So Cal Evans

Picture day!

2011-11-07T09:07:00.000-08:00

We just got Kyrie's school pictures back! They turned out cute!

After school pictures we went in the backyard and had our own mini photo shoot!

Halloween

2011-11-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

This Year for Halloween, Kyrie was Rapunzel from Disney's Tangled. It's very difficult to decide which princess you'd like to be. Kyrie went through so many, Cinderella, Jasmine, Belle. I pointed out to her that Kyrie's freckles reminded me of Rapunzel, and that she didn't have to wear shoes. In the end Rapunzel won out! What can I say, "Mother knows best!"

I think she made a perfect Rapunzel!

Melanie and Jade's Wedding Day

2011-09-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

More catching up...

2011-07-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

Here is a craig's list find that I sanded down, primed, painted then antiqued for our guest bedroom.

Our guest bedroom taking shape!

For Easter I saw this cute idea in a family fun magazine and decided we would try it. (I told you I was catching up!) So here is one of our scuba Easter Eggs. Kyrie really wanted to take them swimming with her in the spool.

Kyrie getting a big hug from Monster's Inc. Sully at California Adventure!

The Riley family came down for a visit, we loved having them! We went on base and had a great tank photo shoot.

Kyrie and Kaelyn working it for the camera!

Kyrie turned 5 and had Luau birthday party!

Here is Kyrie's luau sand castle cake that Heather and I slaved over. Heather has been teaching me the ways of cake decorating and I must say we were very pleased with the way Kyrie's cake turned out.

The Riley girls and the Evans girls livin it up at Disney!

Kyrie's preschool graduation, those are just the kids from our ward. So cute!

Kyrie, pretending to be a mermaid.

Picture day at dance, more to come after July 20th.

Kissy face

Jewls and Eric came to visit! We loved having them! Kyrie loved Lilly! We went to the wildlife park and Sea world, but I must have forgot my camera for Sea world because I have no pictures!

Brian's graduation from Camp Pendleton General Dentistry Residency Program. I am so proud of him. I'm sure most of you know by now, but he was accepted to the Oral Surgery Program in Balboa. Way to go Brian! We are truly so blessed!

Our good friend Scott just had a birthday and to celebrate we went to club 33! I didn't know about this club until my recent obsession with all thing Disneyland but apparently it's extremely exclusive! Walt Disney had it built to next to his apartment over Pirates of the Caribbean. Thanks Vikki and Scott for getting us in!

After you go up the elevator they have the beveled glass phone booth that was used in the movie "The Happiest Millionaire" I got a picture of it on Vikki's camera! I wanted to start dancing and singing, "I'll always be Irish!"

After Brian gave Kyie a dental exam, Kyrie could not wait for him to come home so she could give him one. She even made her own dental mask!

Playing catch-up

2011-04-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

We drove up to Modesto to see Reed! It was so good to see the Stone family! We love them and had an awesome time with everyone! Kyrie keeps asking when we are going back to Nona's house. On Saturday we went to San Francisco and walked a lot to see Pier 39. Good times!

"The Rock"

Ate some really good chowder, fried zucchini, and fish n chips at "Chowders"! YUM

Kyrie jumping with Uncle Jacob and Aunt Emma!

Brian flying!

Kyrie and I chillin in the back of the plane.

Pagosa Springs Ski trip with the Garietys. Below, wildlife preserve.

Kyrie getting ready for her first day of ski school

Yahoo for skiing!

Safari Park with Aunt Melanie

Disney

Ice Skating with cousin Nora.

Christmas with the Evans Family!

My brief moment as a blonde.

More Disney!

There's more on the way. That's all I had the time and patience for this round!

Thanksgiving Break

2010-12-07T14:19:00.000-08:00

Before Thanksgiving, Melanie and Jade came down and we were able to party it up at Disneyland! We love Disneyland!

and we love California Adventure! I'd like to give a huge shout out to Josh Adams who hooked Mel and Jade up in a big way!! Thanks Josh, you are the best!

Pirates of the Caribean was experiencing some technical difficulties so we sat in the middle of the ride for a good 15 minutes. Kyrie's facial expression really says it all.

It's tough being a bug! A fun 3-D show. Actually, I kind have mad anxiety in this show because there is a parat where you are attacked by bugs and there are things that come out of the back of the seats and stick you in the back. Sorry if that ruins the experience for anyone in the future but I'm sure you will thank me when you are prepared that that unpleasant stab in the back.

I love Thunder Mountain! We sat at the very front of the train this time and I couldn't believe how slow the ride seemed. Last Friday Kyrie and I sat in the very back and loved it. So Mel, I highly recomend the back if you are lookin for speed!

My Mom, Dad, Jacob and Nathan came down for Thanksgiving (along with Jade and Mel who were here for Disney) and it was so much fun to have them!!

Digging in.

Below, Melanie is hiding her "bad side" behind a roll. I know right? Like Melanie has a bad side! Whatever Melanie you don't have a bad side, so you can run and tell that, home girl!

Everyone eating. Brian fried the Turkey and I thought it was amazing! I look like I'm about to inhale my entire plate.

The day after Thanksgiving we went to the San Diego Wildlife Park. Kyrie took the picture above of her Nona and Papaa. Below is a picture of a baby cheetah. So cute.

The Safari ride, and another one of Kyrie's amazing shots.

The Merry-go-round!

Thanks Mom, Dad, Jacob, Nathan, Melanie, and Jade for coming out! We loved having you guys! We had so much fun playing games, watching movies, chillin in the spool, eating, Disney, and going to the Wildlife park. We Love you!

Update

2010-11-09T13:52:00.000-08:00

Lounging lion at the wild animal park.

Below, a project inspired by my friend Vikki, displaying Kyrie's artwork in her (work in progress) play room/loft.

Kyrie dressed up as Ariel for her preschool Halloween Party.

Kyrie with her friends.

My halloween costume. Pretty amazing right? No, I wish. Disneyland!! Kyrie was picked for Jedi training. I really need to work with her on her Jedi skills so next time she is picked I will not be so embarassed. Throughout the training she just kept striking poses for pictures.

Sharee, Arthur and Family came out for a visit in which we crammed in Disneyland, the San Diego Zoo, the Beach and Sea World. It was tons of fun!! I think Dallin would have been a little more qualified to fight Darthvader. Hey, I've always wanted to fight Darthvader. Next time Kyrie will be ready, I tell you! Okay, enough of Kyrie's Jedi training, I'm not bitter that I was not picked. I'm not bitter that I am too old to participate in the jedi fun. I'm not. :)

Kyrie and Daphne

At the Zoo with the cousins

Pickin pumpkins

Kyrie found her soul pumpkin

Kyrie swimmin with her buddies Hannah and Leah in the spool

Here is a picture of my Kitchen. I love this Kitchen!

Here is a brief video of Kyrie's fight with Darthvader.

Catch up...

2010-09-29T11:31:00.000-07:00

Moving into our rental home. Kyrie loved having all the open space before our things arrived. She rode her scooter all over the house.

Swimming in the spool. It's the perfect Kyrie size.

Kyrie's room before

Kyrie's room after

I had these shutters in Kyrie's room in Kentucky but they wouldn't fit the windows out here in the west. I was so sad and could not bring myself to throw the shutters away, so I came up with this.

Kyrie, Nathan, and David (Heather and Jake's boys) at the zoo.

I love the zoo! We got to see an elephant eat lunch, up close.

Kyrie and Dad at the wildlife park.

Me and Kyrie!

Kyrie, off to preschool!

We went for a stroll on the beach. Kyrie was chasing seagulls when a wave came out of nowhere and knocked her down. She was such a good sport about it. She just kept saying "mom, that wave got me, huh?"

So I will hopefully be updating again soon. I have more pics, just not enough time or patience at the moment to download them onto the blog.

While Brian was at Officer Training

2010-08-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

So I went to update the blog and couldn't find my camera with all the latest pictures of our move and all that jazz. I decided that because I very rarely take the time to sign into my blog I would go ahead and post some of the pics that were taken while Brian was in Rhode Island at officer training. I was able to stay with my parents those 5 weeks! It was so great to visit for such a long time. Kyrie had a blast. She will randomly say, "I miss Nona", "I want to jump on the tramp wiff uncle Jacob". "I finke we should go to Nona's, that's a good idea, huh mom". "Uncle Mathan is crazy, huh?" "I need to go to Emma's room" (Kyrie would always go into Emma's room and take her jewelry)

Below we went to Grammy and Grandpa Stone's for a Memorial Day BBQ and Kyrie got to chill with her second cousins Gabriel and Asher.

Kyrie and Nona feeding the fish.

Kyrie and Nona sharing a cherry turnover. Actually Kyrie had like one bite which was great because mom and I were able to eat more!

Kyrie and Uncle Jacob swimming at the Brooke's who are awesome about letting people swim in their pool. Thank you Brooke Family.

