Home Again

We just got home from spending the Independence Day holiday with some friends in Denver. I was going to post some pictures from our adventure, but Brian has already cleared them from our camera onto a different computer. I will have to let you know what we did later. But for now, here is a video.

Bradley did a really great job on our trip. He was an excellent traveler, and did pretty well sharing with our friend's kids. We knew he would be excited to get home and back to his stuff and routine, but we didn't quite expect this. Here is Bradley proclaiming his joy to be home. It was really quite funny, he did this for about ten minutes straight and occasionally throughout the rest of the day.

Seven Years

Last week we celebrated our seventh anniversary. Brian took the day off and we did very romantic things like taking two trips to the dump and one trip to our local green waste. And, no, I'm not kidding. We really did go to the dump on our anniversary. I know it doesn't sound very fun, but we enjoyed our day. It was very relieving to clean some stuff out, and fun to work together. I wish I could say that we turned things around and went out for a nice dinner, but that didn't happen either. We had pizza and then I went to Pack Meeting. Okay, so it wasn't the most spectacular of anniversaries, but I guess that's what you get when you have two very practical people, and a trip planned for the following week.

Now, to redeem ourselves, in celebration of our anniversary, I'm going to copy my cousin and tell you a little bit about how we met. Actually, that's not very romantic either, but oh well.

So, Brian and I were in a single's ward together at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. Brian was the Elder's Quorum President and I was the ward sport's person. We first met at an Ultimate Frisbee activity. Brian will tell you that he first noticed my eyes, and then was impressed that I rode my bike to the park. I was impressed with how much he could run around during the game, and I did notice him loitering as I was asked out by two other guys. He was waiting for his turn, but gave up when he realized he was in a line. He didn't give up for good, though. The truth is, as the Elder's Quorum President he had a colored picture list of all of the member's of the ward and used said list to make a list of the ten girls he wanted to ask out. I happened to be the first on his list, so he couldn't give up, he had check marks to make. In an effort to work his way through his dating list, Brian tried to strike up conversations with me at a couple of activities, but I was rude. I was not interested in dating anyone at the time, and I really didn't want to waste my time flirting, so I was rude and brushed him off. Finally, though, his persistence paid off, he called my home, but I was at work, so my Grandma gave him my work number. He called work, but I was out delivering prescriptions, so my coworkers gave him my cell number. He called the cell phone, and I answered. I was so caught off guard that I couldn't say no, so we had our first date planned.

On September 8, 2000, we met some friends, went to dinner then a corn maze, and then went back to my Grandparents house (where I was living at the time) for ice cream. When it was over I figured that I had fun, but it was a pretty normal, awkward first date. There was nothing too fantastic, but then Brian proved his interest by sitting by me at church and at a fireside the following Sunday, making an effort to find me at Family Home Evening on Monday, calling to set-up another date on Tuesday. Confirming the date on Thursday, and then going miniature golfing as our second date on Friday. From that point on, we were pretty inseparable. I guess you could be very cliche and say that we just clicked.

We continued to date through all of the holidays, got engaged on February 24, 2001, and then were married on June 26, 2001. It was a pretty fast courtship, and an even faster engagement. Now it has been seven years, and we couldn't be happier. It's actually kind of hard to believe it's been as long as it has. Here are a couple of pictures of then and now. We've grown in age, weight, and by one child, but otherwise we're pretty much the same.

Waterfal Canyon

Saturday we decided to hike waterfall canyon. At the top we wanted to take a picture of us and the waterfall. The waterfall was too tall but by taking two pictures and stacking them on each other you can see how high the waterfall is. We went with some of my friends the Gracey's. We are sad they will be moving to Bear lake but are also happy they are close enough we can visit easily.

Of course Bradley was a trooper as usual. If fact he usually would spur us on whenever we stopped for a breather.

Just call me Linus

While folding the laundry on Tuesday Bradley found one of his blankets. Since then it has been near him in some form or fashion. He has always had a bit of an affinity for his blankets, but it's really funny to watch him run through the house with it. I've taken to calling him Linus when he has it. It is just too cute. Here are a few pictures of Bradley and his blanket.

For the Georgian's - Go Dawgs!!

For Christmas Bradley received a little Bulldog in a UGA jersey that sings the UGA fight song (from Grandma Kim and Grandpa Dave of course). Bradley and Brian pulled it out this morning. After hearing the song a few times, Bradley started to say Go Dawgs! It was such a fun thing to hear him say that we pulled out the video camera. Here is a video Brian put together of Bradley's chants. We tried a different program that arranges the clips into a montage so it is a little crazy, but it's fun to see Bradley's personality. I know we're a little biased, but I hope you enjoy this as much as we do.

