December

In all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I have been neglectful in keeping up on the doings at our house. A quick recap is in order.

Because of the nasty weather we have had, not much has been done since this picture was taken on December 12. We are hopeful, in the next few days, a lot of work will be done. If the roof gets on and shingled, the weather won't be as much of a factor. (fingers crossed)

Kenna and Tom signed up to run the Cable Bridge run for the second year. It was very cold! Kenna's feet got cold and Tom ran most of the 3.2 miles with her on his shoulders. When she saw the finish line, she asked her dad to let her run. He put her down, and she ran the last leg of the race, very cold and miserable. It took a long soak in a nice warm bath to defrost her frozen toes.

The kids patiently (not) waiting to open their Christmas Eve P.J.'s.

Santa came!

One of Courtney's favorite presents was her boyfriend. Her friend gave her a tiny man. When you put it in water it grows. The package says he is the perfect boyfriend because he will listen to you talk for hours, never complains, is loyal and always there. Her dad and I approve and hope she doesn't break up with him for a very long time.

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Though I am at an age when I would rather not acknowledge getting older, I celebrated my 41st birthday last Saturday. I have great friends. We went to a movie, (Benjamin Buttons) and Applebee's for lunch. I had to rush home to get ready for the ward temple night. After the temple we were invited to join some friends for dinner and had a wonderful time. It was late when we got home, but the kids were excited for cake and presents.

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This year has been scary, rewarding, exciting and many other things. I am looking forward to the new year and have put things in motion to make it a year to remember.

THE BOOK OF MOON

    CHAPTER 20

By popular demand, an accounting of the 20^th year of the Moon family.

AND It came to pass, that Tom and Terri did begin to wax old. Yea, many lines and white hairs did appear upon them, for they sought to have an understanding of their children. Yet they learned not.

2 And the parents, said unto their children. "You will go and do the things which we have commanded, for we know that we give no commandments unto you, our children, save you shall accomplish the commandments that your days may be long in the land."

3 And it came to pass, that the Moons' did leave the house that was built on the sand. They did take with them their possessions and the dumb dog and began to build a house upon the rocks.

4 Now, behold, Cameron, being the firstborn, did do most of what was required of him and accomplished the task of High School and became an Eagle Scout. He did travel east that he might increase in wisdom, for he had none. Yea, he did live upon the land at the University of Idaho. He did not partake of the Wii or the Xbox and his afflictions were sore.

5 Now Courtney did not hide her talents under a bush. For she did learn to walk and chew gum; notwithstanding the color of her hair. Yea, she did twirl her flag and dance upon the fields and was merry. And her father did fear and tremble, for she did desire to drive his chariot. And the people did cry throughout the land, "Wo be unto us!"

6 And it came to pass, that Maddy did continue in her love for the animals of the Earth and bacon. In her twelfth year she did grow in spirit but remained small in stature. Notwithstanding she did serve valiantly in the McLoughlin Middle School Volleyball court. And she did multiply her talents in music. She was given the talent of French Horn and Piano, and increased her talents by learning how to play the iPod.

7 Mckenna, being eight years old, went into the waters of baptism and was baptized. Her brightness did exceed the brightness of the sun at noonday. She did increase in knowledge and "cuteness" which she used to her advantage, knowing beforehand how to influence her father.

8 And Behold, we lift up our heads and be of good cheer; for behold, we have been blessed. Our faith in Jesus Christ increases and we rejoice in it.

9 And, again, we, the Moon family, make an end of writing concerning these things for a time.

 

This was our Christmas card this year. We have had a wonderful day and hope all is well with you.

 

Merry Christmas and Love,

 

Tom, Terri, Cameron, Courtney, Maddy and Mckenna

 

 

After the headache of having my computer out of commission, it is nice to have it up and running again. Hopefully, it won't happen again.

I should do a post about our wonderful Thanksgiving, and the great time we had with Cameron. We got our tree and decorated it while he was here. I noticed this time, when he is home, there is always someone laughing. (Either at him or with him). We miss him and look forward to him coming home next week for good. He has decided to either finish the year at our local university or prepare for his mission. (He turns nineteen in March.)

Our house is progressing very quickly.