Nathan and Kyrie built a fort while we were at the cabin. Okay, Nathan built a fort while Kyrie got in the way. Nathan made a bow and arrow and Kyrie kept saying, "Mom, uncle Maffens gonna boom a bear" Kyrie believed completely that Uncle Nathan would use his bow and arrow to kill a bear if they happened upon one.

Kyrie would jump on the tramp almost every day with Uncle Jacob. After they jumped with the hose on, they would then have a Popsicle. It was their daily ritual. Jacob was so nice to do this with Kyrie, and of course she asks for Uncle Jacob all the time and was very disappointed when she found out Uncle Jacob would not be at the cabin when we recently went at the end of July.

Thanks so much Mom and Dad for letting us invade your home for 5 weeks. We love you guys so much and had so much fun staying with you guys!

Officer Training

2010-06-29T19:29:00.001-07:00

Tahoe

2010-06-12T19:29:00.000-07:00

So for those of you who don't know, Brian has been at officer training in Newport Rhode Island for about four weeks now. Kyrie and I have been out at my parents house in California. I have more pictures to add, but I haven't downloaded them from my camera yet. One weekend we drove up to Tahoe and stayed at the cabin with Grammy and Grandpa Stone.

On Friday we hiked up to Emerald Lake. It was cold, but beautiful!
I was impressed with Kyrie's hiking skills. She hike the whole way there, and the whole way back without any piggy back rides!

Eating lunch at the lake. There were some crazy chipmunks that would come up really close to us begging for food.

Here's the happy hikers. We had a fun hike!

Emma, Kyrie, Jacob, and Uncle Steve posing at the look out.

Graduation

2010-05-13T08:53:00.000-07:00

Brian Graduated Dental School. Congrats Dr. Evans!

The Doctors

Bob, Brian, and Ron (my dad).

Kyrie, posing proudly with her dad!

Congrats Brian! You did it!

Kyrie's B-day Party

2010-05-13T08:18:00.000-07:00

Kyrie really wanted a princess cake for her birthday this year. So, after watching a couple of you- tube videos and with Kyrie's help, we made a sleeping beauty birthday cake.

What would a party be without a pinata?

We celebrated Kyrie's b-day early before everyone moved, including ourselves. Thanks to everyone who showed, we had tons of fun and will miss you guys!

Sunday Talks...

2010-04-25T20:00:00.001-07:00

For your reading enjoyment, below are copies of the talks that Natalie and I gave on Sunday.

Marriage

I remember as a little girl planning and dreaming about my wedding day. I dreamt about the beautiful princess dress I would be married in. I actually drew several renditions of this dress and even put them in my little girl journal to save and to remind my grown up self about the grand plans I had. [I am happy to say I did not wear any of those over the top, indulgent dresses for my actual wedding.] Of course I dreamt of my prince charming sweeping me off my feet and carrying me away to the Temple. Growing up my ideal wedding dress changed quite often, as did my ideal prince charming. But thanks to wonderful parents who instilled in me the importance of temple marriage I always knew exactly where I would be married for time and all eternity, the Temple. I remember my parents saying to marry the right person, at the right time, in the right place.

Now it just so happened as I was preparing my mission papers, and was currently enrolled in a Mission Prep class at BYU-Idaho, enter prince charming, aka the “right person” Brian Evans. My first impression of Brian was as my journal puts it, “a righteous stud I can actually see myself marrying…scary! :O with a little scared, shocked face drawn next to it. About the time we decided we wanted to date one another we also decided we should begin to pray about getting married. Now, eternity is a long time, so of course I went back and forth between Brian and a mission and obviously Brian won out.

In the end Brian proposed, I said yes, we were engaged 4 months then married in the Oakland Temple. Interestingly enough my seven year old self had planned my wedding day thinking my prince and I would simply ride off on his noble steed in the beautiful sunset and marital bliss. Not the case. My fairytale books had neglected to tell me that after the wedding is when the real work of marriage begins.

But once again I was lucky enough to have two wonderful parents who were awesome teachers and examples to me of what a loving eternal marriage should be.

Now actually implanting their teachings into my own life and marriage is a whole other kettle of fish and yeah, it’s hard.

When Brian informed me that we were asked to speak on marriage I had to laugh. I will not try to pretend that I am an expert on marriage, far from it, but as I have studied this week about marriage and reflected upon my own marriage, I have found a few very important do’s and don’ts that I would like to share with you today.

Don’t number one:

-Don’t put other people before your spouse

The Lord has commanded us to cleave unto our spouses and none else.

In Doctrine and Covenants 42:22 it reads, “Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and cleave unto her and none else.”

President Spence W. Kimball taught: “The words none else eliminate everyone and everything. The spouse then becomes preeminent in the life of the husband or wife, and neither social life nor occupational life nor political life nor any other interest nor person nor thing shall ever take precedence over the companion spouse.”

As Brian and I knelt across the alter in the temple to be sealed for time and all eternity, the sealer, who happened to be my Grandpa, gave us some wonderful counsel. He looked at me and said, “Now up to this point you have dated around and have done your fair share of flirting. But once you leave here today and for the rest of eternity all of your flirting will be with Brian.” He then turned to Brian and said, “and as for you young man, all your flirting will now be with Natalie, or I’m sure I’ll here about it.”

Husbands or wives who place children, friends, careers or hobbies before the marital relationship are violating the command: “none else”

So Guys, don’t put golf or UFC fight night, before your wife. Ladies, don’t put scrapbooking or shopping before your husbands.

President Kimball went on to say, “This [cleaving unto a wife] means just as completely that ‘thou shalt love thy husband with all thy heart and shall cleave unto him and none else.’ Frequently, people continue to cleave unto their mothers and their fathers and their chums… All intimacies should be kept in great secrecy and privacy from others… To cleave does not mean merely to occupy the same home; it means to adhere closely, to stick together”

Don’t number two:

Don’t put things before your spouse.

A great gift we can give to one another as spouses is to be content and appreciative of the life that you have together.

Elder Joe J. Christensen counseled:

Quote “Some of the most difficult challenges in marriage arise in the area of finances. ‘The American Bar Association… indicated that 89 percent of all divorces could be traced to quarrels and accusations over money’. Be willing to postpone or forgo some purchases in order to stay within your budget. Pay your tithing first and ovoid debt insofar as possible. The time may have come to get out the scissors, your credit cards, and what Elder Holland called some ‘plastic surgery’.”end quote

Don’t number three:

Don’t speak ill of your spouse.

Your spouses name and reputation are sacred things. Treat your spouse with respect and protect their privacy.

Growing up with 5 other sisters, there was bound to be drama and of course some gossip sessions. One of our favorite places to talk “smack” was at the dinner table. I remember anytime one of us girls would bring up an individual to place on the gossip chopping block my mom would always say “Girls, their name is safe in our home.” My poor mom would repeat this phrase at almost every meal, but it stuck. Whenever I’m inclined to speak ill of someone, I hear my mother’s words, “their name is safe in our home.”

We should be able to say to our spouse “your name is safe in our marriage”. Now it seems that when women get together there is always a fair amount of “ragging on the husband”. I’m sure I have been guilty of this myself, but I know that if I found out Brian went to fight night and spent the evening ragging on me as a wife I would probably cry myself to sleep. I believe that keeping quiet about each others shortcomings, allows us the privacy, space and time we need to change and improve.

Moving on to some Do’s

Do number one:

Do value your spouse-don’t covet another

Be mentally and emotionally faithful to your spouse.

President Hinckley said, “When you are married be fiercely loyal to one another.”

I have been reading a great book entitled “Strangling Your Husband Is Not an Option” written by Sister Merrilee Boyack, a popular BYU Education Week speaker. She makes some great points and says,

(quote) “Wives can covet others by either wistfully thinking of prior flames or by comparing their spouses to other men and constantly finding them wanting. Both are disloyal. Both are dangerous, and both make for a lousy wife. Think about it for a minute. How would you feel if (your husband) sat there at the beach and looked at the women in bikinis? You’d feel terrible! He wouldn’t say a word and you would still feel terrible. And you would be ready to do great bodily harm to him. It is no different for a wife. When a wife does not fully value her hubby but instead covets others’ behavior, attributes, and so forth, he knows it. It is emotional betrayal”(end quote)

Now it’s not easy to always value your spouse especially when you are mad at them. I have found that it’s important to focus on the good. I started a journal that is dedicated to writing down good things about my husband. I try to write in it about once a week and just list as many good things about Brian as I can. I’ve found that if he does something that ticks me off, I can read this journal and it reminds me why I married the guy in the first place.

Do number two:

Value Yourself

I find it is very easy to beat myself up over the smallest of things and do it on a regular basis. Brian has been doing P90X, a daily work out program, so Tony Horton the P90X trainer feels like another member of the family. Sometimes I do some of the work outs with Brian and Tony always says, “Do your best and forget the rest” I have found these words to be somewhat comforting. Sometimes as women we tend to be overly critical of ourselves.

