Friday, July 25, 2008

Love and War

So I meant to post this a week ago but it didn't happen.

A year ago last Saturday
By this point in our relationship it felt like I'd known Brett forever and LOVED spending time with him. In reality our first date had been about three weeks before, our first kiss two weeks and we'd made our relationship "official" a week before. We had talked about marriage but not as in marriage to each other just in general. A year ago Saturday I had both my best friends over for dinner along with their husband and fiance. I thought it kind of funny, Brit was married the November before, Kat was getting married the next month, and I had just started dating someone. It had been so much fun having them all over. Once they left Brett stayed. We went out into my parents front yard and sat in the hammock they put up every summer. As we were talking Brett said to me "How many really's before like before it's love?" I don't remember what I said but I do remember I wasn't freaked out, I thought it was really cheesy and cute, and that we started talking about the definition of love in the bible. And then conversation continued to something else. Eventually he decided he should probably head home. He stood up first from the hammock and then helped me us. Once I stood up he hugged me and wipsered "I love you" into my ear. It makes me break into a grin remembering it. I of course said "I love you" in reply and it's been love ever since and I can't seem to tell him enough.

A year ago last Sunday and Monday
A year ago Sunday and Monday it was Friday and Saturday. We had a very fun weekend planned. Brett's parents had invited us to Bar J Wrangler's for dinner and a show. Saturday we wanted to hike table rock. We convinced Sarah and Mark to camp Friday night and the hike Table Rock with us. On the way to Victor (we met Brett's parents there and drove to Bar J together) we stopped and bought pop, Zingers, and Cracker Jacks. My pop must have had caffeine in it and I got very very hyper. This was the first time Brett ever saw me hyper (not many people ever see my really hyper, only friends from high school and Brett have ever really seen me off the wall) and while he is now he was not used to it. When I'm hyper I get a little crazy and can be a little mischievous. Well on that drive to Victor I put a cracker jack in Brett's Pepsi and may have a shook it up a little... okay maybe a lot. He did not think it was funny at all and got pretty mad at me and asked me to calm down. Oh and I sure calmed down. I didn't talk pretty much to rest of the car ride. And there you go our first fight, or close enough to it.
Bar J's was a lot of fun and the food was delicious. The last few days my mom had been saying she wanted to meet his parents and to invite them over for a Sunday dinner. My family usually always had big Sunday dinners and we'd always bring friends over so it wasn't that big of a deal to invite them. I had mentioned it to Brett and he thought it sounded fun. So when Brett's dad was asking about my dad's church calling and when he gets home Brett and I both remembered about inviting them to dinner. So I did. I said "Oh I was wondering if you guys would like to come over to my parents house for Sunday dinner next week." His dad replied "Is there a reason we should meet your parents?" Both mine and Brett's jaw hit the floor. I kept opening my mouth to say something but had nothing to say. Finally after the most awkward silence I've ever been a part of his dad said Yeah sure. What time do you eat dinner. I said "Usually around 5:00." And to make my feeling stupid and my embarrassment he replied "Well that's not dinner that is supper." And then explained how dinner is the same as lunch. (I'm still not used to that.) I was about ready to jump out of the car and walk the rest of the way down the Jackson Pass to avoid anymore humiliation. I still don't know how I showed my face around his parents ever again. (Also keep in mind I was still pretty darn scared of his dad at this time.) Afterward Brett apologized and said he should have talked to them about it himself.
Finally the car ride ended and Brett and I headed toward Table Rock to meet up with my siblings to camp and hike.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Rodeo, Camp and $3 Groceries

The last week has been fairly uneventful. While things have happened I've been planning on blogging they haven't been exciting enough to actually sit down and do it.

Last weekend was the only weekend in July we planned on being in Utah (more on that later) and whenever we stay in Utah I feel like we have to do something really fun. So last weekend we decided to go to the Days of '47 Rodeo. This is our second rodeo this summer the first was up in Herriman. It was a ton of fun but no one else around us was cheering and all gave me a weird look whenever I did. Well this latest rodeo was at the Energy Solutions Arena. It was kind of expensive for a rodeo so we were hesitant to go but it was payday so we felt rich and decided to go. It was really weird being at a rodeo inside. I was really surprised at how few people were there. There were tons of empty seats and again not very many people were cheering. I think Utah, at least Salt Lake area, doesn't know what good fun is. I thought the rodeo was great! They had a lot of good animals and pretty good riders.

