This One is for August

August was an adventurous month. Here are a few pieces of my memory that I'd like to share with you.

The Ogden Temple is currently being remodeled and the Brigham City Temple is under construction. This means that the next closest temple to my parents home is in Logan. Madre and Pops are both called as teachers for the Young Men and Young Women programs in their ward, so when it's time to do ward baptisms, it means they get to come up and visit our way for a few hours!

Being only nine-years-old, Marie is the only one at home who isn't currently in mutual. So I met my family at the Logan Temple to pick up Marie and take her home to visit with Bill and I while everyone went and did baptisms for the dead.

We ate ice cream, watched "I Love Lucy," played with blocks, and made up a Rap for our block creation. Combining both mine and Bill's name, Marie's and I's rap went something like this: 

Billica and Jill. 

Billica and Jill.  

Billa, Billa, Billa, Billa, 

Billica and Jill.

We are up and coming lyricists, doncha know?  :)

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of our going to Bear Lake with Bill's family, but we did in fact go together!

Judy, Greg, and Ben went up to Grandma and Grandpa Schroader's cabin for a weekend and we came up to join them one night. We went out to eat at a delicious restaurant hidden by all the cabins of Bear Lake West. We ate some tasty food and listened to the live band singing on the patio right outside.

Greg was telling us of one time when Bill was little how he fell asleep face first in a plate of spaghetti. "He leaned over like this...and Sploosh!" Greg said! Right then the waitress was walking up to us and Judy was completely oblivious to the story. All she hears is Greg making some gargley "Sploosh!" sound and turns away from the waitress to look at Greg with a look of complete embarrassment on her face. "Bless you!" she says to Greg, and turns right back to the waitress. Greg looks at Bill and I with a look of utter confusion upon his face. "Whaaaaa?" Bill and I started laughing our heads off! We laughed and laughed and laughed! We had to explain to Judy what was so funny, and realizing her mistake for thinking Greg's sound effects for a belch, she began laughing too! Oh my sides hurt!

Of course while in Bear Lake, one must stop at LeBeau's and pick up shakes!

We returned to the cabin and watched "Galaxy Quest." I fell asleep. But then Bill woke me up and we put our bed together.

We brought up our air mattress and sleeping bags to use so that we could sleep out in the living room of the cabin. In the morning when we woke up, Bill and I were laying on the mattress simply talking, enjoying the early morning sunshine through the windows. I noticed a wasp flying around up above, repeatedly hitting the window, but I didn't think much of it. A few minutes later, Bill moves and suddenly he begins throwing off the sleeping bags shrieking "Ow! Ow! Ow!" He tossed and he flailed and I couldn't tell what was going on! He sat up in the bed and looked down at his calves. There wasn't much there except for little tiny red marks, indicating that a wasp had just bit him and stung him a few times! We figure the wasp must have been crawling on Bill's leg and when Bill moved, he squashed the wasp between his legs and ticked the little guy off!

Throughout the course of the day, Bill's calves swelled up and itched like crazy! It was absolutely ridiculous and it made going to sleep that evening a complete nightmare! Out of nowhere...minding or own business...and a wasp dive bombs us. What de Heck?!?

While on this trip, the Kiefer's rented a wave-runner for a few hours. Greg, Ben, Bill, and I went down to the lake and took turns riding out on the water while Judy decided to stay behind and clean up the cabin. Ben was exhausted after 45 minutes or so, so Greg decided to take him back to the cabin. That meant Bill and I had the wave-runner for another 3 hours. We rode around...and rode around...and took turns driving one another, but there is really only so much one can do on a wave-runner. We were tired after 2 hours and brought the watercraft in early. Unfortunately, the rent policy was "use it or lose it," so although we returned it early, we didn't get our money back for the unused hours.

Spending the weekend with Judy, Greg, and Ben was a lot of fun! I certainly look forward to similar summer vacations in the future!

Our ever-lovely-roommate, Melissa, also got married this summer! Melissa and Jarod have been dating for a few years and finally made the decision to tie the knot. After many late night talks with Melissa, I can assure you: These two are so good for each other. :)

The morning of their wedding, I got all dressed up!...and went down to the Driver's License Department to change my last name on my license. As soon as that task was complete, I drove down to Layton and picked up the ever-lovely-Hilary! It was so good to see her and catch up on our drive down to Salt Lake, where Melissa and Jarod were getting sealed.