President Hinckley counseled:

Quote “Well, you dear women, I say thanks to you. Thank you for being the kind of people you are and doing the things you do. May the blessing of heaven rest upon on you… Many of you think you are failures. You feel you cannot do well, that with all your effort it is not sufficient. We all feel that way. I feel that way as I speak to you tonight. I long for, I pray for the power and capacity to lift you, to inspire you, to praise you, and to bring a measure of gladness into your hearts. We all worry about our performance. We all wish we could do better. But unfortunately we do not realize, we do not often see the results that come of what we do…

Now, my dear sisters, that is the way with you. You are doing the best you can. Do not nag yourself with a sense of failure. Get on your knees and ask for blessings of the Lord; then stand on your feet and do what you are asked to do. Then leave the matter in the hands of the Lord. You will discover that you have accomplished something beyond price.” End quote

Another aspect of valuing yourself is being a true person. Enjoy being yourself. I don’t necessarily enjoy being myself all the time and find this is usually the case when I haven’t been taking the time to make myself a better person. So if I don’t enjoy being me, why in the world would Brian enjoy being around me. We should be constantly growing and evolving as individuals. Getting married shouldn’t take away from who you are. It adds to what you are, but it is not the soul identifying characteristic of who you are.

I’d like to quote Sister Boyack again when she said,

Quote “In your marriage you must choose to be a partner in the marriage relationship- not a limited partner, not the general partner, but full and active equal partner. Let’s do a little math experiment to see how this works.

What is one times one? That’s right. It’s one. One full partner with one full partner equals true oneness in the marriage. Now, what is one times zero? Yup. It equals zero. So what does this mean? It means if you treat yourself as a big fat zero in the relationship, nothing good will be the result.” End Quote

So, enjoy who you are. Live courageously and righteously, constantly striving to make yourself a better person.

Do number three:

Do value your commitment.

Value your commitment to each other and value your commitment to your Heavenly Father.

In “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” we read:

Quote “We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children…

“The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan… Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.” End quote.

The seriousness and importance of marriage cannot be taken lightly. The covenants made between a husband and wife in the Holy Temple are not only made between each other, but in front of God, angels and witnesses. Faithfulness to these covenants will bring joy and happiness to a marriage that will be carried out in the eternities.

Marriage, For Time and All Eternity

April 25, 2010

Natalie is a tough act to follow. And I am grateful for the topic that we have both been assigned and even more grateful for her ability and expertise in the areas that she covered, the dos and don’ts. I have become very familiar with the “don’ts” in marriage and for that I have almost mastered one of the most important “dos”, saying I’m sorry. Perhaps even more impressive to my wife, I am learning that an apology is meant to show sorrow for an act or unkind word with intent to heal and repair. Not solely to halt her feelings and tears just to move on with the day or onto the next task at hand. I think Brother Jared Cluff said it well when he heard of our topics and said, “oh good, Brian you can speak on how to torment a wife for eternity and Natalie can speak on long suffering, ” Probably no to far from the truth.

As I was preparing to leave the Michigan Detroit mission in 2002, President Emery sat me down to give the much anticipated ‘marriage counsel talk’, aka exit interview. I had been looking forward to this moment with much anticipation for 2 long yrs. Finally I was going to get the green light on finding my wife as fast as I could. The interview started, and went on, and on, and on, and on….. not even the slights reference to marriage or girls or children or dating. I don’t remember what was said, I do however remember what was not said. GET MARRIED AS FAST AS YOU CAN…. My mission president was like a patriarch in the fact that each ‘end of mission’ interview was different and personalized. But wait, I really liked what he was saying to all the other elders; even the sisters were given the green light. But nothing mentioned to me. Through much thought, I figured that president Emery must have known that I would be wise, take my time, date lots of worthy girls, and be married by 25. Well, 7 months from the day that President Emery and I had this heart felt interview, Natalie and I were married in the Oakland, CA temple by the authority of the Holy Priesthood.

Natalie mentioned us kneeling across the alter in the temple; what she didn’t mention was the emotional state we were in. There were some of the biggest puppy dog tears I have ever been witness to. Natalie was kneeling there and smiling. I was seeing a blurry beautiful bride through the most tears ever to leave these manly eyes. In preparation for our eternal marriage, I visited the Provo temple weekly during our long 4 month engagement to stay close to the spirit, to participate and learn what a temple sealing meant, and for the strength to keep myself in check during the 4 months that felt like eternity. When the day finally came for us to be sealed, my heart was filled with gratitude and appreciation for the ceremony which was about to take place, and for the beautiful girl that I was going to walk with into the eternities.

For those who have not yet be married or have not yet received their temple endowment and subsequently have not yet been sealed to their spouse, let me share some of the highlights of this important ordinance in the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints.

“The sacred ceremony of temple marriage is conducted in reverence and simplicity, and the occasion is a beautiful and joyous one for LDS couples. The bride and the groom meet with family and friends in a designated sealing room of the temple. The officiator typically greets the couple with a few words of welcome, counsel, and fatherly commendations. He may admonish the couple to treat each other throughout life with the same love and kindness that they feel at this moment, and may add other words of encouragement, with his blessing upon their righteous undertaking. The couple is invited to come forward and kneel facing each other across an altar in the middle of the room. The sealer sometimes directs the attention of all present to the mirrors on opposite walls, reflecting endlessly the images of the couple at the altar, and he may comment on the symbolism. Then the sealer pronounces the simple words of the ceremony, which promise, on condition of obedience, lasting bonds with the potential for eternal joy between these two sealed for eternity. President Ezra Taft Benson said, “Faithfulness to the marriage covenant brings the fullest joy here and glorious rewards hereafter” at the conclusion of the ceremony, the couple kiss over the altar and may then arise and leave the altar to exchange rings”. The principle of eternal marriage and the ordinances implementing it constitute a very distinctive and valuable part of the church. This is a sacred and simple ceremony to unite husband and wife in the bonds of everlasting love and in the hopes of eternity. The phrase “until death do you part” is regarded as a tragic one that predicts the ultimate dissolution of the marriage, and this phrase is not stated in the temple marriage ceremony. (Encyclopedia of Mormonism)

While across from each other in the temple, I was strongly admonished by our sealer who was also Natalie’s grandfather, to treat my bride like the princess and queen that she is now becoming in Gods kingdom. She was then directed in a similar manor to do likewise for the prince and king that she was marrying. Natalie’s grandfather lived what he taught. In every way he treated his queen as such. 2 yrs ago this summer, Natalie’s grandmother pass away but prior to doing so, many witnessed grandpa saying good bye as she softly slipped into the eternities. I will not repeat what he said due to the sacredness of it, but the words were those of a king asking his queen to make ready a place for them in the Fathers Kingdom. With his reassurance that he will be with her soon once his mission here was complete.

The Doctrine and Covenants teaches us that “At the time of their temple sealing, both husband and wife enter “an order of the priesthood called the new and everlasting covenant of marriage”. If a husband and wife are faithful to their temple marriage, they will continue as co-creators’ in God’s celestial kingdom through the eternities.”

As was previously mentioned by wife sweet wife, a common phrase in her home growing up was to marry the right person, in the right place, at the right time. During the early days of our relationship, not many days after our first date, I was pondering my future with Natalie while in the temple. I knew that I would be married in the temple, and other then being completely broke and no where to live, the time seemed right, but was she the right person. I too had my lists growing up which included a temple worthy girl, with musical talent, and someone who would love and support me in church and career responsibilities. Natalie had all the qualities I was looking for, but, I realized that I wanted to marry a person and not a list. The list had pointed me in the right direction, but it couldn’t make the eternal decision for me. After much thought and prayer on the matter, I was directed to an experience I had while in the mission filed. It was a preparation day and we were fishing. For those of you who have visited our home and have seen the awesome missionary scrap book that Natalie put together, you know that I fished every chance I could get. This one particular day, we went to a local pond where we met with other elders. It was there that I had a very singular experience. My pole tugged and the fight began. 10 minutes later, I reeled in the largest fish I had ever caught let alone seen in person, a 36 inch 30lbs catfish. I was shocked and amazed with this catch. I had fished all my life, never catching anything even close to this. I continued to fish the rest of my mission even returning to that very spot many times to try to repeat the mammoth catch. But even to this day, including many trips to President Stuckie’s pond, never have I seen or caught anything close. In the temple that day, I realized that Natalie was my “catfish”. She was a once in a life time catch for me. Sure I had dated other girls and I could continue to date even more, but, the spirit helped me realize that for me, she was the best thing out there. She was the right person, at the right time, and we were married in the right place. And, still to this day she says she’s not a Catfish. I agree, but she was a good catch.

As Natalie and I near our 7^th anniversary next month, and as many of you near your first, second, third, and fifty third anniversaries, I think it is important for us to maintain the idea of “the right person”. But once the temple ceremony is over, the interpretation changes from finding and marrying the right person, to being and becoming the right person for our spouse. This is a life long task…

Marion D. Hanks, an assistant to the twelve apostles said, “Married people should be best friends; no relationship on earth needs friendship as much as marriage… friendship in a marriage is so important.” End quote.

