Choo Choo!

We went to a wedding reception in Ogden on Friday. It was held at the Union Staion. Outside they had an old train on display that you could climb on and stuff. So, naturally, we did. Morgan thought it was great. He loves trains.

Also, funny story, while inside at the reception, Morgan saw the bride, (my cousin) in her wedding dress and excitedly pointed to her and said, "Look mommy! Princess!" It was so cute. I don't even know how he knows what princesses are, it's not as if he's exposed to them often.

Crazy in love

Here comes a journal excerpt. This one is kind of loaded.

June 7, 2004
I love Aaron and I want to marry him. I feel comfortable with that idea. It is probably why I didn't go back to college. i have no doubt that the Lord had a hand in keeping me here this summer. It must be Aaron. Our relationship wouldn't have gone far if I left. We wouldn't have even gotten to our first kiss.
I wrote a letter to Aaron in response to his essay. It was hard to give to him because it was loaded with pretty heavy things. Like a lot of the "M" word. Maybe I'll print a copy and stick it in here. Aaron and I are texting right now. About the letter, and marriage. He just wrote me this. "Dating is no longer the casual affair it was a few years ago. I am well aware of that. I am playing for keeps now. We are playing for keeps." Very exciting text to get, yet still tricky and a bit cryptic. Maybe. Or maybe I just over analyze everything. Now he told me that he hadn't brought marriage up yet because of the "long courtship, short engagement" theory. he was planning on waiting several months.
I am wary to even get a housing contract for Rexburg. What if I don't go? What if I wanted to stay here with Aaron? Am I actually going to attend school this fall? I just realized that we have only been dating for 2 months. Why am I so eager to talk about marriage? It seems so soon when I look at it that way. Mom and Dad only dated for 3 months and I always thought that was crazy. I'm crazy. Crazy in love.

In explanation, I was on the Summer/Fall track at BYU-I, which ran from the beginning of May till December. I was only home for the break and to make enough money to return. But the money didn't come very fast, so I had to stay during the Summer semester. But I was still planning on returning in the Fall. That is, until Aaron came around and made things all confusing. :)
And just a reminder, I knew then as I know now how cheesy some of the things that I wrote were. Such as, "crazy in love."

Temple Square

Aaron had a meeting in SLC last weekend and since there is always lots to do while in town, Morgan and I tagged along. But during Aaron's meeting we were dropped off at Temple Square. First we walked around and looked at all of the fountains. (There are SO many fountains on Temple Square!)


It was a pretty hot that day, which might have hastened the crankying of Morgan. We went in to some of the visitors centers, but Morgan was getting pretty wild and trying to climb on displays and go where he wasn't supposed to. But outside he was trying to leave the square in favor of running out into the busy downtown streets or trying to climb aboard the little maintenance carts. It became very old, very fast. Aaron's meeting went longer than was originally thought so we were there for about an hour and a half. Which was far too long.
When Aaron finally called and said he was there Morgan was having a meltdown in a visitors center. Like, throwing himself on the floor and having a screaming tantrum type melt down. I finally got him outside, but carrying him was uncomfortable as he kept squirming and kicking. So I let him lie on the hot cement and pretended I was going to leave him. (It works quite well sometimes.) That's when some sister missionaries happened by and bribed him with a rice crispy treat. He was pretty much being rewarded for his inappropriate behavior, but at that point I didn't care, I just wanted to get him to the car.
I don't need to go back there anytime soon. It kind of put a negative light on the place.

Ugly Baby Birds

Awhile ago we noticed a couple of birds going in and out of our ugly tree-bush in our front yard. We peeked inside and noticed a nest in progress. Pretty soon our peeks told us there were little eggs. What also told us about the eggs were the parent birds flipping out anytime we went near the tree.
It wasn't long before the eggs turned into fetherless, ugly, baby birds.
A couple weeks later, (maybe just one) and they are STILL ugly.

