When My Mommy Came to Visit!!

This is late, but I never wrote a post about my mom coming to visit! Mostly this happened because, sadly, I didn't take any pictures with her while she was here which is, btw, RIDICULOUS. I felt so sad about it, I didn't want to write about it because I couldn't post pictures. I'm still sad, but I figure this is the best way to kind of repent. So, here goes!

My mom came to visit because she and my Aunt Carol were helping my grandparents move. They have already moved into a very nice retirement home, but a lot of their things are still in Cannonville, Utah (population 100-200ish?), where they have lived most recently. So, they all trucked it up there to organize, clean, pack, and transfer their things.

She flew in Tuesday afternoon. She and Heather took me to lunch at Zupas. It was delicious! Mom got a new phone that could take pictures where your face you end up having a mustache or a clown face or something like that, so we had fun taking silly pictures!

That night, we went to dinner at Iggy's. The group included: me, Heather, mom, Dahl, Aunt Carol, Jonny (Carol's son), his wife Tiffany, their son Joshua, and my grandparents. If you were counting, that is 10 people. It is also the first time my mommy met Dahl! It went well, she loved him of course. And he loved her too. Wanna know how I know? Because two minutes in, he turned to me and said, "It's only been two minutes, and your mom is exactly like you!" That means he loves her :). (He also explicitly said he liked her, but this is less important.)

One funny thing that happened at dinner: The waitress came around and refilled everyone’s waters except for Dahl’s. Jonny, Tiff, Heather, and I told him that he should switch with my mom who was totally turned around talking to my aunt or my grandparents. He did, complete with straws, and we waited for about a minute. Finally she turned back and Dahl said, “You drank that water pretty fast!” “Oh yeah I love water!” she said, completely unaware of the fact that she had had nothing to do with getting rid of the water. “That was completely full like a minute ago, she just filled it up!” he said. “Yeah, well, I don’t like to waste time! I mean, why wait?” she replied. By this time we were all giggling, so she was like “Why is everyone laughing at me?” in a sad little voice. We laughed and explained it to her… we thought it was a pretty good joke. After dinner, we parted ways so we could go drop my Grandma and Grandpa off. Dahl went home, and Heather, Mom, Grandma, Grandpa, and I piled into the car.

Speaking of my Grandma, she loves Dahl. And he loves her too. I love that she appreciates him so much. I heard that once she was on the phone with Nicole and she said something about how we had come to visit her and Grandpa and proceeded to praise Dahl for 20 minutes. This was after we visited one time and talked to her for awhile... I bet it was about 2 hours? The thing is, my grandma is a very good talker. She is also sharp as a tack. She has the funniest stories, so we love to listen to her talk.

So while we were riding in the car, Grandma was saying something about how he is a dear precious boy, and then she goes, "Now Kelly, I want to ask you a personal question, and if it’s too embarrassing to answer in front of your mother (at this point Grandpa interjected, “Remember she’s in front of you!”) Grandma continued, “Well just say I plead the fifth. Is he a good kisser?" I said yes, he is, and she said, "Oh, good! There is nothing better than a sweet boy who is a good kisser too! I mean other things are important too, but… (Grandpa interrupted again and said, “Rita I think that beer batter is getting to you!”) Anyway, she is super cute with him, and he was excited when he heard they were coming.

The next morning my mom left to go to Cannonville, and she came back Friday afternoon/ night. We were supposed to play in Provo, but she said that tons of Grandma and Grandpa's things were still up there because they couldn't fit everything, so she drove Heather and me with her back to Cannonville that night. We packed more things in the car, and slept in Cannonville that night. We got there so late (midnight?), and left so early (5am) that we didn't even see our hosts.

On Saturday, we drove from Cannonville to Grandma and Grandpa's new home (picking Dahl up on the way) and helped them unpack. This leads into a kind of interesting story: We were carting around all the stuff on this dolly, and once we had dropped it off, Heather and I decided that it would be fun to ride on it while Dahl pushed us around. It became even more fun when we passed the lunch room, because tons of elderly people were very entertained by it and pointed and smiled and nudged each other. So, naturally, we started to put on a show. We posed and did stupid tricks on the cart. Somewhere in that, we leaned too far forward on the cart. Then I fell forward and put my foot down when it tipped. It rolled over my poor little foot, which soon swelled and bruised. I kind of limped for the next few days, but it got better each day. Dahl was the cutest little doctor, and he kept getting ice for it and setting it perfectly so it wouldn't fall. He arranged rubber bands to keep it in place, and made sure it was cold enough. My grandma kept commenting on how good he was being, and I think my mom appreciated it as well. He really is very good at taking care of me.