So my question to each of us is, is our spouse our best friend? Perhaps a more important questions is, are we our spouses best friend? As men and husbands, are we occasionally unemotional and abrasive with our sweet hearts? Are we there for them when there are tears requiring only a listing ear? Or are we outsourcing the compassion and emotional support they sometimes needed. And wives, do you entertain your husbands ranting about the new computer software, or the exciting game he just watched, willing to put up with a scruffy face for a few moments of alone time?

See the secret to a successful marriage is becoming the right person by becoming your spouse’s best friend. True friendship in love is centered in service, forgiveness, and faith. It is sensitive to the others unique love language. The way that I feel love from my wife verses the way that I express love to my wife are often in two different forms. She has learned what it takes to make me feel loved and I am striving to do the same for her. Although at times I think I am aiming at a moving target. Which of course will require a better aim on my part and patients on hers. But it is in the discovering of your spouses love languages, the ability to create the feeling of love in your spouse the way they enjoy being loved; that creates and eternal relationship based in service and care for the other.

When a man and woman who have been sealed together in a temple are united spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically, taking full responsibility for nurturing each other, they are truly married.

For those of you who know me, I spend many hours smoking different meets and then basking in the complements of those enjoying my creations. Stealing a line from my best friend who is a cheese man, I have found a new cheese,” or in my case, I have found a new meet to smoke… It is my lovely wife, my best friend and companion. She is “my” everything. I am excited to finish my schooling so that I might spend more time with her. She is the sole key to my happiness and she accepts that and embraces that. For which I Love her deeply and eternally.

We are sad to be moving but excited for the journey we will be taking.

Easter

2010-04-05T06:03:00.000-07:00

2010-04-04T18:47:00.000-07:00

I remember when I was younger, I found a $5 bill on the ground the first day of 8th grade. As hard as I wished and prayed all summer, school was about to start again but I felt that this little finical blessing was Gods way of saying go back to school. "Then", I saw that $5 bill as mine. Not belonging to the home owner whose driveway I picked it up from. "Sorry brother Tims..." Well, As life has gone on, I have often been one to wheel and deal and take what has come my way as luck if it ever came at the expense of another. We all have had good ol' Taco Bell give us 1 too many bean burritos or find that an item has been miss priced and felt that it was all good fortune. Will, this past weekend I thought I had one of those Taco Bell moments only to find out that it was going to be one of my personal 'defining moments'.... You might be wondering at this point why I have a dumbbell as my object of choice for this discussion. SO , let me fill you in. I have been a faithful P90X'er for the past 7 week strong and have recently purchased a pair of 20lbs dumbbells. Also, during the last 30 days we have had our home on the market to sell prior to relocating to San Diego. Thanks to Natalie's awesome decor and my green grass growing skills we have been lucky enough to show the home 5-7 times a week up until about a week ago. This sudden drop in house tours was surprising because we had just lowered the price of the home in hopes of receiving an offer. A few nights ago I sat trying to figure out why we had this sudden drop of visits while simultaneously going over the $$$ (thanks Quicken) and counting receipts (thanks Dave Ramsey) and came across the receipt for my 20 lbs dumbbells. Categorizing the different purchases brought to my attention that my 20 lbs dumbbells rang up as 10lbs'ers. Immediately I thought that I cashed in thanks to a miss priced item. Kind of similar to the Taco Bell and $5 gift for starting the 8th grade. But then it clicked. The drop in showings matched up with the purchase date of my 20lbs'ers. This is where I turned over a new leaf. I reflected upon the question in the temple recommend interview that asked about being honest with your dealings. I felt that I could easily say yes because I paid what they had the item marked for. But, realizing my total dependence on the Lord, I decided that I would take a stand against these 'dealing misshapes'. I quickly rummaged through the garbage in my office to find the bar code and off I went to the store. I decided against the customer service desk for fear that they would blow me off for some freak and not take my $$$ for the 20lbs'ers. I went to the self checkout line, pulled the bar code from my pocket and scanned it twice so as to now pay for the total of 40lbs of weights. Placed the bar code back into my pocket, paid the money and headed to the car. Prior to reaching the car the phone rang with Bill, our agent, informing me of 2 showings the next day and another one the following day. Thanks to these showings, we received 2 offers on the house and accepted one of them Easter morning. In all of this, the scripture in Mosiah 2 quickly came to mind, " he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you ". Looking back, perhaps the gift of an extra taco or a $5 bills was no more a gift than an opportunity to live a higher law and receive perhaps a greater reward. I guess from now on, I will take the road less traveled.

Cheers Brian

Spring Break, Gatlinburg

2010-03-12T17:46:00.000-08:00

Brian just had his Spring Break, so we drove down to Gatlinburg Tennesse. We stayed a week and had a blast! It's always fun for Kyrie and I to have Brian to ourselves, not sharing him with Dental school.

Just ridin' the motor cycles.

One evening we went to the Comedy Barn. Kyrie loved it, and even got to participate up on stage. It was an evening filled with music, fun, and laughter.

Another day was spent at Ripley's "Believe It or Not" Aquarium. We love Aquariums!

Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede was a great dinner show! Kyrie was so excited about the horses! Before entering the Dixie arena we enjoyed popcorn, soda, and live bluegrass music!

After the show.

The most deliciouse berry crepes ever! We had breakfast at the Pancake Pantry. That is our new favorite breakfast place.

Chilin back in our villa, which was amazing!

Eating at Bubba Gump's Shrimp

Kona, Hawaii Stone Family Reunion

2010-02-24T07:51:00.000-08:00

Princess Photo Shoot

2010-01-05T06:52:00.001-08:00

For Christmas Jenny made the girl cousins (except little Lillian) these cute tutus, so of course Melanie had to head up a princess photo shoot of Kyrie, Daphne and Jemma.
So cute!!!

This one is my favorites of Kyrie. It captures perfectly Kyrie's undying commitment to truly embody the spirit of a fairy princess, in all her glory.

Thanks Mel and Jen for making this photo shoot possible. :)
Also a big shout out to the lovely models, Daphne, Kyrie, and Jemma.

Christmas Family Pictures 2009

2010-01-03T14:46:00.000-08:00

Just The Cousins!

The most recent family photo of the 3 of us. It has been a while.

Big Stone family picture on Christmas Day.

Tis the season!

2009-12-16T13:03:00.001-08:00

the season of Christmas programs! It was so much fun to go to Kyrie's Preschool christmas program. All the kids were so cute! I really love Kyrie's teacher, she is amazing with Kyrie. Kyrie did a wonderful job. I was one proud mom!

Ward Christmas Party.

Kyrie was so excited to see Santa she froze on his lap and wouldn't get off.

Residency Acceptance

2009-12-02T19:56:00.000-08:00

It's official! Brian has just been accepted to the US NAVY Hospital Surgery GPR dental residency at Camp Pendleton, CA. We can't wait to move back out west after 4 wonderful years in Louisville. We should be packing our bags and heading west by early July. Here we come Sea World and Disney Land!!!

Random picture update

2009-12-02T07:55:00.000-08:00

Okay so it's been a while, so here are some pics of what's been goin on here.

Yes, that is a dead deer on top of my Hummer.

Yes, that is blood trickling down the side of the car.

Yes, that is a proud Brian showing off his kill.

Yes, that is the skinned deer hanging in my garage.

And yes, that is my three year old daughter showing off her daddy's kill.

Skip to the zoo.

Kyrie loves the Tiger show almost as much as I do.

Skip to Thanksgiving.

Fried Turkey... yummm!

Eating!

Sorry about the randomness. I just have low blogging motivation of late. But hey, at least I updated, right?

2009-10-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

On Thursday Amber and I, plus all the kids, went to Bernheim Forrest. It was beautiful! I love fall colors!

Great Wolf Lodge Fall Break 09

2009-10-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our Fall Break to Great Wolf Lodge. Natalie will probably fill in some more detail but for now here are the Pic's. We did have tons of fun and the kids loved the indoor water slides, story time, and the great kids game room. Enjoy.

To update or not to update?

2009-10-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been a while since my last update. It seems that after I take the time to upload my pictures I have absolutely no desire to write anything about the "said" pictures. So here are some random pics that have been taken in the last month and I'll do my best to at least label the pictures you will be viewing.

Below, Brian took the scouts and Kyrie to Red River Gorge, KY for a camp out. Kyrie watched and cheered (go daddy g0) as the boys, and Brian took turn jumping off the rocks.

So while Brian was busy setting up the tent, Parker (another little three yr. old camping buddy) needed to relieve himself. So as boys do he pulled his pants down aimed and went. Kyrie, after watching Parker, decided she would relieve herself in a like manner. Needless to say girls and boys have different plumbing and Kyrie's potty experience was not as clean or as precise as Parker's. Thanks Parker for this valuable lesson.

Kyrie, Brian, and the boys (scouts) hiking!

Hiking with Paul Bowen.

Kyrie had a blast hiking, and eating hot dogs by the camp fire.

