16 Years of Marital Bliss!

I want to share with you some events that took place in the year 1992:

• George H.W. Bush was President of the United States - Bill Clinton defeated him in the Presidential election later that year.
• A Winter and Summer Olympics was held that year in Albertville, France and Barcelona, Spain.
• Johnny Carson retired from the Tonight Show and was replaced by Jay Leno.
• Silence of the Lambs won Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
• Miley Cyrus was born.
• And most importantly, on May 23rd we were married in the Logan, Utah Temple!

Mike and I met in September 1991 at Ricks College.  We were in an Interpersonal Communications class together.  On one of the first classes of that school year, we ended up sitting next to each other during class and started talking.  At the end of class Mike said to me

"Maybe we should do something sometime", but didn't say when "sometime" might be. I wanted to give him another chance to ask me out, so I saved a seat for him the next time we had class.  At the end of class he did indeed ask me out, and drove me back to my apartment. Our first date was the following Saturday.  He was an hour late, and I thought I had been stood up.  We drove to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and wandered around the downtown.  We had dinner at Pizza Hut, and then went to see Terminator 2.  After that first date, we were pretty much inseparable.  We got engaged Christmas Eve, and were married in May.  

It's hard to believe that 16 years have passed since that day.  I don't feel like we are old enough to have been married that long.  I think we keep each other feeling younger than we are.  We have had our ups and downs over the years, but our love and marriage have grown through it all.

Time for an Update

It's been brought to my attention that some of you might be getting tired of my Earth Day post. I guess that it is probably time for an update of the past few weeks.  I do have a couple of excuses in my defense.  About 3 weeks ago our computer decided to crash.  We had it happen last summer, and paid to have it fixed.  This time we decided that rather than put any more money into it, that it might be time to just give in and get a new computer.  Of course it couldn't be just an easy trip to the store to buy a new computer.  Mike really had his heart set on a computer that we had to order (an iMac for any of you computer experts).  Once it finally came I practically had to make a reservation to schedule just a little time on it (you know how men are with their new toys). 

The other thing that has kept us busy was having Mike's parents come and visit us for 10 days. It was so nice having them here.  The kids enjoyed being able to spend time with them.  It is like a vacation for me - the kids don't want anything to do with me.  They also helped us get our yard in shape for the year - now I just have to keep it watered and weeded (ughh!).  We got to celebrate Grampy's birthday with him, and Mother's Day with Grammy.  It was a great visit, and we were sad to see them leave.

We are finally getting some nice weather, so the kids took advantage of it on Saturday and pulled out the swimming suits and made their own water slide.  It was great to spend some time outside.

This past weekend was Megan's dance recital.  We left the guys at home - they don't enjoy watching 2 1/2 hours of dancing.  Megan did so well - she is really a great dancer.  I will post the video of her 2 dances after Mike gets them downloaded.  

Happy Earth Day!

As I have written about previously, Mike and Megan went on a camping trip a couple of weeks ago. It was a retreat that Mike's company sponsored in which they talked about "sustainablility" and what type of carbon footprint we are leaving. I have to say that Mike has never been into the whole ecological thing, especially where the global warming stuff is concerned. But the things that they talked about that weekend made an impact on him, and as a family we are trying to do a few things to be more ecological friendly. And so in honor of Earth Day, I am going to share a list of easy things everyone can do that will have a significant impact on the environment.

1. Skip a car trip each week.
Skipping a weekly 20 mile trip represents less that a 10% decrease in the average American's driving and can reduce your weekly carbon dioxide emissions by more that 18 pounds.

2. Eat one less beef meal each week.
Livestock currently consume 70% of America's grain production. Grazing accounts for 800 million acres of U.S. land, and 18% of all water consumption is devoted to producing feed for livestock. If only 1,000 people take this action, we will save over 70,000 pounds of grain, 70,000 pounds of topsoil and 40 million gallons of water each year.

