Memorial Day

Memorial Day also happened to be my madre's birthday so we made a day out of it. 

I started off the day by sending Kolton out to work. Somebody has to make a living to pay for all my playing! 

Then I met up with Tylee and we walked all around the cemetery in Terreton. I think we walked past every headstone. I think it's good to do that, and I like to do it, but it makes me sad because all of the names are familiar and I know a lot of the stories. It's a sad cemetery. 

Then we drove into town together to meet up with the rest of the fam. 

We had planned on riding with them but Addi was a sicky so we decided to spare ourselves the exposing of the germs and rode by ourselves. It was some good sister bonding/life planning time. 

These two only argued for most of the day. About a present for my mom believe it or not...

We went to the Ririe, Rigby, Milo, Grant, and Fielding Cemeteries.

I love to go with my parents because my dad always tells us the stories about the families that I'm hoping to one day internalize so I can remember them on my own and pass them down. 

Brevan was being just a titch difficult

After visiting the cemeteries we decided to eat at Applebees and do the opening of the gifts. 

Every year on my mom's birthday my dad gets super stressed out and just a tiny bit ornery because he doesn't know what to get her so I have taken it upon myself to do some of the shopping for him so he'll have at least a little peace of mind knowing that he has something for her and also so he can be a little more pleasant to be around. 

Also because I'm pretty good at spending other people's money. 

Here are a few of the gifts. 

She lived in Texas for four years you know!

Super excited about the free dessert!

And the Diet Coke.

 I'm sure the other people at Applebees were super amused by us. 

It was a good day!

"It's Just So Overwhelming!"

My favorite little Amy got married a couple weeks ago. I met Amy at State Junior Miss back in high school and we were roommates my second year at BYU along with other Junior Miss-ers and some other friends we picked up along the way. 

 

All of us blonde girls had an absolute BALL living together for those four months before I got married. I love each of them SO SO much and missed them so much after I got married and went from living with six chatty girls to one quiet boy. Luckily that boy was pretty handsome so it worked out okay. 

I digress.

It had been about a year since our last get together so I decided to head down to Salt Lake for Amy's wedding and try to see as many roommates as possible. Two of them are one missions so that was a little difficult, but I did get to see Kelsee and Amy which was so very fun. 

I had been trying to decide whether or not to go and how it was all going to work out. A day trip wasn't sounding that fun, but I didn't really know how else to work it and wasn't being so successful in convincing Kolton to come with me. 

Then we hit on a marvelous plan. Tylee had come home from Logan for the weekend but had to go back to train for one last race. The original plan was to ride down with her, but that got a little messed up so after school Addi and I drove down to Logan to stay the night at Tylee's apartment. 

It rained almost the whole way down but we eventually made it. After a quick Costa Vida stop (raspberry chicken nachos are kind of my favorite right now) we went to Tylee's and watched a movie with her roommates and person of interest. 

The next morning we got up early and raced to Salt Lake. I was nervous about missing seeing her come out of the temple because it was about the only time I'd be able to see Amy at all. It rained HARD the whole way to Salt Lake which was a bit unnerving, but again, we made it. 

We parked at City Creek and walked over to Temple Square in the rain. Luckily Addi and I had stopped at Walmart in Logan and invested in an umbrella and the new T-Swift CD to jam to.

It was so beautiful in Temple Square. I couldn't believe all the flowers and colors. It had been a couple years since I had been there and probably about ten years since I had been there when it was not winter so we loved walking around and looking at everything even though it rained and rained and rained. 

I was kind of a freak about missing Amy so we sat outside the entrance doors for over an hour just waiting. When she finally came out, it was all worth it. 

It was also worth it to attack Kelsee when I finally saw her. 

After seeing those girls and chatting for a bit I met up with Tylee and Addi again and we walked around for a bit more. We went on a tour of the Beehive House with the cutest little sister missionaries ever.