Now the parent birds are extra protective. If we open the front door they immediately fly out of their nest tree and chirp and flutter around in great agitation. If we step outside they dive-bomb us. They especially hate Aaron because Aaron is always peeking at the baby birds.

It's hard to see, but in the next two photos there is a bird careening toward Aaron. It's pretty close to him too. See it?

No wonder we humans frighten them so much.

Also, don't forget about The Battle of the Bulge! If you commented on my blog, but not on the contest blog, you will still need to go their and make a comment with your email address so you can be added. Oh, and all of you participating, you should spread the word to your friends.

Battle of the Bulge

Okay everyone, here are the rules for the contest to lose weight. We are creating a blog specifically for the contest, so all who participate get to be contributors to the blog. So, Candice, Megan, Tiffany and anyone else who wants more motivation to shed some pounds, visit the site and leave a comment and you will be added as an official member! I'm really excited about this.


Battle of the Bulge 2009 – Official Rules
http://the-bulge.blogspot.com

1. The winner of the Battle of the Bulge is the contestant who wins the most points by August 29th, 2009.

2. An initial post by every contestant is required on the official blog by Saturday, the 27th of June. Your initial post should include:
a) your name.
b) the amount you would like to lose.
c) your motivations and reasons for losing weight.
d) A photograph of yourself taken at the start of the competition. This will be used to show people how skinny you’ve become!

3. A contestant will earn a point if he/she is the contestant with the most weight lost on a weigh-in day. This means that a point is awarded every Saturday to one contestant.

4. Every Saturday, a new round will begin, and every contestant will have an equal chance to earn a point.

5. Official weight measurements are only recorded on Saturdays. This means if you manage to lose 5 pounds by Thursday, but gain another 2 by Saturday, you are considered to have lost 3 pounds.

6. Every contestant is required to post at least once a week, on Saturdays, on the official BotB blog. This post should include the contestant’s current weight and a photo of their feet on the scale for verification.

7. Additional posts on either the BotB official blog, or your personal blog, throughout the week are encouraged. These posts may be used to document challenges you are facing, or to engage in some light hearted banter with other contestants.

8. If you decide to cheat, you can probably get away with it. But why would you want to? You’re only hurting yourself; this is supposed to be fun for everyone!

whoever would like to join in the fun should post a comment on this entry. I will make sure that every one of you is made a contributor to the blog, so everyone has posting capabilities.

Thanks!

Exploring the Mines

The other week, after we roasted hotdogs over a campfire, we stopped at an old mine on the way home. This was a hole in the side of the mountain that Aaron had seen many times during his commute and something he'd been wanting to check out. So we did.

My boys at the mouth of the mine.

Inside. We didn't get much further than this though, since we had no flashlights and the mine went in pretty deep. Morgan was afraid of the dark tunnels too. So we said we would come back later with flashlights.

And we did. The next day in fact. We also brought friends. First we checked out the mine pictured above. It had a few different tunnels to explore and was fun. The other mine was real near by but you had to hike up the steep mountain side to get to it. On the way up we encountered tons of old pull-top beer bottles, and a spot where there must have once been a small cabin/building. Also on the way up we found an amazingly mellow lizard. The five in our group all took turns holding it. And we continued our trek up the mountain. The lizard hitched a ride.
So did Morgan. This is Chris, Aaron's work buddy. His wife Analee was the 5th member of the party.Note the flashlight that Morgan is carrying. Since he got to hold a flashlight he was okay going into the caves. In fact, he had a lot of fun. Occassionally he would suddenly stop and get scared and request that we turn around, but it wasn't difficult to help him change his mind.

Here is Morgan in front of the second mine. This one didn't go very far at all, but it was weird in that it seemed new. There were tools from Home Depot laying around, a wheelbarrow was there for hauling out rocks, and there was even a working LED light. Clearly this one wasn't as old as the first. It makes us wonder what they are looking for.
After hiking back down the mountain, and releasing our lizard friend, we drove a little ways down the road to the third mine. This one wasn't visible from the road like the first two. Aaron found it online. So we hiked about a quarter mile till we got to the mine. This final one was by far the coolest. It was really long, had old rails for the mining carts and stuff. Very interesting stuff. There was a lot of quartz in this mine, which might signify that it was a gold mine. Here's the entrance to the final mine.


