Memories

Jonathan and I are going to be sealed in July (most likely) and that's SO exciting. To know that I can live with my perfect husband for eternity is such a comfort. I can't wait! This has brought on so many thoughts lately. I was remembering our wedding and our honeymoon. We went to Swan Valley, Idaho - one of the more popular honeymoon locations. It was nice and secluded, we had our own little cabin with a kitchenette and we were an hour or so from Jackson Hole - what more could you want? It was great!



The most memorable part of the trip, I think, is when Jonathan got his very first traffic ticket. Ever. It was funny because we were on our way to Jackson Hole and driving through some beautiful forests. We saw a man and his son walking along the side of the road. Jonathan is so observant that he knew right away that they were having car troubles - don't ask me how, maybe he saw their broken-down vehicle before we actually came upon them, or maybe they were carrying a gas can, I can't remember. Anyway, we decided to give them a ride to a gas station so they could get some help. They hopped in the back seat and told us how they had been hunting for morel mushrooms, apparently they grow at the base of these trees in rainy weather and that day was the perfect time to go pick them. Anyway, we were just chatting and not paying serious attention to the speed limit because it was a highway in a forest, how often could the speed limit change? Then it happened, there were flashing lights and a short siren. Jonathan was so upset, I could tell, but we had these strangers in our car so he couldn't swear or anything - not that he would have. The strangers just added to the embarrasment, but they were strangers, what did they care? So the officer explained that the speed limit dropped 10 miles about 3 miles back because of an upcoming town - we were still in the woods, how did we know there was an upcoming town? Nevertheless, we were caught speeding. He gave Jonathan his first ever traffic citation, explaining that he could probably go to traffic school, and we were back on the road. We dropped the strangers off at the gas station which wasn't far away and continued on toward Jackson Hole, paying attention to every speed limit sign on the way. After we got home I "helped" Jonathan with the online traffic school class, so the ticket didn't go on his driving record, but I think he's still upset about it. I guess that's what you get for picking up stranded strangers while on your honeymoon. Actually, I can't think of a single trip we've taken where we haven't helped someone stranded on the side of the road, what a great husband I have!

LASIK

I got LASIK! About a week ago I went and had my eyes fixed with "lasers" (voice of Dr. Evil) and they worked! It's amazing to be able to see without any glasses or contacts. The doctors say I'm reading better than 20/20 which is incredible to me. I just don't know how technology ever got to this point. Who did they get to volunteer to be the first to try it? Did it work for them the first time? Did they mess up thousands of eyes to perfect this? Interesting.

At any rate, I can see - and that's good enough for me (that rhymed).

Baseball at the Park

We took the dogs and Cornel & Bekki's youngest three kids to the park to play baseball last weekend. They're getting pretty good. Jaida enjoyed playing in "the sand" and I tried to corral the dogs. Eventually I took the dogs home since it was hot and they were restless. A fun time was had by all.

A Saluone Family Mother's Day

J and I spent Mother's Day with his family. All of the local families were there. After a nice dinner and playing the Wii we ventured outside for some baseball "with the kids". Baseball quickly turned into this:




And this:




And after that, Lua and J tried this:




While the men were doing this the kids were hunting snakes and playing in the front yard. Here are some pictures of their fun.

My Brother Randy

One of my older brothers, Randy, has got to be one of the funniest, funnest people I know. He's pretty crazy too. We've had some family get togethers lately where we reminisce about Randy's youthful antics. Okay, so he may still do some of these things...

He used to lick his plate to save his seat at the dinner table. Or he'd come and stick his finger in a piece of dessert to make sure no one else would take it. Or he'd stick his finger in the dessert you were eating to try to get you to give the rest of it to him. Or when you'd ask him a question he'd sometimes answer "poop." Or, and this is classic, when he would give you something - especially money - he'd stick it in his bum (pants on) to give it to you. Yeah, pretty gross. But that's how teenagers are sometimes, sad but true.

Now that he's "grown-up" Randy is just the most fun-loving dad and uncle around. He's always playing games with the kids, dancing and doing skits or watching some obscure horror film from the 60's.

And we all love him.

