HALLOWEEN WEEKEND:
Oct. 28-31

Well we've hit that stage....Where we can't have a college Halloween but we also can't go trick-or-treating on the account that we don't have kids and to go just the two of us is frowned upon by society. So instead we made the best out of the weekend, knowing we wouldn't do anything crazy for Halloween itself. We don't have any pictures but at least we have the memories.

Friday night I finally got to meet Eric, Kami's boy toy. We have been trying to get together for so long now. So we all went to Coldstone. Eric was blown away by my talents and wit, ok not really, but he put up with me long enough so that I could make a solid evaluation. I have to say I am impressed and wish those two best of luck (marriage bells were ringing...they just liked to ignore them...for now)

Saturday we helped David and Mandi move into their new house in Pleasant Grove. It went relatively quick and it was exciting to see them finally get their very own place, though they will be missed. They lived at the cottage for a few months once Dan and I left for Logan. All I can say is I am and I am not looking forward to one day being in a house....permanence would be great...but moving is dreadful. We would have stayed later but we had to hurry since Dan's good friend Cody was getting married that night. It was a fun wedding and we took pictures in their photo-booth and had delicious ice-cream. Bryan and Lacey were there so we decided to go to a haunted house. We chose Fear Factory. I knew it would be crowded because it was Halloween weekend but o man....it was expensive and the line took so long....and it wasn't even that cool of a haunted house...granted I am very brave and don't get scared easily so the blame wasn't totally on them ;) After the Fear Factory we went back to Bryan and Lacey's and watched "Carriers." it was a good movie, nothing great but good.

Sunday we went to church and were able to see Bobby and Danielle, they were visiting from the great Washington D.C. for the weekend.

All in all, it was a great weekend.

FHE Nights:
Oct. 21

First off I have to say thank you to Michelle, I check her blog on occasion to see what I have missed. I then cut and paste her stuff and put in on our blog, bad? yes? no? ha ha don't worry it's only on occasion. It is so fun having them live near by, and I think I would go crazy without them because all of my friends are no longer in Logan. Every Monday night we get together and have FHE; rotating through the 4 of us for the lesson. This past week we carved pumpkins and then watched a movie. I am quite impressed with our carving skills. Usually I just take a knife to the pumpkin and see what comes of it.

Ours: evil soul. Theirs: Charlie Brown

Mt. Rushmore/Bear Country:
Oct. 19-23

At first Dan and I hadn't planned on going to Mt. Rushmore with the family but once we learned that I had work off and he had fall break we decided to go and I am so glad we did! We left Logan Wednesday around 2pm and headed to Farmington. From there we all jumped in our cars around six for the long drive to Laramie. Dan and I were in David and Mandi's car with Madi, Logan and Kaitlynn. In the other car was Mom, Dad and Kelsi. The drive wasn't too bad especially since we had adorable kids to keep us entertained and we arrived in Laramie around 11pm. It was fun because all the kids were asleep so we got to all spend time with Betsy and Josh at their house.

Thurs:
Since Dan and I slept on the couch we were woken up bright and early and ready to go on another 7 hour drive to Keystone South Dakota. Once again the drive wasn't that bad and it was a beautiful scenic view! We arrived around 2:30 and checked in to the ghetto super 8 where we all thought we were bound to get murdered...ok it wasn't that bad. Brent and Josh decided to go see Bear country while everyone got settled in, then we all went to the park to eat lunch and wait for the others. Bryan, Lindsay, and their kids, along with Jamie and Ty decided to fly because they just can't handle the road like Dan and I ;). After the park we decided to take a swim. That night we all went to Mt. Rushmore to see it at night. It was actually pretty cool. Afterward we all ordered pizza from the only place open in all of Keystone. Dan and I shared a room with Jamie and Ty and after some interesting conversations we were all rolling laughing, Jamie the most...with her crazy laugh that couldn't be stopped.