Aww, so cute. And apparently Gary was there at one point...

In other news...stay tuned for Battle of the Bulge! In order to lose weight, a friend and I are starting this little competition. It will be officially kicked off on Saturday, so if there are any of you who want to participate, please do! The more the merrier. You don't have to live anywhere near us, (we live a state apart) you just need to have motivation to lose weight!

Journal time. Oh, and Happy Father's Day!

June 5, 2004
Today was a great day I had a wonderful time. Aaron took me to Stomp! They are awesome. Very cool show. Chris and Annie Lowe came also. Afterward we went to dinner at The Flying Pie Pizzeria. Good food. Then we came back to our house and went 4 wheeling. No roll overs this time. Then we watched the movie "In America." Strange...
By then it was nearly midnight. Chris took Annie home and Aaron and I went outside and cuddled. I love to cuddle with him. It just feels so right. I always hate to see him go. Or I hate leaving him. Pretty much, I want to marry him. I wish I could. I know I want to.

Ah ha! Your wish is my command! I DID marry him. Lucky me. Now. I wish that Morgan was potty trained. And that I didn't have to put any effort into it. Lets see how that one goes.

News Flash

I just got a second rejection letter. Last week or the week before I submitted my book, Glimpse, to three more agencies. I just got a response from one of them. Rejected, of course, but that was to be expected. So there you go. No, there I go.

The Great Outdoors

Last weekend we decided to drive the 15-20 minutes to the campground to roast hotdogs and have fun. It made me anxious for a real campout.
Morgan got out of the car and was immediately thrilled. He wandered around excitedly and pointed out everything he saw. Aaron and I started looking for some fire wood, (I found a huge pile of it right next to a fire pit) and tried to sort out the dry from the soggy.
We also found some dear bones. Or so we figured. However, Morgan kept talking about the dinosaur bones. He didn't want to get very close to them.

Aaron built the fire,

Then we roasted the hotdogs,

Prepared the hotdogs,

and ate the hotdogs.

After dinner we went on a little hike.

We went home smelling like camping, which is one of the greatest smells ever.

Demolition

Our street/sidewalk/driveway is getting worked on. I don't know why, it seemed just fine before, but they came in and tore everything up. One afternoon while Morgan was napping the backhoe and dump truck and other such construction vehicles started coming down our street doing their destruction. But as fortune would have it, they stopped for the day right before they got to our house. Ours was next in line though, so they parked the backhoe and baby steamroller thing right in front of our house for the night.
When Morgan woke up we told him to look out the front window. He was so excited! He loves all those construction vehicles. So we took him out to get a closer look.

He thought the little one was Morgan's since it was small.

The next morning we were awakened by the thunderous noises of the backhoe breaking up the concrete in the front of our house and dropping it into a dump truck. So loud! I stubbornly resisted the early hour and tried to sleep through it, but not Morgan. I heard him in his room excitedly shouting, "Backhoe! Trator-truck!" (which is how he says dump truck, strangely enough.) He was watching from the window in his room for a little while, but then I heard his scampering feet running to the living room for a better view. Then I had to get up because it felt like I was missing Christmas morning or something. I wanted to see Morgan's excitement and be a part of it.
So we watched this out of our window for a good part of the morning.

This happened last Wednesday I think. This morning they finally started filling things in again, so we might be getting our driveway back. Yay!

