The Big Game!

Well, yesterday was the BIG GAME! As most of you know, Britton is a Utah fan and I am a BYU fan. My parents have season tickets to the BYU games. My dad didn't want to go to the game so he let Britton and I have their tickets. He thought we would enjoy it more. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves...well, at least most of the time. The game was kind of crazy. The officiating was horrible throughout the whole game. They had to review almost every play and they even threw the flag two or three times even though there wasn't a penalty. There was even one play that the officials couldn't tell us what # the penalty was on. It was weird. Both teams didn't play so hot, but BYU was the lucky one to come out on top. Well, lucky for me I guess. Britton was so cute. He was a little speck of red in a big sea of blue where we were sitting. People didn't really give him a hard time. They were actually quite nice to him. They all thought it was cute that we are married, but cheer for rival teams. Britton was a good sport. He didn't really get upset when the U lost. Overall, we had a fun time together. It was fun going to the game. I love watching football, but I do enjoy it more when I am actually there.

Waiting for the game to start. As you can tell, we got there super early. There was only 1 guy sitting right behind us. We went early to beat traffic and because we didn't want to try to walk through the crowds with Britton's broken foot and crutches.

Watching BYU warm-up - I loved their uniforms for this game!

Rushing the field after the touchdown we made in overtime

Scoreboard - It was such a close game!

Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! My parents had 26 people at their house for Thanksgiving. What a crowd! We enjoyed each others company, good food and fun games. This year I am thankful for so many things.

I am thankful for:

My sweetest husband - He is always doing sweet things for me. He makes me laugh and we have so much fun together. I love him so much!

My wonderful family - I love every single one of them. My parents are the best! They do so much for us! I also have the best siblings and brothers and sisters-in-law. AND...I absolutely adore my nieces and nephews! They are the cutest!

My Friends - I have made some really good friends in my ward. I am grateful for them and all that they have done for me. I am also grateful for those friends that I have known forever. We have had good times together.

My Job - Even though some days are rough, I love my job. It is so rewarding. I love seeing the lights click when my students learn something new.

Good Health - Yes, I have a few health problems (mostly migrains), but overall I am grateful for my health and that I can still do all of the things that I want to do.

My Calling - I love being in the Primary Presidency. I love the ladies that I serve with. I love serving the children in our ward and hearing their testimonies.

I am thankful for so many things, but those are my top 6.

Here are some pictures of our wonderful Thanksgiving!

Mandy showing off her homemade turkey and homemade Indian feathers.

They Indian feathers were put by our plates for our place cards.

Mandy took a picture of me. I have the Indian feathers on my head,

but you can't really see them..

Britton and Mandy

Britton wearing his Indian feathers

The 3 stooges. They all had beards so they had to get a picture together.

Derek (brother-in-law), Blake (little brother) and Britton (hot husband)

Good News & Bad News

We will start with the good news...

On Thursday, November 5th Britton got his Pilot's Certificate. This was a long task for him. Britton goes flying two times a week which seems like a lot, but overall it takes FOREVER to build hours. Britton studied like crazy for this test. He was super nervous, but I knew he would pass. He started with a oral test where an examiner sits down and asks questions to test his knowledge. Then he went on a flight test to show off his flying abilities. Overall, the test took him 5 hours. I am so proud of Britton and this accomplishment. Now he can take anyone flying with him. Any takers?

Now for the bad news...

Britton broke his foot on Tuesday, Nov. 17th. He was playing church basketball. Britton went up to rebound the ball and take it back down the court. He jumped up to get the ball and when he came down he landed wrong on his foot. He said that he went straight down and couldn't get up. He got light-headed and felt hot. Some buddies helped him up and he drove right home. He came in the room and told me he was hurt. Britton doesn't usually complain so I knew something was wrong. We iced his foot, wrapped it and elevated it thinking it was just a sprain.

When he woke up the next morning he said that his foot felt fine. That was before he tried to walk on it. He got up out of bed and then immediately fell back on the bed. He couldn't put any pressure on his foot. I knew then that something was really wrong. So I told him to get ready and that I was going to take him to Urgent Care on my way to school. Well, we arrived at Urgent Care, but it didn't open until 9:00am. So luckily my mom just lives down the street. I asked her if I could drop him off there and if she would take him back at 9:00am. Of course she said yes. My mom is so great! My parents also have crutches from when my dad had ankle surgery, so Britton got lucky and is using those. Well, the doctor at Urgent Care said that he had broken his foot. So he put on a soft cast and then told Britton that he had to go to a foot specialist to get a boot or a real cast on.