Saturday Brett and I ventured down to Ikea and I made my first ever purchase there. I actually bought a couple things. So we were in the kitchen utensil section. This is a bad area to be in because just about everything would be useful but not exactly necessary to own. Well they had woks on display with a wok cook book. Sucker Margaret decided she wanted the wok and the cook book so we bought it. Immediately after getting in the car and unwrapping it I thought, Why did I buy this, I don't need this (mostly toward to cook book. We've actually already used the wok). I've been kicking my self for the waste of money ever since. And I feel like I can't return it because it was my own darn fault I bought it. So if any of you ever want to look through a wok cook book it's our new coffee table book, although we don't actually have a coffee table.

Last weekend was Brett's weekend cooking. (Not that he was assigned to cook he just made supper Sat. and Sun.) Saturday he made really delicious wonderful stir fry in our new wok and Sunday he made really amazing elk roast, gravy, and mashed potatoes (we finally bought a potatoe masher at Ikea).

Monday and Tuesday was webelo's camp up at camp Tracy in Milcreek Canyon. The boys never seemed very excited about anything we were doing but I think did have an okay time. We boated, shot BB Guns (Brett loved that one), archery, hiked, swam among other things.

Monday night Brett and I went grocery shopping and only spent $3 on groceries for the week! Normally I spend around $70 about $50 if I try really hard. But this week was kind of working toward me. We were only planning on being in town till Thursday night so we only needed three more days of food. I had also bought some groceries last week for meals I didn't end up making. I already had the ingredients for Fajitas and Pizza and just figured left overs for the third dinner. That meant I only needed some basics... milk, eggs, bread (on sale for a dollar a loaf) fruit (apples are wicked expensive), vegetables, and a few other things. Our bill came to $28 (still good for groceries) I used my Smith's student discount card with brought our bill down to $23. Then I had just gotten a $20 gift card from Smith's for transferring a prescription to their pharmacy... Thus our groceries came to $3 which we paid for in cash. Only problem is we decided to not leave town and I'm trying to come up with meals I can make using the things we already have so I don't have to spend more.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

WEBELOS

Brett and I are the Webelos leaders for our stake. For those of you who don't know Webelos are the 10 year old cub scouts. (Usually webelos are 10 and 11 years old but the LDS church does it a little different.) When we were first asked to do this I almost wanted to say no. Little boys are scary to me! My only experience with scouts was when my mom was a den mom when I was young and I would go with her. We've been doing it about 2 1/2 months now and I've actually enjoyed it. It was sad though because within a month our numbers had been cut in half because of birthdays and kids moving. So now it's not quite as fun but still fun. The little boys are old enough to listen and follow directions but still young enough to be very excitable. They all love talking. For every two words Brett or I get in they have 5 stories to tell. Every story starts out on topic but by then finish their story I'm thinking "This had nothing to do with what we're talking about!" Last week I questioned if I should still be a webelos leader or not. Most of you have heard this story but I figure it is still blog worthy
Last week Brett and I were very good procrastinators and didn't figure out what we were going to do till about 10 minutes before leaving for the church. All the boys LOVE talking so we decided to work on their communicator pin. This had three requirements 1) write a letter 2) tell a story and 3) draw a poster. Not that difficult! We started with letters. One little boy... we'll call him Ned... always has something to say, something to talk about. He could not come up with someone to write to or anything to write. The other boys were almost done by the time he finally started working on his. Then we had each little boy get up on stage and tell a very short story. Ned did not want to go. Every boy took his turn and then Brett and I even took turns and Ned still had nothing. All he was doing was rub his pencil over his forehead. We kept trying to get him to go finally when I was about to tell him he didn't have to he said "Okay I'll go." I didn't hear what he said because I was trying to get another boy to sit down. Next thing I heard was Brett saying "We aren't slave drivers are we?" That caught my attention so I head Ned reply "Okay not you, just her." (I was the only her there but he still emphasized his point by pointing at me.) My knight and shining armour and a scout shirt (aka Brett) defended my honor saying "She's not a slave driver." Ned said "Okay not a slave driver... Evil!" Again Brett said "She isn't evil." Ned finally settled on "Okay... She's scary!" Brett gave up defending me at this point. So now I know I'm a scary, evil, slave driver so you had all better watch out! (Oh and once we were drawing posters Ned was happy to participate and didn't want to stop when his mom picked him up)

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Promised Pictures

If I posted a picture of your child and you want me to remove it just leave me a comment with your request!

Brett and his dad fishing
Me fishing
The kids at the pie eating contest. I was sad we ran out of
camera space before the adults competed.

I loved his hat!
The two boys this age would get on the tricycles and just sit on them. SO CUTE!
I've never seen June this dirty before but she seemed to
enjoy the dirt
THE SKITS!
This boy loves cookies
It's a bad picture but this was grandpa trying to get the kids
to calm down for bed time by telling stories and having them listen
for animals like deer, bears, chickens, and a love sick elephant.