Moth Infestation

For the past few weeks we have been overrun by moths. They somehow get into the house, (we don't leave doors open or anything, so it's a mystery) and they don't leave. Morgan has fun with them, but I think they are gross and annoying. Our bedroom seems like it was the favorite hang out for these creatures, to every night I would hear them fluttering around while I tried to sleep. So one night I got the bug net out and caught them all and stuck them in a jar. There were six in the bedroom. Then Aaron caught another 5 in the living room. Yet, when we finally went to bed the room wasn't moth free! Somehow some had escaped notice and still fluttered around.


The next morning I showed Morgan the jar of 11 moths. He had fun shaking and rolling the jar, but then became their advocate and demanded that I release them. So we did. Outside, mind. They still tried to hitch a ride back inside on our clothes, those pesky, persistent buggers. The next night there were more moths again. *SIGH*

He LOVES me!

A little late, but here is the journal entry.

May 30, 2004
Whoa, I think I was past the falling asleep stage when I last wrote. What I was saying is that I suggested an essay exchange. His essay, and my paper with the better responses. He didn't know about mine, so I think his curiosity got the better of him, and he agreed. The date of the exchange was set for the next night.
Well, on Friday, my family was going camping at the Bruno Sand Dunes. I wasn't going to go at first, but then I changed my mind. I did, however, invite Aaron. Mom said I should. The best part is, is that he accepted! I didn't go till after work. Aaron and I drove together. We got a late start, and arrived around 9:00-9:30. I'm glad I went. I glad Aaron went. We made a fire, roasted marshmallows, talked and laughed. When everyone was getting ready for bed, Aaron and I went to his car for an essay trade. Aaron was very hesitant. He wanted to read mine first, and then he would decide whether or not he would give me his. He did. Read it.

And here's the part where you pause to read the inserted letter from Aaron. But you don't get to! I get to keep some things private. :) And continuing.

He loves me! Can you believe it? After I read it I did kind of pause awkwardly, and I felt bad. I didn't know what to say. I told him I would write a letter.
The next morning we played on the dunes. It was lots of fun. I drove home with Aaron.
Last night we talked at the baseball place. I told Aaron that I loved him. It was hard, but I did it. Now we say it all the time. Well, once again the sleeping fairies are calling.

I am so weird. So, we loved each other. I didn't tell him immediately that I loved him too because I thought he would think that I was just saying it because he did. And I didn't want to be one of those people who think they are in love with every crush. So I did the mature thing to do and waited one whole day before returning those three words. :)
To this day we will still sometimes write letters to each other to better explain things and communicate. Writing is sometimes much more effective that way.

Jumping with the sprinklers

Another fun thing we did in Nampa was play with cousins. Since Morgan loves jumping on the trampoline and since Morgan loves playing in water I though, rather logically, I think, that he would love jumping on the trampoline with the sprinklers under it. Yet for some reason it took lots of coaxing and persuading to get Morgan to go play. It was really weird.
But we did get him out there and he DID love it. So I was right after all.

Morgan and his cousin Kaien having fun.
They make little boy swim suits so long. It's almost like Morgan is wearing pants. Look at them droop.
Emmy joins the fun, but isn't too keen on the boys jumping.

They liked to lay down in the water squirting up at them. You can't see the water coming up, but it did. Not very high though.

Look at the hops on this boy! He's great at jumping on the tramp. And no, he isn't grabbing Kaien's foot.

ATV's

Morgan's big into things that go. Things with wheels. So naturally he loves ATV's. I mean, who wouldn't? When we were visiting Nampa a couple weeks ago we got a 4 wheeler out to ride around the yard with Morgan. He thought it was great. And Aaron and I always think it's fun too.

I love where my parents live; where I half grew up. I took it for granted back then, but now I think it's really pretty. You can kind of see some of the prettiness in the background of this picture. That's Lake Lowell in the background. Not as disgusting from farther away.
Ah, my handsome boys. Seriously.

Ah, my pasty white legs. Seriously?!

My parents have 4 ATV's, (Dad's midlife crisis solution??) and I've rolled twice on a little yellow one. So we were sure NOT to get that one out. Not that I have much opportunity of rolling it on the flat lawn...

