Sledding, Soldier style

With speeds up to 30 miles per hour, you fly down a steep, slippery hill on a tube made of rubber.   

The rules are simple, dig your heels into the snow before you hit the fence.

 screaming is a must.

After the exhilarating ride, you hook your tube up to a machine, that pulls you back up the hill, just so you can  do it all over again.

Don't move too much, your tube will unhook.  You may end up pulling yourself up the mountain.

Who is crazy enough to join us on this adventure?  The McMickells.  

They are always so much fun to have around, but they do need snow pants.

If you can't feel your finger or toes, no need to worry, you can warm them up by the fire later, right now we are having fun.

 Try going down in groups, on your bum or on your tummy.  If you are brave, you will go down on your knees.  You spin and fly.

 Try lying down on the ride up, the night is cold, clear, serene. The moon is bright.
Breathe in the beauty all around you.
And get ready to slide again.

Almost Paradise

Imagine the softest sand beneath your feet,
a beach chair with your towel on it,
the warm sun beating down on your skin,
a new sundress on your shoulders and one of those books you have a hard time putting down in your hand.
Sounds like Paradise.

but it isn't...
because your other half isn't there
you left him at home
making it a lonely, almost paradise

This last week I was lucky enough to be my Oma's (Grandma in Dutch) companion for a 7 day Caribbean Cruise. It was beautiful but I missed my Kyle, I wrote him a letter everyday (of which I still need to get out of my packed suitcase) and I even saved him the chocolates they put on your bed (since I got home on Sunday morning, I've eaten 2 of the 5, opps!)   But enough about eating and crying and eating more...
lets talk about the trip of a lifetime, with a lady I adore!

We left on Friday afternoon to avoid a Red- Eye.  After 8 hours of flying, we were pooped and passed out pretty quickly!
In the morning Oma and I grabbed breakfast at the hotel and went out to sit by the pool.  We weren't alone.
There was one really tan man in a red speedo, that was so small I was worried we may have an adult show on our hands!  Then a really large man walks by and Oma says "that woman isn't wearing a top! Oh... I guess it isn't a woman".  We died laughing.
That's one of the best things about Oma, she is always laughing.
After someone stole our van taxi, (it took forever to get another van) we were on our way!

After a lot of eating and no sleeping, we were ready for some fun on the ship.

Oddly enough I was one of the 10 youngest travelers on board (or so it felt) everywhere we went, someone would say 'Oh, it's so nice to see someone young"!  Weird.

We spent close to $40 trying to win $500 out of this machine,

There is so much to say and so little time... but I will say, I danced every night away and had a great time.  Glad to be home with my Kyle, but now I call Oma everyother day because I miss her too!

January musings

January.
The month of
trying to be healthy in freezing cold inversion (think 3 degrees)
a new baby girl niece, named Annie
and bridal shows.

I'm not sure which one Ky likes the best, but I like all 3!

When it is so cold outside that you get a brain freeze from the outside in, without drinking a slurpee, it is too cold to go running.  I would like to think that if it wasn't so cold, I may go once or twice a month or so:)

Last week we were blessed to have a baby girl join our family.  Her name is Annie.  Not sure where her dark hair came from, but I love her rosy cheeks. Beautiful baby, Ryan and Rachel

3 out of 4 weekends, kyle and I have been eating cake samples, trying out photo booths and entering contests for a free honeymoon (which we will regret later, when we get harassed with emails). If anyone has any questions about getting married, we know a lot.

Here's to warmer weather, more babies and more cake!

My favorite (warm) things

This may be weird... but my favorite things that I got for Christmas are:

My nice warm driving gloves, that make a cold morning, that much easier:

and the wool socks that keep my feel super warm (don't worry they aren't itchy)

As soon as I make my spa appointment that Kybabe got me, that may top the list!

Does this mean that I'm getting old?