Kyrie loves it when dad comes to the zoo because she gets to ride the merry-g0-round. I have found that getting Kyrie off the merry-go-round is next to impossible and have decided to leave that draining task to someone (like Brian) with superior strength, to wrestle Kyrie off the merry-go-round.

Me and Kyrie at the Gorilla habitat. I am continually amazed at how pungent the smell in there is. Wow, it takes my breath away! Kyrie walks in and says "Oh mom, stinky poopy".

Kyrie and her cousin/bestest friend Elana caught primping in the bathroom.

Brian, Shane, Stacey and I drove over to Lexington for the Kentucky vs. Louisville Football game. Brian made some killer ribs and Shane made a mean green bean casserole that we enjoyed before the game.

Oh so yummy!

Just posing after a well earned victory.

Kentucky won! Blue is easier to wear than red, go BYU!

Kyrie

2009-09-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

Some random pics from z00 trips the last couple weeks. Kyrie loves her cousin Elaina and wants to hang out with her every day.

Kyrie heading out for her very first day of preschool. She loves school!

Evans Family Renunion

2009-08-15T20:40:00.000-07:00

Some pics of the Evans family reunion at Tahoe.

half dome

2009-07-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

I have an amazing family!! My dad planned an amazing backpacking trip in Yosemite, California. It was all Emma's fault really. Brian was awesome for letting me go and for watching Kyrie. I love you Brian!

Just before heading out for our grand adventure we ate at a buffet in Yosemite. Delicious! We were in a little bit of a rush so we shoveled the food in as fast as we could. Which is pretty fast when you are a Stone.

Starting out on the Trail head.

I love this picture of my dad. He is such a happy hiker!

The mighty women of this backpacking trip.

Just crossing a river in the middle of the trail.

We had a lot of unexpected rain on this trip. Yahoo for ponchos!

Sisters

Arthur cooling is feet in a river. They were probably numb after a couple of seconds. The water was freezing yet refreshing!

Tent buddies! Emma and I shared a tent. Thanks Emma for being such an amazing tent buddy!

The Third day of our trip we climbed half dome! If you want to find out what your really made of, I highly reccomend this trip.

Up up up the winding stairs.

Me and my dad!

Getting pumped up to climb the cables.

Sharee and I posing before the cables. Good times.

Sharee was brave enough to pull out her camera and take a shot of Arthur climbing. Sharee is extremely cordinated to pull this stunt off without letting half dome claim her camera!

We made it to the top!

Just a little perspective.

Yes, we climbed to the very top of that.
Sharee and Jacob showing off some crazy huge pine cones.

I cannot take credit for this amazing picture. It was taken by Sharee.

The views on the way down were breathtaking!

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family. I'm also so blessed to live in this beautiful world! I love backpacking and can't wait to go again next summer. Hint hint dad.

More of Nona in Town!

2009-06-13T07:36:00.001-07:00

We had so much fun with Nona in town! Kyrie loves her Nona!

Kyrie helped Nona with the dishes, sort of.

My mom helped me transplant my tulips, trim rose bushes, lay out new mulch, plant tomatoes, basil, onion, and thyme. I love gardening with my mom!

While Nona was here we went to Churchhill Downs to see the races. We thought number 2 was beautiful, just not that good of a racer.

Just checking out the horses and their jockey's.

Dad and Kyrie waiting for the races to begin.

We love watching the races and are glad we didn't place any bets. We would have lost a lot of money!Kyrie at the zoo, kissing the croc!

At the zoo!

Nona and Kyrie! Adventures in Gorilla forest.

Feeding the birds!

Ridin the turtle.

We did so many fun things with my mom here. She left today and Kyrie cried home all the way from the airport.

Swinging!

Nona's in Town!

2009-06-12T20:12:00.001-07:00

Kyrie eating strawberries

Nona picking stawberries while kyrie continued to eat more strawberries.

Kyrie still eating stawberries.

We love Strawberries! Nona (my mom) came out to help Brian after his jaw surgery. On Tuesday we went to Huber farm and picked a ton of strawberries. Since, we've made strawberry freezer jam, strawberry smoothies, strawberry cooked jam, and fresh strawberry pie! Deliciouse!! We love strawberries but not as much as we love Nona!!

Kyrie is Three!!

2009-05-27T06:12:00.001-07:00

Kyrie made it to Three!! May 19th was Kyrie's third birthday! I can't believe how old she is getting!

Kyrie loves singing the happy birthday song and blowing out the candles so we actually sang happy birthday and blew out the candles on her cake 6 times. After each time she would say "Okay okay mom, one more time!"

Squirt guns, from dad of course!

Yahoo for presents!

Here was Kyrie's favorite, the slip and slide. Of course we had to set it up immediatly and that's all she wanted to do the rest of the day.

Kyrie is very independent and every time I would go to help her down the slide she would say, "No no no mom, a kyrie's turn. Kyrie do it mom."

Happy Birthday Kyrie!

Camping

2009-05-16T16:48:00.001-07:00

We went camping at Taylorsville lake and had tons of fun. We went with the Dicksons and on the second day were joined by the Anderson family.

Kyrie, Dana, Tessa, and Dax lookin good for a photo opp.

Dana, Kyrie, and Dax loved to hike circles around our campsite. Kyrie now always is asking for Dana and just out of the blue she will sigh and say "I lika Dana."

Here we are just rowin around the lake with Dana and Kyrie.

We really had tons of fun!

Spring break, final chapter

2009-03-31T07:46:00.000-07:00

Another day at Sea World. Kyrie, just enjoying one of the rides in Shamu's happy harbor.

The sea lion show was a riot! Kyrie was laughing, clapping, and of course screaming with joy!

Can't get enough of Shamu!

My new haircut is awesome! Mandie did an amazing job. I get up in the morning and spend zero minutes on my hair. That's right, zero. Okay, maybe somedays it's two minutes. I'm lovin it! Thanks Mandie! You rock!

Kyrie loved this turtle. In fact, she started screaming after it left and tried chasing it around the park.

Kyrie and daddy jammin out on the tin drums. I think Brian had more fun with those things than Kyrie did.

As many of you know, Kyrie is a wonderer. She loves to run all over the place and most of my time is spent chasing her. So here is one of the many times I chased Kyrie down. This time she actually happened to be chasing the big green turtle you can actually see in the right corner of the picture. By the time I caught up to her she was pushing another child away from the turtle and saying "Kyee's turn!"Brian, checking out my new dew.

On the way back to Kentucky. Kyrie was lonely driving back without her road trip buddies Mandie and Craig. We loved Spring break this year and can't wait for next year.

Spring break part 3

2009-03-25T19:39:00.001-07:00

Magic Kingdom here we come!!

Someday we'll find our princes! oh wait, we've alread found ours. What next?

We could always become pirates!

Dead men tell no tales.

Parlee?

A pirates lifes for me.

A dream is a wish you heart makes....

The tree house of the Swiss family Robinson. "two people if they have eachother, what more could they want. -- Kissing-- OH Frrrritz!" Good times!

Would you care for a spot of tea?

They'll never take us alive!

A day at Magic Kingdom has come to an end. But have no fear fairy tale creatures, we will come back and allow you to once again bask in our glow.

Spring Break Part 2

2009-03-24T07:45:00.001-07:00

We have lift off!

Brian, Craig, and Mandie went to Cape Canaveral to watch a space shuttle launch!

They said it was amazing!

One of the days was spent at Daytona Beach. It was tons of fun.

Brian would throw the football out into the ocean and let the waves carry it back. Kyrie thought this was the best trick ever!

Craig and Mandie

Our H3 saw it's big brother!

Two good lookin beach babes! (Mandie and Kyrie, who do ya think.)

Kyrie and me playing in the water.

Now you see her,

now you don't.

Mommy saving Kyrie from a killer wave.

Eating sand, not such a good idea!

Just takin the hummer for a spin on Daytona Beach! Good times.

Spring Break Part 1

2009-03-24T06:23:00.000-07:00

Wow! We love Florida!!! For spring break this year, Mandie and Craig flew out to Kentucky and we drove down to Florida for a week of fun. The first day in Florida was spent at Sea World.

Just a little gator chillin by the water.

Kyrie, Brian, Craig and Mandie chillin by the sting ray pool.

Kyrie trying to swim with the sting rays.

Mandie Sue

We love sea lions! A little stinky, but highly entertaining!

Psycho looking shark. Really glad there was thick plexy glass seperating us from the dozens of hungry looking sharks.

Kyrie getting pumped for the Shamu show!

Shamu! Shamu! Not gonna lie, Shamu rocks! Kyrie and I have decided when we grow up we want to swim with Shamu!

Kyrie and I playing with some really cool hand puppets.

Kyrie loved the dolphins, someday she will swim with them too. Of course I will be there to help her. Discovery Cove, here we come (probably next year).

The dolphin pool!

That concludes part 1 of our spring vacation... it's not over yet!

It's been a while

2009-02-21T06:49:00.000-08:00

So, just a couple of random pics. Kyrie, showing her great musical skills. Playing her piano, holding her music and singing all at once. What can I say, she is talented.

