Dr. Who Murder Mystery...

November 24, 2013...We had such a fun time at the Murder Mystery.  This was the second one that we have gone to a Murder Mystery together.  My friends, Maile and Genna had someone drop out two weeks before this Murder Mystery, so they invited us.  It was a Dr. Who Murder Mystery, based off

the Dr. Who show.  Neither of us had watched Dr. Who, but the actual 50th year anniversary of the show was the day of the Murder Mystery.  We went and put on fun attire for the party.  You were the original Dr. Who.  I was Astrid Peth, who was a part of the Tenth Dr. Who.  I had some sickness the week of, so I didn't have time to go get my outfit until the day of.  I was limited and needed to find a waitress outfit.  The costume stores really only had skanky maid outfits.  I had to add a longer black shirt and some leggings and boots to make it work, but I got it figured out.  I also bought a wig (you actually bought it for me and brought it down for me).  You also got a fun outfit and used a cane and bought a wig as well.  The Murder Mystery was more like a big Clue game.  Not very many of the participants had seen Dr. Who much, and we were told you didn't have to know that much about the show to participate.  We just went and played Clue basically.  We moved from one room to another and got yummy food in each room.  We had appetizers and lots of finger foods.  It was a lot of fun!  Maile and BrianJohnson were there, obviously.  Genna put the whole thing together, and did a great job!  We had a lot of fun just hanging out and talking to people.  Another couple dropped out a week before the Murder

Mystery, so I invited Dan and Charone Peterson to come along, and they were able to.  It was an entertaining night!  We got pictures with everyone and after we were done with the night, you wanted me to trade wigs with  me.  You had me wear your tight curly grey wig on and you put on my Marilyn Monroe wig and everyone got a good laugh.  You told me that I looked like my mom with your wig on.  We really liked that wig on me and I thought that if I had that much hair when I was older, I would be a happy camper!  We just had a great time together.  It was so much fun to just be together, laugh and play the part.  I love that you will pick out your own costumes and that you enjoy being a part of something like this.  I love doing things with me and spending time just having fun with one another, doing something different.  Thank you for laughing with me.  Maile and Genna both told me that they love having us be a part of things, because they always know that we will make the night better.  They love that we dress up and that we are outgoing and will help the party be how they would like it to be.  They said that they will for sure keep inviting us to their Murder Mysteries.  Woohooo for us!!!

Bad Day Gone Good...