The Hair

A couple weeks ago Jonathan decided (I don't know why) to straighten his thick, curly hair. The result has been interesting as he doesn't really know how to style straight-er hair. The best thing about it is that he can now do his hair like this:

Wii-kend Fun

We had a barbecue with some of Jonathan's family a couple weekends ago. It was the first time we've had people over to our house to eat, usually we go to Jonathan's parents house because it's so much bigger. But we decided to try it and it worked. It was a little cramped, but that adds to the fun, I think. The main attraction at this party was the Wii. We had a big bowling tournament, I have no idea who won, but it was fun having the kids play with the adults - and beat them sometimes.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

I babysat my sisters youngest two kids last Tuesday night. I wish I had taken pictures of them because they were so cute. Braden was fascinated with our dogs and they entertained him 90% of the time. Megan had fun exploring the house and coloring. They are the cutest kids.

When I sat down on our couch Braden came over and sat by me and looked around him for a minute, then he said to me "Oh, where's Jesus?" Then pointing to a picture on the wall, "there He is!" That meant so much to me. First, I was so impressed that Braden, a two-year-old, recognized Jesus and knows his name, what a tribute to my sister and her great parenting. Second, I was so grateful that we have a picture of Christ in our home for people to see and recognize. How important it is for us to allow our Saviour to have a presence in our home. I hope that when I have children someday they will always be able to recognize Jesus Christ.

My Dogs

I never grew up with dogs, we always had cats. My dad hated cats so when we would bring home kittens we would let him name them in an attempt to make him feel better about having the cats around the house. The cats were never supposed to be in the house since dad is "allergic", but we would always sneak them inside and sleep with them. When I was about 15 my brother decided to get a puppy, then somehow he became homeless and couldn't have a dog living in a car/trailer with him so my dad started taking care of the dog. This dog was named Tigger and all I really remember about him was that he could jump so high, I swear he could have jumped over the 6 foot fence if he wanted. I think the dog never got all the attention he needed and one day he ran away and was picked up by Animal Control. I don't know why I never connected with this dog, probably because he wasn't a puppy by the time he came to live with us and I think part of me was afraid of him.

Jonathan always had dogs growing up. He knows a lot about dogs and has had many different breeds. A few months after we got married he started talking about getting a dog. I wasn't sure about the idea, I didn't know how that would affect our relationship or our house. I didn't know what to expect and I was fighting the idea. I lost the fight when our sister-in-law's aunt decided to gift Jonathan with a puppy because he had been so helpful to her sister (our sister-in-law's mother) when she moved into her fixer upper house. So one night we went over to Spencer & Savannah's house and picked up our puppy. It was August but at night it was starting to get a little chilly. I remember Savannah had the puppy in the front pocket of her sweatshirt, that's how tiny Kookie was. And when Savannah handed her to me and she was SO tiny, I just melted. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with the little pup, just 3 pounds when we got her, and realize that I am totally a dog person. Kookie, being a dachshund and all, is not a large dog and I knew she couldn't really "attack" me and that helped me get over my fears. After a few months of having one dog Jonathan wasn't satisfied. He was longing for a dog he could really play with, wrestle with, and fight with. So he did some searching on the internet and found some reasonably priced Boxer puppies. He called me up at work one afternoon and asked me if I wanted to go to Eagle Mountain after work. I asked why and he said because he wanted to look at some puppies. I was kind of surprised but decided we could go and "just look" at the pups. The second Jonathan set eyes on the puppies he wanted one. So we left that night with a boxer pup. Our other dog came to us about a year later when we decided to breed Kookie with Jonathan's parent's dachshund. We had always wanted a black dachshund because we loved the look of them. In Kookie's first litter her very first pup was a black dachshund. We knew immediately that we were going to keep him.

That's the story of our three dogs, Kookie, Tito and Kimo. I really am a dog person, I prefer dogs to cats now any day. They are just so much more personable than cats, they are always excited to see you. You never feel lonely with a dog around and no matter what they always forgive you.

I love our dogs, aren't they sweet?

More Adventures in Babysitting

We watched Cornel & Bekki's kids a few weekends ago. They are always fun and crazy. Here are some pictures of them playing in our laundry basket and sleeping.

See This?

I have one of these. Jonathan and I bought it last weekend, we weren't really planning on it but it was the last one they had and we couldn't pass it up. But I'm pretty sure it's a product of Satan. Since we've had it it's been sitting on our kitchen counter laughing at me. It knows how many bowls of rich, creamy ice cream I'll be eating this summer. And it knows that I will never be able to work off all the calories. I'm doomed. Isn't it pretty?