Brighton High Cheer Squad

We were the Brighton High Cheer squad for Halloween this year. The waiter almost thought we were on the BHS team, but was quickly corrected by our good friend Liz. We even came up with a cheer, "Ready? OK! B-H-S! Whahoo!!" For a moment we all considered what it would have been like if our dream really came true. Our conclusion, we should have tried out for the team.

After All I Can Do

To preface, I have to mention that I have been looking for this poem for months now and I couldn't believe I finally found it! I had first heard it last June and since then it has been on my mind. It is a simple reminder that our Savior is always there and He is able to give us hope in our moments of despair. I say moments because we can choose to allow how we go about our lives. As long as we strive to do His will, we are able to see the brightness of the Son and share that light to others. So with that...

After All We Can Do

I had been in that hole for a very long time—
In the dark and the damp, in the cold and the slime.
The shaft was above me; I saw it quite clear,
But there’s no way I ever could reach it from here.
I could not remember the world way up there,
So I lost every hope and gave in to despair.

I knew nothing but darkness, the floor, and the wall.
Then from off in the distance I heard someone call:
“Get up! Get ready! There’s nothing the matter!
Take rocks and take sticks and build up a fine ladder!”
This was a thought that had not crossed my mind,
But I started to stack all the stones I could find.

When I ran out of stones, then old sticks were my goal,
For some way or another I’d climb from that hole.
I soon had a ladder that stood very tall,
And I thought, “I’ll soon leave this place once and for all!”
I climbed up my ladder, a difficult chore,
For from lifting those boulders, my shoulders were sore.

I climbed up the ladder, but soon had to stop,
For my ladder stopped short, some ten feet from the top.
I went back down my ladder and felt all around,
But there were no more boulders nor sticks to be found.
I sat down in the darkness and started to cry.
I’d done all I could do and I gave my best try.

But in spite of my work, in this hole I must die.
And all I could do was to sit and think, “Why?”
Was my ladder too short? Was my hole much too deep?
Then from way up on high came a voice: “Do not weep.”
And then faith, hope, and love entered into my chest
As the voice calmly told me that I'd done my best.

He said, “You have worked hard, and your labor’s been rough,
But the ladder you’ve built is at last tall enough.
So do not despair; there is reason to hope,
Just climb up your ladder; I’ll throw down my rope.”
I climbed up my ladder, then climbed up the cord.
When I got to the top of it, there stood the Lord.

I’ve never been happier; my struggle was done.
I blinked in the brightness that came from the Son.
I fell to the ground as His feet I did kiss.
I cried, “Lord, can I ever repay Thee for this?”
He looked all about. There were holes in the ground.
They had people inside, and were seen all around.

There were thousands of holes that were damp, dark and deep.
Then the Lord looked at me, and He said, “feed my sheep,”
And he went on his way to save other lost souls,
So I got right to work, calling down to the holes,
“Get up! Get ready! There is nothing the matter!
Take rocks, and take sticks, and build up a fine ladder!”

It now was my calling to spread the good word,
The most glorious message that man ever heard:
That there’s one who is coming to save one and all,
And we need to be ready when he gives the call.
He’ll pull us all out of the holes that we’re in
And save all our souls from cold death and from sin.

So do not lose faith; there is reason to hope:
Just climb up your ladder; he’ll throw down his rope.

THE MASK

This was the dream costume of a second grade girl, a skeleton. It may seem sad to want to be a horrifying skeleton rather than a princess at that age, but there was a dream that went behind that mask. I had a vision of running down the streets from door to door in a GLOW-IN-THE-DARK skeleton outfit. I could see myself lighting up the dark streets as I walked by with kids wanting to follow where I would trick-or-treat. Only the glowing bones could be seen and my idea seemed so original so cool I knew I could pull it off.
The project started...day in and day out I looked for glow in the dark bones I could wear, but nothing. There were plastic ones to hang on doors but I knew it would not be sufficient enough for my vision of enchanting the world with my costume. The project was now down to crunch time and I still hadn' t found what I was looking for. Sadly I had to let go of a part of my dream and buy a 'normal' skeleton body suit. The day before Halloween came and shopping through the isles with my mom I saw it! The last Glow-in-the-dark skeleton mask was neatly sitting on the shelf waiting for me. I grabbed it telling my mom, "this is it! this is it!" Despite what she tried to say to me I knew this is what I needed to make my Halloween dream come to life! I did not see this mask as the face of death, but the glowing skeleton fit for me.
The Halloween parade was here and my dad painted my face as a skeleton with eyelashes on me...I didn't understand why he was doing that because I was going to wear my mask anyway. He told me it was just in case I took it off. He then put my mask on and tied the two strings in a bow on the top of my head. It didn't occur to me that he was doing this to make me look more like a girl than a creeper. All I knew was that night was going to be the best trick-or-treat night ever!
The moment it dawned on me was when my two sisters and I went trick-or-treating to our first house and after I said "trick-or-treat" they gave my two sisters candy bracelets (my favorite) and me a piece of licorice. I couldn't believe they thought I was a boy! Couldn't they hear my voice...definitely a girl! I was crushed! What had happened to my dream? And why wasn't my face glowing ( I realized after it got dark my mask didn't quiet get the glow I wanted it to).
I am sad to say my dream went a different direction that Halloween night and even worse I still don't see glow-in-the-dark skeleton costumes to this day! To make this tragic event end well, for those that like happy endings, I did get many good scares out if it with my brother. Every time my sisters and I would put on the mask we would come running and he would go screaming! There were many days entertained between us, the mask, and Jordan.
The Mask...what more can I say?!

"This-is-Halloween..."

How true that is!

My parents helped with the Brighton Morp dance and they went all out! The picture with tyler was the corner that they spent almost all day working on. It looked like an authentic pirate scene if there were still such a thing!

Camo...it works great! I almost blend in with the background in this pic!

Maria Dance is a co-concertmaster and we are her friends...that makes us almost famous! She had an amazing solo and we were all at an awe. It was a fun halloween concert especially that we all got to dress up. Liz almost thought we had to 'dress up' like Sunday attire when I first mentioned it to her.

Spoon me! It was a first for me and I have to say it went over well. We heard the spoons were biodegradable and thought we would test it out... Yep...biodegradable.

San Fran II

Thanks Sara for the drawing of our adventures!

I left my heart in San Francisco

Top Ten best quotes of San Francisco

10. "You have to pay for that excitment, now..." ( a guy in a man made bush jumped out and scared us)
9. "Haay" (Becky- after 'fleet men' walked by)

8. "There are people in here!" (Jen-Another person had the same room number as us with the same key...bad mix up)

7. "Can I come with you?" (Leon at 'the sev')

6. "Get off, get off now!" (Sheniqua-we are lost and after asking Sheniqua, the bus driver, when to exit, those where the only directions she gave us. Not a very nice bus driver)

5. "You is lookin' good tonight though" (14 year old thug picking up on us)
4."You mean you don't do the deed?! (MR. Fleet- shoutd on the bus after finding out we were from SLC, this one's edited)

3. "What do you do, what do you do..." (Liz)

2. "Its spelled Darrel, but its pronounced Da-rell" (Darell-the nice bus driver)
1. "Even Trax runs through the dirtiest parts of town." (Liz- when we were on the bart transportation system)

San Fran

baRn daNcE

Sara has about 50 of these dresses that her grandma gave to her. They are the authentic square dancing outfits of the century. The skirts made the "square dancing"

a lot of fun!

Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. here I come! I'll be looking at this all next semester.