Always safe with their helmets

I think Brett was actually happy to be 4-wheeling as

opposed to the look on his face

Monday, July 14, 2008

TWO DOWN ONLY ONE LEFT

** I'll add pictures later tonight**
NOTE: I don't want to use the names of family members that don't blog themselves, so, sorry if the vague brother/sister-in-laws, nieces/nephews gets confusing. Oh and when I say grandpa and grandma I mean Brett's parents.
Well family reunion number two for summer 2008 has flown by. Brett's side of the family got together this past weekend and oh boy was it fun. The weekend flew by, I think because I wasn't wearing a watch and never saw a clock so I lost all track of time.



Thursday

Brett dropped me off at the bus stopped Thursday morning and then picked me up so we could leave for Idaho as quick as possible. Brett just had too many things to get into the car and not enough time so he was late picking me up. One of the guy from work insisting on waiting till Brett arrived. When I told him he didn't have to he said "This isn't a safe neighborhood, that's because it's not a neighborhood at all." The bus stop is in a more industrial area. I thought it was very nice of him to wait. Once Brett arrived we sat in traffic for a while but not as long as the weekend before. We stopped really quick at my house to pick up squirt guns, skit props, and fresh strawberries. We arrived at camp around 11:00. The kids were all asleep but the adults were all still up around the camp fire. Once we arrived we set up our tent. Just about every brother, brother-in-law, and Brett's dad came over to help. It was quite a change from our last camping trip when I'd usually set up the tent by myself while Brett did other chores I didn't want to do. I don't think there was even enough tent pegs for everyone to get one to hammer in. Once the tent was up and our stuff unloaded we sat around the camp fire with Brett's brothers and sisters (his parents went to bed pretty soon after we arrived). I did really good at staying awake! About 1:00 it was off to bed. About this same time the wind picked up.



Friday

As soon as it was light out I was awake. I managed to stay in bed till 6 or 7. I finally had to get up. Brett got up with me and we went for a walk and practiced our skit for that night. Finally everyone started getting up around 9 and breakfast was in full swing about 10:00 (almost my normal lunch time). Brett's parents made a bounteous breakfast of eggs, sausage, and cracked wheat cereal. After clean up Brett decided I should ride his niece's knew dirt bike. The oldest niece had gotten enough Accelerated Reader Points that she earned a dirt bike. I've never driven a dirt bike or anything like it before so I was pretty hesitant but not wanting my new family to think I was a wimp I agreed to try. I watched most everyone else ride it and do really well (which gave me false sense of "this won't be so hard"). Earlier that morning Brett's niece had accidentally jumped the bike a bit by hitting a rut in the road and was still shaken up and didn't want to close to the bike. Her dad kept trying to get her back on the bike but she was scared. Knowing how she felt and also knowing that not getting back on doesn't help I said I'd only try if she showed me. She did and did really well, although, the bike still scared her. So then I tried. Brett gave me a real quick this is how you do it. Which was easy enough. So I started the bike on my own and got it into gear and then went for it. OH BOY! No one informed me a little gas went a LONG WAY! I took off and headed straight for a tree. Screaming the whole time and in a panic the yells behind me of BRAKE CLUTCH fell on deaf ears. I clearly remember thinking oh yeah hand break like a bike. Only problem was every time I pulled in the hand break (the finding the foot break was way beyond my limited brain capacity at the instant) I revved the gas up. The very large tree loomed closer and closer. Still screaming I managed to dodged the tree and I think I managed to pull the clutch and brake in at the same time and stop the bike. Since I had only gone probably 30-50 feet Brett and my brother-in-law (the one who owned the bike) were by me in a flash. My legs were total jello, my breath slightly ragged and my eyes beginning to water (I refuse to say crying because I knew I was okay, I knew I was going to be okay and I knew I had no reason to cry but still could not stop the water from leaking from my eyes). Brett just held me and felt so bad. I was mad my niece who was still scared of the bike had seen and my "expert" near miss of the tree had shaken her up even more. I pretty well scared everyone around. One sister-in-law said she was thinking where the nearest hospital was. I however knew I would probably only sustain a mild head injury if I had hit the tree and probably some discomfort, maybe a break, in whichever leg the bike would have fallen over on (Brett and I could have used the health insurance we shell out so much money for, see upside to everything). I was more worried about damage to the two month old dirt bike that wasn't mine. I was thinking maybe Brett won't start school next semester and his saved up tuition money will go to a new dirt bike. But everyone was okay and so the immediate question was "Margaret you ready to get back on." Inside my answer was "HAHAHA NO!!!!" Not future ride would have topped the excitement of my first ride and my legs were still J-E-L-L-O! But I said "Let someone else take a turn first and then I'll try again." I still didn't want people to think I was a wimp and I was hoping my getting back on would serve as a good example to my niece. This time instead of Brett telling me what to do (Brett could ride a motor bike but had never really taught someone how) my brother-in-law with a lot more experience stood by me and had me give a little gas, let out on the clutch a bite, go a few feet and brake with my foot. After this I managed to go down the road a bit (with Brett running beside me). I didn't even try turning it around so I had Brett do that for me and rode it back to camp. I didn't get on the bike again all weekend but jokes were made about my first ride and the tree was dubbed as being mine.