Finally we were half starved so we decided it was time to eat. We headed back to City Creek and went to the Cheesecake Factory. I have always heard people rave about it so I was excited to eat there. Tylee was resisting a tiny bit because she had eaten there before and claimed she had been overwhelmed by the menu. I shrugged that off and insisted. 

When the waiter handed us our menu, I saw exactly what she was talking about. Pages and pages of everything you could ever think of and no pictures! How can you have a menu with no pictures?! 

After a lot of deliberation we finally ordered two big meals to share. Some Jambalaya and a Cajun Chicken pasta. Tylee is kind of into the down south/cajun stuff right now.

And of course we had to order a monster piece of cheesecake. 

We spent the next couple of hours walking around City Creek and decided that place is just a little too high class for us. Luckily they had a Forever 21 so we could afford a few things.

Unfortunately Addi did not get the cat ear headband...

When we were shopped out, we headed back to Brigham City to drop Tylee off at her car and then Addi and I drove the rest of the way home. 

I almost forgot how much I haven't missed that drive. Luckily I had Addi with me who agreed to read aloud The Help to me. As if I didn't already have it memorized. 

It was good to finally make it home and we quite enjoyed our little girls weekend.

Gardening

So we have this HUGE garden plot in the middle of our yard. 

The first summer we lived here (2011) we decided to be awesome and plant a garden. Our main focus was corn. I even teamed up with my mom and told her that we would plant a ton of corn so we could share. 

I spent most of that summer weeding and watering and loving seeing my plants grow. While most of the other plants didn't do so hot we had quite the little corn crop and I was so excited. 

The heads were just about ready and the corn about a week or less away from picking when I went outside one morning to discover that my corn crop had been completely massacred. 

Most of the stalks were on the ground and there was not a single head of corn in sight. 

Those raccoons left not one single survivor.

I was SO angry! 

Last year, we didn't get thinking about a garden until it was too late and didn't ever get it done. In between school every day and everything else we had going on we still managed to grow quite the weed patch in our garden plot. It was embarrassing and I felt bad about it all year long. 

THIS year we are going to try again. 

Kolton kindly rototilled (?) the garden one night and then came home from work and helped plant it. It was kind of windy nasty outside but we still had a nice time. 

We planted peas, lots of corn, red potatoes, onions, carrots, zucchini, green peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes and I think that's it. 

I don't know that anything will grow, but it is in the ground!

I even took it easy on Kolton and didn't tease him too much when he pulled out the tape measure. 

I was just happy he was out there helping and didn't want to do anything that would discourage him. 

 I was a little excited.

I Did It!

When I was younger people would always ask me what I was going to do with my life and I would always say, "Gradate from college" because I felt like it was what I was supposed to say. I never actually thought I would really do it. Well.....

 

I am now a diploma-in-hand graduated person! It was a beautiful day.  Even though I still feel like I just barely graduated from high school.

I was a bit annoyed because Student Teaching stretched on for two weeks after graduation, but it all turned out okay. 

I about died when I told my kids that I was graduating that day. In the morning class most of the kids were like, "Wait, you're in college?" Totally oblivious. 

In the afternoon class when I announced my big news the kids broke out in a round of applause. It was the cutest and sweetest thing ever and made me feel so loved and maybe a little teary-eyed...kinda like this man below when I ran into him in the hallway. 

It was so fun that I got to graduate with my favorite Bitters. Love those people. 

 

School has been such a crazy wing-dinger for me so I am sure glad to be done with it! I started out at BYU and just loved every second of it. When we got married and I transferred I spent many months homesick for that campus, my friends, and the beautiful weather. 

However, BYU-I also has a special little place in my heart. From the first day on campus when I wandered around in the dumping snow with Kolton's handmade map in my hands, to all the (mostly) dreaded group projects (some actually did turn out pretty okay), to some seriously amazing professors who really inspired me, to two summers spent in summer school and driving back and forth from Rexburg every day, to the loaf of bread and honey butter I ate every day I was on campus on my special couch, it's all been lumped into a really great experience.