Friday:
We all got ready and headed to Bear country. I didn't have much expectations for the place but it turned out to be really fun. We were able to drive through twice. Bears and wolves would come right up to your window....Betsy's car got bit last time they were there. Then we did the walk through and all the baby cubs were wrestling each other. It was really entertaining. After Bear Country we stopped at Christmas Village where we bought ourselves a Halloween ornament and played with Bryan's i-phone4s. We quickly ate lunch and headed back to Rushmore so we could see it in the day. We were able to walk the trail and to go through the museum which was really cool to see how they built it. Man, Wyoming and South Dakota are definitely cowboy country! At Mt. Rushmore we saw a couple at least 90 years old getting married right there, in front of the big president's heads. They were dressed to the nines in their cowboy gear and had a few family members with them. We didn't notice until a bit into their ceremony so we had been kind of loud. Little Emily had lost her Hello Kitty glove and was so upset she just sat there crying over and over, "Hello Kitty glove....Hello Kitty glove" so hopefully they don't have the demonic chanting of a child in the background of their marriage ceremony :) Then all of us....which is a lot of us, went to Perkins (which is like a Denny's). Some went for a quick swim after returning to the hotel. All in all it was a great fun filled day.


Saturday:
Those who flew had to leave around noon so we left early to go see Reptile Gardens. I am not the biggest fan of reptiles but it turned out to be pretty fun. We were able to play with massive turtles, pet a baby alligator and see a snake show so I was glad we went. We had to decide if it would be worth an extra 2 hour drive to see Devils Tower and so we ended up going. It was really fun to see. It was the first national monument and people were rock climbing the massive mountain. After Devils Tower we kept on driving back to Laramie and arrived around 10:30 pm.



Sunday:
We went to church, stopped back at the Bakes house and headed back out on the road. We got back to Farmington around 5:30 and Dan and I got back to Logan around 7:30.

It was a great weekend with the family and so much fun to go on a big road trip.

St. George
Oct. 13-16

Originally we had planned on going to St. George over conference weekend since we hadn't been there in so long and we don't get to see Dan's family a lot. Once we heard that his mom would be visiting over the 16th we decided to go then. It turned out to be perfect timing since Enrique (Dan's brother) and his wife Jamie had just had a baby boy McCoy Flores, and their daughter Taislee had just turned one so they were throwing a birthday bash for her.

We left Logan Thursday night after work. It was me, Dan, Richard and his friend. The drive was good and it didn't feel long. Once we got to St. George it was about 10:00 and we hung out with his mom and sister til about one. By the time we went to bed I was so tired and thankfully we slept in the next day.

Friday:
We had decided that we wanted to do a good hike in Zion's especially since the weather had been so nice. We hiked down the start of Pine Creek and Dan gave 'Rique (his nephew) a quick lesson on repelling. We hadn't realized how much water there would be and so we jumped in the first section and it was above our heads and freezing....I went first and Dan had to lower me in the frigid water....everyone finally made it across except Richard. They all started debating on whether or not we should continue on in freezing water for over 3 hours...Dan and I were still up for it but in the end we decided to veto it which is probably good since we had Rique with us, but I'd still like to do it again someday. We did however do a small hike while we were there and that was surprisingly really fun. The scenery was beautiful. After getting back and cleaning up a little we went and played on the trampoline with Dan's nieces and nephew, Ashlyn, Xavier and Sadie. It was really fun to play with them and their stories were hilarious. Later we all went over to Bruce (Dan's brother) and Tiffany's house and watched Mega-mind which was hilarious.