We parked behind the Conference Center and I successfully completed my first-ever parallel parking job! It is a well known fact that I almost failed my driver's test because I couldn't parallel park. I bumped a cone. Also, I stopped in the middle of a U-turn, but that is beside the point. What really matters is that this parking job was beautiful. All I could think was, "Bill would be so proud." :)

Hilary and Wedding-Word Bananargrams

Hilary and I meandered over to the Salt Lake Temple with the perfect amount of time to spare while we waited for Melissa and Jarod to come out after their sealing. I brought Bananagrams to play with to kill some time. Hilary is brilliant at this game. Of course, we were not playing it according to the instructions, but we made a giant interconnecting crossword with "wedding-related" words. I assure you, every word could be justified through further explanation.

Jarod and Melissa with Melissa's siblings

We went outside to wait for the couple to come through the doors, and we found the ever-lovely Shanna and Michelle! :) We were all coming to support Melissa in the biggest day of her LIFE.

Jarod and Melissa were beaming when they came out the doors and into the arms of family and friends. What a beautiful bride and groom!

Hilary and Taylor at the luncheon

Michelle and Shananaba
 

There was a wedding luncheon in West Jordan at a Senior Citizen Community home. It was really beautiful! We stuffed our faces with hundreds of mints and good food. And this is the point in the day where Taylor met up with us! It was a B1 Roommate reunion! :)

After the luncheon, Taylor, Hilary, and I went to Hilary's house. It was on this drive back that Hilary and I rediscovered the goodness that is Radio Disney. A flood of memories came rushing back and we laughed and laughed at the cheesy things elementary school children would call in and say. Oh such good times!

 

Party at Hilary's house!

Taylor presented Hilary with a belated birthday present that included many wondrous things. A Peace backpack, sillybands, a popsicle mold, and window crayons! Everything we did from that point on involved playing with Hilary's birthday present. 

  

We made popsicles!

 

 Fishy Faces

And decorated Taylor's car with the window crayons!

Then we went to Wal-mart to pick up wedding gifts for Melissa and Jarod.

When we arrived at the reception in Layton, Taylor's car may have caused some confusion as to who's car was that of the bride and groom.

The Bride and Groom

 

   

Me with Melissa!

 Cake time!

Michelle, Shananaba, Hil, and Tay

 

The couple's first dance

Amazing lanterns...it's almost like the lanterns in Tangled!

The outdoor reception was beautiful! I loved the colors and the simplistic nature of it all. Melissa worked really hard to make it her ideal wedding with the budget she was given, and I applaud her and her taste! It was so charming!

We stayed until the reception was over and then made our way back to Hilary's house to enjoy our popsicles before Taylor and I left in separate directions.

And Hilary has some slides that go off her deck! It's like a park all the time! What joy it brought my heart. ;)

That my friends, was the end of a very wonderful day full of happiness and fun.

Fighting off the weeds

We went shooting. Yes. Yes, we did. Bill gave Ben a couple of boxes of clay pigeons for his birthday last year, and it was about time that we got around to using them!

So me and the Kiefer men went to "Little Fallujah", as it is affectionately called, to shoot some flying targets.

Greg was still in recovery mode after having had knee replacements in both knees only a few months earlier. It amazes me to see the mobility he had and his willingness to hike over to "Little Fallujah." We had to lug all our equipment through thorny weeds and over precariously placed rocks, but we made it! And that's where the fun began!

Bill - a good shot

Greg - a good shot
(Did you note how Bill and his dad hold a gun the exact same way 
and how both wear phone holsters on their right hip?)

Me - a not-so-good shot

Ben - also a good shot

I will be completely honest. I was scared out of my mind to shoot a gun. The gun I shot certainly had a kick that surprised me more than anything and I quickly learned that I'm not cut-out for shooting things. Yet secretly, I did have fun. I think the most enjoyment I got was from taking pictures of the guys with those big smiles on their faces. :)

A shot of the railroad tracks we were nearby.

Waiting by the roadside for Greg to come and pick us up.

I do love being a Kiefer!

 

Blessed day! The equipment arrived!

Look how happy the kiddo is! ;)

August also happens to be the month when Bill received the equipment to begin moving The Wifi Guys (his internet service provider business) forward! This man was as excited as a six-year-old on Christmas!

Have I ever told you have the great things that come to Logan? Perhaps a few times. Our favorite grocery store in town, Lee's, had the world's largest grape display! I received an ad in the mail a few days before to remind everyone of the upcoming event. School was getting ready to start and people were moving back into town. I invited Michelle to come with me to witness this LIFE-altering event.