The rest of Friday morning I spent at a pond reading while Brett fished. He caught a few fish that were all very tiny.

After lunch was a pie eating contest for all the kids that grandpa and grandma had set up. Most of the kids weren't all that keen to participate. All the adults however couldn't wait for there turn. The kids did well and were pretty cute to watch. Then three of the brothers tried. The second best was watching some of the women try. They were vicious. They didn't just try to eat their fastest they tried to sabotage others by tickling and pushing, much more amusing to watch then the men. Finally it was grandpa and grandma's turn the were pretty fun to watch too, almost as vicious as the girls were.

The rest of the afternoon Brett and I took a nap, read and then went down to the creek for a water fight with Sean and Caroline and a few of the nieces and nephews. Dinner that night was delicious. Some one the best dutch-oven potatoes and pork chops I've ever had. That night at dinner we sat and talked with all the adults about things we did when we were kids that kids don't do these days and books we had read.

After dinner was the skit show. This was their first annual skit night. Brett's brother sent out an email earlier in the week announcing his intentions of starting the tradition. I spent all week thinking his wife had actually come up with the idea and made him send out the email but no. Brett's big tough doesn't seem like the skit type had come up with it. I didn't want to participate so much since we only had two people but I bucked up and we came up with one. The whole thing was a lot of fun. Brett and I sang a repeat-style camp song, Sipping Cider. I think everyone really enjoyed the skits and it will be an annual thing.

After skits all the kids were still pretty wound up. So, as the adults sat around the fire and put babies to sleep, grandpa played a "relaxing quiet" game with the kids and took them for a walk. It was pretty fun to watch. In high school the one guy that I seriously dated had a really scary father and I though if we ever get married I'd be wouldn't want to leave my kids with him. Brett's dad acts all tough and scary but only to make the kids laugh. I'm really thankful I have such a wonderful mother and father-in-law.

Once all the kids were asleep the adults sat around the camp fire again just talking about all sorts of things. Brett was kind of mad at me for it but we went to bed earlier than everyone else.



Saturday

I managed to sleep in a bit later Saturday morning but Brett and I were still up before everyone else. Saturday morning Sean, Caroline, Brett and I had breakfast. This was what I was most nervous for the meal we were in charge of. Brett always raves about the good food at up camping and talking about which sister or sister-in-law cooks what best. Well I didn't want to be the new sister-in-law that actually can't cook worth beans so I was pretty nervous. We made built your own omelets. This is where you put eggs and omelet things in a Ziploc bag, mush it all up and then cook it in the bag in a pot of boiling water. I'd seen this done before but never done it myself and was nervous it wouldn't work but it turned out great. We also brought taco shells salsa and sour cream so it could be made into breakfast burritos. I also made a fruit salad (which we had again for lunch at the reunion, dinner with my parents and breakfast the next morning), my mom's recipe for banana bread, and cinnamon raisin bread. I was mad at myself for forgetting to use whole wheat flour in the banana bread and the cinnamon raisin bread didn't turn out as good as the first time I made it but both were still good. Sean made really good cinnamon rolls using a oven consisting of briquettes and a cardboard box covered in foil. He had learned it in this outdoor cooking class. It worked really well.

