YW Reunion

I've written before about my own Young Women experience growing up.

"Young Women nirvana" as my YW President I'm serving with now reminds me.

It really was divinely special. A treasured time in my life that I makes my heart smile and get warm fuzzies every time I think about it. 

And my Patty. Oh how I miss Patty. 

After Carri died {Patty's daughter and one of "my girls" whom I loved}, the older girls from my YW group decided we weren't waiting for the next one of us to die before getting together again. So we planned the first of what I hope will be a lifetime of YW reunions. 

This year was the first year of our reunion without Patty. It almost didn't happen. Life gets busy and schedules get crazy. But I refused to not have our reunion. I know that if I stop getting the girls together, she will let me have it on the other side someday. She wouldn't want us to stop laughing and loving each other just because she isn't here with us physically anymore.

And selfishly, I need them. I need these girls - women and mothers now - who molded me into who I am. I need to be reminded of who I was then. Of what I believed, knew, and cherished. I need to remember how much love one can feel when you see someone you don't talk to or hang out with but within seconds of just seeing their faces you smile and are filled with the most amazing friendship, non-judgmental hug, and love you could ever imagine. Call me corny or emotional {I am crying as I type} but it's true. These girls, this time in my life, my Patty, are some of my most sacred and treasured relationships and memories God has ever given me. 

Enough blubbering.

I wanted to do something for everyone to say hi to Patty but not have anything too sad or pressured. I decided we'd meet at the cemetery and write Patty and Carri balloon messages. {And check on Carri's "animals"}Then go back to my parents' house for an ice cream sundae bar.

The view from the cemetery was heavenly. Truly breathtaking.

I guess it was a good thing that we were really small in numbers this year because there is a helium shortage and I could only get 12 yellow balloons at the store.

I wasn't too sure what I wanted to write... balloons just aren't big enough to convey how much love, the influence, and how much I miss my dear friends. I hope my meager words were felt in Heaven.

We laughed at the lone, non-conformist balloon trailing behind at its own pace. Typical Carri style! 

We talked and laughed and stuffed our kids full of sugary Aggie ice cream for more than four hours! It was midnight when I finally left my Mom and Dad's house.

I love these girls more than words can ever express. 

{Left to right: Kelsie, Kali, Rachel, Jamie, me, Molly, Kimmy}

{Left to right: Kali, Kelsie, Jamie, Rachel, Kimmy, me, Molly}

And next year EVERYONE better come!

USU Homecoming

We had a blast in Logan for the USU Homecoming weekend.

We got a huge sack of candy at the parade. Someday the kids will figure out that we tell them it starts an hour later than it actually does so we don't have to sit through the whole thing. But hey, we still get plenty of candy. Epic parent win!

We spent all {and I mean ALL} of Jeff's money at our favorite Aggie apparel store, Locker 42. The man loves that store and everything we hold up he says, "In the cart!" I swear if they sold diamond rings I'd walk out of there with a new one! Everyone got new Aggie gear {Pearl got pajamas, I got a shirt, Jeff bought himself a waterproof jacket, and the boy got a jersey}. It was awesome.

I took Blu on a walk around Historic Downtown Logan. I love walking around all the old neighborhoods with tree lined streets. The problem was I decided to walk back to my in-laws on Main Street. Essentially window shopping the entire way. And I found a skirt I just had to have. I told Jeff it was a "game day" skirt in Aggie blue and grey. So I went back to buy it before the football game and walked out with not only my "game day" skirt, but two pairs of jeans, a pair of work pants, and a pair of shorts {which Jeff was thrilled about because they weren't frumpy or capris!}. They were on 75% clearance people! I had no choice."In the cart!" as Jeff would say.

We got tattoos, played games, and rode around on the parking attendant golf carts at the tailgate party with the Palmer family. And the Kohler clan {my Uncle's brothers}.... who feed the USU teams and travel WITH them to all of their games. Yeah. We've got to tailgate with them more often.

I was pumped to see that Wild Bill had moved from the student section to our section! He will fit right in with my rowdy, irreverent husband.

We cheered and hollered and sympathized with poor Weber State who got their butts kicked. Hey, we're Aggies. We remember those days. Well, years. Ahhh... the glorious return of a winning team!