This picture was taken eight days ago. They partially framed the basement to support the upper floor.
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The floor was put on a week ago.

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This was taken today. All the rooms are framed.

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The laundry room.

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The master bedroom;)

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The kitchen

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The dining area.

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The office/library.

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The family room

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This is the bathroom. This room looks so tiny, I can't imagine a bathtub fitting in here.

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Maddy checking out her room.

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Now for the basement...

Ooops! Better wait.

Idiotic!

I love my laptop. After Christmas last year, Tom was sweet and let me order the laptop I'd been drooling over for months with some unexpected funds. My laptop and I have had great times together.

I feel like an idiot. I clicked on a facebook friend email, and like so many others, my beloved computer is very sick. It is at the computer doctor for a few days. When I called, they informed me that they are pretty backed up because of a huge number of sick computers. It seems I am not the only naive computer user.

Since so many of you have asked about my foot, I will only admit; me and handicapped ramps at elementary schools on a crowded bingo night do not mix! Oh, and it is healing up nicely.

This week so far...

Something happens when elderly teenagers come home for the week. Their elderly teenage friends gather. When it happens on a Monday night, what do we do? We include them in on our Family Home Evening. They were forced to sing a primary song, listen to a Thanksgiving lesson and a poem complete with actions.

Of course, Family home evening wouldn't be complete without a game. Tom had them stare at a pizza pan in anticipation of a piece of candy being dropped.

The grabbing frenzy!

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Wouldn't you know? Dad had a little trick up his sleeve. (Or pocket)

If you look close, the candy looks suspiciously like a broken egg!

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Next comes the activity.

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Aren't they cute?

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In house news: the basement floor was poured yesterday.

Kenna and I had fun watching the process before I ran her to school.

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The finished project!

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And Finally.....

Don't the "fall" colors look pretty?

These bruises don't look nearly as bad as the ones on my fragile ego.

My favorite son

Every night, Tom and Cam get on their cell phones and walk. Tom walks around the neighborhood, and Cam walks around campus. They talk about what happened that day, what was for dinner at Bob's and future plans. The following conversation was relayed to me by Tom.

"You made your Mom cry today."

"What?... What did I do?"

"She was at the church bookstore, looking at missionary stuff, and started crying right there in the store."

"Oh. Well, I will always be her little boy."

He's coming home tonight for Thanksgiving, and I can't wait!

Bestest blog post ever NOT!

There have been many nights, as I'm drifting off to sleep, I have written the most amazingly, awesome blog posts ever. In my head, I draft, well thought, and beautifully written posts. Every time that happens, I get giddy. I can't wait to put my inspired thoughts on my blog! I snuggle deeper under my covers, content that tomorrow will be the bestest post ever written by any blogger ever.

Something happens during the night. The bestest post ever, mysteriously disappears. Somehow, my well thought, creative words, make their way to the tiny garbage can in my head. It is very frustrating when I wake up and remember the feeling I had the night before of having something to post, and have it be... well, just gone!

It happened again last night.

This morning, I am sitting here trying to remember what I was thinking about last night before my brain shut down. It is all too fuzzy. I should keep a notebook next to my bed for just this very thing. But that would mean, I would have to:

• turn on a light
• sit up
• grab a pencil....

much too much work for my sleepy soul. It will just have to wait until the morning.

Honestly, I am hesitant to follow my impulse and write my thoughts when I get them. What seems wonderful in my sleepy state, might not look so great in my fully conscious state. Maybe I'm fooling myself into thinking I have something so important to share with the world that my little post will be copied and pasted and sent in emails all over the world....but you may never know... and neither will I.

house update: The walls of the basement are up. The plumbing for the basement and the floor is next!

Basement humor

A few days ago, Tom had the great idea to write a song for Cameron. After much murmuring from the family, we finally gave into his enthusiasm and came up with this gem, sung to the tune of Popcorn Popping.

I looked in the web cam and what did I see,

A handsome, young college boy staring at me.

Conquering the monster gave us such surprise,

Putting in the quarters and a bunch of Tide.

Sorry 'bout your undies and that's too bad,

A permanent wedgie could be what you have.

It was really so, and it seem to be,

Our college freshman who's cool and clean!

