Erickson And This Is My Joy

IT"S COMING......

2010-06-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

What is coming you ask?????

An UPDATE!!!!

The Crazy Month Called December!!

2009-12-23T10:41:00.000-08:00

I decided to post this without all the pictures. So, maybe later I will get around to the pictures.

Every year I think that I will be prepared for December to hit! Unfortunately, another December has flown bye and I am still wandering if I will ever be able to have a relaxing December. But for now, here is a recap.

Camry's Basketball

Basketball finally got over the second week of December. Her team did really well. They ended up being the first seed. Had a bye the frist game and lost by 1 the next game. It was sad and a bit frustrating to watch. However, we were very proud of Camry and the dedication and drive she had during the season.

Camry's Birthday

Camry's birthday hit us on the 16th. She is now 14 years old. HOLY COW!!! I am not sure where the time went, but she is turning out to be a beautiful young woman! We decided to let her have a few friends over the Saturday before. All I can say is OH MY GOSH!!! teenage girls are CRAZY!! They had a lot of fun though! The next day, her and Jeff both had to speak in church. They did a FANTASTIC job. Camry wrote her talk by herself on prayer. She had many members of the congregation in tears. What an amazing testimony she has. I was so proud of her. We then had family and friends over for cake and ice cream. She is a spoiled kid, but she deals with it well. Ha Ha Ha!

Kayden's Birthday

The next weekend was Kayden Downs birthday. He is now 7. We mention the Downs in our blog often, as we consider them family. He had his birthday party at a rollerskating rink. Camry can't skate, so she convinced her Dad to hold her hand around the rink. So Cute!

Erickson Christmas Party

Next game the Erickson Christmas Party. It was just us, Doug's Family and Leahmae and Merv, but the memories and time spent was memorable! We had a wonderful meal of different types of soup and breadsticks. I was in charge of games. We played the candy bar game and a present game. The present game was a hit!!! and quite hilarious to watch. We then opened presents and read a book I had put together of memories of Leahmae and Merv from some of their grandchildren and children. (Thank you everyone who took the time to participate it turned out really nice.) What a great time it was hearing stories of two wonderful individuals. Thank you for the gifts Leahmae and Merv we love them!

Christmas

We celebrated Christmas in Utah with my family. On our way, we stopped at Temple Square to see the lights. It was a great way to remember the night of our Saviors birth. Although it was quite chilly, we still enjoyed each others company and the beautiful lights. Christmas day was CRAZY!!! It started with presents, presents presents, food, food, food, more presents, more food, and more presents. It was wonderful to see my Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles and Cousins. It had been a long time and it was amazing to see how our families have all grown.

New Years Eve

Since Jeff and I are huge party animals, NOT. We spent New Years Eve having dinner at Ruby Tuesdays, and watching AVATAR in 3D. We then went home and played Super Mario Bros on the Wii. But I did get my New Years Eve Kiss.

Sorry for the late post, but I am just barely getting caught up on life. I love you all.

Can you say "HOLY FUNDINGPOOL"

2009-11-25T11:33:00.000-08:00

"HOLY FUNDINGPOOL"

Where do I begin!!!! The past few days have been filled with love, friendship, and CRAZY FUN!

To start off... Jeff had an Elder's Quorum activity we had to attend at the church. They did a pine wood derby. There weren't many there, but our friends the Downs joined us, so that was nice. Jeff made a UPS truck, obviously the truck obeyed all traffic laws, so it didn't win, but that is ok. Thanks to Ryan he made Jeff's face and UPS logos for the truck. Good Times!

Then....Camry and I attended the latest of the Twilight Saga "New Moon". She had been anticipating this day for quite a few months. She was so excited, that it didn't matter what crappy stuff she went through during the week and day of, that she could hardly contain herself! She kept saying "I don't care.... I get to see New Moon and no one is going to ruin it for me!" What optimism! We arrived at the theater 1 1/2 hours early to get in line. Her BFF arrived about 1/2 hour early and met us inside. I must say it was worth every penny and time spent. Jacob was "HOT" of course, but I must say, I am still an Edward fan. I think Camry was Team Jacob for this movie, but she will quickly switch at the next movie. Although, I did think her and McKenna were going to pass out when Jacob was in the rain and no shirt on! :-)

The next morning I woke up bright and early, yeah for me. I had 2 hair appointments to do. Jeff and I then had the opportunity to head down to the Jazz vs Pistons game. We went with Nichole and Ryan. Thanks to Craig Parrish, we had 9th row seats. It was awesome! The Jazz played well and it even went into overtime! added bonus! We then drove home that night. It was really nice spending that one on one time with Jeff. We talked all the way down and almost all the way home. We don't go on official dates often, so this was really nice.

The last event that happened was attending the David Archuleta Christmas Concert at Abravanal Hall! I decided a month ago when tickets went on sale to surprise Camry with an early Birthday Present! So, I showed up at school an hour early before dismissal to check her out. She new something was up, because Jeff and I had asked her random questions the night before. When she got in the car I had some flowers and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY balloon waiting for her. She was like "Who's Birthday is it?" I said "Yours! I thought I would surprise you and kidnap you for the night!" She was so excited! I held off telling her where we going till we reached McCammon and I couldn't take it anymore so I gave her the ticket to the concert! She was so excited and so grateful! My parents met us at Gateway, where we had a delicious dinenr at Biaggi's Ristorante Italiano! YUM!! Then just the girl's went to the concert! David Archuleta was awesome! He is such a cute young man! Although, his bass player was pretty cute as well. Although, David can definately sing! Camry has now moved from Taylor Lautner to David Archuleta. I'm ok with that! Ha Ha LOL! She is so cute! I had some much fun with her! One thing we did was make up "Holy _word____" like, "Holy Cow!" or "Holy FundingPool", which was our favorite, thus the title of this blog. The word "Funding Pool" came off a sign in downtown Salt Lake! We laughed and talked it was AWESOME! I love her so much and am so grateful for every minute with her. Thank you Camry for a FANTASTIC EVENING! HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY~!

Halloween

2009-11-03T11:20:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, Halloween is not my favorite Holiday! But we celebrated it anyways.

This year Camry dressed up as a fairy. I have to say she was a very pretty fairy! She got the idea from school. They had Spirit week so everday she had to dress up as something, one day being Fairy Tale day. I have decided Spirit week puts a lot of stress on families! Jeff dressed up as a Backstreet Boy. OK, not really. He put his hair in a faux hawk and Camry told him he looked like a Backstreet Boy. I didn't dress up on Halloween, but I did for work the day before. It was fun, but a lot of work, and wigs are HOT! ... in both ways!