I had no idea what to expect. I just knew it had to be something big. Something grand! And it was...but just not on the scale of biggness and grandness that I was expecting. :) It was still cool though.

Hooray for grapes.

Naturally, grapes were really cheap, and Michelle splurged and bought a bag. ;) I was proud.

And during this final week of August, school began. Was I excited? Yes! And no.

This summer was really fantastic due to the fact that Bill and I got to spend so much time together. We worked very similar hours at USU Housing and spent our evenings making dinner and trying out new meals! We watched movies and went on quite a few mini vacations. I think I can speak for both of us and say that this was a great first summer spent together. :)

Here's What Happened in July!

It's Sunday night and Bill has just whisked away to go lock up the church. He asked me to come with him. I told him I had to blog. So I better keep my word and do as I say so that I can start building up the reputation of a reliable person in our marriage. ;)

Look Honey! I'm blogging! :)

Today was a very eventful Sunday full of snow, ice, and rushing around.

We went to church this morning and heard some great lessons from our different classes.  Then lucky us, we had a cookie linger longer after church! Last night, Bill had a great idea to make Muddy Buddies, so we went against the grain and brought those as our treats. Our little Dixie cups full of Muddy Buddies brought a little character to the cookie table. We were happy to provide a little variety to the other delicious treats.

Then we attempted to have choir practice after the linger longer. Bill is the ward choir director and I am the ward choir piano accompanist. We really enjoy having a calling that we can work together on! It's brought us closer together and has really helped us to get to know a good chunk of our ward. We're starting to feel really comfortable where we are at. *Knock on wood.* It's a soon as we are comfortable that the Lord sends us something to break us out of our comfort-zones. I should watch what I say. ;)

Choir practice didn't really happen. Instead I lightly practiced the piano for our upcoming Christmas Fireside while some of our close friends talked about the latest Zelda game for the Wii. I never understood how many people actually play video games until I met Bill. Now I feel like the minority. ;)

This is the last week in November before the Thanksgiving holiday. Naturally, it then becomes designated has Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching Sunday! Our Home Teachers came at 1:30, I went Visiting Teaching at 2:30 and 3:00, and Bill went Home Teaching at 3:00 and 3:30.

Tonight we had a most excellent dinner. We were planning on having hobo dinners, but we put an exciting and adventurous spin on it! Bill mentioned the only down side to hobo dinners was there wasn't much to go off of by way of left overs. I suggested we could make a couple extra to last us a couple more meals. Besides your traditional hamburger, potatoes, carrots, and onions, we like to put a little extra flavor to ours, but we couldn't decide which route to take. So...we didn't decide. We went with all four of our choices! We made a hobo dinner flavored with pico, one with barbeque sauce, one with Worcestershire sauce, and one with Teriyaki sauce. Holy heavenly smell of flavors! Our house smelled divine as the dinners were cooking up. (Which in turn, killed off the smell of our new shower curtain liner that had caused our house to smell like Smith and Edwards...or nasty factory plastic).

We had to sample all of them while we were at it! So once we were done, we opened each of the tinfoil dinners and sampled a portion of each flavor. Yes...we have a few spatulas. The winners? It depends who you ask. But we are quite the fans of Worcestershire hobo dinners. So good!

Hobo Dinners!

As we were cleaning up dinner, we had a knock on our door. It was the Berg's!...Coming to drop off the check list for locking up the church building. :) David and Jaci Berg are members in our ward...and we're convinced we have found Bill's twin. David is also 24. They eat otter-pops the same way, they love Kool-Aid, they hate water, they sit the same way, they listen to some of the same music, they like the same kinds of video games, they're not fond of exercising, and are chemistry-nerds for life. We laughed and laughed at this semi-eery realization tonight. Jaci practically died because she was laughing so hard. Also! Jaci watches "I Love Lucy" on Hulu! And she claims she's like a six year old. Oh my heck. I am too. :) It was a really fun evening having them stop by and just chatting.

Then off to tithing settlement with the Bishop! LIFE is good. :)

Now here I am blogging as fast as I can before I have to go off to sleep!

Here's what happened in July!

Al and Loraine giving us a sweet serenade.

On the first of July we went to Logan's 4th of July Celebration held at Romney Stadium. Since Bill and I worked for USU Housing at the time, we were given the okay to go and watch the fireworks from the loading dock like we had the year before. We brought a few friends a long and set up camp on the cement. We lit up sparklers, listened to some sweet guitar music and just chatted as friends.

It's so cool to be so close to the fireworks launching. It's so loud that it practically jars your whole body! The blinding white and insanely loud POP fireworks work the best for feeling the intensity.