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We all gathered around the computer and sang it to him. I was a bit offended when we told him we had a song for him, he quickly plugged in his headphones! Rude!

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Now, onto another hole we've gotten our selves in.

I was tempted to say, "Forget the house, lets add water and have a big swimming pool!"

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Yesterday, the footings were poured. Courtney likes to call it the houses "shoes".

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Next, the walls will be built to get ready to pour. We could have a basement by the end of next week!

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Even though the election didn't end the way I was hoping for. I am full of optimism. I live in the greatest country in the world!

Are you afraid? I am.

Yesterday turned into a very scary day.

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Yes, they may look sweet and innocent, but these two walked around the neighborhood demanding candy from perfectly nice people! The HORROR!!! Don't worry, their parents have everything under control. They don't think it is fair that they have so much when we have so little, so we have taken it upon ourselves to redistribute the candy wealth.

Yesterday morning, I was shaking in terror as I saw this. How appropriate that one of the scariest things I have ever done began on Halloween! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Insights

Whew! Maddy's last volleyball game was last Tuesday (they lost every game they played, but she loved playing.) Every time she had to serve, I was very nervous for her. She is so small and has spaghetti noodles for arms, she rarely got her serves over the net. She never did during a game, but she improved markedly from where she started. She came very close to getting it over.

Courtney had her final band competition in Everett on Saturday. After the prelim competition, she was not happy with her performance. She said she had dropped all her tosses and she felt it was her fault that the color guard didn't score as high as they should have. I think I held my breath for ten minutes during her show in finals. I couldn't keep my eyes off her. Every time she threw her flag, I clenched my hands around an imaginary pole, hoping that my actions would somehow make it so she would connect with her pole. I desperately wanted her to do well. Not because I wanted a trophy, I just wanted her to feel like she had done her best. When I saw her after, she was beaming. The band went home with a fourth place trophy. Courtney went home knowing she had done her best show ever.

This may seem like a stretch, but these two girls got me thinking about my own Heavenly Father. I believe he is watching me, rooting for me to do well. I picture Him desperately wanting me to do well. Not for any earthly reward, He wants me to feel like I have done my best. He knows that I will be happy if I follow his guidance. When I think of the love that I have for my children, I am suddenly awed by the love that He has for me. He is not an angry, abusive father. He is patient and loving. He knows who I need to be to be happy. That gives me hope to keep trying to hit it over the net.

I will keep making lots of mistakes, (I am good at it) but I will keep trying to do better. I know HE loves me, just as I love my kids, mistakes and all.

Video from Courtney's last band competition

A band Mom posted this video on You tube and I thought I would share it. Mostly for our families benefit, unless you are a huge fan of marching band. Enjoy!

Music Everywhere!

This past weekend was filled with music!

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Seeing these girls faces when we got to the Opera House was Music to my eyes.

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Waiting for the show to start and the excitement of my daughter, was music to my heart.

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Hearing their excited chatter as they waited to get autographs from "The Phantom" and "Christine" was another sweet song from the weekend.

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Of course, the music the band played wasn't half bad either.

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Hearing all the details about her weekend from this daughter, and laughing at her misadventures, seared another wonderful tune in my mind.

I am going to be playing these melodies over and over for a very long time.

The Phantom was AMAZING! We all loved it. Maddy, as always, was really hoping it would end differently this time. (She has a thing for Eric. aka The Phantom) The special effects had us wondering how they did it. The performances were great. I had never been to a professional play before. I was blown away by the talent. They allowed people to ask some questions after (we went to a matinee) and introduced some of the cast. Maddy, Court, and Kenna all had something signed. I took pictures of the girls with the actress who plays Christine; it didn't turn out. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera and only had my cell phone. That explains the quality of the first two pictures on this post. For the rest of the day, "Phantom" was all they talked about.

The band did well. They competed with seventeen schools and won first place in the AA division and placed third overall. They also won best percussion in their division. We thought we might freeze to death. Thank goodness for hot chocolate and hand warmers!

What I hope to remember about this past weekend

What an insanely, great weekend I had. Last Saturday was Cavalcade ( a local band competition, which I am co-chair of concessions), and my niece got married.