We had fun carving pumpkins! Camry invited her friend McKenna to join in the fun, since we had 5 pumpkins out of the Erickson garden. Can you all figure out, who's is who?

The day of Halloween was a busy day. We attended the Trunk or Treat at the church and handed out over 200 pieces of candy. We then invited the Downs up for dinner, and treats. Camry took their son Kayden trick or treating for a little while, which she was able to get her own candy! Not that she eats it! It just sits in a bag in her room.

We then had the first ever, Downs and Erickson NBA Fantasy Basketball draft. I will keep you posted of the leaders.

I hope everyone enjoyed their evening with friends and family!

Happy Halloween!

The Varsity Caper!

2009-10-30T13:42:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
My Halloween was pretty eventful!
It started Friday at work, when a co-worker came running up to me saying "some guy is spray painting our dumpster! and he is walking towards the OMNI Building!" Immediately, I grabbed my coat and ran outside to chase him down! Mind you, I had on my long purple wig, false eyelashes, polka dot socks, heels and a skirt! The perpetrator was about a block ahead of me. Needless to say, I probably could have caught him, but I was a bit sore from my spinning class the night before. Ha Ha! Anyways, I decided to yell at him. I said "Hey! Did you just spray paint our dumpster?" He stopped turned and shook his head no. I then yelled "YES YOU DID! AND I JUST CALLED THE POLICE" He then just shrugged his shoulders and started to walk away. Well I hadn't called the police, so I dialed 911. As soon as the dispatcher answered I said "Hi, this is Emily Erickson and I am at Varsity Square at address, some guy just spray painted our dumpster! I have followed him and he is between 4th and 5th in the alley way. He is wearing cream slippers, army colored khaki pants that are floods, a black trench coat, black sunglasses and a black beanie." the dispatcher replies "OK, we will send someone when they are available." I was like "WHAT" I have him in sight. I said "If you send someone now you can catch him." She just simply said OK. Let's just say, I hope I never have an emergency where I might actually need an officer, because in this town they might never get there! Right then, another co-worker showed up in her truck, she decided to tail the guy. Unfortunately, she had to turnaround and she lost him before the office actually showed up.

CONGRATULATIONS CAMRY!

2009-10-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

Well, she did it! After a week long tryout, Camry made the 8th Grade basketball team. The school decided this year to have two equal teams of 15. She was excited to find out that she had made the team of the coach she wanted and her BFF 'Kenna also made the same team. So yeah for us, now we get to take her to practices at 6:30am and go to games twice a week. Jeff will be in heaven, as basketball is his 2nd most favorite sport!

CONGRATULATIONS CAMRY! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!

September??? Where Did it GO????

2009-10-12T11:31:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that September has come and gone and October is almost half over!

I am not a very good blogger, but oh well! I thought since it has been awhile, here are the TOP TEN THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN SEPTEMBER!

10. Camry started school :-( (I don't think she was to excited, but she is now a big 8th grader!

9. I got more Botox injected into my neck. (Bent a couple of needles, so only my left side got done)

8. I made fruit cocktail with my Mom and Lindsay!

7. Jeff played in a UPS softball tournament in Utah and took 2nd place! Thanks to Jared and Brandon coming to help out!

6. Franklin's volleyball team beat Hawthorne's volleyball team. Camry was absolutely elated! She was so excited she wanted to scream and tell everyone. Unfortunately Franklin lost to Hawthorne in the Championship game. Camry was mad! But she played an amazing game.

5. We spent Labor Day weekend camping with the Downs! It was one comedic error after another. But in the end it was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed our time with friends, who are more like family!!!

4. Londyn Amanda Tolbert was blessed. We love our family and were excited to spend a short weekend with them. Londyn is adorable and were grateful we could participate in her special day.

3. I celebrated my 35th birthday. That was really hard for me to admit. I have a wonderful husband and great stepdaughter who try their best to give me all of my birthday wishes! I received calls and birthday wishes from all my family and friends.

2. Spent my birthday weekend up at the cabin with the Downs. It was nice to get away and relax.

1. And the number one thing that happened in September at least I think so, was I got to take my birthday off, drive to Utah with Nichole, eat lunch at Zupas with my Mom and Dad and Nichole's Mom, and spend the rest of the entire day shopping in Park City! Nichole and I have never laughed so hard at each other and ourselves as we spent countless hours trying on clothes, dealing with tired feet, and trying to find something to eat, which ended up being Taco Bell. It was a lot of fun and I am grateful to have been able to spend time that day with a good friend, my parents and my family, who once again made my Birthday Special.

Maughan Reunion Slideshow

2009-09-09T11:47:00.001-07:00

Maughan Reunion

2009-08-26T11:38:00.001-07:00

Time flies! I can't believe September is here. This past month was a lot of fun spending time with friends and family. We took Camry, Bryton and Alex to Lava Hot Springs. The McMinn's happened to be going also, so we met up with them at the pool. It was a gorgeous day to be at the pool. Lava has two new slides, which Jeff loved. Camry somewhat loved. We had a great time and were able to catch some sun, before school started.

Camry started the 8th Grade! She made the Franklin Middle School 8th Grade Volleyball team! We are so proud of her. She always puts in a 110%. She was a little nervous that she wasn't going to make it, but we new better! CONGRATULATIONS CAMRY!

Friday morning, we got up early and headed to Utah for the Maughan Family Reunion! On our way there Camry got a text from Bryton, her cousin and said they were going to Hogle Zoo. Since we would arrive at the same time, we decided to go, plus we hadn't been to the Zoo in a long time. We met the Nields Family, My Mom, and Mom brough Brooklyn and Taysia. It was a lot of fun seeing all the animals. They had a new baby giraffe, which was adorable. And Camry fell in love with the baby Meerkats. Brooklyn and I rode the Carousel together, because at the time the other kids thought they were to old, but then they decided to ride it anyways. After the Zoo, my Mom, Camry, Brooklyn, and me headed to the mall to do some quick shopping for school clothes. We only had two hours, so we had to make it quick. I miss all the fun stores that are in Utah. Camry got some really cute clothes for school. She is such a beautiful young women!

Friday night, we had a barbeque at the Tolberts. It was nice to just sit and relax and of course eat great food. Amanda and Josh set up a Bouncy House where the little kids spent most of there time wrestling each other. The older kids and the dads played some game with the football on the trampoline. Later that night Spencer and Melini showed a video of where the next years reunion will be held along with a little surprise at the end. THEY ARE PREGNANT! It was a bit shocking, because they have been so quiet and private about the whole baby thing! But they are happy and we are all very excited for them! CONGRATULATIONS!