After breakfast a lot of people went fishing. Brett and I helped clean up and then just relaxed. I got to hold the newest nephew who is just six months old he is such a cute little boy. Luckily when he spit up he spit up on his grandma and not me (she's used to it from having her own kids, I think it would have grossed me out). Just before lunch Brett took me for a four wheeler rider. We got back just in time for lunch. After lunch one family packed up and left (sad). Then a water fight broke out. The only people safe were the ones holding babies. Sean and Caroline bought us water guns for our wedding. I think they purposely bought us guns that could in no way rival their own guns and since they were smaller they were usually taken over and used by the kids.
Following the water fight and "obstacle" course was set up for the big kids (i.e. adults). It consisted of one spouse driving a four wheeler blinded the other giving directions from behind and then a filled cup of water sitting between the spouses. The goal was to finish the small course in the shortest time and spill the least water. Since Brett is the youngest we went first. We didn't do so hot on time, although it's hard to tell since the timer didn't start us just as we started and the course route changed after we went. We missed having the most water just by about a mouth full... It was a lot of fun. The grandparents even tried the course. They didn't do quite as well as their kids. One of the obstacles was driving through a rut filled with mud. They accidentally got one tire out of the rut and the other in it so they were pretty tippy. Then they nearly drove into a tree... the same tree I had nearly driven into. Needless to say they didn't win for time or water but were the most amusing to watch. Sadly grandma had hidden the camera before they went so it was not video taped.
After the obstacle course was completed it was time to clean up and pack up. I was so surprised when I got in the car and it was 5:00 PM. It felt like 1 or 2 to me. We spent that night and Sunday morning at my parents house and then came back to Utah. It was a very very fun weekend.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

SOME MORE REMINISCING

Well most the good stories about our relationship I've either already posted or don't happen for a few more months but maybe I can think of some because I know you all love reading about me ;)
I'm going to go ahead and say now our dating included a lot of kissing sooo.. be prepared,

One Year Ago Tuesday
It was my parents birthday and I invited Brett to their birthday party at my sisters house. He came and met my family for the first time (although he had already met over half of them). He got along really well with every, no one did anything mean like start calling him Uncle Brett... After the party ended Brett and I walked around the park behind Sarah's house. It was fun talking to him and playing on the toys... and kissing. I stayed there until like mindnight which was really late considering most work nights I'd be in bed by nine or ten.

One Year Ago Yesterday
So yesterday was a Monday a year ago. I was going to go to family home evening to see Brett but ended up visitng my old organ teacher and talking to her through all of family home evening. So afterward I met up with Brett at Walmart (he had to get something... I think I ended up buying deodorant... or maybe that was what he bought) we then went over to the river and walked around freeman park. We walked really fast. About half way into the walk I realized how fast we were walking and couldn't figure out why we were walking that fast. Again there was kissing involved, I won't lie. I don't know how many of you listen to country but before Brett I most certainly did not. So Brett managed to steal a couple of lines from country songs and used them on me. The first time he admitted he stole lines from songs was that night after he told me he wanted to "check me for ticks". Kind of freaked me out when he said that so he had to explain the words were from a Brad Paisley song.

One Year Ago Today and Tommorow
I don't think I saw Brett either of these days. I remember I was pretty grumpy from lack of sleep and was begining to wonder if he liked me or just like kissing me.

One Year Ago Saturday
WE BECAME OFFICIAL!
So stick with me on this one. Down at school there was a grad student who I worked with. He had just started a job where I was working. He worked with an internship program. That program only had one girl in it. Since there was only one girl they looked to other departments for another female intern to live with her. That is where they found Kimberly. But the girl from the original program was out of town a lot and so the guy I knew had me and Kimberly email back and forth so she didn't go too crazy only having guys to hang out with. Phew I hope you followed that, if not it's not that important. So Kimberly and I had met and emailed. We decided to go on a double date. For the date we had a picnic at freeman park and then went up into the foothills to see the windmills. I wasn't the happiest camper that day. (Side story: Earlier that year I had dyed my hair really dark. My mom hated it. So finally I told her if she'd pay I would go to her hair lady and get done whatever she wanted. So that day I did. I got highlights. I had gotten highlights once before and didn't like them much. They just seemed so obvious to me. I like highlights on other people just not on me. (side note I got just low lights once and loved me...) So once the lady finished my hair and I hated it. I burst out in tears after leaving the salon. My mom felt really bad.) So I picked Brett up and was pretty defensive when he said he liked my hair since I hated it. Then when we were driving up to the windmills he had tried to roll his window down but instead locked the door. I told him hey if you're trying to make a get away you can go. (I wasn't sure if he liked by so i was kind of pushing him away so either I wouldn't get hurt or he'd say he liked me, same idea as saying I feel fat just to hear I'm not... Brett never falls for that he tells me to go running then.) Well he immediately called me out. He said you seem to think I don't want to spend time with you. So think led to almost of declaration of I like you but I finked my way out of saying it. So after the windmills we kept up the conversation and Brett pulled the "So what are we? Where is this going?" I was so mad, as the girl I felt it was my right to start the relationship defining conversation and it meant I had to answer first. At this point I felt that if he just wanted casual dating there were other guys I had my eye on but if he wanted to date exclusive I'd be all for it. So my reply was "Well I am going back to Utah at the end of the summer so I just kind of what to have fun and see what happens." He said okay sounds good. So I asked "So we are dating?" He said "Yes" "So are we like exclusively dating?" "Yes". And that was it. In that moment my singledom ended forever. The next day Brett went camping and I went to Utah and we didn't talk for until church where he didn't sit by me.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

The greatest people!