November 1, 2013...I LOVE you soooo much!  I had a really hard day at work today and just felt like the biggest baby and drama queen.  I haven’t cried at work or about work the entire time I’ve been there.  Well…I did today!  I feel like I’ve been so behind in everything.  I can’t get ahead and I am being interrupted time and time again.  I’m so tired of not feeling like I can get my stuff done without getting more assignments.  Usually I can handle things, but I just couldn’t today.  I had some things stolen from my desk and I just feel like I am being taken advantage of right now.  I know how to say no outside of work, but I don’t know how to tell people at work that my load is too much and I don’t feel like I can say no to some of the things I’m given.  I went into Traci’s office and just broke down in tears.  It’s the first time in 3 years at this job that I’ve cried because of my workload.  I miss Rob being here.  He made everything ok and was just a great boss.  Dallas is amazing and really a great guy, I just miss having Rob as my boss!  I tried to control myself, but I broke down about 4 times today.  I text you while I was crying, just to share with you my feelings and emotions, but I told you there was nothing you could do.  You called me several times and left the sweetest messages on my phone.  I finally left work around 3:00pm and brought everything home with me.  I was a mess!  I was supposed to go play soccer tonight and then go to Mel’s birthday dinner after that.  I decided I couldn’t handle that, and I didn’t want to show up crying and be a grouch and ruin Mel’s night, so I canceled!  I just have been working all night trying to get a little caught up so that I am not so overwhelmed at work.  I talked to you several times throughout the night and you were just so wonderful and comforting!   I told you several times how much I just love and appreciate you being so good with me.  You called me one time and I was asking you what you were doing.  You said that you were finally finishing up your errands for the night and was about to head home, but you asked me to come check my door!  There you were with a big grin on your face with beautiful purple daisy flowers in hand!  You were ADORABLE!!!  I wanted to cry, but I was smiling so much that I couldn’t.  You just held me and kissed me and told me that you wanted to make me smile and help make my day better!  You gave me my purple flowers and just hugged me and gave me a kiss.  I was grinning from ear to ear!  I couldn’t tell you how happy I was!  Then you told me that when you were buying my flowers the cute two older ladies asked who the flowers were for.  You said they were for your fiancé, and that I had a rough day at work, and that you  needed to make me happy.  They just thought that was so sweet!  When you told me that, I was just so excited that you referred to me as your fiancé!  Soooo cute!  You hugged and kissed me and then told me to stay right there.  You reached round the outside of the door and grabbed 4 fruit leathers for me.  You told me that they have no added sugar, so I would be able to eat them with my cleanse I am doing.  You handed them to me and told me to stay there.  You went around the corner and grabbed a bag of dates that also had no added sugar and told me that I could have those as well.  You hugged me and kissed me and then told me to stay there.  You then reached around the corner again and grabbed a set of very nice headphones that you bought me.  You told me that it is a proven statistic that when you are at work and you have headphones on, people won’t interrupt you.  You told me that when I am at work and I need to get some things done, I can put these on to drown out the noise and then people won’t bother me as much!  You told me you had been looking for these specific headphones for months now and you actually just found them on sale at the last store you looked at tonight.  You then gave them to me and told me to stay there.  You had something else for me that you bought for me a long time ago (last spring) and was waiting for the perfect time to give them to me.  You went around the corner one last time and came back with these handcrafted Sorel natural rubber books with leather around them and fur at the top.  They are sooooo adorable and sooo comfortable.  You told me you bought them for me on sale last winterish and was thinking about giving them to me for Christmas, but thought today was the best day.  You thought it would be a good idea for me to have them to wear when it starts to snow and that they will be comfortable, cute and stylish for me.  You said that you thought I could also wear them when my feet are cold inside.  You was so excited to give them to me.  You had me try them on right there in the entry way of my town home.  It was the cutest thing.  You even turned the light on so that you could show me the purple lining that was on the boots, because you know how much I love purple.  You were just so happy to make me happy!  You spent all your time after work trying to find things that would make my day better.  You told me tonight on the phone that I do so much for so many people when they are down and having a hard time.  You said it is your job to make me happy when I am feeling down.  I just feel so grateful and so lucky to have you in my life.  You left and I couldn’t stop smiling.  You didn’t come up and spend time with me.  You knew I had a lot of work to do and that I was clocked in.  You had me put on my boots and then you put everything else you gave me in the box (besides the flowers), handed the box to me, gave me a kiss and told me to get back to work and good luck!  You said goodbye, let yourself out the door and I just sat there wanting you to come back!  I love how wonderful you are with me and to me.  I don’t know how I got so lucky to have you in my life, but I can’t imagine my life without you.  I literally smiled the rest of the night because I was soooo happy to have you in my life.  You have told me time and time again that you will do whatever it takes to make sure I am taken care of and happy for the rest of my life.  You said that you would prove that to me every day.  You really do prove that to me.  I just LOVE you so much!!! 

Halloween...

October 31, 2013...We did so much stuff for Halloween.  We invited anyone from your family

over to carve pumpkins and make caramel apples.  Ashely and Doug's family came over.  Shayla also came with her kids.  We all had a lot of fun.  You and I went to the pumpkin patch by your house and got three very big pumpkins.  They were awesome!  You carved one and I carved one.  We left the last one for your parents for when they got back from

St. Kitts.  They ended up not carving it, so we took it to Robin and Brady's and carved it with their family a week later.  It was fun hosting a little party at your parents' house while they were gone.  I felt like we were hosting something at our own place.  We can't wait to have our own place, so we can host all the time.  The kids loved carving their

pumpkins.  After everyone was done, I had them all help me with the caramel apples.  They each got their own apple to decorate.  They all did such a great job.  It was fun watching them get all excited and pick what they wanted on their apples.  I am really glad we did that.  I know that the kid had fun, and I had a lot of fun as well.  Another festive thing that we did this year, was Ashley's annual Halloween party.  The theme

was zombies, so we went to DI and got some clothes that we could trash and turn ourselves into Zombies.  She had her party the weekend before Halloween.  It was a lot of fun being with your siblings and step-siblings.  They had great food and entertainment.  Ashley really does take her parties seriously.  It was fun being there with everyone!  On

actual Halloween, we went over to Dave and Dawn Robison's house to help them with their scary Halloween setup in their garage for the trick-or-treaters.  I dressed up as Madusa and you dressed up as the scary tree, like last year.  It was fun, but they didn't have as many trick-or-treaters as they did last year, since they moved.  We just had fun being

together and socializing with everyone.  It was a festive Halloween for us this year!