Cheers to a new year

A New Year, is just another day on the calendar, but because the numbers start over at 1, we feel like we have the opportunity for a clean start, the responsibility to make ourselves better people and the obligation to get a gym membership!:)

As I reflect on the last year, I see trials and triumphs, weaknesses and kindness, forgiveness and love.

Kyle and I were so blessed!  Here are a few of our many, many blessings:

1.) Eachother, celebrating 5 years of dedication and love

2.) So many wonderful friends! We love going on vacation with you, playing board games with you and "playing" with you!

3.) A devoted and giving family, willing to share their home, their time and their lives with us.

4.) The Gospel of Jesus Christ!  Serving with the Young Men and Young Women.  The Scriptures

The list could go on for miles and miles, here is to a new year, more memories and counting every blessing.

A day in Mormon History

I could feel the excitement in the room and I know it didn't have anything to do with Kyle and my sisters running 3 blocks to make it to the conference center on time! (Stinking downtown parking!)
"Can you believe we going to be in the same room as the prophet" I whispered to Amy and Laura as 25,000 people simultaneously stood up to show their respect for a prophet of God.

As General Conference began, I could sense something big was about to happen, and then President Monson announced the missionary age change.  Every person in the conference center gasped!  This means all sorts of changes!  Kyle will have to help prepare our sons sooner, more sisters will hopefully go.  What a great blessing and experience for all involved.

On the way home, we talked about all the things we learned as well as those who are such great examples to us.

Laura is talking about going on a mission.  I'm sure it has something to do with my beautiful sister-in-law Megan and her amazing example.

I'm grateful for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and all that it teaches us.

I'm also happy to get to go shopping with my sweet Oma, and some of my favorite ladies in the world.  Can you say blessed?

Fwied Wice!

Ky and I aren't the best at dating, we spend a ton of time together but we need more us time!
So I called him and told him to come home from work early.  I was so excited I couldn't help myself, I ran out and met him in the driveway.

We had a heart to heart talk.
Chose an activity out of a jar.
Went on a fun Sampan date.
Laughed our heads off as we tried to eat with just chopsticks!
Worked on a home repair project together.
And loved every minute of being together with eachother and no schedule.

Be a little kinder

I guess you just never know what people are going through.
You never know what pain they may be experiencing, what things in their past are haunting them and what the future may hold.

For my birthday Kyle and I went all over town.  We found ourselves at a mall downtown called the Gateway.  As we were coming down the steps, we saw a family.  The dad was playing with his young son, a baby was in the stroller and the mom, who looked worse for wear, was holding a cardboard sign.  I smiled at the family and then whispered to Kyle, something mean like, "Couldn't one of them get a job?"
I guess my conscious kicked in because not one second later I felt horrible.  There is a song we sing in our church that says "Who am I to judge another, when I walk imperfectly?  In the quiet heart is hidden sorrow that the eye can't see."
What do I know about this woman and her situation?  They could be homeless because they couldn't afford cancer treatments for their son, they could have been swindled at the hand of another or a million other scenarios.  Was my being unkind helping anyone?  Or was it just bringing me down...

The next beggar wasn't even half a block down the road, but I was determined to act different. This gentleman was holding a similar sign, but behind it he held a book.  We have something in common!  As we strolled by I stopped and talked to the man.  I asked him what he was reading and what the book was about.  He was so kind and respectful to me, he told me it was a Murder Mystery, those are his favorite. He brought a smile to my face and a spring to my step, what a great gift.

How sad it was that I missed out on the opportunity to show compassion to the woman and her family, to see her as her true self, a daughter of God that was down on her luck--whatever the reasons may be.  The next time we walked by the woman, I smiled, a genuine smile, not a sneaky one, I wish I would have had the courage to talk to her.

How we all long for love and acceptance from our brothers and sisters and don't we all deserve it? Everyone is a person, a child of God.  They have hopes, dreams, wishes, joys and sadness, trials and victories.  Sounds like they are just like me.

Being kind and less quick to pass judgement shouldn't be hard.  Sometimes it is for me, but that isn't the type of person I want to be, so my goal to be a little kinder, a little more loving and a little more giving.