Saturday, we had to get up early again! We headed up to the Jordnelle Resevoir, where we spent the day sunbathing, boating, playing a little volleyball and riding wave runners. It was a lot of fun! The kids enjoyed playing on the water banana, tubing and playing in the sand. I personally enjoyed the wave runners, but I did manage to do some tubing with Lindsay and Luke. It was so much fun all three of us giggled the entire time. Jeff loved the wave runners as well, and realized he is getting old, because on the tube he felt every bump. Camry enjoyed playing in the water and riding the tube and wave runners. We ended up spending 12 hours at the lake that day, so by the time we arrived home we were all exhausted.

Sunday morning we jumped, ok crawled out of bed and went to the church to watch the ? temple dedication. This was a great experience to be able to view the inside of the temple and be there as a family. This was Camry's first dedication, so it was neat to see her reactions. Before we headed back to Pocatello, we had one last dinner with the entire family. It was great! We don't get to many opportunities to do this, so we were grateful to be able to spend that time.

We want to thank the Tolbert's for a great weekend!!!!!!

Baseball & Temple

2009-08-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

So, what does Baseball and the Temple have in common? Well, to start with, it is two of Jeff's favorite places.

A couple of weeks ago on a Friday night, we headed up to Idaho Falls, where we spent the night with our friends the Downs at the Idaho Falls Chukars game. We ate Hot Dogs, Fries, Cotton Candy and Icecream. We had a great time, it was a beautiful evening and a perfect night to spend at the ball park.

The next day, we headed over to Twin Falls with the Youth from our ward. This was Jeff's last activity with the Youth, for those of you who don't

know, he was recently released and put in as the first counselor in the Elders Quorum. He isn't to excited, because he loves the youth, but it will be good. We had a picnic at the Falls. We were there earlier this spring for softball, so it was fun to see them again, since the waterlevel had dropped. It was kind of a cool afternoon, but perfect for spending time in the outdoors. We then went over to the Twin Falls Temple to do Baptisms

for the Dead. The Twin Falls Temple is fairly new, so it was a lot fun to be able to see it. Before our Youth did the baptisms, they had someone speak to them. He explained that at the Twin Falls Temple, President Hinckley wanted the whole first floor for the Youth. It was really spectacular. The faunt was gorgeous! We were told it was built after the faunt in Nauvoo. It was oval and had entrances on both sides. I was really grateful to be able to take this trip not only with the youth, but also with Jeff and Camry. It brings such peace being inside the temple and knowing that I am blessed to have an eternal family!

Camping With Family and Friends

2009-08-11T11:42:00.001-07:00

Believe it or not, but the Erickson Family went camping and not at a KOA! We headed up to Willow Flat Campground, which is just right above Preston, Idaho. It was a gorgeous campground. We camped with our friends the Downs, Leahmae and Merv (Jeff's parents), Doug and Genea and their boys (Jeff's brother), Genea's friends and their kids, and the Greene's (Leahmae's sister, husband and son).

We arrived Friday night, which of course led to setting up the tent in the dark, but there where plenty of helping hands. I must have been pretty tired that night, because when I woke up we were experiencing quite the rain storm! Fortunatley by around 9:30am it tapered off and we only exprerienced a little bit of drizzle throughout the day. It is a good thing we brought pants and sweatshirts, because the temperature didn't rise above 50 degrees all day. The area had a gorgeous little river that ran through it and some really beautiful scenery, that you could not only experience around the campground but on some 4 wheeling trails. Me and my friend Nichole took what we thought was a short ride, but when we were heading down the trail and noticed Jeff and Al coming up I realized they had sent out a search party. Apparantly we had been gone for over 2 hours and we had a few people worried about us. We were just enjoying ourselves.

Of course when you camp you definately eat really well. We had eggs, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, pancakes, fruit, scotcharoos, candy, tinfoil dinners, banana boats, smores, hot dogs, I think I gained a hundred pounds. Although shivering in the cold, probably burned quite a few calories.

We had a great time and really relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. I think is was something we all needed.

Summer Youth Activity

2009-08-05T11:34:00.001-07:00

Once a year our Young Mens and Young Womens group do a giant slip and slide. It is a ton of fun and the youth and adults love it. Ammon Park has water, so we can hook up the hoses and layout a couple hundred feet of plastic. We wet it down and then to make it extra slippery we pour dish soap on it. It is a blast! I however didn't join in the fun, but Jeff being the big kid that he is had a ball and so did Camry.

SOFTBALL SEASON 2009 IS OFFICIALLY OVER!!

2009-07-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

After 4 months, ours softball season has come to end. It is a good and bad feeling all together. The good is, we might actually get to do something else, eat at home, and not have to be a the field. The bad, is we won't get to see Camry everyday, we won't see our friends as often, and I might actually have to cook.

Here is a brief re-cap of our last two tournaments.

July 9 -11th "Bat Wars" - Bear Lake

We headed back to Bear Lake. Fortunately this time it wasn't raining! Though, it was smoldering hot and somewhat uncomfortable at times, but all and all we were glad summer finally came! For some reason our team struggled in this tournament, I don't know if they weren't used to the heat, or if they were just exhausted. But out of 12 teams we ended up placing 6th? Jeff had Thursday off, but not Friday, so he had to head home Thursday night, leaving me with Camry and another girl from the team. We didn't end up playing a game on Friday until 6:00pm, which was a drag, but we headed over to Bear Lake, where one of the girl's grandparents owned some property and there was a gorgeous view of the lake and a beautiful pool. The girls were able to relax in the sun and I finally got to work on my tan. Saturday we ended up losing our first two games so, we headed home, stopping at "Dan's Delicous Drive In", which wasn't so delicous. Oh well!

July 24-25th - "Snake River Summer Slam" - Idaho Falls

LAST TOURNAMENT! This was the last tournament of the year. Our girls came out shining! They played awesome!!! WE COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE PROUD! Jeff once again had to work Friday, so I went by myself, which pretty much sucked! But I wouldn't have missed Camry playing for anything. Camry finally came out of her hitting slump, in fact she ended up hitting an in the park home run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and a double shortly after! Camry puts a lot of pressure on herself, she is a great athlete and tries her best, so it is hard to watch her when she get's so down on herself. But she is one tough kid! We played against one of our biggest rivals and she ended up getting hit in the ribs, by their biggest pitcher. I was proud of the way she handled herself as she ran down the base path, where Jeff met her. It knocked the wind out her, and other than a few tears, she was ready to play! She was bummed that she didn't get a bigger bruise to show for it, but she did have a nice "C" pattern from the stitches on the ball!

