This past week Ben’s brothers, Brogan and Tyler, came to visit us here in DC. Brogan just recently returned from a mission and I had only met him twice (briefly) before he left. Because of this I was excited to get to know him better and see if all the stories Ben tells me about him are true. I was also excited because I love Tyler. He never fails to make me laugh.
They were here from Friday to Wednesday and we were sad to see them go. (I am a people person and love the company.) Besides them touring DC we were able to go to Mount Vernon, Occoquan, the Temple (thanks boys for watching Hallie while we went), Golfing, and Ty and I went to Mutual. (He wanted to scope out the ladies.) 🙂
Cherry Blossom Festival Firework Show
Hallie and her Daddy watching the show
Hallie and Uncle Brogan (She got to see higher than she’s ever seen–he’s 6’3!)
Me trying to Golf
Ben golfing
Tyler golfing
Brogan golfing
The Crane boys (They kept saying how they wished Kyle (dad) was there.)
Hallie really did love Brogan even though she had been crying in this picture
Tyler put Hallie’s new walker together.
I’m so grateful I married into an amazing family!
This past weekend one of my great friends Kessia Cruz got married. We were able to go to the ceremony in DC. It was beautiful and simple. Ben kept commenting, “I like how simple they made it.” Kessia looked absoluetly gorgeous!! (as always)
The reason why I titled this post “bottled moments” is because sitting there in the chapel I felt feelings that I wished I could bottle so I would never forget them. I was able to teach Kessia on my mission. She knew it was true immediately because the gospel filled in all the holes she had found in other religions. Now two years later to see her married in the church, by a bishop, to a man who holds the priesthood, put a smile on my face.
**Kessia you are beautiful inside and out. I have never met anyone who is as positive and friendly as you are. You always have a smile on your face and nothing ever seems to get you down. Thank you for inviting us to the wedding and thank you for being an amazing example to me. We will be in touch for dinner plans. 🙂
It was two years ago today that Ben proposed. Yes, he proposed on April Fools Day! He had originally planned to propose earlier that weekend but after realizing that April fools was just a few days away, Ben being Ben, couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tell our future generations that we got engaged on April Fools Day.
Because it was General Conference that Sunday we lounged around all day and I never bothered to get ready. In fact I spent the whole day in sweats (his sweats mind you!). Later, Ben told me he kept waiting for me to get ready but finally gave up. Earlier that day that he had mentioned he had a special surprise for me. I remember thinking who does that! Who tells someone that they have a “special surprise” a.k.a JOKE to play on them. I spent the rest of the day watching my back and worrying.
After conference was over he asked me to come outside with him. “Oh no this is it” I thought. As we got to the drive way he asked me to show him where we first kissed. As we stood in that spot he pulled out a ring box, told me how much he loved me, and asked me to marry him. I asked if he was serious and he said, “dead serious”. After what was happening sunk in I told him the answer the Lord gave me after I prayed about it weeks before. And of course a YES was tagged onto the end. 🙂
After kissing in the drive way for awhile we decided we should go tell everyone. My parents of course knew because Ben had already asked my dad for permission.** Ben’s parents, however, were a different story. Ben hadn’t told anyone, except his cousin/best friend/roommate, that he had bought a ring and was planning on asking me. When we showed up at his parents house and announced we were engaged no body believed us. (Keep in mind that I had only been home from my mission 5 weeks!) They inspected the ring to see if it came out of a cracker jack box and told Ben they knew his humor and didn’t think this was funny. Finally Ben’s dad said, “I don’t care if it’s real or not I’m getting a granddaughter.” (Ben’s dad loves babies.) After every thing settled down they believed us and were in shock to say the least. (A happy shock I’d like to think.) 🙂
Three months later we were married in the Salt Lake Temple and it has been BLISS ever since.
Thanks Ben for loving me!!
**Funny story- Ben had called me a couple weeks previous to him proposing asking for my dad’s phone number. He claimed that he had information for my dad about his truck that needed to be fixed. I didn’t bat an eye. A few days later while with my family I asked my dad if Ben had ever called him. He said, “No, what for?” I responded, “Oh he was going to ask you for permission to marry me!” Both my parents’ mouth dropped open as they stared me down. I started laughing and told them to relax I was just kidding. There was no way we would get engaged so soon.
Little did I know that Ben had in fact called and talked to my dad. They knew already! We all still laugh thinking about how right I was with out even knowing it.
…they would probably improve it.