Tom's family arrived Thursday night. I was again reminded why I am so grateful to have married into this wonderful family. We managed to find beds for two of his brothers and their wives and one daughter and grandson. The accommodations may not have been five stars, but they were most gracious and appreciative of Cam's double bed and the airbed we put in Court's room.

Friday, my very talented sister-in-law, did a photo shoot of my nephews family. I tagged along, hoping to learn from her. She has a good eye for what looks good in pictures. I wish I could spend more time with her learning from her and getting a better grasp of what makes a great photo.

I snapped a few pictures behind my sister-in-law. This is one of the few that turned out pretty cute. Their daughter Olivia, is soooo much fun! I wish they lived closer.

On Friday night we helped decorate for the wedding. If you notice in the back, their is a bouncy house for the kids. Tom's sister Janna is such a good grandma. She was thinking of the kids and how to make this wedding fun for them.

I told the coordinators of Cavalcade I would not be there, but I would help with all the prep work. I picked up the potatoes, got the health permit, called Pepsi and had the drinks delivered and with the help of two hard working, wonder women, did the shopping for the event. So, when Court called and said she needed money, I jumped at the chance to run down to see how things were going. In my five years of doing Cavalcade, I have never had a health inspector check out the concessions. Shortly after I arrived, I noticed a lady with a clipboard talking to my friend and taking notes. They passed with flying colors! Whew!

After helping with the bridal shoot for a little while, we changed and headed to the church for the wedding. Tom performed the ceremony and was very nervous. He thought he was shaking so hard that everyone could tell. His words were sweet and loving. He talked about the legacy of love that they have come from. The groom's family are not members, but enjoyed the words he gave to the new couple. It was a small wedding, mostly family and close friends, it was what they wanted and was very nice.

We were able to get back to Cavalcade in time to watch Courtney perform. One of Tom's brothers, his wife and daughter came also. Their show is getting better every time I see it. Because our school was hosting the competition, they didn't compete. They did their show as an exhibition performance.

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This weekend is another exciting and exhausting one. Tomorrow we are going north to fulfill a dream for my twelve year old. We are going with the band, to see The Phantom of the Opera. Maddy is very excited. We get to meet the cast and she is bringing her phantom mask to have signed and also the phantom sweatshirt we got her for Christmas last year. On Saturday is Courtneys first competition. We are looking forward to cheering our favorite flag twirler.

My tag!

I have been tagged by this sweet lady. I have and will continue to be praying for her little boy who is in the hospital fighting a very serious infection. ((hugs))


Random and/or weird facts about me... Wow! hard to narrow it down to just seven.

1. I have two bellybuttons. When I was about five I contracted chicken pox. I did everything wrong. I scratched the ones that itched and didn't wash my hands and ended up getting a very nasty infection in one a couple inches from my "real" bellybutton. I had to go to the hospital for several days with a very high fever. As a result I ended up with an indentation that looks (or used to when I wasn't so chubby) like another bellybutton.


2. I was obsessed with horses growing up. I loved anything to do with them. In third grade, my favorite pants were multi-colored, bell bottom, horse print paints. I wore them nearly every day.


3. The summer after I graduated from high school, I moved to Jackson, Wyoming. I worked at McDonald's and gave Harrison Ford his Big Mac at the drive thru window.


4. In college, I got a lot of parking tickets. I was a poor starving college student, and couldn't afford to pay them, so I began parking in the free lot and walking to campus. I didn't know campus police checked the free lots. After paying the ENORMOUS fines, I was able to have the big, ugly, yellow parking boot removed from my car. (lesson learned)


5. I drove a yellow 1975 Chevy Vega in college. This model of car was notorious for rusting. When it rained, I needed an umbrella inside because of the leak around the windshield. During the winter, I would put a big bag of sand in my trunk to help weigh it down to keep it from slipping on icy roads. I got in one day and heard, and felt a big "thunk". The bag of sand had rusted through the trunk and landed in the parking lot.


6. I dated a guy who neglected to tell me he was going through a divorce, had two kids, and his almost ex was pregnant with his third, for several weeks.


7. I sneeze almost every time I go out into the sun. I thought I was abnormal until I found out it is an actual syndrome. It's ironically named ADCHOO!