Happy Birthday Mom & Dad!
Today Is my parents birthday. Yes both of them have the same birthday. They are the greatest parents I ever could have asked for.
My dad is a pretty laid back guy. There is nothing more he loves than a bargain. Growing up I would run errands with my dad. We'd always go to D.I. I would stay in the car because I thought D.I. smelled awful (still kind of do). We'd also go to Target and Sam's club, they both always had clearance sections. Both stores had a route we'd follow to check all the good clearance items. We'd also go to Shopko alot because they lots of things free on rebate. We also went to a few other stores but those were the regulars. At that age it was agreed that anything I wanted I had to pay half for. I also got an allowance which my father allowed me to take advances on. I'm pretty sure I still get a $4 allowance I just took so many advances the money still goes straight back to him. In the car we'd always listen to You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon (I think) and Life's Been Good by Joe Walsh. In the previous song dad would also do a whistling solo because I can't whistle. I'd always hold his hand walking into stores. As I got older dad would say I never hold his hand anymore walking into Target. So even now I try to hold his hand when we go somewhere together.
I didn't become as close with my mom until all my other brother's and sister's were out of my house. My freshman year of high school was still at our Jr. High and it was a total breeze for me. I skipped so many days of school that year. The attendence lady never believed me when I was out of town with my mom but it was the truth. About once a week Targhee would just get too much snow to resist so mom and I would ditch school and work and go skiing. That same winter I also got on ski patrol so I spent a lot of time with mom at first aid classes. I have so many memories of chair lift rides and car rides like getting pulled over by a cop, eating cheesecake from a ziploc bag on the chair lift, and amazing powder days. We would always listen to all sorts of music but that winter I learned who Janis Joplin was and have loved her music ever since. Singing along to Mercedes Benz or Bobby McGee takes me back to that winter with my mom.
My parents are just amazing because they aren't just the people who raised me and took care of me they are my friends and I know that their love for me is eternal and unconditional. Thanks mom and dad and have a very Happy Birthday.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Family reunion numero uno.

Well this weekend was my family's reuinion at our cabin. It was kind of our first official pre-planned reunion. We've all gone to the cabin together but this was the first where the date was chosen far in advance and each person had a meal they were in charge of. Here is an overview



Thursday
Brett and I left right after work... right during traffic. It took an hour to drive from about 30 miles. We stoppen in Fort Hall on our way up. I had given Brett a firework allowance and he didn't even spend it all. I was very impressed. I this was only possible because he still had quite a few fireworks left over. We then stopped briefly at his parents house and then drove to our cabin. We got there at 12:30 and didn't get to bed until about 1:30.

Friday
I was awake bright and early, around 5:00. Brett was awake too. He was very excited to ride horses and light of fireworks. So we got up and walked the dogs (and eaten by mosquitos) and then read till everyone else was awake. Our activity for the day was a trail ride through Herriman park. Not with our own horses though we rented. My horse was a wild mustang named Lemhi. He was fairly well behaved. Near the end my horse got spooked and ran through a clump of trees with me on its back still. That scared me a bit but I clearly survived. After three hours on a horse we were all so very very sore and tired. I went for a quit swim and then took a short nap. For dinner kim made delicious pizza. That night was our firework show. I had so much fun lighting off the fireworks with Brett. We lit them off our boat dock. My brother Mark rudely stole the show though.... Normally there is a plank of wood running from the shore to the boat dock. Well since memorial day it had disappeared. So Brett and I wore our swim suits and just waded to the dock. Near the end of the fireworks we convinced my two brothers to come down. Robert had shorts on so he just pulled them up and crossed. Mark however was in pants. I told him to just ride the innertube across the short distance. The tube is covered in fabric so it should have been easy. I did it a bunch when cleaning up. So mark put the tube in the water and jumped on. The major error was the tube his side that is bigger. Well Mark jumped head toward the smaller side. This cause the tube to begin to tip and Mark's head to enter the water and then his body to do somewhat of a sommersault and land in the water. He was completely soaked excpet for a small areas of his back pocket. I really was the lucky on in this event because I was sitting right there and could see all of it. Everyone watching the show from the cabin deck didn't see much but did get to hear it. But everyone did love the fireworks. My dad asked Brett "If we all chip in will you do it again for New Years?"