I kept interrupting Jeff's football nirvana with comments like, "Isn't it beautiful? Don't you think Romney Stadium has the best view? Look at the pretty sky! Those clouds are getting darker. Do you think it's going to rain on us? Do you think it will rain a lot? Jeff look! Jeff! Jeff! Are you listening to me?" Yeah. I'm still a girl people!

And then we got soaking wet. The dark clouds rolled in over the stadium at half time and the Heavens opened! Luckily, if you remember, we'd spent all of Jeff's money earlier and had new rain gear to keep us dry. I'd say my $7 poncho worked better than Jeff's $80 jacket.

Too bad Jeff didn't answer his phone when I tried texting him at 11:50 p.m. {while picking up the kids at my parent's house} to meet me at the "A" at midnight to re-become True Aggies. I heard they lite up all of Old Main in blue lights for the occasion. He said his phone was "asleep." Pfff. His loss.

Boys {and rain boots}

Boys.

I will never understand boys.

Ever.

They like gross stuff like farts and dirt and bugs.

Boys think pinching, pulling, and pounding on your dog like a punching bag is a sign of affection.

And they can convert anything into a weapon. Oh, and make all those weapon noises that girls just can't. 

Boys also know just what it takes to sucker their moms into buying them Spiderman rain boots. 

Which they will then wear every day for the next week. Rain or not.

Labor Day @ Bear Lake: Recap

Need a recap of the adventures at Bear Lake over Labor Day?

• Beach Bums
• Beach Perfect
• Moose Hunting
• Family
• Uncles
• 4 Wheeler Rides

Labor Day @ Bear Lake: Beach Bums

It seems like more and more of our beach adventures end with scenes like this.

 

Wait. Not like that. Like this. 

Cole - in his all to stubborn I don't need to listen to my mom three-year-old self - refuses to put his swimming suit on to go to the beach. Instead he opts for clothing and tells me he doesn't want to actually get wet or play in the sand, just "come wiff you, Mom."

And then we, well, end up in our undies.

But man is that little super hero bum cute!

Labor Day @ Bear Lake: Moose Hunting

Jeff always teases the kids that we aren't going to Bear Lake, but Moose Lake. He does have a point. We've never seen a bear there before {thank heavens!}.

And after this last time, I think he's right. It really should be called Moose Lake.

We should have known we'd be in for a moose hunting treat when we woke up to fresh poop all over our lawn and beach. 

Our moose hunting typically involves the 4 wheelers and winding up and down the roads where all the nice cabins are. Sigh. To dream. 

We usually find the moose like this. Look really close. There's a momma moose and her baby. They've run right in front of our ATVs before this year. It was super cool! And despite how far away they look, they were close enough that I was a bit nervous thinking about how I was going to get Ruby and Cole to sit back down while I raced away if she got mad and started charging toward us. 

It's not just mommas that we find either. Jeff is an expert moose hunter. For the last two years, he's found at least one moose every time we've gone to Bear Lake. This time, on a ATV ride with Cole, they found two bull moose.

And then one of those bull moose decided to hunt us!!!! This has to be the CRAZIEST thing I have ever seen at Bear Lake before! Everyone was sitting around waiting for dinner to cook, including all the neighbors, dogs were out, and then all of the sudden I look down at the willows at the end of our property and there is this huge, dark thing walking up to our lawn!

{This guy in the blue shirt with the mohawk. My brother. Who encouraged his precious daughter to come down closer to the moose so she could see it better.}

I was more than shocked and slightly panicked. All the kids were running around down there, the neighbors were on their lawn, I was totally paranoid Blu would start barking and make that thing charge us. It was surreal! And yet totally mesmerizing, breathtaking, and incredible to watch. He just waltzed right up to the lawn and headed over to the neighbor's willow tree for a pre-dinner snack. With all of us staring at him.

 

And then there was one of the idiot neighbors, strapping on his GoPro and walking right up to him. I really thought I was going to witness a man dying by moose attack. He was only about 5-8 feet away from that bull moose! Idiot. 

Because I was still in freak-out that my children/husband/brothers/idiot neighbor guy was going to die mood, I handed my brother, Kurtis, my camera and told him to go down and take some pictures. I figured Kurt was faster than most of them and wouldn't get trampled to death if Mr. Moose decided to charge.

Best moose hunting yet!!!