With Camry playing in two leagues and 7 tournaments, totalling over 70 games, softball has been our lives. However, despite my numb butt, and a few headaches, I wouldn't have traded my summer for anything else. There is nothing greater to me then watching and supporting Jeff and Camry! They are truly the love of my life!!!!

A Time to Celebrate!

2009-07-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

Well, as usual I am a bit late posting the past weeks events.

Happy 4th of July. This year we decided to spend the weekend at home. It was really nice that Varsity decided to close the office on the 3rd in celebration of the 4th, but not so nice that UPS felt that every driver should work a 12 hour day. But regardless, I had a great day off. I got got up on my weeding in the morning, and spent the afternoon bleaching my hair, no more roots! Thanks Nichole for helping me. That night we did some shopping, and went to a late movie! I know shocking. I haven't been to a late movie in ages. I am feeling a lot better, so I am able to do more. The 4th started out early, as we went to the neighborhood breakfast, when we got home at 10am it was nap time. I convinced Jeff that we needed to buy a patio set, so we could BBQ outside. We invited the Downs family. Nichole and I prepared all the food, Chicken and Steak Kabobs, fresh fruit, green salad, and corn on the cob (actually the boys prepared it with Ryan's special seasoning!) I tried to make homemade icecream for dessert, but it did not set up. So we settled for Davy Crocket cookies - Ryan's favorite! We had just finished cooking and setting the table, when the skies turned black and the hail and rain came pouring down. We were lucky we hadn't started eating! However, by the time the night came we were able to sit outside and enjoy the fireworks. It was a great evening!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF!!!

Jeff celebrated his 37th birthday on the 8th of July. His first comment of the day was "I'm an Old Man"! Jeff has realized that his body doesn't recover as fast as it used to, but that doesn't stop him from still acting like a big KID! We had such a busy week, that we finally got to celebrate his birthday at 9pm that night. Fortunately Jeff is pretty laid back. Camry was a huge help!!!!!!!!!!!! It is so nice to be able to rely on her to get things ready, while I was at work! She cleaned up the house, wrapped the gifts and made the cake, which was FANTASTIC! He loved his gifts we got for him, which were "Fight Night Round 4" for his XBox 360, a couple of shirts, and plaid shorts, which I was sure he would hate, but ended up liking them. He wore them the other day and boy did he look fine!!!! Ooo La La! My Mom got him the new Tiger Woods Golf Game for the XBox 360. Jeff is not a huge gamer, but in his off time he enjoys playing LIVE with Ryan. Camry took the time to right him a letter, which I think are the greatest gifts!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LOVE!!!!

Jaz & His New Friends

2009-07-07T12:19:00.000-07:00

So...Jeff and I helped out the Downs family take care of their Dogs. They have two. A miniature schnauzer., whose name is Dre and a new Boxer(actually he is 5 years old), whose name is Tank. They were a lot of fun and very well mannered. As Jeff would say, Tank is AWESOME! Ever since all I hear about is how he wants a Boxer (THANKS Nichole!). But he really is amazing. At bed time we told him to lay on his pillow and he didn't move all night. Jaz loved having friends over. It was the first time in the 8 years that Jaz did not bark at everything that moved. The three of them just followed eachother around the yard! It was adorable.

CONGRATUALTIONS JEFF AND CAMRY

2009-07-05T16:56:00.000-07:00

CONGRATULATIONS!

Camry and Jeff finally took 1st place in the Chubbuck City League.

This was Camry's first year in the 14U Division and she played an

amazing short stop. Jeff has been coaching Camry's city league for

6 years now and his team has never taken 1st! I am so proud of both of them. It is wonderful to see both of them succeed. Congrats to all the Rebel Girl's and their parents for supporting them!

Also in that same week, we played in the Chubbuck Fast Pitch Challenge. Yeah! We were finally able to play in a tournament at home, which meant I got to sleep in my own bed. I LOVE HOWE. Their were 6 Teams in the tournament. We ended up playing two games for the Championship! The FLASH Girl's were awesome, but just couldn't pull it out in the last game, so we ended up taking 2nd. It was all good though! The team that ended up beating us was from Billings, Montana and they were a talented team. Our girl's played awesome, so what more could you ask for. Congratualtions to Jeff and Camry again! WHAT A GREAT WEEK FOR THE ERICKSON'S!!!!!!!

Bear Lake Tournament

2009-07-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

Yes I know, another tournament! But for us, this is our life and we LOVE IT!!!

The Flash headed to Bear Lake or Montpelier as my Mom would say. We were praying for sunshine, and fortunately got it on Friday. We had time before the games, so we headed to Bear Lake to enjoy the sunshine and cold water. Camry and I went with the McMinn's while Jeff was at work, it was a lot of fun to relax before the games. Thursday was so cold, we could see our breath and Saturday was a down pour. There were 17 teams in our age division. We took 4th out 17 teams in the pool play and 7th overall. Our team once again looked like babies next to some of the girls. Our team is fairly young, most of our girls are going into 8th grade this coming school year, where a lot of these teams had girls going into 10th.

Camry plays proud and has the dirt and torn up legs to prove it. We a re so proud of her and the dedication and drive she plays with.

We were all very proud of our girl's and the way they played. KEEP IT UP FLASH!!!

YET... LIFE KEEPS GOING - A WORLD IN MOURNING OR ARE WE?

2009-06-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

So Michael Jackson died this last Thursday. Will life go on? DEFINATELY! Don't get me wrong, I loved Michael Jackson growing up, and still enjoy his music. Who can ever forget the white glove and red jacket. I remember watching Brandon and his friends breakdancing and doing the moon walk. Who could forget the Pepsi commercial he was filming when his hair caught on fire. He was definately the King of Pop and brought back the meaning of Pop Culture and Dance. Would he make his glorious comeback? Probably, not. But as I thought about this over the weekend, while listening to every radio station play his music and every newspaper and internet site mourned his name, it brought a sick feeling to my stomach. Though this man did a lot for music can we forget what he did with his life. When was the last time we read about his music? 20 years ago? In my mind, he got away with molesting children, spent his money foolishly, not only on on material things, plastic surgery and probably drugs, dyed his skin white, because he was ashamed of his background, donated his dna to produce three children, which he makes them wear veils in public, which by the way where are they?, and claimed to be a victim. I questioned why people cared so much and why did I. I think for me, it is easy to get caught up in the gossip and ways of the world, and after awhile, I thought WHO CARES! He is just another celebrity who didn't take care of himself, and was so wrapped up in his only little world he didn't know what reality was. He hasn't had a single for probably 15 to 20 years and like I said his comeback was never going to happen. For me, I guess I really don't care that he is gone. And, I guess it is a contradiction, that I posted his music, but like I said, I still enjoy his music, but it definately doesn't make me want to mourn the man. If you would like to see a history of his face, go to this link: http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Jackson.html

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

2009-06-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day!