Escalante with Josh, Emily, Mindi and Will...

September 27, 2013...Mindi and Will have their anniversary on September 22nd as well.  Way

back in February, Mindi and I started talking about taking a trip to Escalante with our men for a celebratory anniversary trip.  It is so fun that we actually followed through with it.  We invited Josh and Emily to come along, and they made it a lot of fun to be with them.  Will, Mindi, John and I drove down together on Friday, the 27th.  We packed up in the morning and took off.  One of Mindi's traditions is stopping at the

Cache Valley Cheese Factory in Beaver.  I had never been there before, and it was really fun to stop by.  John got some ice cream, and I got some squeaky cheese.  It was really yummy.  They had so  many different flavors of cheese.  I got a bag that had a mix of about 6 different cheeses.  It was really good, and I am glad Mindi introduced us to that place.  We will for sure go back next time.  We always stop at

the gas station there in Beaver to get a picture on the big rocking chair, so why not stop at the cheese factory as well!  It will become a fun tradition for us as well.  Mindi had booked a campsite for us right on a reservoir.  It was a beautiful campsite and it was quite expensive, since John and I are used to paying nothing for a campsite.  We actually got to Escalante and decided to explore before we got to our campsite, so we could enjoy the daylight while we had it.  We had kind of scouted things

out ahead of time.  Mindi had been here before, so she was going to be taking us to some of the really cool sites that she thought were worth seeing if you only were going there for one day.  She took us to Grosvenor Arch.  It is this arch that is literally in the middle of nowhere!  We were in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Park.  You just keep driving on these back dirt roads.  It was quite funny.  We were

going off these small little maps that you couldn't really read too well.  We found these dirt roads and there were signs that would say, "Unimproved Road."  We didn't really know what this meant and thought it was so funny.  The roads actually were so sandy, that they would get wiped out from the heavy rainfall.  There were divots in the road that looked like giant rivers of water had flowed through them.  Some of the roads had signs saying that they were closed, but we just

kept driving on them.  They were quite sketchy and seemed scary to pass.  Will just kept driving on them.  We found out that a huge storm came through a couple weeks prior to us being there and it wiped out most of the roads.  They had these huge tractors that were shoveling the roads and repairing the passageways to get across the little creeks, but they hadn't got all of them done.  It was kind of crazy to see how scary

those roads could be in the rain.  I couldn't imagine driving on those in the rain.  They are so unpredictable and you could get stuck out there very easily if you didn't know what you were doing.  I am grateful there were 4 of us together, so we had strength in numbers to push us out if we got stuck.  Will did a great job making sure we were staying on safe ground.  We were going to do some hikes, but the roads really were impassable, so

we couldn't get to some of the locations.  I was kind of sad about that, but I guess when you don't know what you are missing out on, you can't be too disappointed.  Mindi said she would take us to those hikes next time we came down.  When we got to Grosvenor Arch, it was actually very large and beautiful.  It was really high, and so it looked smaller in the pictures than it did in real life.  It was amazing!  We got done with that and drove around a little bit more.  We

drove into our campsite and it was a beautiful campsite.  We were the last location at the site, so we didn't have any neighbors, and it was a huge campsite.  We were also right there overlooking the reservoir, and it was so peaceful.  Emily and Josh didn't get there until about 11:00pm, because they couldn't get off work any earlier.  Will, Mindi, John and I set up camp and started cooking.  We made some yummy hamburgers and veggies over the fire.  It was so yummy!  We pulled out our camp

