That was then, this is now

Dan and I went on a weekend retreat from October 24-25. We enjoyed a lovely autumn weekend at our alma mater, Brigham Young University. We cheered the Cougars to a victory over UNLV and visited campus and went to the school's student film festival, Final Cut. The kids stayed at home with my sister, and we had a great time making new memories and revisiting our past.

I had to take a picture of the Kimball Tower because we shared a special memory there on Friday, January 5, 2001. Dan picked me up from work at The Daily Herald, and he told me he thought we should play the penny game in the Kimball Tower for our date. I went along with it and we drove up to campus. We went inside and got to the highest level and dropped pennies down the empty staircase. Then Dan showed me the sign against the wall that read "Observation Deck" next to the door. He tried the door and it opened. What luck, I thought. We walked out onto the deck and looked out at the dark sky, enjoying the solitude and the still campus. As we walked forward, I noticed something red and some candles. I thought someone else must be up there, and I said, "Dan, what if someone's having a seance up here?" A few steps more and I realized the red image was a vase filled with red roses and that the candles and everything were meant for ME. It clicked that Dan was about to propose. So then I burst out laughing at my remark and went to take a closer look at what he had prepared so nicely for me. I wondered if he would change his mind. He did no such thing. He proposed like a gentleman, getting down on one knee and asking for my hand courteously. I said "yes" right away, and we took in the moment and the view and held onto it.

Dan and I met and dated in the autumn of 2000, got engaged in the winter, and married in the spring of 2001. We celebrate our birthdays in the summer together on July 26 and July 27. We have a reason to rejoice every season of the year.

We have two more reasons to celebrate life now -- our Cougar cubs, Nathan and Sophia.

Quote of the week:

"I'm sorry I missed you!" Nathan said as he hugged us when we got back home.

Grateful moment:

I'm so glad our Primary Program went well on November 9. I sat right at the podium, helping the children say their parts and singing along with them. Thank heavens our chorister is fabulous and our president is organized. At the very end, the pianist played a pretty rendition of "I Am a Child of God," and all the children said what they would do because they are children of God. Nathan chose "I will be a helper," and he said that and did his part so well. I'm so pleased with his personal growth. Last year, when he was a Sunbeam, he wouldn't even sit up on the stand with the children. Hope, faith and prayer are my primary resources as a parent. I'm glad I can work with the sweet kids in our ward.

Halloween Highlights

Halloween is the second best holiday to celebrate with children (the first is Christmas, of course). Nathan spotted a bad guy Spider-Man costume in Wal-Mart and decided he HAD to be Venom for Halloween. He was especially excited about the bad guy part (please tell me this is a phase). I thought Sophia would be either a BYU cheerleader or little red riding hood, but I didn't find the right costumes, so she helped me pick out a ladybug costume on October 31 at Wal-Greens (at 50% off!). She calls ladybugs "baby bugs," and she likes to flit and fly around, so it worked.


Nathan flexed his "muscles" and smiled approvingly at himself in the mirror. Sophia just went along with it and seemed happy to carry her ghost basket. Nathan enjoyed a classroom party and a parade through the kindergarten rooms. Nathan looked at himself and said, "Now I'm bigger than you, Mom!" We taught Sophia to say "trick or treat," and then they were ready to raid the candy jars at Dan's office and go to the trunk-or-treat party.

I decided I prefer traditional trick-or-treating at houses, so I took the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's house and to their neighbors. This picture shows just how they were that night -- Nathan liked being the tough bad guy while Sophia focused her energies on eating as much candy as possible. Look at the left window and you'll see a ghost peeking out. Not really -- it's my Mom. It makes a much better spooky story to say it's a ghost though.


The kids loved getting piles of candy and reading Halloween books and carving a pumpkin. Nathan requested circle eyes, a triangle nose, and a happy face. Dan carved it, and I think the pumpkin has his grin. It's a Dan-o-lantern. Since we called the pumpkin Jack, he became Jack-o-happy. Nathan liked my Halloween stories about how the pumpkin got his face (after being scalped and emptied of seeds and goop) and about how he and Sophia went trick-or-treating and mistook a woman in a costume for a real witch. Nathan likes to hear these bedtime stories in the dark (it sets the mood). Sophia thinks candy now qualifies as a meal, so we have to hide the Halloween stash -- and, of course, take some for the parent tax as well. Mmm, candy.