Valentines dinner, Kyrie took down half the decorations and actually piled them on her bed in her room. I guess she thought they looked better there then on the table.

Kyrie, just modeling moms sweater, and earrings. "I'n so pwetty!" Kyrie likes to say over and over.

We just recently survived a pretty big ice storm. Sorry to say the power along with most of the trees in Louisville didn't.

Power lines down!

Kyrie and her friend Darcy enjoyed pulling off all the icicles off the trampoline. To bad we didn't have ice skates or they could have made their ice skating debut on the top of the tramp.

Christmas Break!

2009-01-07T22:00:00.000-08:00

This Christmas we spent in Utah with Brian's side of the family. We had so much fun with everyone!! Kyrie loves her Papa and Grandma along with all her aunts and uncles. Where to start? We went sledding, which was Kyrie's favorite thing. Evertime she went down she would squeal, "Again, Again!!!"Kyrie and Kay Kay

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Christmas Eve, Stacey put together a wonderful Nativity with costumes, special musical numbers and a script.

Brian was the donkey, Kyrie was an Angel.Just some angels, sheperds and a donkey.Family Nativity

Christmas morning. Wicked Tickets!!!
Kyrie sharing her most prized possesion. Sparkly lip gloss.
After Christmas we made our way down to Tahoe to spend time with the Stones!

Jemma, Daphne, and Kyrie getting ready to sled down the hill.Skiers and snowboarders, oh yeah baby! I finally went skiing again after a two year absence. It's like riding a bike! I was very impressed with all my siblings and in-laws mad skiing and snowboarding skills. Most impressive! :)
Brian getting some sweet air!

Natalie (that's me!) getting some sweet air before landing on her head. Not joking!
Just a couple of ski bunnies, or is that snow bunnies?

Sisters plus mom!

Family Photo

Big family photo. The Stones at Stonehaven! Thanks Grammy and Grandpa Stone for letting us play at your cabin!

Just the two of us!

After Tahoe we went back to Utah for Craig and Mandie's wedding!

The wedding dinner was awesome and our brother Jared made some pretty sweet Cafe Rio Cilantro dressing! So here's a shout out for the amazing Cilantro dressing!

Jared, Leslie, and little Mason at the wedding dinner.

Craig and Mandie right after they were sealed for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple!

Mandie Sue with all the crazy kids.

Kyrie and Dad

We had so much fun with all our family this Christmas break and can't wait to see everyone agian soon. Congrats Craig and Mandie, we love you!

I've been Tagged

2008-12-04T07:50:00.000-08:00

So my lovely sister Sharee tagged me a while ago, and because I am so on top of things, I am just now getting to it. Here are 6 quirks ...

1. I always put up my Christmas decorations in the middle of November, but I save the Christmas tree for the day after Thanksgiving. I also start listening to Christmas music in September. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

2. I can't remember a thing. Seriously. I believe it's my short term memory that's faulty because I can remember details from years past, just not anything you've told me in the last couple weeks.

3. I love to vacuum! I could vacuum all day. I've had to limit myself to only twice a day, unless there is an emergency (Kyrie dumping Cheerios on the floor).

4. Like my sister Julianne, I can't sleep unless my feet are covered, even in the summer. Actually I guess you could say I'm a picky sleeper because I can't sleep unless conditions are perfect. No light, fans on, teeth brushed, night guard in, contacts out, prays said, clear airway, tucked in with sheets or blankets around my shoulders, feet covered, and sleeping meds:)

5. I don't like milk. I can stand a very little in my cold cereal and it has to be fat free. But, I've made a discovery with the help of my Aunt Esther. Vanilla steamers from Starbucks. It's just warmed milk with vanilla syrup, hazel nut extract, and lots of whipped cream. Delicious!

6. I go through different exercise phases. Right now I'm on an abs kick thanks to Melanie who has taken me up on the six pack challenge. Wash board belly, here I come!

Tiling

2008-11-25T13:22:00.000-08:00

Brian has been tiling this last week. He finished off the tile in front of the fireplace and has now taken on the kitchen. Kyrie of course has helped the entire time.

Cumberland Cottage

2008-11-04T17:55:00.000-08:00

Brian had Monday and Tuesday off from School so we were able to go to Cumberland Lake. We were able to stay at this amazing little cottage! We roasted s'mores right outside, and Brian made a great peach cobbler in the dutch oven. Inside, there was an oven that we baked a turkey breast wrapped in bacon with potatoes, onion and lots of garlic. Yeah, we were livin the good life. The drive down was so much fun! All the colors and the buildings we passed had so much character. We really loved this clock tower in Columbia Kentucky. Up close through the top window we could even see the cool stair case leading to the clock tower.

We were able to climb down to the lake and were so pleased with Kyrie's hiking skills. Most of those skills included sitting on dad's shoulders, covering Brian's eyes with her hands, yelling "a bug!", and collecting leafs from the branches of nearby trees. We were also so pleased to discover that throwing rocks into the lake can keep Kyrie busy for hours!

This little bridge had definatly seen better days. We were truly blessed that it didn't collapse with us on it.

I saw this lamp and fell in love. I thought it was so beautiful and would love it in the front of my house, but that's not really an option. So, I settled on a picture, in about twenty different angles. Have know fear, I've decided to post just one.
The first trail we hiked started at the Pumpkin Lodge. We couldn't resist the kodak moment.

Kyrie making her rock climbing debut!Yeah, another good time we couldn't resist!Too much fun!After all the strenuous exertion of the day, Kyrie needed a little R&R (rest and relaxation) on the couch to watch some of her new movie obsession, Jungle Book.

Kyrie and dad, lookin out over a secluded part of the lake.

We have found a new vacation spot and plan on returning as many times as we can! We love Cumberland Lake!

Huber Farm

2008-10-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

Tuesday we drove out to Huber Farm to get some pumpkins! Indiana is so beautiful this time of year with all the colors changing. Kyrie and Brian had tons of fun launching apples into the lake. Kyrie thought it was one of the most amazing things she has ever done and almost launched herself into the lake several times.

Kyrie loves animals! She was extra excited to see goats! She kept asking where jo jo was and where Grandma and Grandpa were. (Grandma and Grandpa Evans used to have goats in their backyard.)

The goats weren't to thrilled with Kyrie trying to feed them rocks. But hey, beggers can't be choosers.

Pumpkins!
more pumpkins ...It really didn't take very long at all to find three perfect pumpkins. In fact we think they look so good we don't know if we can bring ourselves to carve them up.

Kyrie, just rolling her pumkin to the car. Yeah, she's pretty talented.

Horsey!

2008-10-18T08:38:00.001-07:00

So, these pics are from the ward bonfire, a week or two ago. But Kyrie is too adorable and I had to put them up. Kyrie loves Horses!
Kyrie is very independent and wanted to ride all on her own. She has a very good seat!

Kyrie and some friends, Dana and Darcy, playing with sticks and climbing into the cool play house.

In the Navy

2008-10-15T06:51:00.001-07:00

Brian was commissioned into the Navy October 10th 2008. We are excited to have the opportunity to serve our Country.

Brian's parents came all the way from Utah for his commissioning. They suprised us Thusday night. We were so excited that they were able to be here! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Brian, saying the oath.
And after months of paper work and being cleared by the Pentagon Brian is in the Navy!

Ball on the Bell

2008-09-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday was ball on the bell. We went out to dinner with some friends before hand then it was onto the bell. We left the dock at 8:00 and got back at 11:00.
The girls hung out . . .

Megan and I (nat) had to get a shoe shot . . . while Brian looked like a stud.

Here are the girls looking quite smashing in their "little black dresses"

The ball on the bell was filled with dancing and tons of fun! I think it's safe to say that we had a great time!

Sharee's visit

2008-09-06T14:52:00.001-07:00

Sharee came to visit! Arthur watched the four kids back in New Mexico all by himself! Yes, I would agree that he is an amazing brother-in-law!

While Sharee was here we went to the zoo. Kyrie really loved having Sharee out here. Like melanie, Kyrie took Sharee very quickly and dragged her around the house with her. Kyrie is pretty strong and I wouldn't be suprised if Sharee has to have therapy on her shoulder for the next little while. Of course we had to scrapbook while Sharee was here. She brought tons of her close to my heart supplies and stamps. We spent the whole time working on a calendar that turned out so cute! Like I said, Kyrie loved Sharee. She even sat still for Sharee to paint her fingers and toes. This is an amazing accomplishment for Kyrie who can't sit still long enough to get a diaper change, let alone long enough for anyone to paint one toe nail.

Brian made crab, and it was the first time Sharee had ever had crab. It was great! Thank you Brian.

We went antique shopping! Sharee and I could probably spend days antique shopping and not get tired. We found a few cute things. Actually we found tons of cute things, but because we are so savvy and frugal with our money we only purchased these few things. It was so much fun having Sharee out here for a visit. We miss her tons. Kyrie still walks into the room Sharee slept in and calls Sharee's name sitting on the bed with books surrounding her. Sharee read a lot of books to Kyrie while she was here.