This was a crazy weekend for our family, so Father's Day was kind of overlooked! But I wanted to take a minute and tell all of the Father's in my life how much I love and appreciate them! I have been blessed to have a GREAT DAD! I couldn't be luckier. He has always been there for me and even though we have had our challenges when I was younger, I feel our relationship has grown in so many ways. I know that whenever I need something he would drop everything to help. He is a hard worker, something I truly admire! It doesn't matter the time or the place there is always something to fix and though we tell him to relax, I think that is a form of relaxation for him. Although our trip to Hawaii proved that he does enjoy reading and I even caught him reading this weekend in Bear Lake while we were waiting for Camry's game to begin. I have learned so much from my Dad and I continue to do so! THANK YOU DAD~~! FOR EVERYTHING~! For your love, your laugh, your "Maughan" patience and your support. There aren't to many dad's that would sit in the pooring rain to watch his grand - daughters, but he does. I LOVE YOU!!!

The next Father I need to Thank is Mervin, Jeff's Dad! Merv is a silent Teddy Bear! He has shown me such love and affection since I have joined his family. He always has the best intentions for his family and I know he loves all of them and worries about them. He has always been a hardworker and I know that Jeff has learned a great deal from him. He loves his grandchildren so much. He makes every effort to go to softball, basketball, football, baseball games. He is willing to drop everything to help. Merv has a twinkle in his eye that shows love and happiness. He is a wonderful man and I am grateful that he is part of my life.

The last and probably the most important Father in my life is my husband Jeff! I couldn't have been more lucky to have found him. He has blessed my life in ways that I can not even measure. Jeff shows me so much patience and love! I know I can be a pain and somewhat of a mess at times, but I know he tries so hard to be there for me and love me. He puts up with my shopping craziness, the mainy headaches in my life, my complaining, my forgetfulness etc. Though we have not been unable to have a baby of our own, Jeff is a wonderful Father to Camry. I don't know to many Dad's that would sacrafice so much of his time, and love for his daughter. He constantly worries about her and exercises a lot of patience when she has a Drama Queen moment. He teaches love and kindness and is always being the bigger person. He loves the Youth and his church calling. Many people do not see it, but he has a strong testimony of the gospel and is a great example to me. I know he would do anything for me or for Camry. I am truly one of the luckiest women to have such a wonderful husband.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!!!

June 12 - 13

2009-06-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

Twin Falls, Idaho

Summer vacation for the Erickson involves one thing SOFTBALL! I won't complain, though because we enjoy the fun we have with friends and family that come out to support Jeff and Camry. This last tournament was in Twin Falls, ID, which is about 1 hour and 45 minutes away. Our 1st game was at 10am on Friday, so we were up and ready to leave by 7:15am. The team is getting matching logos for the cars of the team, the girls are really excited! For this tournament we only had Camry's and Kali's, but I think the new logo is pretty sharp.

Twin Falls was a tough tournament. We ended up taking 7th out of 11 teams. Not great, but like I said it was a tough tournament. We played teams from Blackfoot, Boise, and Buhl. It rained, imagine that. Janelle went and grabbed the jackets, but she grabbed mine. Jeff was so cold he wore mine, while I snuggled in a blanket! Doesn't he look HOT!!!! Camry played well and we are always proud of her and the effort she puts in.

Since we ended a bit early on Saturday, the McMinn's suggested we check out the Falls in Twin. Although, we got lost (big surprise), we ended up viewing some gorgeous scenery. If you haven't seen the Falls and are in the area, I recommend picnicing there. We got home around 5pm and went and had Chinese and saw "UP" the new 3D pixar movie. It was really cute and had a good message.

REGULAR SEASON!

2009-05-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

Softball, Softball, Softball, Softball!

What more can I say. In between tournaments on the weekends, we get to watch our city team The Rebels! It is hard going from tournament play to city play. My patience grows thin, because I expect the girls to make the right play, so I have to remember, that some of theses girls have never played! Jeff has been coaching Camry's city league for 5 years, this being is 6th. He has a blast, even when George kicks him out. And yes, if you were wandering, he has been kicked out, in fact it was the first game of the season. WAY TO GO COACH! He takes it in stride, me on the other hand get pretty fiesty. Needless to say, Jeff loves to coach and he truly enjoys it and it just looking out for his team. He has definately learned a lot coaching girls, with all the emotions and hormones running loose on the field, it is surprising he hasn't pulled his hair out, but he manages pretty well! It must be that it is usually 2 against 1 at home! The girls usually winning! This year it has been nice, his 2nd cousin Amy and her husband Brett have stepped up and helped with the coaching this year. It really has helped take some of the pressure off Jeff, especially, because some days he isn't off in time to make the 5:30pm games. So far this season we are undefeated - first time ever, but who knows things can change, I just hope the girls keep playing their hardest. Camry is doing really well! She hit a homerun this season, and most games gets on base. She is playing Shortstop, which she does really well at, and she even does a little relief pitching, which she doesn't mind doing!

GO REBELS!

May 15th - 16th WE LOVE SOFTBALL!

2009-05-26T11:09:00.000-07:00

LOGAN TOURNAMENT

May 15th & 16th we had our 2nd tournament of the year in Logan, Utah. It was a tough tournament! We played 2 pool play games Friday night, 2 pool play games Saturday morning. The actual tournament started at 12:30pm. We ended up facing off with the team who knocked us out of the Kaysville tournament - The Mystique - I believe they were from Cache Valley. We lost, but it was a tight game! Our girls really showed up! We then pushed our way through the losers bracket. We then had to play The Mystique AGAIN, to decide who was going to the Championship Game. We lost :-( Once again it was a tight game. Both teams were tired and sunburned, afterall 12 hours of softball tends to wear you down. We took 3rd Place! Not to bad! The girls played hard, the Coaches did there best, and the parents cheered loud. It was a fun weekend.