Our Trip to Lagoon

The "L" word surfaces

Are you ready for some JOURNALS?!? (Sing it as if it were the football thing.)

May 21, 2004
It has been awhile. I still see Aaron every night. We sometimes write notes on each others backs. Sometimes they are secret. He wrote a secret "essay" that he said will be revealed at a future time.
There have been times when I'd look at Aaron and just want to tell him that I love him. But I really don't know if that is true. I WANT to be in love with him. I WANT him to be the one I marry, but I don't know.

If Aaron had known then that I had already decided that he was the one I wanted to marry, he would have probably been scared off. See? Sometimes insecurities are a good thing.

May 29, 2004
Many stuffs has happened. My b-day for one. . . Aaron got me a bonzai potato. So funny! Also a 4 leaf clover growing kit. Also the book, "The Five People you Meet in Heaven." He found out that I had already read it so the next night at F.H.E. he took me to his car and gave me a bag. The bag had a book in it. "All Things Wise and Wonderful" by James Herriot. Cool aye? Aaron and Chanel ate over. We had pasta and garlic bread.

Okay folks, my hand writing starts to really deteriorate here as I struggle to stay awake while I write it. Iz funny.
On Wed. he asked a couple relationship questions and stated concerns. I responded stupidly and shortly. I was frustrated with myself so I went home and wrote down what I should have said. Then on Thursday the essay thing was brought up again. Since he wanted to keep his secret So I suggested that we exchange essays by the nextfi. I'll finish latey I'm falling asleep.
Melanie Mati.

Tee hee! That is what is in my journal. The incomplete sentences and words that are so distorted you can't tell what letters they are.
The essay exchange was going to be what I wrote down in response to his questions and the secret "essay" that he wrote on my back. So. To be continued.

Graduation

We went to Idaho the other weekend for Arielle's graduation. (Aaron's sister.) After many speeches and musical numbers, (basically all of which involved the dreadful saxophone) Morgan started to get a little antsy. Thankfully Arielle was called up to receive her diploma around his antsy peak, so the fog horn was pulled out. Now Morgan had a new source of entertainment.

The little boy in the background was another source for him. Morgan carried that thing around the rest of the evening there and eventually figured out how make it blow.

I love the look of concentration and anticipation on Morgan's face here.
Here's the graduate with her brother and nephew. In this picture I love Aaron's expression. Don't worry dear, the canister isn't even attached.

Shopping can be so exhausting

We went to Target for a little shopping last week. Morgan fell asleep in the car on the way there, and must have been exhausted because he slept through the jostling of getting him out of the car and everything. He usually doesn't sleep through that stuff. And since I didn't want to carry my heavy 2 year old all around the store, Aaron got a cart and a beanbag chair. And...PRESTO! A makeshift, portable bed. He slept through the whole shopping trip.

A Snaaaaaaaaaake!

I have so many different things to post with good-ish pictures to go along with them, that it's almost too overwhelming to get caught up. But here we go. Not in chronological order either. (Not that you're getting more than one post today, mind, but in the ensuing days there will be posts of different things in no particular order.)

A week or so ago I went out to plant a garden in a community garden area. But there was a bit of confusion as to which plot was ours, so Aaron headed out to check out the situation while I took over mowing the lawn. He returned with a bag of snake. And no, I wasn't surprised.

Aaron loves him some snake SOOOO much. See? And apparently he's not the only one who loves the slithering, fiendish, reptile. Maybe it's hereditary?
And to prove that I'm not a squeamish type of gal, I consented to a photo while displaying my indescribable courage.

We didn't keep him around long. We stuffed him back in the bag and drove back to the garden area where we set him free. Now every time I return I keep an eye out for our little friend.

Aaron did some research and discovered that he'd found a Gopher Snake. They have some relation to the Bull Snake and are very common in these parts. They are also non-aggressive, which we observed. The one we found was probably around 5 feet long or so, but they get a few feet longer.