We had KFC for lunch, and helped organize things (although mom did most of that as I was sitting having my foot be tended to). Grandma showed us some poems she had written, among other things. So, we stayed and talked for a long time, until we left to go to Dahl's parent's house for dinner.

It was fun to have my mom meet his parents and sister, I just knew they would like each other! We sat and talked for a few hours, until we decided it was time to go home so we could get some sleep. Mom and Heather went to Walmart to shop for us while I sat at home, because walking on my foot around a store seemed to be a bad idea. They got us lots of fun things!

The next morning we (Mom, Heather, Dahl, and I) drove to Idaho because it was Dahl’s mission president’s homecoming. Heather and I pretty much slept the whole drive, so mom and Dahl chatted about scouting and preparing for a mission and such ( I woke up to random parts of the conversation). I was glad they could have such a nice conversation, and Dahl was glad because he loves talking about scouting! We arrived about an hour early, so we got the best seats ever for sacrament meeting. Then, Dahl and I went to a luncheon. Dahl’s mission president was super cute. He came up to me when we were first in the chapel (I was with my family, Dahl was out socializing with other missionaries at the moment) and when he found out I was dating Dahl, he gave me huge thumbs up and he was like, “I probably should be giving him thumbs up, I can tell you are high quality!” Later, when we were leaving the luncheon he shook our hands and said that we looked “equally yoked in goodness.” Haha. Sounds like a mission president huh?

Then we went to visit my Aunt Carol and Uncle Brett in Shelley. They don’t live there, but my Uncle Brett has family there. While they are not related to me, we did visit them two Thanksgivings ago and it was a BLAST, so we knew them. We played the word game (if you look on Heather’s Facebook, she posted a note that tells the story we made up), which is a game where everyone goes around and says one word and you try to make a story. We played it multiple times when we went there for Thanksgiving, and it is so fun. I haven’t played it since, because I have always been afraid to because I don’t know if anyone can be as fun at playing it as this group. The more inappropriate it gets and the more times you include people from the group doing ridiculous things, the better.

After about two hours, Dahl left along with most of the guests, leaving Uncle Brett, Aunt Carol, the people who lived there, and me, Heather, and mom. I had my Uncle Brett give me a blessing, which was nice. He is kind of rough and loud on the outside, but he is a big teddy bear. I just love him!

Then, mom, Heather, and I left to go to our hotel. We went to bed fairly quickly, and then explored BYU-I, where Nicole will be attending school starting January. We got her some fun clothes as well. Finally, we drove back to Provo. That night, we went to Walmart again (my foot was much better) and got lots of other important things. That day we did 8 loads of laundry (6 of them mine) went shopping, and cleaned and organized the apartment. My mom was such a help!

The next morning Mommy left. Her trip was super busy and I wish we had more time to just have fun, but it was great to see her. She is the best mommy in the world and I love her so much! I'm so glad she got to come visit me!

Goin' to the Temple and We're...

... gonna do baptisms!

Haha did anyone get excited for a second? This post is to tell about the adventures of me, Lori, Tiffany, Dani, and Larisa as we went to the temple yesterday. Trust me, it was ridiculous.

I got home around 5:30pm last night from work. As I was walking to my apartment, I ran into a group of people from my ward that included Dani, Lori, and Tiffany. Dani ran to give me a hug because she is adorable, and I asked what everyone was doing. "We're going to the temple!" said Dani. "Oh how fun! Who is going?" Dani listed the girls I mentioned earlier, and said, "You can come! Do you wanna come??" I have wanted to go pretty much FOREVER, so I said yes! Can I? They said yes, go change. We were on our way to the Draper temple around 5:45, and expected to be back around 8. Lori was driving in her little bug with all of us in the back feeling grateful that we are a relatively little bunch.

Dani needed to get a recommend interview, so we were trying to call the bishopric on the way to the temple to get an interview so she could come. Brother Beifuss was the only one who answered, and he said he couldn't, because he didn't have the book. Undeterred, we headed for the Allen's home, because it was close and we figured we could just drop by and see if they were there. As we were driving around his neighborhood feeling confused about where he lived, we got a phone call from Brother Beifuss again! He said if we could get Phill or Dahl to open the clerk's office, he could meet us in American Fork (where he lives) and then we could go. I told the girls that Dahl would be at work until 7, so Phill was our go-to man. He was still at work, but said he could be at the chapel by 6:10. We decided to just go there to wait. When he got there, he asked if we had a key to the outside of the church; he just had one for the clerk's office. We didn't. So, we called Trevor (our EQP), and he told us where his keys were located inside his apartment. Dani said she knew their pass code because one time Lindsey, her's and Lori's roomie, watched him key it in. We all drove back to Raintree, got the keys, and returned to the church. Phill got us the book, and we were once again on our way. It was now around 6:30.

