It’s hard to believe another Thanksgiving is already here. I was recently thinking about our family celebration last year and how wonderful it was. Jeff’s parents had just returned from their service in Guatemala and we were so excited to finally have grandparents close by! I made a video of our last Thanksgiving but never shared it here.
I watched it again today and it stirred so much emotion in me. Gratitude is such a powerful tool for good. As we exercise it, it gives us power to change. Gratitude truly does change everything.
Not too terribly long ago, we took a drive to our place. The place between the sea and sky where we love to be. My heart could hardly contain all the joy I felt when I saw these photos of us for the first time. And each and every time since then, I’ve felt the same. Like my heart will explode with love for these people.
Nothing is better than a California adventure to chase away the January blues. Even though I’m still shaky behind the camera, I’m in love with this short little home movie. Love.
it’s no secret that our favorite thing to do as family is pack up last minute and hit the road to california. there is so much drawing us there…the surf, the happiest place on earth, the sunshine, but most of all our dearest friends in the whole wide world.
this one is for you. sending love your way until next time!
today is a great day. i received some news yesterday that made waking up this morning that much more pleasant. why?
(my lovenox shot for blood thinning. almost through with you!)
the doctor gave me a firm date for the baby buddy's arrival. july 7 at 7:30 am. there are very few things i enjoy about the need for a c-section. but one is knowing the day and the hour that my life will change forever. that's a really nice thing to know. really.
and another happy thing this morning. a fun family video. after making the little anniversary film for jeff, i fell in love with movie making. sadly, the video camera usually gets the shaft in place of the still camera. it only surfaces twice a year at birthdays and christmas. i decided that was lame and went to work last month documenting some slices of our life and things that make me happy. i think i'm hooked!
This was shaping up to be one of those taboo We’re engaged after two days BYU romances. I had mocked those wacko people for years, but here we were with a story that wasn’t much different. After all, we had just met less than two months ago and only officially dated a total of two weeks. Even more ridiculous—we hadn’t even kissed yet! I had been dreaming of a picturesque first kiss like my best friend had atop the Eiffel Tower (in Las Vegas). We had no time for such luxuries. Our first was behind his apartment building next to a dumpster. So much for the scenery. But in my book, the qualifications for good kisses are passion and intensity. Neither was lacking.
As of week three, we were informally engaged. It seemed foolish to most. For us, all we knew was that we knew.
We still had all the formalities to take care of—meet the parents (his didn’t count because I knew his parents much longer than him), ask permission, get a ring, propose on bended knee, and dance in a field. We never did find that field, but a starry night on a bridge did the trick. And this time the shoes fit, perfectly.
Most importantly, we needed to plan a wedding. Jeff’s parents were still serving in Spain as mission presidents, so why not be adventurous and fly to Madrid for our temple wedding? It had the makings of an ideal wedding written all over it. I was ecstatic. Until the news rolled in that it was not permissible. Due to a particularly famous Mormon getting married in Hawaii, there had been an onslaught of seemingly destination temple weddings. We just happened on the scene at the wrong time. Thanks a lot, Steve Young!
A few tears were shed and a blender of orange juice spilt, but we knew it would all work out. Just one small problem though, we had already purchased tickets to Spain. So what do you do? You follow your mission president’s errr…father-in-law’s counsel and come to Spain married rather than engaged.
That was the best advice we ever took.
It was a sunny morning in Salt Lake City—wind gently bending the tulips on the ground. My heart pounded as he took my hands in his. I knew this was the ‘bit of heaven’ I had been waiting for all my life. He smiled. I smiled. His lips touched mine. And that’s when the real love story began.