flowers and planted them by the fire.  The stars were amazing out there.  You didn't really have lights to distract from the starlit sky.  It really was a beautiful campsite.  It was pretty cold down there, so we were always near the fire and bundled up really well.  Because we got there early, and we had a big family campsite, we had plenty of room.  One of the rangers asked if it would be ok if they rented out the furthest family site at our campsite to someone else.  We said

that was fine, and we did get a neighbor.  His name was John.  He was super friendly and was from Arizona.  He was a talker and pretty much hung out with us and ate with us the entire time we were at our campsite.  He would just wander over and chat his little heart away!  He was so friendly and talkative and was appreciative of us sharing our food with him for every breakfast and dinner.  We were there from Friday until Sunday, so we really did get to know him well.  Mindi was talking about

being cold one night, so he went and got her some of his undergarments that were supposed to keep her very warm.  He was just a super friendly guy.  Anyway...Josh and Emily showed up after we had gone to bed, so we saw them in the morning.  John and I were in charge of breakfast.  We made a mountain man breakfast, with everything in it; eggs, bacon, ham, sausage,

cheese, hash browns, etc.  It was really yummy.  We used Josh and Emily's stove and the fire.  We had tortillas that people could create a breakfast burrito with.  It was all so yummy and hearty for our long day of hiking and exploring.  Mindi took us to 3 slot canyons.  We actually only ended up having time to do two of the slot canyons once we go there.  It took us a while to hike down to the slot canyon, then we had to find the entrance.  We did Peek-a-boo Gulch.  It was AMAZING!!!  I

have gone into slot canyons before, but I had never done a slot canyon this tight before.  We found it and it starts out narrow and gets narrow and then wider in some areas.  You can always see the sky and so it didn't get too dark in this first one.  You had to take your backpack off in some of it.  I was so excited to be doing this hike.  I was just so giddy,

like a little kid.  I had always wanted to do slot canyons like this.  The weather was very clear, and there was no chance of rain, so we didn't really have to worry about rain coming and getting stuck in the slot canyons.  Mindi was leading us and she just kind of ran away with Will.  John, Emily, Josh and I stuck together.  I was kind of sad about that, because we really didn't get many pictures with Mindi and Will

because they were just way ahead of us and didn't wait for us.  We just really like taking our time and enjoying the journey and views.  We would stop and take picture after picture.  Some pictures turned out really good and some didn't turn out as good.  It is just amazing to walk through these slot canyons knowing that they were created from nature itself, water and wind.  It is literally incredible!  We had so much fun adventuring through these canyons.  I had never seen

anything like them before, and just enjoyed every minute of it.  As we were searching for the next slot canyon, I accidentally dropped our camera.  I was devastated.  The sand got in it and it wouldn't open or close, or focus.  I was heartbroken.  Emily and Josh said they would take some pictures for us.  I was just sad that I couldn't take pictures when I

wanted and where I wanted.  I just was taking pictures the entire time.  I was pretty sad about not having my own camera to take pictures.  But, I was grateful that I was there so at least enjoy the journey and take mental pictures.  Anyway...we still had fun!  That second slot canyon, Spooky Gulch, was a very TIGHT canyon!!!  I got scared in a few spots and was so grateful that there was no rain in the forecast, or I wouldn't have done that one.  It was a lot tighter and a lot more dark.  You had to pretty much carry your backpack, because you just didn't

have room to be wearing it.  If you came across another group coming in through the back way, there was no way you could pass one another.  There were two spots in the entire canyon that you could have possibly passed.  It was crazy tight!  We had cuts, scrapes and bruises on our hands, arms and legs because we had

to shimmy up and down some parts.  I was a little nervous, I am not going to lie!  It was so awesome though!  It was hard to get good pictures in there, because it was a lot more dark and you couldn't capture some of the light very well to take a picture.  Mindi and Will took off and Josh, Emily, John and I stopped to eat.  They just wanted to get it done; we just wanted to enjoy our time there.  We stayed together the entire time and just had fun!  It was just beauty beyond what I had imagined.  It was just