Holiday World

2008-08-15T13:25:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we spent the day at Holiday World. They give you free drinks all day long. Kyrie loved it! We spent most of the day at the water park there. It was tons of fun.

It really didn't take anytime for Kyrie to get the courage to go down a water slide. Once she got started there was no going back. She would go down a slide then run to the top to go down again.

Kyrie and I going down a little water slide.

Below, Kyrie and dad playing in the water.

This was one of Kyrie's favorites. She would wave to me at the top and say "bye, bye!" then head down to dad waiting at the bottom.

I was really impressed with Holiday World. It was really clean with plenty of fun things to do! I still can't get over the whole free drink thing all day. That was amazing! We went down only one roller coaster with Kyrie and she loved it. Afterwards she kept saying "more, more again, agian" The line was too much for her to handle. She really didn't understand the whole concept behind the line and kept trying to cut in front of everyone. We did have a little adventure with our car keys, or rather our lack of car keys. We thought we had lost them somewhere in the park and spent quite a while looking for them. We went out in the parking lot to find our car and take a look through the windows and guess what we found, our keys! Answer to prayers! It was great day at Holiday Word and tons of fun spending the day with Brian!

Mel in town

2008-08-06T09:09:00.001-07:00

While Brian was gone to Utah, Melanie came out to Kentucky! Kyrie loved her and actually started screaming "Me me me" as we were pulling away from the airport after dropping Melanie off. Kyrie kept saying "Where'd she go?" when we got home and began searching the house, starting with looking under the couch cushions. It took a while before she finally realized Melanie was gone and not coming back. I had tons of fun with Melanie here! Thanks Mel for coming all the way from California to Kentucky to hang out with me!

So, while Mel was in town we went to the zoo. Kyrie was all over the place as usual, but she quite attached to her "aunt me me me". Just a few of the cool animals we saw while at the zoo. It was so hot all the animals were content to just lay around so there wasn't a lot of action.

Melanie, Kyrie, and the Rhino's

Kyrie spent more time pushing the stroller then actually sitting in it. Whatever.

Of course no zoo trip would be complete without a nice refreshing ice cream cone.

Melanie and Kyrie just seeing how they measured up to a full-grown gorilla.

Me, Mel, and Kyrie at the zoo!
By the end of our zoo trip we were hot and sweaty. It was a hot humid day but tons of fun.
I'm so glad Melanie was able to come out. She was such a big help, and even gave me a facial which was amazing! Mel is so much fun to be around I love her. I am so grateful for sisters! (Brothers too) Having five sisters is a blessing. I love having "built-in" best friends!

Tile Job in Utah

2008-08-05T22:36:00.000-07:00

Here are some before and afters of the 3 1/2 day 70 hr tile job that took 5 to 7 yrs off of my life. Thanks to Mel (nat's sister) for coming out to Kentucky and playing with the girls while I was in Utah. ENJOY>>>>

Done with BOARDS... time to play

2008-08-01T07:13:00.000-07:00

Here are some before and after pic's of the fun we have had the past few days.... The girls were a big help. Natalie's painting skills and Kyrie's singing skills were priceless. Enjoy the pics.

Fourth of July

2008-07-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long time with no update. We have been suffering from crumby internet access lately. Excuses, Excuses! Anyway... we went down to Georgia for the fourth and Kyrie loved all the pool time she was able to get in. Kyrie also loved having Elaina her friend/cousin to hang out with.

Kyrie sporting her goggles. (Actually, they are Uncle Ed's)Above, Brian and Kyrie havin some fun in the sun.

Natalie trying to get Kyrie to swim with the intertube. Kyrie was convinced she knew how to swim without it and would make me take it off her. She would then proceed to go head first into the water only to discover (over and over again) that she doesn't know how to swim.

It was a fun week in Goergia, we love hanging out with the "Uncle Ed and Aunt Esther" Evans clan.

Friends, Food, & Fun.... Happy B-day Kyire

2008-06-02T05:46:00.001-07:00

More Pictures

2008-05-21T05:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the zoo. Our neighbor Elizabeth came with us. Kyrie likes to follow her around and do whatever she does.

In the gorilla lookout they have this old type writer that kyrie loves. We usually can't get her away from it unless we bribe her.

Just a few friendly flamingos.

Pictures from the past few weeks....

2008-05-21T05:17:00.000-07:00

Kyrie turned two! Happy Birthday to Kyrie!

Kyrie and her friend/neighbor Elizabeth playing in the sand box.

Just checking out the roses after church on Sunday.

FOX 13 News "Safe in the Pool"

2008-05-11T14:54:00.000-07:00

I don't usually draw attention to what my father does for a living but there are times in my life when he really hits home in a message or a story that he tells. He just finished a series piece about safety in the pool with little kids and knowing that my self as well as many of you reading, both family and friends are proud parents, I thought this would be good to share. Please take a minute and click on the two links to watch how you might prevent a child's death in the pool this summer.

http://www.myfoxutah.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?contentId=6489561

http://www.myfoxutah.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?contentId=6489723

Another day at the zoo!

2008-04-22T18:36:00.001-07:00

Today Brian didn't have any class so he took us to the zoo. Because he was there, we splurged and rode the train and the merry-go-round. Kyrie has decided to bring dad to the zoo with her from now on.

Today the animals really held no appeal to Kyrie, it was all about the statues. Any time she saw one, she wanted to get on it.

Just a picture of Kyrie and Dad on yet another statue.

Aside from the statue obsession, Kyrie loved the geese that were wondering around. She kept trying to grab them and almost got her finger taken off. Sorry, no pictures were taken of that special event because mom and dad were too busy trying to potect the goose from Kyrie.

Here is Kyrie on one othe animals she rode on the merry-go-round. She didn't particulary like this one so we switched to the gorilla, then the giraffe, the lion, the frog, and finally the horse.

It was fun to spend the day with Brian, who is so often at school or studying. Kyrie and I have decided we rather like having him around!

A Early Spring Swim

2008-04-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

After the Last session of General Conference, I took to the BBQ and Kyrie took a little dip while we had our backs turned. Mind you, that is rain water from the storm on Friday and Saturday.

Natalie was worried that it was too cold but of course, I figured that if it was really that cold, Kyrie wouldn't have stayed in so long....

Down Under

2008-04-05T08:06:00.001-07:00

Mom, Dad, Steven, Joseph, Grace, Emmalee, and Isaac all flew out from Utah to spend spring break with us. We love it and had tons of fun! One of the days was spent at Kentucky Down Under. We had an awesome time and can now go back anytime we like because we have season passes! Yahoo for that! Most of the day down under was spent feeding the birds.

Mom even fed the birds.

Kyrie loves birds! She love to chase them, and squeeze them. Needless to say the birds aren't to keen on Kyrie. She would have been happy to spend the entire day in the aviary.

The Kangaroos weren't too active the day we went. They just wanted to lounge around.

A peacock, strutting it's stuff.

Kyrie also loved the goat, so much that she fed it all her pretzels. Yeah, she is great at sharing, at least when it comes to goats.

Brian and Steven were able to flip the sheep like they do in order to sheer them. They both flipped their sheep in record time. I think they both have a great future on a sheep farm.

We also were able to try our hands at cow milking. Dad thought it would be funny to squirt people with the cows milk and he nailed me in the leg. Thanks a lot dad!

This was my first time milking a cow! I can now say that I have successfully milked a cow. Mom also milked a cow!

And here are more birds! Like I said, we spent most of the day with the birds.
One bird was chewing on my collar while the other was sqwuaking in my ear. My ear rang for about an hour afterward, and I thought Kyrie was loud.

These birds had a head fettish I think. Sharee had a very viable concern that I felt needed to be addressed. There were no heads pooped on while creating these kentucky down under memories.
There could only be two possible explanations for this phenomenon. One, the birds were potty trained or two we just got lucky. I'm betting it was the latter of the two.

Can't wait to go back! Thanks mom and dad for the season pass, we love you guys!

Egg dying adventure.

2008-03-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we decided to dye Easter Eggs. I rarley boil eggs and had forgotten the distinct boiled egg smell. I was reminded once again that I do not appreciate that smell. I do, however, enjoy dying eggs so it was a sacrifice my nose had to make.

Kyrie enjoyed dying the Easter eggs as well as trying to drink the egg dye. She kept grabbing at the cups and saying juice. Her nose must not have detected the vinegar smell because no matter how many times I told her it was yucky she kept saying, "Yummmm juice!" over and over again until she finally succeeded in dumping the blue dye all over herself and the counter. I just have to say how thankful I am for 409! It works wonders.
Kyrie also discovered that when the eggs are dropped off the counter they made a wonderful cracking noise and she was then able to eat them.
Here is Kyrie enjoying the fruits of her labor. She has decided that she rather likes dying Easter Eggs and the colorful results she gets.

