A Note From a Smitten Fourteen Year Old

For the last several years, I've had a three-ring binder under my side of the bed collecting all sorts of notes, pictures, ticket stubs, and other sentimental things that have made up a lot of mine and Alex's relationship journey. I'll pull it out, throw something in there, then shove it back under my bed, with the intention to one day organize it all.

A couple of weeks ago, I finally went to Michaels, bought a new scrapbook album, some protective cover sheets, and began to chronologically organize everything. 

This brings me to to this note... It was the first thing I had ever given to Alex. I brought it to church, shoved it in his hands and walked away. Yea, sure... the note shows confidence, but that took a lot for me to do!! I also included this cheesy picture of myself in it... one where you couldn't even see my face! ha! 

The best part about all of this? Is that Alex actually kept these for all those years...

Four Years

Temple Open House

Yesterday was our day to be tour guides for the Kansas City Temple open house.
Yesterday was one of my favorite experiences with Alex since we got married.

Yesterday...
...we got up around 5:30am and dropped the kids off from about 6:15am-12:45pm
...we goofed off with each other while waiting to get our tour group. (we're we allowed to have that much fun?!)
...we each got to take turns hosting a tour group consisting of about 30 people
...we fell more in love with each other
...we had such a feeling of fulfillment giving up our morning and serving at the temple

and most importantly, we were able to share the gospel with people who didn't know very much about the church. The Spirit was so strong and so peaceful, it was hard to deny it.
This was the closest to a mission that I have ever experienced. I can't wait to serve a mission with Alex one day!

After our time as tour guides, we came home and all of us crashed for a couple of hours. (I can't tell you how grateful I was that both kids slept at the same time! Very rare.) Alex then took off for his only class that day and invited some of his classmates to the temple house that evening. We had 7 friends over for dinner and then all went to the temple open house together. We had even more amazing conversations about the church with Alex's classmates... most of whom don't believe in Christ. But we were able to share our testimonies with them and I know that they felt something special.


One of these days I'll get pictures up of the temple when I finally remember to bring my camera with me!
It's so beautiful.

Dad's Visit

My dad came and stayed with us for a night. He's a pilot and he rearranged his schedule to have a lay-over in Kansas City. We were so excited to have him come and to be our first visitor! Lucy could not wait to see him! When I brought my dad home from the airport, it was 10:30pm and Lucy came running out of her room. She couldn't sleep knowing that Papa was coming! We let her stay up for a little bit and play. The next morning, we went to IHOP. We all got some eggs, bacon, and delicious blueberry pancakes. Todd snacked on a slice of lemon and toast and Lucy had a happy face pancake.

(Lucy likes to wear pink hats at 11pm at night) :)

After breakfast we went to Penguin Park. At the park, there is a giant kangaroo, elephant, giraffe, and of course a giant penguin. Lucy ran around like she owned the place, excited to show Papa all of the fun things. 

Todd giving the balancing beam a try.

We then tried flying a kite. It wasn't as windy as it usually is, but we gave it a shot. We got the kite to stay up for a little bit, but not too long. Lucy LOVED it! This was her first time flying a kite. We'll try it again another day when there is a little more wind.

After the park, we took my dad downtown and showed him where Alex goes to school and then we went to the zoo (no surprise there) for about an hour before we had to take him back to the airport. We were bummed that he was only here for a total of about 15 hours, but we are hoping that he'll be able to get more trips on his schedule that would have him come through Kansas City often!

Flowers, For Me?

I always think of high school in two categories: 1) my best friend, Hannah, and all of our ridiculous adventures together - most of them happening at the lunch table with Steven, and 2) crushing on Alex all four years.

Oh goodness.... did I ever crush on him bad! Any interaction with him made my stomach swirl and I would replay that brief moment in my head over and over - just wanting to relive it once more. There were bouts of jealousy when he was around other girls, along with feelings of "why not me?"... but I just kept on crushing on him and didn't let it bother me (too much). 

Since my best friend was Alex's sister, we all hung out together often. I will never forget this one time when we were driving around the mall together. Alex was driving, Hannah was in the front seat and I was in the back. (Maybe Steven was there too... but I can't remember). We came to a stop light and as if it was a knee-jerk reaction, Alex opened his door, reached for a flower, picked it and then handed it to me. The light turned green and he just started driving again. Wow... that was suave! On the outside, I was playing it cool. I smiled and gratefully accepted the little flower. But on the inside!! Oh man! My stomach dropped to my feet and my jaw was down to my chest! Who just does that?! It might as well have been a scene from a chick flick. 

It was really no effort on Alex's part, but it meant the world to me! I mean, here I am almost nine years later still swooning over that moment. 

Little did I know that nearly nine years later I would be calling that car mine and Alex would be bringing me home bouquets of flowers!  What a dream!

Favorite Pics of 2011

So, I've had this post completed for a while now but just hadn't posted it yet. Here are a few of my favorite pics from every month in 2011. I had a lot more favorites, but i'll spare you. :)

January

February

March

April

May

 June

 July

August

 September

(photo courtesy of lacey taylor)

October

November

December