I tag Ging, Cameron, Sonda, Nicki, Mollie, Catherine, Pam and Laurel. Have fun! I can't wait to read yours! OOPS! That's eight. I guess you've guessed that I'm not the best at math either.

Decisions, decisions!

This past week has been a week of mind-boggling decisions. This is very difficult for the decision making challenged. (me) I remember one night in Salt Lake, Tom and I were STARVING. We drove up and down State Street looking for a place to eat. Neither one of us was willing to decide where we would eat. The decision was eventually made for us when all the eateries were closed but one, a little scone sandwich shop. It was very good. I tried to convince Tom I knew what I was doing all along! I know it stems from me not wanting to make a mistake. I don't want to do the wrong thing, or disappoint someone, or regret my choice. So this week I was thrown in the decision making fire.

• Monday: What kind of flooring do you want in the entry way? Carpet? Tile? Wood? Laminate? Vinyl? Where would you like it to stop? Do you want carpet in the hall by the kitchen? Do you want wood laminate or hardwood? What is your price range? Do you want granite counter tops, synthetic, laminate, tile or granite tiles? Do you want a tile backsplace? How high do you want it? 4in? 6in? or 18in? What flooring do you want in the office, living room, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms? Looking at these tiny sample squares, what carpet to you like for your ENTIRE house?

• Tuesday: Do you want painted doors or fake wood doors? Which style of door do you like? Do you want a metal or wood door for the exterior? How about trim? What style do you want out of these 6, 823 choices? What kind of hardware do you want for your doors? Do you want the pantry door to say "pantry"?

• Wednesday: Which cabinets do you like...

the cook top in the island?
or not?

What kind of wood do you want for the cabinets? What finish do you want? Which style of door do you like?

Plumbing: What faucets do you want? Do you want a standard toilet, or an elongated toilet? Is your shower tiled or fiberglass? Do you want a soaker or a jetted tub? What kind of kitchen sink do you want?

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Last night, Tom asked me where I wanted to go for dinner.

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"BAM!!!!!!!!"

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I think my brain exploded.

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p.s. Please, feel free to share your opinions!

The Honeymoon's over

Well, the honeymoon is over. It's back to my irregularly scheduled posts. First, I'll answer some questions from the comments of the last few posts.

Sometime in our married life, I lost the squirt ring. I was very sad. It made me smile, remembering how I had gotten it.

For our anniversary this year, We went to P.F. Changs. I tried the lettuce chicken wraps I've heard so much about. They were delicious! We had a nice evening. We had a good laugh at my fortune in my cookie after dinner. It said, "You will be receiving unexpected support in the next week, accept it graciously."

Tom said, "Oh, you must be getting some extra help with Cavalcade." (Cavalcade is a local band competition On October 4th. I am on the board over concessions.)

My first thought was, "There must be a good sale on bras somewhere."

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I have run into a few people who have asked me to post the floor plan for our house. It's probably hard to see, but here is the main floor. The basement will be unfinished until all the kids are grown and gone and we won't need it anymore.(kidding)

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In other news, Courtney had her first performance in color guard Friday night. We love going to the games to watch her. I just wish the silly football team would get off the marching band field!

She is easy to pick out on the field, she is the only one who wears a shirt under her uniform to cover her arm. LOVE. HER.

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On Saturday, our ward had a carnival with good food, games and colorful faces.

The primary kids were given a challenge to memorize the articles of faith. For every article of faith learned, they would get a water balloon to throw at the Bishop.

The Spurgeon kids had a little too much fun dousing the Bishop!

He was a good sport and the kids were thrilled!

The Honeymoon

Ahhhh, the honeymoon...a time to get to know each other better. To spend lots of time together, alone.

After the wedding, reception, and open house in Burley the next day, Tom and I were really looking forward to the honeymoon. His family had friends who owned a cabin near Sun Valley. We arrived Sunday evening and worked hard at getting to know each other;)

It was on our honeymoon that I learned Tom has nightmares. One night, his screams woke me from a deep sleep. We were in a cabin in the woods in the middle of the night and the man next to me starts screaming! I woke him, and he soon saw that I was more terrified than he was. He calmed me back to sleep by singing to me.(Now, if he starts screaming, I whack him 'til he stops.)