A little catch up.

Bradley getting pretty good at walking

We haven't been good at blogging lately so here is a post to catch us up!


Bradley loves to walk up and down the sidewalk. I liked this picture of him.

Indian Trail

We went on a hike of Indian Trail on May 5th. We didn't go all the way up because I (Brian) was dead but we made it pretty far.



Appleseed Project

I got to go to an Appleseed shoot in Cedar City a couple of weekends ago. It was so much fun! I went with my Dad and a friend from my ward. It is put on by the Revolutionary War Veteran's Association. www.rwva.org This is taken from their website,

"What the RWVA (Revolutionary War Veterans Association) is all about:
The Appleseed Program is designed to take you from being a simple rifle owner to being a true rifleman. All throughout American history, the rifleman has been defined as a marksman capable of hitting a man-sized target from 500 yards away — no ifs, ands or buts about it. This 500-yard range is traditionally known as "the rifleman's quarter-mile;" a rifleman can hit just about any target he can see. This skill was particulary evident in the birth of our country, and was the difference in winning the Revolutionary War."

It was fun because Fred, the guy who started the Appleseed project showed up to our shoot and spent a lot of time giving us a history lesson about the revolutionary war. He has me interested in the history now so I am reading a few books on that period of history.



This was the firing line and our home for two days.


Here is my Dad taking a break.



On the right is "Fred" and on the left is Seth from my ward.


Bradley's Chair

Bradley loves to find books, steps, CD's, whatever he can find to sit on as long as it is the right height. We decided it would be fun to find a chair his size. We had some wooden chair in mind but at the store he came across this blue soft chair and we couldn't get him to sit on anything else in the store. So... Bradley now has his own chair, isn't he spoiled?







Lewis Peak Hike

Today we decided to try a new hike. It starts at the top of the North Ogden Divide. We only went about 2 miles but it took us an hour because it is very steep. We climbed about 1500 feet in that hour.

Tagged!

I guess my friend Shilo decided I needed something to blog about, so I've been tagged. Here are the rules: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 other people and posts their names.

And now the questions. . . .


1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

Graduating from high school, preparing to have my wisdom teeth taken out, and saying goodbye to friends and family. Less than a month after graduation I moved out to live with my aunt and uncle and work as a nanny for them.


2. List 5 things on your to do list.

* Make a menu and go grocery shopping.
* Buy a new tire for my running stroller.
* Clean my house. (this one is always on my to do list)
* Organize all of my miscellaneous recipes. (I have the recipes, I have the book, I just need to put them together).
* Yard work.


3. What snacks do you enjoy?

I have a terrible sweet tooth. I am not picky, but some of my favorites are cookies, brownies, and ice cream. Recently my vice has been my homemade concoction of almonds, craisins, and semi-sweet chocolate chips.


4. What would you do if you were suddenly a billionaire?

First of all I would pay my tithing. Then I would probably buy a house that is not on one of the busiest streets in Ogden, and a more reliable car for Brian. Then I would invest in gold and silver and some securities (I still a little nervous about the state of the economy and don't have a ton of trust in the stock market). I don't know what else. Probably take some to travel and give some away (anonymously of course, I don't want all of my phone calls and mail to be people begging for me to donate to this or that.)

5. List 3 bad habits.

* Procrastination first and foremost. I am terrible about putting things off.
* Independence, if that can be a bad habit. I hate asking people for help. And I'm so independent, it leans a little too close to anti-social.
* Watching too much TV.

6. List 5 places you've lived.

* Baton Rouge, Louisiana
* Athens, Georgia
* Kailua, Hawaii
* Gallup, New Mexico
* Ogden, Utah

7. List 5 jobs you've had.

* Lifeguard
* Nanny
* Cashier / Waitress
* Pharmacy Technician
* Accountant

8. List 5 things people don't know about you.

* I only eat one hot dog a year.
* I'm totally addicted to Sudoku and I love to do puzzles, but I hate crossword puzzles.
* My natural writing is incredibly small and anytime someone watches me write they comment on it.
* I shop at Target instead of Wal-Mart if given the choice.
* I love musicals and have a strangely large musical songbook catalog in my head for someone who does not have a dramatic bone in my body.

Now I tag Rachel, Elan, Elyse, Sarah, and Becky. If you don't want to, I won't be offended, though.