dad gave me some rolls to put it in, and I have $41 worth of change! I'm going to cash $36 of it at the bank, but I left about $5 to put in this cute little can I made. I just hot glued a ribbon and bow around the outside and modge-podged scrapbook paper on the top to match my room.

My artistic view of money... $36

Splash Dogs 2010!!!

We took Zoee to Splash Dogs again, and she actually competed this year!!! She is still a beginner, but she did pretty good. Her first jump was 12'4" and her second was 14'6", but some dogs get up in the 20s, so she has a ways to go. Her problem is that she doesn't look up at the ball, so she doesn't jump high. She just jumps in and waits until the ball is in front of her. It could land right on top of her head and she wouldn't know it!

She got really excited when we were waiting in line to practice, and she would not be quiet! It was annoying, but kind of funny at the same time.