We did venture out of the cabin. We went to a movie one day, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. After the movie, we went across the street to a store. We noticed an ad for an Arabian horse ranch nearby. I love horses, especially Arabians. When I was younger, I would trade babysitting for horse lessons at an Arabian school near my home. They were show horses and were leg trained. What that means is the horse responds to the pressure on his back from your legs. If you squeeze your legs the horse will go, if you relax, the horse will stop. When Tom saw that ad, he suggested we check it out.

The ranch was beautiful. There were many gorgeous horses in the pastures surrounding the owners house. When he saw us, he talked to us and offered to let us ride one of his horses around the corral. I was rusty, but the lessons I had when I was younger came back to me and in no time I felt very comfortable on the pretty white mare. She didn't have a saddle or bridle. I was riding her bareback with a lead rope hooked to her halter. Tom got on and after a brief lesson did really well. The owner grabbed another mare and let us take the two horses out of the corral for a short walk down the lane and back. On one side of the lane was a pasture with several mares. On the other side was a pasture with two or three stallions. The walk down the lane was uneventful. As we turned to head back, the stallions became agitated. The were shaking their heads and snorting. The mares on the other side responded by dancing and whiniing. The stallions took off on a dead run. The mares did the same. Our horses in the middle were following instinct, and bolted. I was trying to relax my legs and hang on without a saddle. Tom's horse was just ahead of me and I saw him fly off his horse just before I couldn't hang on mine anymore.

After I came to a stop, I knew something was wrong, I just didn't know what. Tom was there almost as soon as I fell. When I looked at him I noticed the bright red mark just above his eye. Apparently, the horses back hoof clipped him as he went off the horse. He reached down to help me up. I tried to move my arm to take his hand when the pain hit. After sitting for awhile trying to gain some composure, I was able to get up. The owner felt terrible. We sat on his porch, but it soon became obvious that I would have to go to the hospital.

Tom drove me to the tiny hospital in Sun Valley. I was examined and the doctor believed I had broken my collarbone. The x-ray was very painful. In order to see the break I held on to full gallon jugs in hopes the break would separate enough to be seen. The x-rays did show a break. He also believed I had broken my tailbone, but I didn't get an x-ray there. I was given a brace, some pain meds and discharged.

We went back to the cabin where I willingly took the pain medicine and went to sleep. I don't remember how long I slept. I woke and before I was even very conscious I felt overwhelming nausea and threw-up close to the bed. The drugs made me feel very out of it. I felt like I was having an out of body experience. I was pretty helpless. My dear, sweet, brand new husband cleaned and scrubbed the cabin.

It was decided (by him, I was in no condition to make any kind of decisions), that we should go back to Burley. On the way home, I slept most of the time. I woke up once to throw-up in Tom's prized Toyota Celica. Poor guy! We got to his Mom's house where she graciously swooped in to minister to me. The pattern for the next couple of days was sleep, throw-up, sleep.....One thing I do remember was being so helpless my new mother-in-law had to help give me a bath. Very humbling.

Tom decided we needed to head back to Logan as school would be starting soon. On the way home, I was in the same pattern, but Tom was able to pull over in time for me to throw-up. It finally hit me, I stopped taking the pain medicine. I felt so much better after that!

Even though my head was clear, I wasn't able to do much. For the first few weeks of our marriage, Tom did my hair.(As you could tell in the two previous posts, big hair was very important to me) I know there were times in those first few weeks where he wondered what he had gotten himself into. He was thrown into getting to know me more than he might have wanted too, but he was always sweet and wonderful to me.

Can your honeymoon top that? I'd love to hear.

The Wedding

The morning of September 16, 1988 was beautiful. I remember walking to the Logan temple and being completely in awe over where I was and what I was about to do.I was in the right place with the right guy, and it felt wonderful! I was ready to become Tom's wife.


My mother worked as a cook at the Old Rock Church. One of the first churches built in Cache Valley. Part of it had been converted to an assisted living place. They kept a section in its original, old charm and rented it for receptions. My mom made a deal with the owner so we could use it. She also happens to be a cake decorator so I got a sweet deal on my cake. (free) Thanks Mom!

There were a couple notes of interest on our wedding day. Things that happened that need to be learned from.