Happy Mother's Day or was it?????

2009-05-11T13:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day! A phrase many of you heard yesterday, and I know for my sister, this cartoon definately depicts how she felt after the end of yesterday and probably today.

So let me ask this question "How many of you enjoy Mother's Day?" Is it a special day or is it just another day we have to clean up after?

Anyone who knows me, knows what a struggle it is for me on Mother's Day. In fact I don't even like my family to celebrate the day, which they are pretty good about doing. It is probably selfish the way I act, but I do want everyone to know how much I love all of the Mother's in my life, and friends who do there best to be the BEST Mom's they can be.

So I want to ask the question, "What does it mean to be a Mother?" Is it more than a title you inherited when you brought children into this world, which is the way Mother is defined in the dictionary? or is it a word you cherish because you have been blessed in ways that you cannot even possibly comprehend. I remember at one point my Mom told me that Mother's Day used to depress her, until she quick thinking of herself and focused on her own Mother and Mother in Law. Do we tend to forget about others and dwell on ourselves. For those of you who do not have children, do you look at the day as a meaningless day, or a day you HAVE TO have your Mom or Mother-in-law over to dinner??? As I have sat at work today, all of these things have ran through my mind.

Yesterday stunk for me and it was probably my own fault, but I have wanted to have a child of my own for many years and have been disappointed many times. I know that most of you are saying that I have Camry and that I am a Mom to her, but when it comes down to it she has a Mom or at least someone with that title. I will never hear the word Mother or Mom. I guess that is why I asked the questions above. Cherish the words Mother or Mom, these are words that God has blessed you with, if you are in that selfish stage of your life and question whether or not children are for you, you are surely missing the point of this incredible blessing. There is always time for all of the material things in the world, but there isn't enough time to spend with family and children. Being a Mother is the greatest calling you can inherit on this earth.

Once again, I admire my own Mom she is and always be my best friend, she does not take Jeff's place, but she has a special place in my heart. I am grateful for my Mother-in-Law Leahmae she is a wonderful Mom. I am grateful for my own sisters who are patient loving Mothers, and I am blessed to be associated with friends, who are great examples of selfless and loving mothers.

Yes! Life is BUSY!!

2009-04-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

It seems like the weeks just fly by. Life has been extremely busy for our family. Some of you maybe wandering how with only having only one child or should I say teenager, who lives with us only every other week could be so busy, well we are!

Despite some of the craziness, the past few weeks have been a lot of fun, so here is a recap!

For the first time in 10 years we opted out of going to the Dodge National Circuit Rodeo, it was kind of sad, to not continue on with this tradition, but for some reason the Holt Arena gives me horrible headaches (imagine that!). I think it is a combination of the dust and lights. Anyways, we did have fun going to Texas Roadhouse with Travis and Rachel Porter (Jeff's nephew). It was a lot of fun. We found out that they are expecting there first baby! CONGRATULATIONS Travis and Rachel!!!!
We also celebrated Easter. Not to exciting, since Camry is 13 and she was at her Mom's we only had time to give her her basket and get a quick photo!

Camry also had another Volleyball Tournament! I have to say CLUB NEXT (which is the name of the team) did AWESOME!!!! They took 1st on their court and 2nd in the entire gym! We were so proud of them. It never gets old watching your child succeed!!!! Way to go CAM D.O.G.!!!!

Jeff and I also had the opportunity to attend a wonderful play at the Stephens Performing Arts Center with the McMinn's. It was the story of a woman who through her own doubt and mistakes she had made in her life, didn't believe that God could love her anymore, through the story it went through Christs life. The music was fabulous and though I am not a big fan of our local talent, I have to say that the actors and actresses had some amazing voices. If you ever here of this play being performed in your area, I would definatly take advantage of seeing it. I know we will. Thank you again to the McMinn's for inviting us!!!

On top of going to practices for Volleyball, our Softball Season is officially uderway! We had our the city tryouts last week, and despite not getting some of the girls Jeff really wanted on his team, he is optimistic of the girls he did get. Games start next week, so the life at the park begins! We also had our first Tournament with the FLASH! We headed down to Kaysville, Utah, where we competed for two days. This was our first tournament, so we were a bit rusty and full of nerves, but the girls played hard and the Coaches stayed positive. Spring ball is a BLAST! The parents enjoyed watching the games in 30 - 40 degree temperatures with a continual down pour of rain, while the girls ran around and played in the wet and cold. My even came and toughened it out! Thank you Dad for the SUPPORT and company! WE ALL LOVED IT! Who wouldn't though! Camry was AWESOME of course! She had some beautiful catches, while playing 2nd base, great hits - which has to be the new bat she got for her birthday, got hit by the ball twice, once on the side and once on the calf - same pitcher, and in my opinion had the best stretch while covering first. I wish I would have got it on tape, but I was curled up in a blanket. By the time we got home she was very stiff and bruised up. And by Sunday at church her whole body ached. She is a tough kid! Despite the bruises and aches she loved every minute of it! Jeff also had a great time coaching! Him and Rob had matching outfits and looked absolutely adorable!!! (ASA rules say the coaches needed to match the team and they did!) Jeff and Rob kept their cool, despite some of the stupid calls from the Umpires! Both wives were very proud!!! You can tell they love it!

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY MOM!

2009-04-06T12:14:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

This past weekend Jeff and I drove down to Utah (Sandy), for a surprise Birthday Party for my Mom! We all (meaning Jeff & I, Amanda & Josh, Brandon, Lindsay & Ashlynn, Tonya & Bryan, Grandma and Grandpa Miller, and Grandma Maughan) met at the Market Street Grill. Dad was in charge of getting Mom there. We could tell that she was a bit irritated (only because she thought she looked bad! But she still looks a lot younger than some 60 year olds I know!) when she was walking through the door, but the tears came gushing out when she saw us all, she truly was surprised!

Mom I LOVE YOU! I have to say that I was blessed with the greatest Mom. She has always been there for me, especially during some of my darkest and trying times. She takes the time to put things into perspective for me. She has the best recipes, which gives me a great excuse to call, just to say Hi! She has taught me so many things, it is hard to put them all down! Sometimes, our husbands just don't know what to do when we are sick, but the mere sound of my Mom's voice brings me to tears and she knows what to do! She is always up for a day at the Mall! But most of all she loves me for ME! Mom Thank you!!! I hope you have a fantastic week and Birthday!

Of course, while we were there, Jeff and I took advantage of lovin' on Ashlyn and of course she was so happy to see her "FAVORITE" Aunt and Uncle.