 I know I'll miss being on campus and listening to lectures. I really was so blessed to have such amazing teachers that really inspired me to do my best and who were the best examples to me of what a good teacher should be. I loved listening to them talk and share ideas and the discussion we would get into during class. 

Homework on the other hand...I was pretty happy to kiss that one goodbye. 

Through all the struggles and stressing and crying and laughing and everything else, it's all over!

And it was a happy, happy day! 

This is why I drive Kolton crazy.

I just have to share this picture I found from our adventure in Bear Lake last summer because it cracks me up every time. 

Clearly I am the only thing protecting Kolton from his certain and imminent death. Do I look I bit stressed/nervous?

For the First and Last Time

Kolton's cousin Candace got married clear back in November.

It was such a nice day and I just really love going to weddings. 

Later that night there was a reception up in Dillon, Montana. We were doing a bit of hemming and hawing trying to decide if we wanted to drive clear up there. 

I was pushing it a bit because #1, there is always good food at receptions, and #2 there was supposed to be a dance after the receiving line. 

Let me just tell you that I absolutely LOVE dancing. Whether I'm cleaning the house or in the shower or in the aisles of the grocery store I like to do a little jamming. 

Here's a few super embarrassing examples from back in my college glory days:

 

I think it goes without saying that Kolton doesn't exactly understand or share my love of dancing. I can't even get him to dance with me in the kitchen or jam in the car for heavens sake! 

So it's completely understandable that Kolton was resisting the reception for much the same reason I was pushing for it. 

We finally decided to go and I had (after a LOT of begging and pleading) exacted a promise out of him that he would dance exactly ONE dance with me. 

When we got to the reception after we ate our fill of all the good food provided I decided I needed to choose carefully when I was going to take advantage of Kolton's promise. 

I finally got him to take me out for a spin on the dance floor. 

An hour later, we removed ourselves from the dance floor. 

I had such a nice time and was grinning from ear to ear the entire night and the whole way home. 

Kolton has since informed me that that was the last time he would ever do something like that, so I guess I'll have to live on it for the rest of my life. 

At least we got some photo evidence...

Can you see the pure bliss on my face?

Shout Hooray!

Look how happy he is!

 Kolton had a birthday!

He is now 26!

 (Doesn't that sound so dang old? He's that much closer to 30 which is basically ancient.)

We spent the day at church and at a cousin's farewell.  Later we had our families come over for cake and ice cream. I made an ice cream cake that was a total disaster, but I tried.

He opened up a swim suit, a movie, tennis shoes, and work boots. 

So exciting!

Don't you love that me circa 2009 also gets to be a part of this picture? That's the gift that I got from our white elephant gift exchange Can you imagine my surprise in opening a picture of my face that I did not enter into the gift giving?

Back to the birthday boy...

Kolton had been asking for a pressure washer so he could wash our cars among other things. I resisted a little bit because I'm not very nice. But after he talked and talked and talked about it I decided I had probably better give in. I went to town with my parents one Saturday and we picked one out. A couple days later and the day before his birthday I was in town with Kolton and he walked right up to a pressure washer almost identical to the one I had bought him. He then proceeded to tell me that this is what he had in mind. 

I looked at him dumbfounded, pretended to play dumb, and asked, "What is it?"

 The look of disbelief and disappointment on his face was so priceless.

I think I even had him fooled till the next day when I wheeled it out of the garage and presented it to him. Poor boy, I just can't resist being mean and I always love a good surprise. 

I sure love that kid and always enjoy being around him. Even though his methodical deliberate-ness can sometimes drive me batty, he is the perfect complement to my scatterbrained impetuous-ness. He is one of the most patient people I have ever known and is pretty easy to be around too. 

I just have to add one more....

I think he's neat.