• A nervous, frazzled bride should not be entrusted with anything important such as a temple recommend. She will look frantically EVERYWHERE and not be able to find it. She will have to call the Bishop to get her into the temple for her wedding. (She will find it a few weeks later, in her purse ((imagine that!))
• When the wife of one of your favorite cousins calls asking if she can drop something by your apartment, DO NOT leave the key for them. After the reception, you will walk through the door to find toilet paper strewn everywhere, shoes in various places filled with rice, notes on the mirror with lipstick, kool-aid in the shower and an alarm clock under the bed that goes off at 3:00 a.m. And don't believe them when they vehemently deny doing it. A few years later, when you stop by to visit, they will be watching home movies. You will stare, open mouthed, at giggling relatives throwing toilet paper around your old apartment on the screen.

To Tom:

It has been twenty years since I leaned over that altar in the temple. In many ways, it seems like it wasn't that long ago, yet I feel as if you've been a part of me forever. I can't imagine my life without you, ever. I love you more.

me

The Proposal

I first met Tom the fall of 1987. His roommate was dating my roommate. He was dating someone at the time and I quickly began dating a boy (I mean, frog). I only had a few interactions with him that first quarter of school. I've said before, the thought that came to my head when I first met him was, "Wow! He is short." After spending more time with him, and seeing first hand his confidence, my thought turned to, "Does he not know he's short"? He made people quickly forget about his height and see the giant of a man inside.

Shortly before Christmas break, I was with my roommate at her boyfriend and Tom's apartment. He seemed to be working hard to impress me and by the end of the night, he promised he would call and take me on a date after school started. I hoped he would, but I was a bit afraid he wouldn't. He did call and we went on our first and probably last "official" date. We went to one his married friends house and played games. He was charming and funny and sweet. After that first date, we were pretty inseparable. He would go to the library every night and study. If I wanted to see him, I had to go too. Surprisingly, that is the quarter of school that I got my best grades! (Even with some smooching when we hoped no one was looking.;))

There is some debate in our household about the first kiss. He tells me I attacked him, but I don't remember it that way. I remember really wanting him to kiss me. I think I might have made it easy for him. You know, eyes closed, lips pursed, leaning towards him, kind of thing. We may never know who is right. (me)

The "love" word was first used at my Grandpa's ranch in Idaho. Getting that out was huge for both of us. It was late spring, and by then, I was totally smitten. We began throwing out the "M" word in early summer. We had talked about marriage and even thrown a possible date out into the conversations, but nothing was official. Everywhere we went, he would tell people. "I am just waiting for her to ask me to marry her." At first, I loved when he said that, because I knew he was thinking it and it would happen soon. After awhile, I was frustrated and irritated. "Does he really think I'm going to ask him?" I'd think to myself.

In early August, I was more sure than ever that I wanted to spend eternity with him, BUT I was tired of waiting for him to get busy and ask me. His apartment was near the Logan temple. In fact, when you opened the curtains, his window framed the temple nearly perfectly. A great place for a nearly engaged couple to be;)

One late summer evening, Tom took me on a walk. We walked hand in hand as he began confessing his fear of marriage and commitment and blah, blah, blah...Inside, I was seething. I had had enough. It's a good thing he couldn't read my thoughts, they were not pretty. Somehow, in my inward rage, I hadn't noticed that we were walking around the temple. Out of the blue, on the sidewalk surrounding the temple, Tom stops and takes both of my hands and gets on one knee. It wasn't until then, I noticed his hands were shaking. He asked me to marry him and placed my brand new not-so-shiny squirt ring on my finger. I was thrilled! And mad! He was trying to throw me off his scent with the whole, "I'm afraid" thing. I quickly forgave him and couldn't wait to tell everyone!

He asked me at the beginning of August, and the date we picked to get married was September 16. We didn't want a long engagement. (I was having a hard time keeping my hands off him.;))

My first engagement ring was a squirt ring similar to one of these. Tom had picked out a diamond and setting for me on his own, but they wouldn't be ready for a couple more weeks. Not enough time to get the wedding plans done.
This banana clip explains my hair in the next picture.

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One of our engagement pictures. Yes, Tom had a mustache!

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Tomorrow--The Wedding