Yes, I know I can’t believe I drive it either! I try to forget what it looks like while I’m inside it. My level of disgust is equal to the level of Ben’s pride. I should have known what would happen if our car was ever wrecked. Just look at Ben’s old car. (Notice the different color driver’s door.)
Hallie turned 7 months old almost two weeks ago. (Better late than never–I’ve been busy believe it or not.)
On my last post I announced the fact that instead of using the money from the insurance company to fix our door we used the money to buy an iMac computer. (Don’t worry I’ve come to grips with being white trash and driving a car with a different colored door.)
After I consented to buying the new computer Ben became ecstatic. (F.Y.I Ben doesn’t get excited about anything really.) I was very amused at Ben’s excitement because I hadn’t seen him get that excited since our wedding night. 😉 So naturally I started calling him a Mac virgin.
A week after our car was hit we couldn’t wait any longer to get our new computer. We went to Best Buy but they, surprisingly, were out of iMacs. Next, we headed to the Apple store (40 min. drive). We walked in told them what we wanted and didn’t wait to hear any of the salesman’s tactics. Ben had done his research! The sales guy couldn’t get the surprised look off his face. (I doubt he had many sells as easy as ours.) Here are some pictures:
We LOVE our new computer!!!
P.S. Thanks Mom and Dad for the old laptop. It got me through College and beyond. You guys take such good care of me!! Toe Heart
We have lived in DC for about 9 months now and we are LOVING it. We love the diversity of people, the weather, the shopping, the historical sites, all the trees, and most of all our ward. However, there is one thing that we do NOT care for- the drivers! In the nine months that we have lived here our car has been hit 4, count them 4, times!! We checked to see if there was a sign written on our car that says, “Hit me.” but there isn’t. People must just have it out for Toyota Camrys.
My parents bought me the Camry when I was 16. It is a 1996 green family machine. And I just have to say that I am attached to it. It was seriously the best car that my parents could have bought me. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) Anyway back to the story.
We had been in Virginia for maybe a week when a girl rear ended us while waiting at a stop light. Don’t worry she didn’t have her driver’s license! Lucky us the damage was minimal. No money collected.
The second time happened while at Church. We came out to a hand written note informing us that a truck had backed into the front of our car. They were sincerely sorry and had even left a phone number for us to call. After checking out the damages we took one look at our car (pay attention to the hood in the pictures) and decided that it wouldn’t be worth the hassle to get the insurances involved. Strike #2!!
The third was quite the doosy. Again the setting is the Church parking lot. This time after a Women’s Conference on a Saturday. Hallie and I, along with my friend Stacey, were walking out to my car when we WATCHED a Ford F150 back into the driver’s door. I was in shock as I watched my car just fold in. After the shock and frustration wore off we decided to turn our “bad luck” into a “dream come true” (Ben’s dream come true. I will blog about this later.) With the money from the insurance company we are going to buy a junk yard door and Ben will install it and with the excess money we bought an iMac computer. (Like how we bought the computer before we fixed the car.) 🙂
(Written by Ben) The fourth time happened just a week after the door got smashed in. I (Ben) was waiting to turn left at a stoplight when a an old Chevy Lumina, loaded with four black guys, ran into the back of me. The hit was harder than the first time we had been rear-ended so I thought it must have cracked the bumper. I got out and saw that there was no noticeable damage other than more lost paint (not unusual on our car). The driver was very apologetic and asked me not to report it (I thought this was reasonable since the damage was so minimal and the car so ugly). I told him to get his driver’s license and insurance card so I could write down his info. He didn’t have either (he had some BS story about why, but I didn’t pay close attention).
I decided to call the police and report the accident (at this point I was back in the car). As soon as I did two guys got out of the Lumina and popped the trunk. They loaded up a green duffle bag with who knows what and tore off down the road on foot. The other two guys sped off in the car (I forgot to mention they had handed me their registration certificate—I was still holding it as they sped off). I reported everything as it was happening.
The dispatcher told me to stay put—totally rained on my first chance to go on a high-speed pursuit. I listened on the phone as the dispatcher radiod back and forth with other police officers. She told me they had a trooper in pursuit right as I reported it. I swear it was 10 minutes later when the trooper flew by me with lights and sirens blaring. I sat there for 45 minutes before the dispatcher told me they couldn’t find the “suspects” and the trooper was en route back to me.
In the end, I got nothing but a “Good job son. Thanks for calling.” That made me feel safe and protected! 😉