amazing!!!  We didn't have time to do the third slot canyon, but John and I decided that we were going to come back for sure!  It is so worth coming back to do these slot canyons.  AMAZING!!!  On our way back to our campsite, we stopped at a little spot that was just gorgeous.  It was called Devil's Garden.  It was crazy cool!  We took a lot of pictures there, and really enjoyed just seeing the beauty.  There were rocks just piled on each other, and they were huge.  They looked like they were going to fall, but they were just sitting there.  We found a few arches there as well.  It was just an entire day of beauty all around us.  I can't believe all the nature that we have been given by our Heavenly Father.  I keep thinking of all the things that I haven't seen that are crazy beautiful.  I am so grateful for so much beauty on this earth.  We stayed there for about an hour and then we headed back to camp to clean up and prepare dinner.  Mindi made salmon on the grill with salad and this yummy rice.  I felt like we ate gourmet meals while we were out there camping.  John, our neighbor friend said that we were feeding him better than what he eats at home on a regular basis.  It was pretty funny!  The next day we got up, ate breakfast, packed things up, and took off for the Lower Calf Creek Falls hike.  We all kind of went at our own paces.  Mindi and Will took off running practically.  Josh and Emily were quick, and then John and I just enjoyed our walk, like we do all our hikes.  It was nice that it was just the two of us.  We really enjoyed our time together, alone.  It was a beautiful hike, and I was really sad that we didn't have my camera!  The end result was a gorgeous waterfall!  It was definitely worth the hike.  We got there and it just took your breathe away!  It was just so beautiful!  I am grateful that we did this hike.  The whole trip was just wonderful!  I only wish I hadn't dropped the camera.  That was my only regret.  I am excited to go back there and just take our time to see exactly what we want to see, and take our time doing it!  It will be another great adventure that we will have together.  

One Year Anniversary...The Perfect Date...

September 22, 2013...What a perfect date!  I asked Ted and Steph a couple months ago if I

could borrow their truck for our one year anniversary, so we could relive our first date!  They were all for it!!!  I didn't want to tell you, because I wanted it to be a surprise.  I had asked you at least a month before our anniversary, if you were ok if I made the plans.  You agreed...and you didn't ask anything about it after that.  For our 11 month anniversary, you got m e a really cute blue frosted bowl and put chocolate hugs,

kisses and dove chocolates in it, with one single flower on top.  It was so cute!  Every single 22nd of the month, this entire year, you have done something cute to remind me that you love me.  It has been the cutest thing ever, and has made this entire year of dating you just amazing!!!  Our anniversary came on a Sunday.  I thought that was perfect, because we would have all the time in the world.  I came to your ward so that I could attend church with you.  I brought the truck with me, so I came

late, just to make sure you didn't see it.   I parked in the side lot and behind a tree.  I also had a lunch prepared for us (the same things we had from our first date, ham sandwiches (since I couldn't buy Subway sandwiches on a Sunday), chips, oranges, carrots and I brought a few other things as well, along with waters and a few cream sodas for you.  Church was great, and it was so wonderful to just be with you on our anniversary.  After church, you walked me outside and asked where I

parked.  I couldn't hold it in anymore.  I told you that I had borrowed Ted's truck and that we were going to relive our first date.  You were so cute and got so excited!  We went to your house to change our closes and then we took off.  We had sooooo much fun!  We stopped at every place we remembered taking a picture, and tried to take more pictures in that location.  Even though it was the same date as last year, the leaves hadn't changed colors are brightly and quickly as they did last year.

 They weren't as vibrant, but they were still beautiful!  We were just giggling and talking about all the things we talked about the year before on our date.  We talked about the thoughts we had of our first date, and how much we felt connected to one another that date.  We stopped at the same spot we did for lunch.  There was someone sitting in our spot from the year before, so we just sat somewhat close by (the backside of Rock Canyon).  We laid out a blanket and ate our yummy lunch.  We

waited until the other people left, then we were alone.  We took some pictures and then we looked down, and there was a heart-shaped rock.  We were so excited.  We walked to a certain location where we had taken a picture before.  I told you to stand right in a certain spot.  I asked you to move back further.  You looked down, there was another heart-shaped rock.  We started looking down in that area and found a BUNCH of heart-shaped rocks.  It was crazy!!!  We collected them within one minute and had a whole slew of them.  It was insane.  We

knew we couldn't keep all of them, so we chose one to keep, since we hadn't started collecting rocks on our first date...we had to have one from our special spot.  You suggested we bury them somewhere so we could find them the next time we came back.  We picked up a bigger rock and there was a hole under the rock.  We put all the smaller rocks under that rock and then you took another rock and drew an arrow on a big rock in the direction of our "hidden" heart-shaped rocks, so we could find them next year when we come back for our anniversary!  It was so much fun!!!  We just were like little giddy kids, so happy to be together.  We both can't believe it's been a year since we started dating!  It seems unreal, but so wonderful!