Sarah and her horse





Me and my cowboy husband.


Almost the whole family plus Mark's delightful girlfriend








Me and my horse Lemhi. Brett's horse is behind me. Everyone at the end with very sore bums.
SaturdayBrett and I cooked breakfast on Saturday. Then we all headed into Yellowstone Park. We went to the Grand Canyon and Norris Geyser basin. It was pretty crowded but still fun. That night was our meal which mom requested to be dutchoven. We made Brett's dad's recipe for dutch oven chicken and potatoes and I made pineapple upside down cake. Everything was so good. If my family didn't like Brett before (they've always loved brett) they sure like him now for his fireworks and cooking. That night we went shooting for a bit and then did a mini firework show for my newphew which he loved. Everyone started a movie while Brett and I were cleaning up. It was 8 Below. I came in near the end of the movie right when (sorry if you haven't seen it) the first dog died. I cried so hard. Not just a few tears but like almost sobbing. My sister in sister-in-law were so surprise and a bit worried I think. I don't know why i cried so hard. I just had it when animals die in movies.
Yellowstone Canyon




Sunday
Sunday morning I woke up sick so I opted to stay home from church. When everyone got home we had a family picture (I looked so good right out of bed) and then mom made chicken noodle soup. Then Brett and I packed up and went home. Everyone else stayed longer since they didn't have to drive all the way to Utah.
All in all it was a pretty darn fun reunion.

LOOKING BACK cont.

One year ago today
A year ago right now I was still at my family's cabin with my sister Sarah. Our mom and dad had already gone home and it was just us. Sarah was pretty sick of hearing me talk about the cute boy I'd gone on a date with the weekend before (Brett of course). Around lunch time we headed home. On the was home we stopped at Dave's in Ashton and bought ice cream. I had carribou tracks. It was so so so so yummy.
I didn't think Brett would call me to do anything that evening and didn't want to sit home so Sarah and I made plans to go grocery shopping, get chinese takeout, play tennis, and exhange music. I was going to sleep over at her house. While I was packing up to leave Brett called me. We talked for a while. I was already suppose to be at my sister's house and Brett kept talking and not getting to the point of the phone call. Was he going to ask me out or not?!? I even had another friend call while I was on the phone with Brett and ask if I wanted to go swimming in the canal with her and her fiance. I told her probably not because I think I'm about to get asked out. Finally I head over to my sister's, still talking on the phone but not sure if Brett was going to ask me out at all. When I'm about half-way to Sarah's Brett finally asks me out. First he asked me if I had any plans for the night. I lied an said no (I knew Sarah was tired and wouldn't mind if I ditched her). He then said him and some buddies are going up to the sand-dunes and wanted to know if I'd like to come. At first I worried they were going four-wheeling. I'm not big into the four-wheeling thing but he said they were going to play waffle-ball and then project a movie on a sheet. So I drove the last little ways to Sarah's and told her. I was going to go back home for Brett to pick me up but she suggested that he pick me up at her house so we could still get grocery and chinese. So that is what happened.
By the time Brett picked me up some clouds had moved in and it looked like rain. So the plans had changed. Instead we were going to the riot zone and woulnd't meet up till like 2 hourse later. Brett still picked me up at the previous set time and we went to community park and got snow-cones during our extra time.
During the snow cone enjoyment the weather cleared and we decided to rent a move and get his dad's projector just in case we still wanted to watch a movie. At the riot zone we played mini-golf. I didn't golf as bad and I thought and even got a hole-in-one. It was a ton of fun flirting with Brett. After golf we went to the house of one of the girls there. She had a good wall the project the movie on. We had rented the movie Breach. I had seen the last half or so with my parents and wanted to see the begining. Brett backed his truck up and we sat in his truck bed to watch the movie. The other two couples sat on a trapoline. As we were getting blankets and everything situated Brett was drinking a pepsi and burped. It was the most rank smelling thing I'd ever smelling to that point in my life. I didn't mind though. His good looks made up for any other... less desirable qualities.
Once the movie started the flirting began. We were sitting against the cab of his truck a good 6-12 inches apart. But Brett just couldn't help but poking me as I watched the movie. And I always stand up for myself so I'd poke him back and then he'd tickle me. After a few seconds of tickling (I do not like being tickled but I didn't mind this too much) I'd push him away and tell him to watch the movie. Then all the blankets would have to be rearranged. After the third or fourth time this happend the space between us had decreased. I was having a particularly hard time getting the blanket rearranged so Brett (being to suave man that he is) reached behind me and pulled the blanket so that it covered me and would stay. So now the space between us was small. Probably in the nanometer range, one might have been able to measure it but it would have required a microscope. I'm not very shy so as soon as he put his arm around me and didn't retract it I cuddled right up to him. Also during all the tickling we had gone from sitting up to a more... horizontal posture. So the next 45 minutes to an hour we watched the movie in peace. Well I was more blissful than peaceful cuddling with such a handsom man.
This bliss continued until the point where I had already seen the movie with my parents. I then rolled over onto my stomach to go to sleep. Well of course Brett didn't continue watching to movie he had to pay attention to me. (Now days he does keep watching to movie when I go to sleep.... actually normally he falls alseep first during movies.) So there we were faces a few inches apart at some house in Rigby in the back of Brett's truck. I told him point blank, "Now would be a really bad time to burp again." I'm not sure what all we talked about. I remember looking through the pictures on his phone and coming across the picture of an ex-girlfriend. He got a little embarassed and deleted it immediatly. During one lull in converstation Brett asked me, "What are you thinking about?" Again my complete honestly reared it head and I answered, " Well in CPR they teach you that the air is about 21% oxygen, but the hair you exhale still had i think like 16% oxygen in it, and that is why you can give rescue breaths. Well, we're so close that the air you breath out I breath in so I'm only getting like 16% oxygen." Brett was totally taken off gaurd by my response.
(**WARNING: next paragraph could be considered an overshare of information**)
I then asked what he was thinking about. He replied temptation. And well that just opened a can of worms. I knew what he wanted and I was totally okay with it. The next think I remember was the last first kiss I'll ever have. And oh boy was it a good one. Most other boy's I'd kissed were new to the field and needed some practicing up so first kisses weren't enjoyable. Not Brett. He was practiced, trained, and fantastic. Well the rest of the movie played completely unnoticed by Brett or myself.
Once the movie was over we packed up and Brett took me home. He held my hand in the car. (yes I let him kiss me before holding my hand). I had to teach the lesson in relief society the next day and hadn't prepared much. He helped me figure out what direction I was going to take my lesson on the car ride home. He dropped me off at Sarah's since I was going to sleep there. I immediately woke her up and told her Brett had kissed me all giggly and excited. I wanted to tell my mom about Brett as soon as possible so I instead of staying at Sarah's went home and then woke up early and told my mom during a morning jog.
Ever since I was a little kid 7 was my lucky number. I always said it was because I was born at 7 AM. I just realized today our first kiss was on 07/07/07. It must still be my lucky number.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