Saturday:
Once again we were able to sleep in and then we got ready for Taislee's birthday party. Laura had made a super cute lady bug cake and little lady bug cup cakes for the party. It was really fun and the weather was perfect. We were able to just hang out all day with all of his family which was great since we hardly ever get to do that. Later that night Dan and I went to finally get a cup cake from the famous cup cake place in St. George (ha ha I can't even remember the name) We were by the tabernacle when we saw there was a Merry-go-round. Dan then revealed to me that he had never actually been on one before so of course we decided to give it a go. Dan got a great looking horse but not as beautiful and mine with it's flowing mane! Richard then called Dan and asked if we wanted to go repelling down the Dixie rock. I had done it before but forgot that going over the edge is the scariest part and since I am getting old and wussier by the day I was a little nervous but gladly once I went over it was a breeze. It was a lot of fun. Once we got back to Dan's house we hung out with this mom and Enrique before finally going to bed.

























































Sunday:
We went to church. We were able to see 'Rique pass the sacrament. Then we went home and everyone ate a great meal before we headed back to Logan.

Grandpa Funeral/Kelsi homecoming
October 7-9

Grandpa Johansen passed away at 8:17 Wednesday Oct. 5 2011. Mike, Michelle, Dan and I were all at the three dollar theater watching Captain America when we heard the news. It was sad but great news all in one. Grandpa had been waiting so long to pass so that he could be with my grandma again. He lived in constant pain with no mobility. His mind was crisp but because of his stroke he couldn't form the words he was trying to say, causing much frustration.

I got off of work Friday and Mike, Michelle, Dan and I hurried home for the viewing that started around six and we spent that time with the family. Everyone (but Chelsea) was able to make it, including Brandon, Betsy, and Staci (along with her boy-toy Brock). It was a sad but joyous time for the family, especially knowing how free Grandpa finally was. It might sound crazy but he looked so peaceful. Kelsi was going to homecoming the next day and their activity was to go to the football game that Friday night so her date, Isaac came to the viewing with her then they went to the game. He was a good sport, especially when he didn't know what to do as Kelsi was upset over the loss.

Saturday:
We headed to the viewing in the morning where we were able to talk with more friends and family. Then the funeral began. It was so fun to see everyone share their memories and give the love and respect my grandpa deserved. He lived such a great fascinating life, there were so many things I learned about him. I gave the Eulogy and my mom and Julie talked about their dad's life. Each grandchild shared a memory they had about him. There were so many to pick from, such as when he would dress up like Santa Clause and give everyone a Christmas gift. Or when grandma and he would take us to village in for pancakes and hot chocolate. Every time I get in the car I can still hear them say, "Where's the click?" Or how my grandma and grandpa always matched and looked so cute and so full of life. But perhaps one of my favorite memories was when I went to visit him not too long ago and I was wearing a green bomber jacket. He told me that my jacket reminded him of the war and for the first time in a long time he was able to form full sentences. I will always treasure that memory. There are other memories as well. Like learning to change him or help him go to the bathroom, to help him into his wheel chair and to keep him not bored all day. I feel blessed that I was able to learn those lessons and to gain so much compassion. He was a great teacher, even in his old age.

My mom then sang the song she wrote for him which was such a beautiful song. She talked about how my grandparents had met at the Coconut grove and danced the night away while Grandma Jo wore her red chiffon dress. 8:00 every Saturday he would dance with my mom and aunt when they were little. They would step on his toes and twirl around. He also passed away at 8 pm, the song was so special. I loved it! After that it was time for the graveside ceremony. There were Marines there to honor my grandpa and I became the official photographer. It was a beautiful ceremony.
After the graveside ceremony the relief society from his ward prepared everyone lunch which was so nice of them since we had a huge family.





The kids at the luncheon

When we all got back it was finally a time to relax. We all just hung out for a few hours before Kelsi had to get ready for Homecoming. She was worn out and didn't really know how to be feeling at that time, but we all pitched in and helped her get ready. She looked beautiful!!! Isaac came and got her and we had the whole (and I mean everyone) chanting his name....talk about overwhelming and awkward for a shy 16 year old boy but I think he liked it. They looked so cute and they had a fun time. It turned out to be such a fulfilling day.
Never fall asleep around the Bishops.


Sunday we all went to church together and then we celebrated Brent Bishop's birthday Oct. 9. Brock brought over a huge BYU bird house and it was an eventful day.