With all of the detours and backtracking, our little Relief Society President (Lori), upgraded herself to a Prophetess when she said, "Now my car's probably gonna break down!" We all laughed naively, until the coolant light came on. We instantly turned off the AC and rolled down the windows. Lori called her mom and asked to switch cars, and we continued driving until we started to smell that sweet smell that means something's gone REALLY wrong. Lori pulled into a gas station, and we popped the hood. Smoke billowed out, and all the people who knew more about cars than me, (so everyone there), gave Lori advice. The people inside the gas station said she probably blew her radiator because her car was completely out of coolant. Her parents came to the rescue a few minutes later. We decided to push the car to the nearby Smith's parking lot, and we were once again on our way. It was now around 7:15.

We drove to Brother Beifuss's home, and knocked on the door. No answer. We rang the doorbell. Still no answer. We walked around to the back and couldn't see anyone. Finally, we called him. He was at the country club, he said, and we could meet him there. So we drove to the only one Lori knew of, and it was not the right one. Eventually, we made our way to the RIGHT one, and Dani ran in to get her interview. While she was inside, I called the Timpanogas Temple (we had decided that that was the one we should go to since it was closer and we were about 2 hours behind schedule) and they said they didn't know how busy it would be, but we could come. Dani came out to the car with her recommend, but we realized he had said he did the interview in October of 2008 (10/08 instead of 07/10... I don't understand either, I think he just switched them and thought it was close enough to August to say 08), so we quickly got him to fix it and arrived at the temple about 7:50.

The temple was very crowded and we had to wait awhile, but I thought it was wonderful. It was nice to just sit and think. I love the temple!

We finally got back around 10, 2 hours later than expected. We were glad, because we had reserved a tumbling gym for 10:30, so we had just enough time to change so we could go play! It was lots of fun :)

(You probably can't tell, but we are at the tumbling gym. That's the curse of having a camera... no sweet action shots of yourself. Oh well!!)

Fourth of July Weekend!!

This weekend was by far one of the best I've had this summer!!

On Saturday, I went bridesmaid dress shopping with Kali, Larissa, and Heather for Kali's wedding. Heather and I got dropped off before we found the dresses, but Kali texted me later saying they had bought some. I am excited to try them on!!

Friday night was Stadium of Fire!! Heather and I went together, and Dahl went with his family. Before we went, we had a picnic all together. Dahl's mom brought tons of toppings for us to make sandwiches, and they were AMAZING. Then we separated and went to the performance. It was FANTASTIC! I'm so glad I have the nicest sister who got me tickets :). I would definitely go again, but only if the main performer was someone who I wanted to see.

Resting at the picnic :)

Sisters <3

Carrie Underwood was DEFINITELY someone who I wanted to see. She was sooo cute and nice! I wish she had stayed on longer. Heather wrote about this too, and her favorite part was mine too, when Carrie sang Jesus, Take the Wheel and went into How Great Thou Art. I think it is so wonderful that she is so Christian and good. I think she is a great example of how fame does not have to lead to stupid out of control behavior. I was so impressed by her, not only because of her voice, but because of her stage presence and how sweet she was. Some of the people around us were super lame and looked so bored as they watched her. I was like Umm... WHY did you buy tickets?!?! Seriously. I don't understand it. So I'm sure I would have liked to see her better in more of a normal concert setting, where everyone was my own age, but this was still fun.

Stadium of Fire!!

The fireworks were the BEST I have ever seen. I loved the fireworks in DC, but I don't think they really compared. Part of it was because of the beautiful music in the background, and I think part of it was because some of the fireworks shot off from the actual stadium, so we could see them shoot off from the very beginning. It was beautiful.

Right after the show ended, we met back up with Dahl and went to a street dance party that they hosted after the show. It was so fun! It was family friendly, so there were kids and grandmas alike all shakin' what their mama's gave them. We stayed for about a half hour, and headed off to meet up with some friends to set off fireworks! In Maryland, fireworks are illegal, so this was my first experience! It was way fun :).

Me and my old roomies!!!

Making some fireworks of our own ;)

Our boys matched!

Modelling :)

Sunday we went to church and then Heather and Jeremy came with Dahl and me to his parents' house for yet another picnic! They had over tons of cousins and other family, and it was so fun! I also tried a recipe I have been curious about: making brownies with nothing more than a mix, and a can of black beans mixed with water that has been pureed until it can be pureed no more. They were actually very good! No one even knew the difference, and they were much better for you and so moist! We were amazed!

Monday we went to the parade! It was amazing- the night before tents lined the streets- there was literally no room for anyone else. It was like the whole city of Provo was camping out. People even had TV's and things like DDR all hooked up. It looked like the FUNNEST thing to me! Dahl says next year we will go!!! I am PUMPED! The parade was fun, we did end up getting decent seats even though we didn't stay the night.