Volleyball Tournament

Before we headed down to Utah we spent some time in Idaho Falls watching Camry play in a Volleyball Tournament! She has developed so much and we are so proud of her and all that she has accomplished. Her team has also improved, but still has a problem communicating together! Regardless it was a blast and we enjoyed spending time with her and friends!

Pocatello on March 24th

2009-03-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

ARGGGGHHHH!

I am so sick of winter.

What happened to SPRING!

It is a joke here that it is Winter Break for the schools instead of Spring Break.

Saturday it was 60 degrees!

Today 20 degrees!

I took these pictures out my front door today!

Of course I had to get Jaz playing in the snow!

I realize everyone is feeling the pain, but whoever

is praying for snow, I would really appreciate it if

you would stop!

Our First Volleyball Tournament

2009-03-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had the opportunity to experience our first Volleyball Tournament! and let's just say it isn't softball. It was different and yet a little boring. I think Jeff and I would rather be outside watching softball, in fact at one point Camry and her friend Kali said "hey! let's ditch this popsicle stand and go to a softball field!" But to make the best out of the situation they went off to the side and pretended to pitch to eachother and hit the ball with a water bottle. It made both of their dad's proud as they are the coaches of their softball team! We have had some issues with this Volleyball Club she is playing with, but regardless, Camry has made the best out of it. Her coach is young, but has taught the girl's a lot. You can tell they are a new team, because they still struggle with the talking on the court, which is very important when you play Volleyball. Even thought they didn't win to many matches, I was proud of Camry's attitude, when she told me that instead of getting mad, which her competitive edge brings out, she decided to just have fun and do her best. It is exciting though to watch her learn something new and different. And regardless how bad your team struggles, it is fun to watch and support your kids and in our case kid.

FYI - I am still working on our Hawaii post, so stay tuned for that!

NOT CRAZY YET!!!

2009-02-27T11:04:00.000-08:00

This was written before we left for Hawaii.

This week has been completely crazy!!! With trying to get ready for Hawaii, which I can't believe is finally here, Jeff deciding to go to the Jazz game, Doctors appointments everyday, headaches, Young Men and Young Womens, Volleyball practice, and Softball practice you'd think we were pushed over the edge. So since that summed up what I did I asked Jeff to write about his and Camry's trip to the Jazz Game.

Jeff's words, with Emily's adlib added.
I picked Camry up from school early at 1:30pm. I think she enjoyed missing her 8th hour (Study Hall) the most. We got to SLC about 4:00pm and visited Temple Square. I hadn't been there for a long time and some things I thought were new but the missionaries informed us that it had been there forever. We talked to quite a few sister missionaries until we ran in to one from Korea. It was a pretty cool time talking to her and listening to her speak Korean. As weird as it may sound I actually understood her. Of course she was talking about church stuff so I'm sure that's why I understood it. She told me that she could understand what I was saying to but I'm not quite sure that was true, mainly because I couldn't even understand what I was saying. but anyway Camry thought that it was pretty cool We then made our way to the Conference Center and took a short guided tour, which was pretty exciting. Needless to say Camry now wants to go on a mission even more than already did and go to General Conference. She is a great kid with an amazing testimony! It was actually a little hard to get Camry away from Temple Square to get to the ESA in time for the game. We had planned on eating first but she wanted to take the tour of Temple Sqare instead..

The game was good we got there a half hour early and took some pics of DWILL and the Jazz warming up and our seats were great! 9th row! The Jazz played and looked great and won by 20 this was Boozer's first game back and he was the only Jazzman that didn't look good.

INSIDE JOKE

2009-02-19T11:12:00.000-08:00

INSIDE JOKE

This is for Camry!

I don't know what it is with inside jokes and teenagers, and I probably never will. Even despite being one at one time, which seems like ages ago! Anyways, Camry has a new craze for Ariel! Why, once again I don't know. All I get out of her is that she is Ariel. I think it may have something to do with a boy. Who knows.

This last weekend was Valentines Day! I think this is the dumbest Holiday and why we celebrate it is beyond me! In the morning Jeff played basketball and cleaned the house while I colored a good friends hair, which I say turned out fabulous! He did bring me my weekly Jamba Juice, which if anyone has stayed at our house, it is an Erickson weekly tradition. We then went to lunch with friends. Jeff let me go to the mall, which was my Valentine gift. We spent the evening by Jeff watching the Slam Dunk contest, me doing a girl's hair for sweethearts and eating ice cream from the DQ. We still haven't given each other the cards we bought, because once again it is just another dumb holiday. I think we decided to save the cards for next year. I think Camry had a great Valentines as she received many suckers at school from friends and she was asked to dance by 2 boys at the Franklin Valentines dance. Anyways, I am told that it is a day to tell the ones you love that you love them, so Jeff and Camry I LOVE YOU!! Mom and Dad - WE LOVE YOU!! Leahmae and Mervin - WE LOVE YOU!! and to all my Family and Friends who love and support us - WE LOVE YOU!!!

Camry Get's A Perm

2009-02-12T08:04:00.000-08:00

She did it!

After much deliberating Camry finally decided to get a perm. Surprisingly enough she wanted to know what it woul look like before it we did it. Obviously that wasn't going to happen. If it could I think for all girl's in general would be much happier and so would their Hairdressers. So we headed off to Fred Meyer to look at hair magazines. Though Camry was much more interested in a "teen" magazine of her favorite stars, I searched for pictures of what a perm could look like. I myself was quite nervous, because I didn't want her to hate it! I know how that is to hate your hair - ok who doesn't! Camry has gorgeous hair regardless and is such a beautiful and confident young women that we figured she would look good regardless. So she decided to do it. I used some foam rods, which if you grew up in the 80's early 90's you will remember benders, well that is what they kind of look like. They give a more body and wave then actual curl, this way she could easily straighten it or do the messy wavy look. Though with my anal personality with hair, I would curl every strand regardless if I have a perm.

Giving Camry a perm took a couple of hours, but it was a lot fun. We read her "teen" magazine, which contained many fun Valentine Quiz's which we both took to find our perfect match. We laughed and talked and joked around. I love Camry's laugh. She is so funny. Besides her dad, whom she is just like, they are the 2 people I know that:

A - Laugh at their own jokes

and

B - Laugh outloud to themselves

Both of which are hillarious. Camry will be receiving a text and just start to giggle, which she did through out her perm. I realized teenagers have a lot of inside jokes. Anyways, I think she likes it. I have posted a of pictures of the perm, so tell us what you think!

