Fun Little Internet Game

Here's the idea:
1- Open your favorite image search engine
2- Type the answer to the question in the search box
3- Post the picture you like the best under the question

What is your first name?

What is your favorite food?

What is your favorite color?

What is your favorite beverage?

What is your dream vacation?

What is your favorite desert?

What did you want to be when you grew up?

What do you love most in life?

What is one word to describe you?

Age at your next birthday?

Bad habit?

10 Years ago yesterday...

This picture was taken at my apartment in the spring of 1999.

David and I met on July 24, 1998. It's hard to believe that was 10 years ago already! Time really flies by. We were both 18 at the time. I was a sophomore at BYU living in an off campus apartment with Melissa for the Summer term. I had gone home to California for the Spring term and decided to go back to BYU only a couple weeks before the Summer term began. David had just graduated from High School and came out to BYU for the Summer term to begin his freshman year. Pioneer Day fell on a Friday that year, and since it is a state holiday for Utah, BYU didn't hold any classes on that day. Kristine and I decided to plan a camping trip to Bear Lake for the long weekend. Kristine and I had a really good friend from CA who had just arrived at BYU for the Summer term and so we invited him and he invited 2 of his friends from his floor in Desert Towers, BYU on campus living. Kristine's sister and her niece also came camping. So all the girls drove up to Bear Lake in Kristine's car and we met up with the guys at the camp site. They were already there waiting for us, since we stopped to eat out for dinner. They got there first thinking we were bringing dinner for them. (Oh the days before everyone had cell phones!) I remember the first time I saw David. He was leaning against a red Geo Metro. I think it was his sister Amy's car. He was tall and cute and had a big smile on his face. We quickly set up a couple of tents. We sat around the fire and talked. I think I remember there being fireworks over the lake. Some in our group got tired and went to sleep in one of the tents, and I think David's roommate fell asleep outside. So Kristine, Carl, David, and I ended up staying up all night. I think we drove up to the Idaho border, just to say we had been in Idaho. We laughed a lot. We played the infamous game of truth or dare. Kristine- remember Carl doing the "Truffle Shuffle"?! I still laugh about that. And it's true that I dared David to kiss someone, and he kissed me. Needless to say David and I hit it off from the start. We stayed at my BYU roommate, Andrea's, house in Logan Saturday night. There were more fireworks that night at a nearby park. David and I had a great weekend. There were sparks and we had an instant connection. I remember when we all got back to Provo on Sunday he said he would call me, and I thought to myself, "We'll see...". But sure enough he did call the very next day. We became an item quickly. We spent most days together that summer, and I didn't do very well in my Marketing class that term. He didn't have a car and neither did I, so he would literally run over to my apartment from D.T.. (My roommates teased me a lot for dating a freshman, even though I'm only 4 1/2 months older!) We dated up until he left for his mission, not really seriously because he was leaving for 2 years. I never said I would "wait" for him. But we did write while he was gone, and we sent tapes back and forth. While he was in the M.T.C. I sent packages. David would tell me before he left for his mission, and in his tapes, that when he got back from the Philippines that he would "marry me and we would have 10 kids". I would laugh. It was hard to picture that when we were both only 19. I did date other people while he was gone, but would think about David. We really did "click" and just fit together. So I was definitely around when he came home off his mission. I wasn't exactly sure when he was coming home. I called his house before I left for Ireland for a few months. His mom answered the phone, took a message and actually gave it to him when he came home weeks later. We emailed while I was in Ireland. He even called me there once. As soon as I was back in the states we talked on the phone and emailed since he was in Missouri until January when he would return to BYU for Winter term. On Jan. 2, 2002 we went out on our first date post mission and have been together ever since.

Mama Mia!

David and I had a whole day to ourselves on Saturday. Can you believe it? It's so rare that happens. We dropped the kids off after lunch at my mom's house and she brought them home at 9 am on Sunday morning. Of course it was like a mini vacation for them sleeping at my mom's house. She has a room for them with 2 twin beds. She loves to spoil them, took them to a movie and always has all their favorite foods on hand. It was so nice for David and I to run a few errands, have some down time, eat out, and see a movie at our pace. We totally enjoyed the day. We saw the movie "Mama Mia!" Saturday night. I have to say it was great! I haven't seen the broadway musical, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but it was worth seeing. I have never had so much fun in a movie theater. I grew up listening to ABBA. What girl doesn't love the song "Dancing Queen"? People were singing, clapping, and dancing at the end. I was laughing so hard. If I had seen it with Lisee and Andrea I think they would have joined the crowd too. I think David was a good sport for seeing it with me, as there were probably only a dozen other men seeing that movie, since it was opening weekend for "The Dark Knight". Go see it!

Memories...

Here is a fun little game... leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time or a long time, anything that you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It is pretty funny to read the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you are playing and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. On your mark... get set... blog those memories!

Nauvoo Day 2

Seery playing with a traditional Pioneer doll

All of us at the Brickyard

The Heber C. Kimball Home

Driving a wagon

The Scovil Bakery

Aidan making rope

Dads like to dress up too!

The kids trying to have a sheep race

Isn't Seery a cute pioneer?

Brigham Young's Home

David's parents with us outside the Heber C. Kimball Home

Seery pretending to be in school


Seery playing house. She set the table really well.