Then we went to picnic number 3!! We went to Rock Canyon Park and ate leftovers from the night before with Dahl's family, Heather, and Janelle and Jim and kids. We threw around a football and frisbee, played concentration, and just laid in the grass. It was lovely.

After that, Heather, Dahl, and I went to the Freedom Festival Carnival thing and looked around. There was nothing we really wanted, so we just walked around for awhile. Then we went to the movies with Dahl's parents and Savana. We saw Knight and Day. It was really good! It was super funny and there was enough action and romance to keep everyone happy.

After that we went to Cafe Rio for dinner. While at dinner Dahl's parents asked us how we met. Weird huh? We've been dating 4 months and we'd never really told them our story! So we went through meeting, hanging out, first date, first kiss, and how we came to be boyfriend and girlfriend. It was so fun to tell the story with him, I think I want to video it one day!

Anyway, it was an incredibly fun weekend!! I loved every minute of it :) Happy Fourth!! God bless America!

I Love America :)

*This is us last 4th of July! SOO fun!! I actually wrote a blog entry about it if you care to look :) *

My mom and dad raised all of us kids with a strong love for our nation. My great grandpa was in the Army, grandpa was a Paratrooper, I have an uncle who was in Navy Special Forces, and I have an uncle and cousin in the Border Patrol. Another uncle served in the Navy. On my dad's side, I have ancestors who have served in every war. I have a cousin right now who is overseas. My mom and dad always spoke with great respect, love, and concern for this land. They always voted, and my dad especially kept himself educated about politics.

We listened to "We Sing America!" in the car, and I knew pretty much every American song. When I was in kindergarten for the school talent show, I sang "You're a Grand Old Flag" solo for my entire school, starting with the first verse, which you probably don't know (it begins with "There's a feelin' comes a stealin' and it sets my brain a reelin' when I'm listenin' to the music of a military band..."). Mom made my teddy bear's shirt look like an American flag, and I held him and a real American flag while I sang. I also made myself a cape with American things on it, and stood with my back to the audience for the whole introduction. I got the whole audience clapping along, and I was the only one who got a standing ovation. I loved it.

As mentioned before, I love America songs. I love Sacrament meeting when we sing them; I look forward to it every year! And I pretty much always cry. I also love when the National Anthem is played/ sung at games I attend. It is one of my favorite parts. I love watching men and women stand, take off their hats, and put their hands on their hearts to honor our country, and to show respect when the flag goes by or the national anthem is played. I love that I always pledged allegiance to the flag at school, and I hope they never stop doing that. I love that our currency says "In God we Trust" and I hope that never changes, either.

When September 11 occurred, my mom cried when she explained what had happened, and I think the rest of us did, too. Every year since we have put candles on our front porch in memory of those who were lost and the heroes who were born that day. My Aunt Carol made up and recorded a beautiful song called "Bless America". She also made up a slideshow to it and if you would like to see it (which you should, it is beautiful), follow the link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=504052924&aid=126314&s=20&hash=66638378df4cd627e5fe72438275ce29#!/video/video.php?v=1212290953158

We've always been taught to honor our soldiers and servicemen. I love our soldier boys. I am so grateful for what they do for me and every American. One of my favorite parts of flights are when they announce the military personnel and we get to clap for them. I know that I will never really be able to fully show my appreciation for them, but I like to be able to do something small like that for them.

I just attended the 4th of July fireside. I absolutely loved it. At one point, they had a soldier speak who was blinded in the war, who had many friends die. He was actually on the first stop of his honeymoon with his cute new wife. When asked if he had any regrets, he firmly stated that he would do it all again. It is those kinds of men that I cannot help but look at in awe. They also had beautiful music, and honored the two moms of the late soldiers who were from nearby high schools. It was incredibly moving to me. These people are the real heroes of America, and I just love them.

I took a class called American Heritage my freshman year. It is one of the most feared classes, but I absolutely loved it. It is basically about the theory of America. There's some history, but a lot of it is about how the country developed and how it functions. I read all the readings (probably the only class I have done that for), and my favorite by far was the one on George Washington. I love him. I think he is the most amazing man, and I am so thankful for his God- fearing leadership to our nation that was just starting out. I love all of our founding fathers. I love the strength they brought to our nation through their examples and through the Constitution we still use.

I usually hate getting forwards, but I almost always love the forwards about America.

I love fireworks on the 4th of July, apple pie, soldiers, baseball games, hot dogs, ice cream, hamburgers, Taylor Swift, parades, and most of all, freedom. I love that I can work where I want, go to school where I want, live where I want, worship how I believe, and spend my time how I choose.

I love love love being an American girl. God bless America!