Thursday at the Zoo

2008-03-15T13:48:00.001-07:00

At the zoo we were able to see our new little elephant on his first birthday! He is a very talented little guy!

Leave it to Kyrie to be more interested in the fire hydrant than the wonders of pride rock.
So much for the King of the Jungle, he doesn't realize he was replaced by a fire hydrant.

Kyrie aboard the old safari van in the African village.

As you can see, Kyrie had had enough of her safari and wanted out. I think she was overreacting. The van didn't even move, and her poor safari team was stunned by her sudden change in mood. You would think she was going through puberty. Oh wait, it's just the terrible two's hitting a couple months early.

All in all it was a most eventfull zoo trip, and Kyrie thouroughly enjoyed herself. The most wonderful part was, there were no bees! (Last time the bees were swarming everywhere, flying into the diaper bag and everything. I am not only allergic to bees, but I am deathly afraid of them. That is no exaggeration.)

Who would like a cookie?!

2008-03-05T16:53:00.001-08:00

Today Kyrie and I made sugar cookies. Kyrie loves to "help" out in the kitchen. She also loves her new apron from Grammy Di. (Thanks Grammy Di!)

Yeah, Kyrie found out the dough was edible and had a little problem with putting in her mouth. She got that from me. I have a severe problem with eating dough. It's not just cookie dough, it even extends to bread dough. The only draw back with the bread dough is the yeast. It gives me quite a tummy ache. My favorite is actually blueberry muffin batter. I guess that's not so much dough, but I could eat a whole bowl of blueberry muffin batter without cooking one single muffin. Wait, I've actually done that.
A new favorite for Kyrie is the rolling pin. Long after we were done rolling out cookie dough, Kyrie had to take the rolling pin and push it around the house. Luckily I had already cleaned it off before it took the trip.
Kyrie was super excited to frost the cookies.

Once she figured out how to spinkle the sprinkles there was no going back. She was spinkling everywhere.

I don't think we have enough sprinkles on those cookies!
That's it for our great cookie experience!

Natalie's New Blog....

2008-02-23T20:28:00.000-08:00

Hey, Check out Natalie's new blog.... She is starting a little scrapbooking club... (I promised her that I wouldn't call it "crapbooking'', so I won't) but check it out. She has my office completely filled with tonz of scrapbooking tools and stamps and junk that I didn't even know they had. The address to her blog is, http://www.memoriesbynatalie.blogspot.com/. She has already posted a picture of what she is making with her little group this coming up Saturday March 1. I guess she is planning monthly gatherings and has a lot of cool stuff for those who come. So if this is your thing.... then leave her a comment and check her out... And if you might be interested in coming and you didn't get an invite.... leave her a message and tell her you are interested and I'm sure she would love you there.

Snow in Kentucky?

2008-02-14T18:21:00.000-08:00

I looked out the window and what did I see? Not popcorn that's for sure. Ice, and snow everywhere. After a little nagging from Kyrie, we decided to go outside and play in the snow. Kyrie was really excited until she did a face plant in the snow and realized it was cold.

I have gotten spoiled with the little snow we have here in Kentucky. After living in Rexburg for six years I really grew to dislike the snow. In fact I think I would be okay if I never saw snow again, except for the occasional ski trip. Give me California sun any day!

So I had to throw these pics in of Kyrie because they are just too cute! Her new thing is hats. No, that's not a hat she has on, it's one of those things that goes over the diaper under a dress. Kyrie likes to put any and everything on her head and call it a hat. She has even put tights on her head.
Kyrie chillin in her "hat"

Good times ...

2008-02-05T17:41:00.000-08:00

Long time no update. Sorry.

Here is Kyrie enjoying her new bath toys that she got from Aunt Sheryl (Brandon Reed's Aunt and now our adopted Aunt). She loves them!

Kyrie and big daddy chillin like some villians in their dental goggles.
So here is our new front door. The trim still has to painted, but it's nice not to have to tell people to go around and through the garage!

The Wedding!

2008-01-05T18:23:00.001-08:00

Above, Sharee and I showing off our handy work. Below, Jenny and myself showing off more handy work.

The day before the wedding the girls along with Ian, spent making flower arrangements for the reception. Yeah, we're pretty good!
We even made all the flower arrangements for the top of all four cakes.

It was a very blustery day in Oakland California. Julianne and Eric came out of the Temple, then had to run back inside. The rain was blowing in sideways. Needless to say, the bride and groom didn't get a shot if front of the Temple and most of our umbrella's were broken afterward.

Poor Eric was saddled with the unruly children. Kyrie was one of them. Yes, the one screaming and sliding off his lap. I'm sure that made him think twice about reproducing.
Brian was able to fly out the night before the wedding, which was awesome! Congrats again Julianne and Eric.

California Adventures!

2008-01-05T18:10:00.000-08:00

Kyrie was having a blast jumping on the tramp with her uncles and cousins. What can I say, she is a party animal.

Daphne was kind enough to give Kyrie a piano lesson.

Kyrie loves cousin Hayden and has been so gentle with him.

Kyrie has had tons of fun with all her cousins! She loves to jump on the trampoline, play the piano, and play with blocks. She also warmed up to Grandpa and wanted him to hold her and play lincoln logs with her.

Grandpa Stone's 80th Birthday

2008-01-05T17:48:00.000-08:00

Kyrie and I flew out to California and were able to go to Grandpa Stone's 80th b-day bash. It was tons of fun!

All six sisters singing boogie woogie bugle boy.

Just Emma and me, posing for a picture.
Grandpa had 80 candles on his cake. That's right 80! Pretty crazy huh?!

Grammy helped Grandpa blow out all 80 of his candles and we were all amazed when the fire alarm didn't go off.

Grandpa played "In the Mood". Of course it was amazing! We love Grandpa!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T10:22:00.001-08:00

This Christmas we spent down in Georgia with Uncle Ed and Aunt Esther's family. We love them! The break was filled with games, puzzles, caroling and food.

While Brian was out in the yard with Kyrie he had a little mishap with the mud. His leg sunk into the mud up to his shin and took off his shoe. What a great dad!

Kyrie had a blast jumping on the neighbors tramp with Sam and dad. Santa brought our family a tramp this year for Christmas! Yahoo for Santa!Here is Kyrie admiring the tree ornamants.

While Callie chilled out on Sams bum.

Just Kyrie and mom, chillin by the Christmas tree.
Kyrie chillin with dad watching a movie.

We have been so blessed this Christmas, actually all year. We are so grateful for the Savior and His birth. We love all our family and friends and wish everyone a very merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving in Georgia

2007-11-29T19:18:00.000-08:00

We went down to Georgia to spend Thanksgiving with Uncle Ed and Aunt Esther's family.

Kyrie and Elaina loved playing outside in the leafs. Perfect opportunity for a photo shoot.

Yeah, they are pretty dang cute!

Heather Weston was able to come down to Georgia, her husband was across the country.

So here is a lovely shot of myself, Amber (my cousin), and Heather, slaving away in the kitchen over pies. Oh, and by the way, they were deliciouse, just in case you were wondering.

Amber was kind enough to push the girls (Kyrie and Elaina) on their princess coach through the family room.

This was Elaina's stop, she was trying a moving dismount. She's very clever.

Grandma Jerry lives across the lake from Uncle Ed's so she was also able to join in on the Thanksgiving festivities.

We love Grandma!

Okay, Okay I've been Tagged!

2007-11-09T19:35:00.000-08:00

So it appears I've been tagged by several people already and now it is my duty to tell all of you six things about myself. Here goes ...

1. I was raised in California, Modesto mostly. My family used to go to Santa Cruise on Saturdays to surf a lot. It was my bishop actually, that taught me how to surf. He was the one who told me to pee in my wet suit to keep warm, thanks Bishop Mills for the sound, but somewhat disgusting, advice.

2. Growing up we always went camping at Yosemite or Mammoth Lakes. I've had several encounters with bears on all my camping adventures. I also love to backpack, I even took a backpacking class at BYU-Idaho. I was able to backpack through the Olympic rainforest in Washington. Good times! My dad took some of the girls including myself and my brother and brother-in-law on a great backpacking trip in Yosemite where I was able to climb Clouds Rest. I always wanted to climb to the top of Half Dome, so someday I will.

3. I love reading! I usually average two novels/books a week. I read the last Harry Potter book in two days. I also don't mind reading the same book 4 or 5 times, spread out of course. If I didn't I would have ran out of reading material years ago.

4. I love to exercise! I love pilates and swimming! Kyrie actually loves doing pilates with me and she makes a great weight for lifting while I do squats.

5. I have insomnia. I actually haven't slept for a little over four days in a row now, so even though I'm here, I'm not all there.

6. It also seems I suffer from short term memory loss like Dory on Finding Fabio, I mean Nemo. I am constantly forgetting things. It might have to do with lack of sleep.

There. Now that I've shared some marvalous things with you, I will tag Sharee, Melanie, Tiffany, Brian, Leslie, and whoever else wants to be tagged. I don't know how many people I am supposed to tag so I'm just wingin it.