LOOKING BACK cont.

These posts will only continue for a few weeks.

One year ago yesterday
A year ago yesterday it was the first Sunday after my first date with Brett. I still went to church with Sarah even though Brett said he wouldn't be at church that day (he said his niece was being blessed that day). During sacrament I looked all around the chapel and didn't seem him anywhere so I decided to bear my testimony at the pulpit. Turns out he had been sitting directly behind me but like 6 rows back. And he had shaved his goatee and cut his hair. After church there was a linger longer. I had hoped Brett would sit next to me but someone else did. I never got a chance to talk to him that day.

One year ago today
One year ago today was a Monday. Which means family home evening. That night they were tying quilts. At the beginning I sat across the quilt from Brett and didn't really talk to him. Eventually my sister went over and talked to him. I heard her whispering to him about me. Once the quilts were all finished I did go over and talk to him for about 20 minutes. Can I just say I'm so glad we are past that awkward flirting stage. We had made tentative plans to play tennis the next day-ish if I was in town (my family was talking about going to our cabin in Island Park). Supposedly he also ask me about going to the fireworks with him but I don't remember that. I told him I'd call him and let him know if I'd be in town.
On the drive home I asked my sister what she had whispered to Brett. She told me she had told him to ask me out again. He had said he was going to but he was embarrassed. She asked why and he was surprised and said "didn't she tell you about the date". I had no clue why he should be embarrassed
Once I got home I talked to my parents and we decided on going to the cabin. So I got to call Brett. We ended up talking for an hour or two. I even stayed up till 11:00PM to talk to him. (usually I went to bed about 9:00). It took me forever but I managed to convince him to tell me why he was embarrassed. He was so surprised I had no clue. When he finally told me he said:
"You remember when I dropped you off"
"Yeeaaahh..." (I was thinking did he try for a kiss and I never notices?)
"And as we got out of the truck there was a silence."
"Sure..." (I didn't remember this silence)
"And that silence was broken."
"Will you just stop beating around the bush and tell me!"
"Well during the silence I passed gas."
I then laughed harder than I ever have before. I told him I grew up with two brothers so really it doesn't bother me. I still laugh when I think about it. (sorry Brett I hope I don't embarrass you by posting this story.)