Aidan conducting the Nauvoo Brass Band

All of us in The Pioneer Pastime Area



On the morning of Day 2 Aidan walked down to a bakery with his grandpa to get us all some breakfast. Then we were off to tour again. We first went to the Brickyard and learned that it took 6 weeks to make several thousand bricks. Nauvoo had appox. 125 brick homes, which were really expensive to build and a rare thing in the West at that time. When the pioneers left most of those homes hadn't even sold. The Cultural Hall, a 3 story building auctioned years later for a mere $4.50. We then went to the Family Living Center where we learned how to make bread in a bustle oven, which by the way is the BEST bread I have ever tasted. We learned how pioneers made candles, pottery, barrels-- which takes an 8 year apprenticeship to become a Cooper like Joseph Smith Sr., and how to make your own rope. Aidan was a participant in making the rope by turning the wheel which twists plant fibers. We learned how the Scovil Bakery made their goods in a bustle oven and were able to each sample a gingerbread cookie. We walked through the beautiful Heber C. Kimball home, one of the only homes that sold when the Pioneers had to leave Nauvoo. We walked through Brigham Young's Home where presiding councils of the church met. The Cultural Hall fully restored in the mid Eighties is a stunning 3 story building where plays, dances, wedding receptions, and other functions were held. This building also contains many quilts from around the world, from different time periods. Although, out of everything we saw and did Nauvoo, I think Aidan and Seery really enjoyed the Pioneer Pastime Outdoor area the most. The kids were able to dress up as pioneers, and David it did too. The had a log cabin set up as a school house for kids to play in and the other cabin was a home to play house in. There were traditional 19th century games to play and stilts to walk with. We were entertained by the Nauvoo Brass Band, Aidan pretended to be their conductor while he listened to the music. We really enjoyed feeling the peace the town has to offer, the gorgeous scenery, and of course all the education we received from the missionaries who serve there to enlighten us in all aspect of how life truly was in the mid 1800's for the pioneers. Most of all we walked away with complete respect and gratitude for all the pioneers did to transform the swap land into a town and then walk away and leave it all behind, some only having lived in their newly finished homes for 6 weeks.

Nauvoo Day 1

Jonathan Browning Home and Gun shop

Aidan wanting to join in with the statue's game of "Ring-A-Round the Rosie"
Seery & Aidan with their Grandparents

I loved watching Aidan & Seery run through this field
David and I in front of the Webb Blacksmith Shop

Buggy Ride
Inspiration Point
Grandpa & Seery in the Visitor's Center
Aidan loved the little girl in this statue
Seery with the "In Her Mother's Footsteps" Statue

On Wednesday June 4 we, along with David's parents, went to Nauvoo for 2 days. David and I were able to go for the Nauvoo temple open house in 2002, and this was our first time back there since then, and the first time ever for our kids. As soon as we checked into our hotel Aidan insisted on buying a pioneer hat before we went into the historical area. We were able to take a buggy ride through the outskirts of town so we would have a better idea of what the town looked like when the pioneers first arrived. It was beautiful, dense with trees and foliage. We could see how much work they really had as far as clearing and settling the land. Along the ride we were able to see Inspiration Point, a lookout point to the Mississippi River. Next we went through the Visitor's Center and out to the garden area with all the beautiful statues. Aidan and Seery thought they were real at first. We attended a demonstration from the Webb Blacksmith Shop. The 5 brothers who operated this shop were among the last to leave Nauvoo for Salt Lake City in 1846 as they stayed to help others build their wagons. Our last stop for the day was to the Jonathan Browning Home and Gun shop. Browning was the inventor of the repeating rifle, which is what inspired the Winchester gun in which "the West was won with". After that we headed back to the hotel to swim and relax.

More Grant's Farm Pictures

L to R: Eric, Madilyn, Seery, Abbie, Joshua holding Zachary, Rachel, and Megan. Aidan is in the stroller in front.
Aidan


The historical home of Ulysses S. Grant

Grant's Farm

Joshua & Aidan
In the back: Abbie, Madilyn, Joshua holding Zachary, and Aidan
In the front: Seery, Rachel, Megan, and Eric

David, Madilyn, and Seery
David & Seery feeding a goat
Stephen, David, and Dad

On Tuesday June 3, we were all able to visit Grant's Farm. This place is famous as it is the historical home of Ulysses S. Grant who founded and farmed some of the acreage. There are 281 acres of wildlife preserve. And of course you can see the world famous Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales. It was beautiful. Lots of trees and animals from six different continents. We took a tram ride around the Farm to see the animals. The kids were also able to feed goats, pet a large snake, and see a bird show. After the farm we cooled off with some frozen custard from Ted Drewes which has been a hit in St. Louis since 1931.

Finally!!

At long last here comes the blogging about our trip to St. Louis, MO and Nauvoo, IL. Our family was able to visit David's family in June for a week. It was nice to see all the cousins together for the first time in 2 years. Everyday there was something fun to do. The kids had the best time and can't wait to go back. We were also lucky enough to be there to celebrate David's dad's 60th birthday. We had a warm welcome the evening of our arrival with banner made by cousins Madilyn, Abbie, and Eric.