 Anyway, we kept driving.  We saw these red splotches all over the mountains.  When we got closer, we realized they were berries.  We thought they were leaves on trees, but they were gorgeous.  It was just fun to discover nature over and over with you.  We also stopped at the location where a couple was sitting in a hammock.  They looked so cute.  They had the best overlook of the mountainous valley.  He had strung the hammock across two trees, and I'm not sure how they actually got in the hammock, because they were kind of up high and kind of on a cliff, sort of.  Anyway...we had stopped at that location and they asked us if we would take a picture of them.  They had just gotten engaged right there.  It was so cute!  What fun memories

we had that first date.  And to imagine that we would be coming back and one day be engaged ourselves.  So crazy!!!  We also found a location on our first date where we had pulled over and threw rocks at a targeted tree we had picked out.  Well, we happened to find that exact spot, so we got out and threw rocks at that same tree.  It was so much fun to relive EVERYTHING from that first date.  The only thing different this time is that we kissed!  We rounded one hill and stopped, close to Tibble Fork Canyon area.  We could see Springville.  It was beautiful.  We got out and went on a small adventure hike.  We saw these terraces and wondered what they were for.  We just got out and followed one around the mountain.  They were quite interesting and we still don't know what they were for.  One day we might figure it out.  Anyway, we found a lot of heart-shaped rocks on that adventure hike as well. We got back in the truck and went around the bend and the weather was starting to change.  It was getting quite cloudy.  You could see that it could be raining.  Well...pretty soon...the rain came.  It wasn't hitting us, but you could see it in the distance hitting the valley.  You could see it on Utah Lake and coming into Springville.  It was absolutely gorgeous!  We took some pictures, but they just don't capture the beauty of what we really saw!  The whole day was just reliving a

magical memory for us!  We think it would be so much fun to do that date every year on September 22nd, or the weekend close to it...because it is a LONG drive.  It took us about 7 hours again this time as well.  we just enjoyed being together and taking our precious time, and we did.  We would love to be able to do this drive on a motorcycle or four wheelers.  That would just be awesome!  We will do that someday, and we will have our own truck to drive it as well!  Happy Anniversary Babe!  I love you!!!

Camping with Brighton's Family in the Uintas...

September 20, 2013...We took Brighton and Nash's family up to our spot in the Uintas where

we went with Josh and Emily.  We were so excited to show them our favorite spot.  When we go up there, someone had ruined it.  They had chopped down a bunch of trees, made divits in the ground with big trucks and left debris everywhere.  We were so sad!  We decided that we could make due with what we had, but we were very sad that it wasn't as beautiful as it was when we were up there with Josh and Emily.  We had to clear spots for our tents.  It was the perfect spot for the kids.  They could just run around everywhere and explore.

 They loved being outside and going camping with us.  They also loved Tango.  They would just follow her around.  We had to stop them a few times, because Tango was getting overwhelmed with the attention.  Cambria was in love with you, as usual!  We made some yummy food at night and then did

smore's.  Cambria just loved sitting on your lap and petting Tango.  You two were so cute with Tango.  Tango kept jumping up on my spot in our camping chair.  I think she felt safe next to you.  During the day the boys would go on "adventures" and walk around and "discover" things.  It was really cute to watch their creative minds.  We took them to the reservoir and showed them how Tango could swim. Tango was so excited.  She

was just a happy dog!  The kids loved throwing the stick into the reservoir.  They would have done it for hours if they were allowed to.  We ended up walking around the campsite and just letting the kids explore.  They were climbing tree stumps and hills and sliding down dirt hills and picking up rocks.  It was fun to just watch them enjoying their time in nature.  Cambria loved walking beside you and holding your

hand.  She was kind of glued to you all weekend.  Those kids adore you, and I can see exactly why!  I loved going camping with them.  I felt like it was great quality time.