Happy 5 years to us!

Wow... Has it really been almost a month since I last blogged?!
I guess that tells you a little bit about our lives!

Things of note:
We celebrated our 5 year anniversary!  I can't tell you how much I love my Kyle, I am the luckiest girl in the world to call him my husband, even if I did have to take him to the Urgent care center on our anniversary because he had a bug bite.  Turns out the bug bite could have been serious, he developed cellulitus from it!  Ah!

We visited Peach Days in Brigham City for the first time ever and went through the Brigham City Temple Open House.  I loved feeling the strong Spirit there.

I switched theatres (well sort of)  I will soon be moving to the Valley Fair location.

Kyle is now a published man!  One of the research papers he has been working on is now in a medical journal.

Wish I had time to tell you more, look forward to next months re-cap!

Scout Camp made me more grateful for my Guy!

Scout Camp.
Doesn't that just sound like an accident waiting to happen?
My sweet husband was gone for a whole week, attending a High Adventure Camp with our ward
( Another topic: Why do the boys get to go horseback riding, rock climbing, kayaking etc. and the girls get to sing and dance?)

He made it back alive, with all of his limbs attached and just a few minor injuries.
When he was packing he asked where he could find some bug spray, I quickly said "You don't need any bug spray, take some bounce sheets and you'll be fine".  I guess this is what fine looks like:

He looks like he is a pregnant woman with ankles that swollen!  Oops...



side note but relevant later:
On Wednesday I had the opportunity to head up to one of my co-workers/friends girls camps.
I saw a real live moose for the first time.
I was blessed to be reminded that Heavenly Father loves me and that he is mindful of me as I spoke to the girls about the plan on salvation and how we can find happiness now.
On the ride up I got to talk to my friend about her life, her struggles and successes.  She told me about her first marriage and how/why it didn't work.  Hearing her story made my heart long for my sweetheart, partner in crime and soul mate. I love my Kyle.

Saturday morning couldn't come fast enough, I am not a complete woman without my main man!
I cried when he called me and I wasn't home to see him (had to work for a few hours).  We kissed and hugged and have spent the entire weekend with each other and loved every second.

But Monday has to roll around again..
Hope to spend more time with my love and to let him know how much he means to me.

Da..na...na..na...na..na..Batman

This weekend was full of fun and sadness.
The Dark Knight Rises was supposed to be a huge hit, and it was, until a crazy man decided to shoot up a theater! How sad.

But on to happier things...
Kyle and Dan went to the day long Batman Marathon!
I put on a handful of events and met these crazies:

and I got a cool fake tattoo








Saturday was a day of adventure.  Ky and I set out on a drive to a family party at the lake.  I got us lost.
We ended up in this beautiful place 
and after a lot of back tracking, found our way to the party.  But because of the weather the family was packing up.
So we drove home and saw this.

Youth Conference--Filmore, UT

Kyle is in the Young Men, I'm in the Young Women and we LOVE it!
We went to Youth Conference about 2 weeks ago and had a blast.
Never have I sweat more in my life, but we had a blast!

Our ward went to the Building Zion's Youth Camp in Filmore, Utah.  It was the first territorial capital. Then they realized there was nothing but desert out there, and diverting the Sever river sounded like way too much work, so they moved the capitol to SLC.

We have the best youth in our ward (including my little sisters)!
We cut wood, built log cabins, made bread and learned about the past.  One of my favorite parts was the Pioneer dance!  Kyle even stepped out and dosey-doed with me!

But my favorite part was the testimony meeting.
I laughed out loud when one of the teachers said "I never knew Kyle was so much fun" And I cried when my sister Laura said she wished the twins were there and that she knows the church is true.  It was really special to hear Kyle's testimony. I want to bottle up those feelings but I can't.  I guess I will just have to keep living and doing the best that I can.

I am so grateful for our pioneer ancestors that sacrificed so much to build Zion, do you think we can help keep the dream alive?