Enjoying the Fourth

After forever, we got there. And always one to please, my mom got a slip n' slide. And being the cool mother/grandmother she is, she gave it the test run.

Then the boys gave it a go. Maybe they should have payed more attention to the demonstrator . . .

Sunday night we had a great dinner then I told Brealynn I wanted to go for a ride around town. I ran downstairs and slipped a diamond ring and a pair of earrings into my pocket and off we went.

See, the earrings were a present that she had gotten years before that were her favorites. They were part of a young women's lesson relating to some movie. Anyways. They were starfish that whispered good things in a girl's ear. Self esteem kinda stuff. You're great. You're wonderful. You have great legs. You know, stuff like that. Now while she was gone in Missouri visiting her aunt I had these earrings repaired, because a post had been broken off and she hadn't worn them for years.

The ring had been a bit of a challenge. I am at times indecisive. This is especially true I have learned when picking out wedding rings. After quite a bit of looking, I ended up buying one. When I picked it up though, I was less than impressed. I spent a little time milling it over and ended up going somewhere else, picked out a new ring, and had that ordered. The wrong one came, work didn't pay me on time, etc, and it took longer than it should have. So when I told her I didn't have it yet for different reasons I wasn't lying (not that I wouldn't have for a situation like this). Christin picked it up for me while I was in Texas.

So after a few stops we ended up around the river/temple. We walked a little ways over to a little park that had a bridge running over the river. We stood there for a bit holding each other, and she made a comment about how we were going to the temple soon. Then she felt my heart and realized it was about to explode. I told her I had a surprise for her and pulled a pair of starfish earrings out of my pocket. It is a bit of an understatement to say that she was excited. I think a tear even leaked out (her, not me. For once). While she was hugging me, I snuck the real surprise out of my pocket, whispered in her ear that when she wasn't wearing them, I wanted to be the one to tell her how great she was. And I got down on one knee. And she cried a little. Smiled a lot. Not really sure she said yes. So, wow. I'm getting married.

Oh yeah. The fireworks were awesome too.

Texas and Back

The Monday night before I was supposed to be leaving to Montana with Brealynn and her family, I got a text from a company owner and he said he needed me in Texas pronto. So I came home, packed up my stuff, and was gone in a few hours. Ten hours and seven hundred miles later I arrive in Hereford, TX.

This was really an uneventful trip, with just a bunch of work and watching television in a hotel room. Thanks to Kevin passing quite a bit of work my way, it was a worthwhile trip. I tried to stay as late as possible so I could make as much as possible. I ended up finally heading out about five o'clock Friday night. I decided I had enough time to make a last minute trip to Mexico to pick up some medicine though, and that's where the excitement happened.



I pulled up to the Mexico border right at two in the morning. Now, the office had decided to close when I left and filled my car with tons of alarm equipment. And random things like Kevin's giant bin of brown rice. After a fairly thorough inspection, I was allowed to cross into Mexico. However the Mexican authorities thought even less of the contents of my car and informed me I would have to declare everything in my car. So. I drove back across the border, found a McDonald's parking lot, stuffed three hundred dollars in my pocket and started running. I crossed the border to find the weekend partiers spilling out of the clubs, some of them saying things but most just staring at this crazy gringo running through the streets of this border town.

Aiming for where I had believed this pharmacy to be I made a few turns, quickly finding myself lost in the dark, abandoned streets of Nogales. Now I am not someone who worries about my personal safety too much. Nor am I someone who gets nervous going down to Mexico. That being said, running past the three or four shady looking characters on the nearly empty streets made my heart beat a little faster than the jog already would have. I almost took a taxi, but instead asked two guys getting into their car where there pharmacy was located. They pointed me in the direction and my pursuit resumed. I had to stop and ask for directions from someone else shortly thereafter. Anyways. I didn't die. I finally found it. I got what I needed, gave a few bucks to someone else for helping me, and ran like mad for the border. I crossed without any problem and finally made it back to my car at a quarter to three. Though Google says this is a three hour and seven minute trip, I arrived a five o'clock on the nose. Whew. I showered and packed my things in fifteen minutes, and at five thirty I was at Brealynn's house. Fifteen minutes later we were in the car traveling a thousand miles to the north to my parents' house.

In The Mail

The night Brealynn got back from Missouri we had a little talk. And we decided to set a date. So the next day, we called the temple and scheduled a sealing date. No, I had not proposed. It is a little weird to get this particular letter in the mail when you are not actually engaged yet.

Geez I love that Eclipse shirt.

It's Never Too Late For A Party

JEFFREY GOT MARRIED!!!!!!

And I never wrote about it. Well. I was the best man. I mean, I'm kind of a big deal. Or I was at least for a few days. But I did get to throw a bachelor party. So we went to The Tilted Kilt. Which has kinda attractive girls. And pretty decent food. So for a Mormon bachelor party, it is perfect. And we took a picture (which I had framed and put in their apartment while they were gone on their honeymoon).


And then, with the go-karts that we borrowed from the bishopric (Thanks Brother Peterson) we went to the institute parking garage. Armed with snow balls from Bahama Bucks and water balloons, we commenced racing around (yes we made Jeffrey wear his tiny swimsuit. If I would have thought about it earlier, I would have gotten some flag girls to start the race too). Though the snow balls were a little hard and might have bruised Jeffrey, it was still an excellent bunch of fun.


Oh yeah, and he had a cape.


I don't really know why we wait so long before we do awesome stuff like this.