Then Al and Loraine came back to our place and we had some great conversation!

The 4th of July weekend also included our first camping trip together! We had bought all our own camping gear with some of our wedding money and were pumped to try it all out! The only thing we didn't buy, was a tent. We borrowed a tent from Bill's parents and it was a lot smaller than we had anticipated. Claustrophobia? It was a bit rough. But oh-so-memorable!

Dad, Chad, and Bill deciding how to best go about moving this tree.

 Are you jumping on the trees?

Whilst on our camping trip we went for a drive, which is a Sorenson thing to do. Dad and Chad took Chad's truck, and Bill and I followed behind in the Subby. The men had a grand old time driving the dirt roads and clearing all the fallen trees from the paths. I sat in the Subby and enjoyed taking pictures of them being manly men. They were really aggressive about clearing the trees! Chad hooked up his truck to a few of the trees, pulled into reverse and drove until the trees would let out a deafening snap. I was glad to be in the Subby.

Marie and Mom playing Bananagrams!

And Bill and cousin Tyler became best friends. :)

There was one point on our honeymoon that we attempted to drive up to the Paris Ice Caves, but alas, it was early June, and the road was still snowed in. It was now a month later and Bill really wanted to try and make it out to the caves again. Out of the handful of times that I have gone to this place, this was by far the best! We were actually able to enter the cave and see...the ice! I thought it was beautiful.

Marie, Mom, Dad, no Val, and Jord.

After a busy weekend full of camping and adventure, we made it more crazy and drove down to Weber High to see some 4th of July Fireworks with my family. It was pretty good. They had a flash mob. :)

Don't forget the Kool-aid!

 Placing in the final piece to the puzzle.

We bought our first piece of furniture together! A pretty dark wood shelf - which matches all our other furniture so nicely. We had a fun time assembling it together.

Aunt Lesa works for the Ogden Standard Examiner and always gets free tickets to go see Corps Encore! at the Weber State Football Stadium. I guess the stadium was under construction this summer, so they moved the marching band show to Rice Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah. My mom called the day before offering us the extra tickets. We decided it would be fun to go, especially since Bill had never been to it before. In the end, it only ended up being my mom, me, and Bill who went, but we had a good time! Professional marching bands are so neat. The walls of sound give me chills...even when there are immature high school girls screaming and talking their head off behind you. Don't worry. Bill gave them a talkin' to. ;)

Alicia and Jeff

Did you know my uncle Jeff is in a band? Neither did we. We told Alicia and Jeff that the next time Jeff was performing, we wanted to hear about it and come see. So we did! Jeff and his band had their beginnings at a ward talent show and now they just go around playing oldies music and having a good time. Jeff is the youngest member of the band. This concert was at Cherry Hills on the lawn. It was really fun to hear him play his guitar and listen to old men sing!

Finally, my Bill took me on a hike! I was so excited. After attending Jeff's concert, we stayed the night over at Bill's parents. In the morning we got up and went up Adam's Canyon! It was so fantastic! Well...I thought it was fantastic! Bill may not enjoy the uphill part, but seeing the waterfall, rescuing the pink toy cell phone, eating lunch together, and walking downhill makes the hike all worthwhile.  ;)

 

 Fred, Brent, and Dallon

Jord and Gramps

Silly Pops

Phoenix

Oakley

Grandma Higley and Mom

Freddy

In honor of pioneer day, we went to Grandma Higley's house and did fireworks with the cousins! Brent set off a dry-ice bomb...and I now understand why dry-ice can only be sold to 18-year-olds and why the bombs are illegal. Bill and I brought our left over sparklers from the Stadium fireworks and we had a sparkler frenzy! When it got dark enough, we set off fireworks in the front yard and enjoyed our first legal Utah aerial firework display. Bill got chased around Grandma Higley's house by a thousand little cousins in the dark. I've never seen him run like that...and I've never seen him do it since...I don't know if I will ever see it again. :) And I got dog-piled and tickled. Worst combination ever!

And because my best friend happens to have a birthday around a state holiday, I had work off! So I went down to visit Taylor for her 20th birthday. We celebrated by doing the usual - bubbles, parks, picnics, snow cones, more parks (the wonky dizzy park), walking in the rain, exploring the town, and driving. It was good to see her and actually talk to her without a wedding going on. ;) I love me some Taylor time.

And that was a large piece of mine and Bill's crazy July! Married LIFE is great for all the reasons above. You get to start making your own memories together. :)