FAMILY, FRIENDS & FOOD

2009-02-03T11:10:00.000-08:00

Well as my header implies, this past week was full of Family, Friends, and lots of food. We had our first parents meeting for the FLASH Team, which very well. But, the fun part was having ice cream at Cold Stone with the McMinn's, who's friendship we enjoy having. Spencer and Melina decided their hair needed some serious work, so on Friday they ventured on up to Idaho. While waiting for them to get here, Jeff and I watched a great movie, which we recommend to all. It was called the "Express", take the time to rent it, it will be well worth it.

Saturday, Jeff, Spencer and Bryton headed up to Pebble Creek Ski Resort to enjoy some Skiing and Boarding. I was a little worried for Jeff, as he hasn't been skiing for a few years, but apparantly they all did well and enjoyed a beautiful day up on the slopes.

Melina and I started out our day, by doing the "Biggest Loser Bootcamp" exercise DVD. It was Melina' first time, I however have been doing it for a few weeks now, I don't look any better but the work out is good. Then I did her hair. I should have taken a picture, because it turned out really good. We did super blonde hi-lites with some hot pink low lites, she is still young and can totally pull it off. I would love to try it - maybe for Hawaii!!! Then of course we hit the mall. There were some pretty good sales going on and lots of winter clearance, I think Melina took half the rack in with her to try on. We both did quite well and will look way cute the next few days wearing our new clothes. I don't know what it is, but there is nothing better than wearing new clothes and shoes!!! We spent the night enjoying a good meal with Tonya and Brian, Spencer and Melina at Wingers then watching a movie at home, "Lakeview Terrace", of which I would not recommend, I did not enjoy it, but the others did.

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!!!

Of course we started out with a day at church, and the afternoon preparing all sorts of goodies! Spencer, Melina, and Camry (yippee) stayed for the game and we had our friends Nichole, Ryan, Kayden and Kiersten come over. I posted a picture of all the food we had, needless to say we didnt even eat 1/4th of it. Although the Cardinals lost, we still enjoyed ourselves! We are truly lucky to be blessed with good Friends and a Family who loves and supports us.

LET THE SEASON BEGIN

2009-01-25T18:09:00.001-08:00

Well, the Camry Erickson sports have officially started for 2009!

Camry and most of the other FLASH members(our girl's fastpitch tournament team) had the opprotunity to attend the Utah State Fastpitch Softball Clinic over the Martin Luther King Holiday. Jeff and our friend Rob McMinn have been looking forward to this weekend for a few weeks. They have actually been planning strategies for this upcoming season since this past season. Let's just say it is like watching to kids on Christmas! Video of the training camp was taken, of course for the girl's enjoyment and the two coaches to learn from. This is Camry's favorite sport so of course she shares her dad's excitement.

The camp was very helpful. The first day was spent working on their fielding techniques. Camry enjoys playing second and short stop, so she worked with that group for the day. The second day they worked on their hitting. Camry was excited to use her new Cat Osterman Composite bat she got for her birthday. The Coaches of Utah State where great! They took the time to walk around and work with each girl individually. Let's just hope they remember all they have learned, as this year we move up to the 14U Division.

Camry also decided she wanted to play on a EIV Team, which is the Eastern Idaho Volleyball competitive league. She made the Franklin Middle School Volleyball team this past fall and she really enjoyed herself, though she had never played before I thought she did very well. We had our first parents meeting, which Jeff attended and met her coach. She starts practicing this week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We are not to excited about the tiny little shorts she will have to wear, but I bought her a warm-up suit that we will cover her up in before games and after. She will play in 5-6 tournaments, which will be in Idaho Falls almost every Saturday March - May! YIPPEEE!

Needless to say our Spring and Summer weekends are packed with tournaments, but we love to watch Camry and support her! If you are interested in coming up to see her, let me know and we will let you know when she plays.

10 Years of Marriage

2009-01-16T11:49:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary on January 7th. I thought this was a great way to start out our new blog. Some people say that 10 years is a long time and others say it goes by so fast. For us, it is hard to say. Not much has changed for us, other than me developing constant headaches, which are caused from stress....I wouldn't say it has been stress free, but the morning of our Anniversary, Jeff gave me a hug and kissed and said that this has been the best 10 years of his life...and I can honestly say that, that statement is true for me as well. I thought since this is my first post I would give a brief history of how it all began.....

I guess you could say we owe it all to Bryan and Tonya, but who wants to give them all the credit! They may have set up the date, but I believe that Jeff and I where destined to be together. Cheesy I know! Our first date took place down in Utah, Jeff stayed at my house (awkward, yet convenient). He was very shy. We went to TGI Fridays, where I told him to eat his carrots, which he did, not knowing that he really doesn't like carrots. I remember he showed me a picture of Camry, who at the time was only 2. She was absolutely adorable, who wouldn't have fallen in love with her. After dinner, we went to Mulligans to miniture golf. I remember Jeff brushed up against me and I got all the wonderful butterflies that come with that first love. After that we went back to the house and got in the hot tub, I guess you could say that the real conversation started, once everyone got out and we stayed in. We talked until about 3am! Because we were now prunes, we got out and changed into our sweats and sat on the couch to continue our conversation. The words just flowed, it was awesome. Around 5am, which now you could say had turned into our second date, he leaned in for the kiss. All I can say, is that it was perfect. It was like you always dream of what your first kiss would be like, I believe at this point, I new he was the one. Because he lived in Pocatello, ID, and I lived in Sandy, UT. We developed a long distance relationship. We would talk every night and both developed huge long distance bills, which both parents can attest to, and on the weekends he would come see me or vice versa. I met Camry a week later. They arrived at my house late, and she had slept all the way down. Jeff was hoping she would go back to sleep, but she didn't. Now Camry did not like to many people, but I have to say when I opened the door she smiled and gave me a big hug, I guess it couldn't help that I had a cute white dog (Beau). That night Jeff got so frustrated, because she wouldn't go to sleep. We tried everything, maybe she thought she was our chaperon. I tease Jeff that I only married him for Camry, and somedays it is true. I am so blessed to have her in my life. Well, needless to say we were engaged a month and a half later. His proposal wasn't exactly the most romantic, but it was still perfect. After driving from Salt Lake to Park City, back to Salt Lake around Salt Lake and up the canyon, we finally pulled of the rode and stood in the dark and rain, where he finally asked.

I am so greatful to have found a man who is funny, light-hearted, patient, loving, kind, active and so on...I couldn't have found a more perfect match.