3. Don't eat shrimp.
For every pound of shrimp caught, over five pounds of marine life is killed, including endangered sea turtles. If only 1,000 people stopped eating shrimp, 12,000 pounds of sea life would be saved each year.

4. Declare your independence from junk mail.
Catalogs and other direct mailing account for 5.2 million tons of waste each year, and only 19% are recycled, leaving over 4 million tons to clog landfills. Call unwanted catalogs and asked to be taken off their mailing lists. To be taken off pre-approved credit card offers, call 1-800-353-0809.

5. Replace four standard light bulbs with energy-efficient compact flourescent lights (CFLs).
Not only will this reduce the emission of carbon dioxide, it will also reduce your electricity bill!

6. Move the thermostat 3 degrees.
Heating and cooling represents the biggest chunk of our home energy consumption.

7. Eliminate lawn and garden pesticides.

8. Install an efficient showerhead and low flow faucet aerators.

Even Megan is a believer, and this is how she looked when she left for school today (look at her shirt and bag)!

Moab

Mike went on his annual trip to Moab this past weekend. Like always, he had a great time getting away with some old friends. This is one of those things that helps him feel like he is maintaining his youthfulness. I wouldn't be suprised to still see him doing this at 65!

ONSC

I wanted to post Mike and Megan's pictures from their trip last weekend. They had a really great time, and it was a good father/daughter bonding opportunity. It was fun for Megan because there was another girl there about her age that she became fast friends with. Megan is so adventurous, and loves doing these types of outdoor activities. Obviously she gets that from Mike, which is good because it gives him someone to do all of this stuff with (it takes the pressure off me!).

The Missing Links

Things have been really different around here this weekend. Over the years we have become accustomed to having Mike out of town periodically. It took us a little while, but we've learned how to function while he was away. But even still, things don't feel complete when he is gone. As Megan gets older it seems as though she is gone away more often to sleepovers, late night babysitting, etc. I also notice that when she is gone that I get that same incomplete feeling. This weekend they are both gone at the same time! They went to a company retreat at ONSC (Ozark Natural Science Center), which is the same place that Megan went in 5th grade, and also last summer for her "Shiner" camp. We bribed Megan that if she got all A's for the 3rd quarter, that she could go with him on this retreat. She did it (yeah Megan!) and off they went Friday afternoon, not to return until Sunday. To make things even worse, they can't even call because there is no cell phone service where they are at. Everything has gone fine while they have been gone. Sammy and Noah have been great. Our ward had a fund raising dinner and auction last night, so we went to that. Today we ran some errands, watched conference, went to Walmart, got dinner at Sonic (their choice), and then had a movie night watching Alvin and the Chipmunks (again, their choice). And I have even been more productive than usual. I've kept the house pretty clean, I cleaned the office and my bedroom, and have even kept the dishes washed. Plus I even got to have a friend over after the kids went to bed to chat and watch a movie! But even still, a big part of our family is missing, and things are just not the same. I'm so grateful for each member of my little family, and for what they each contribute to make our family complete. It's so nice to know that everyone brings something unique and special into a family. I'm looking forward to having them come back so that we can be whole again!

Our Missing Links!

A Welcomed Sight

My friend Amy tagged me to post a picture of a welcome sight at our house. Last night the kids and I were just finishing dinner, and Mike was gone on a bike ride. All of a sudden the storm sirens started going off outside. I thought it was unusual because there wasn't any threatening weather expected. But I turned on the t.v. and sure enough we were under a tornado warning because of a tornadic thunderstorm that was moving through our area. Fortunately, Mike got home right about that same time. We went out in the back and watched the storm move through. The line in sky above the doghouse is called a "wall cloud". When those clouds form, there is usually rotation behind it. This picture is a welcomed sight because that storm was moving in a direction other than towards us! I don't think there was any tornado that actually formed with the storm, but living in this part of the country is sure an adventure!