Luckily, Britton broke his LEFT foot so he could drive himself later to the doctors. This whole ordeal as been crazy. I feel so bad for Britton. I don't like to see him in pain. He will have to wear a boot for 6 weeks. The sad thing about this is that he can't go fly. He is really bummed about that. Well, we will make it through these next 6 weeks. These things just happen!

Our Engagement!

3 years ago today we got engaged!

I'm mostly writing this so that down the road we can read about our engagement. I know that I will always remember how Britton proposed, but I wanted to write out each detail so we don't forget about the "little" things that happened.

November 15th is a very significant date for us. As most of you know, Britton and I met when we were 14 in seminary. We obviously couldn't date, but we were good friends. Right before we both turned 16, Britton's family moved to Denver. So we never got to go on our first date together until we were 18. Britton came back to Utah to go to college. We started hanging out and eventually he asked me out for our first date. Our first date was on November 15, 2003. We went and saw the movie Elf and then went to eat at Silver Fork Lodge up in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Afterwards we went to get hot chocolate at 7-Eleven that is at the bottom of the canyon. It was a great first date!

So...now to the engagement part...

Britton got home from his mission in July 2006. He obviously went back to his Denver home when he returned from his mission. So we would mostly talk on the phone every night and he took a few trips out to Utah during the next few months. We eventually started talking about marriage each night on the phone. He came out to Utah in October for General Conference. I thought he was going to propose then, but he didn't. I knew he was moving back out to Utah at the end of December so he could start the next semester at UVU. So I figured he would propose then. Well...he totally surprised me and came out in November. I had no clue this was happening. He had told my parents and all of my siblings that he would be proposing on Nov. 15th. They had all kept it a secret from me which impressed me because my family shares everything.

That weekend before, my parents called me to ask if I could come home on Wednesday (Nov. 15th) to take my grandma out to dinner. Nov. 15th is my grandparents wedding anniversary and my grandpa had passed away the year before. So they said the whole family was going to take my grandma out to dinner since it was their anniversary. I told my parents that I had class that night, but I could email my professor to let him know I wasn't going to be there. Well...later I found out that my parents had already emailed my professor to tell him that I was going to get engaged that night. So he already knew I wasn't going to be there, but me not knowing that emailed him to tell him I was going to be in South Jordan that night. So he emailed me back and said that was fine and he would email me the notes from class later.

So...on Nov. 15th Britton flew out in the morning. He met with my dad to have lunch and to ask him if he could marry me. Then he took the rest of the afternoon to get everything together for that night. That night I drove home to my parents house. When I got to my parents house I got in their car and started heading up the street. Then all of a sudden my dad took a left at the light instead of a right which was the way to my grandma's house. I asked him why we were going this way. He said he needed gas. So we headed down the street towards the gas station. Before we got to the Sinclair, which is right next to South Jordan Middle School, my dad turned into the school parking lot. I asked him what we were doing. Then all of a sudden, I saw someone walk out of the seminary building holding flowers. I couldn't tell it was Britton because it was dark outside. I said, "Who is that?" Then it hit me that it was Britton. I was seriously in shock. I didn't know what to do. My parents finally said, "Get out of the car." So I got out and ran to him to give him a hug. Then he led me inside where he decorated the seminary classroom where we had met when we were 14. He had our favorite country music playing and had twinkling lights and candles everywhere. He asked me to dance. Then he got on his knee and said some cute stuff then asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes. I was so excited! Then he told me that he had to propose on a day that meant something to us. Then he told me we were going to recreate our first date. So we went up to Silver Fork Lodge and had dinner and then watched Elf. Then he told me we were going to start a new tradition. He bought the cutest snowflake mugs for hot chocolate. We got hot chocolate at the same 7-Eleven and poured them into our mugs. Our new tradition is to drink hot chocolate out of our engagement mugs every Nov. 15th.

I loved that Britton surprised me! He is the sweetest. I am so glad I married him! I am the luckiest girl in the world!

Halloween!

Halloween was very fun this year! We went over to the Nowell's house (Britton home teaches them) for dinner. We had potluck and everything was so yummy. Then we went over to my parents house where all the grandkids were in their cute costumes. They were all so adorable! Then we went with our friends Jenny and Peter to a corn maze and afterwards went to their house for hot chocolate. It was a very eventful and busy Halloween! We loved it!

Mandy, the cute witch!

Braedon was Batman!

Daxton was Robin!

Drew was an astronaut!

Tyler, the cutest elephant ever!