July ’16

JULY IS GONE! Summer 2016 is going too fast! I am finally catching up with the blog, I’ve been so behind. Sorryyy. Here is the low-down of what our summer has been like so far.

After we returned form our 4th of July trip to Utah- We rode the Razor up the side of Mt. Baldy (thank you selfie stick) we were able to recreate one of my favorite pictures of us taken 3 years ago. It is a beautiful sight that overlooks the valley. We also caught the sunset for a romantic ride back down.

The very next day we joined Sheldon’s Aunt and Uncle for another ride up to Soda Point on the opposite end of the valley. Another gorgeous sight to see that overlooks the Alexander Reservoir. I’ve decided that I really like Grace. There are plenty of excuses to get outside and enjoy the beauties of Idaho!

One weekend we joined Sheldon’s Brother and family for a spontaneous day trip. We went to tour the Minnetonka Caves. It was an impressive cave, chilly, and still has many formations so see in it. Our tour guide was pretty phunny and very passionate about rocks. Haha. After we did that drove to Bloomington Lake where we were able to hike around a little bit and Sheldon got to play in the water- his favorite thing since he was little was to jump in with the rope swing.

Another spontaneous activity is that we were able to get free tickets to the Preston Fireworks show for the 24th. We made it a double date with some friends. It turned out to be quite the evening, the fireworks were very impressive, but probably too close for safety. There were even some fireworks that jumped across the far bleachers we’ve never seen those kind before. The 24th Parade in Lava provided for a very Happy Sheldon- his favorite candies are Bit ‘O Honey and he collected a bunch from all the parade people. That evening we went to visit Sheldon’s Grandpa because he isn’t feeling so well. A bunch of the cousins all helped out around their house and we picked peas in their garden! There are SO MANY peas there. Also I just HAD to take some pictures of the Idaho landscape as we are getting closer to harvest in the valley.

When we found some old poles in his parent’s basement we decided to go fishing. Not only once but we are committed enough that we bought Idaho fishing licenses! We haven’t been successful so far- aka havent caught anything… BUT how can a girl complain when her husband takes her to watch a beautiful sunset along the water’s edge? Some of the prettiest sights and funniest stories come from our evening fishing adventures. Fishin’ really isn’t that bad.

Fair Week! This past week was the week of the Caribou County Fair in Grace. We spent so much time on the little fair grounds. It seems like everyone in the town spends the whole week there since there is so no admission fee. But that also means we ate quite a bit of fair food. #healthy….

I helped to work the craft building and entered in a few things. I ended up just helping to set up then just sitting around a lot. BUT the lady I was helping said that there are a lot of categories still open and that I should submit some of my crafts. So I ran around our house looking for some things I made, and ended taking some decorations off our walls. I entered 4 things; a felt flower wreath, an acrylic portrait painting, a floral cross stitching thing, and a string art of the temple. I got 3 blue ribbons and a red. We ate quite a bit of fair food, all delicious and not so nutritious.

On Thursday we worked at the Grace Stake Steak booth. Haha. It’s like a fund raiser. So Sheldon was making fries and I was making burgers all night. It was actually so fun because it was a fun group of people working together, and we got some free food. Friday night we attended a rodeo- The last one I went to was probably like 12 years ago in Oregon. I was really impressed, I think my favorites were the barrel racers! SO fun!

So my summer job has been working at Caribou Highlands Golf and RV Park. It has been the perfect job while I worked on online classes. I’ve learned a lot about golf and we even had the curiosity one night to try it out. It hurt our arms and we aren’t so good at it but we enjoyed ourselves! The golf course has been way busier than I ever expected in such a small town. Great experience though!

We have been able to enjoy lunches together and SOMETIMES I am invited to his work BBQs on Fridays. Once we made kabobs, it was a lot of work but they turned out pretty good. (Brandon suggested I include this on my blog- so this ones for you.) If colorful BBQ kabobs don’t say “summer” I don’t know what does.

Lastly we have been able to enjoy our neighbor’s kittens. there are 5 of them and they are so tiny and precious. Sometimes we will sit on the back patio and play with them. Adorable!

Engaged! (how it happened)

On December 5th 2015-  The man of my dreams and my very best friend asked me to marry him. 

 

Heres how it all went down:

Saturday (yesterday) we planned to go to the temple in the morning, then go to Idaho Falls to do some Christmas shopping, lunch, then in the evening go to i-jump with some of Shel’s friends. I thought it was a pretty packed day already- so I didn’t expect anything crazy to happen.

6:30- Wake up and get ready for the day

7:00- Leave my house for a Temple session (but we didn’t get in until 8:15)

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10:30- Got back to my house to change to normal clothes

11:15- Drive out to Idaho falls

11:45- Arrive at Taylor’s house (Sheldon’s twin brother) wait for their little boy to wake up, and talk about our days plans for shopping. Also they convinced us to join them for lunch and take family pictures for their little baby’s birthday.

12:30- We ate lunch at Reed’s dairy. (Grilled cheese, Chocolate milk and Ice cream. Yum!)

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1:30- We got to the Greenbelt to help them take family pictures by the beautiful wintery/ icy waterfalls.

1:35- I ask if Sheldon wants to take a “selfie” there as Taylor and Rachel walk around to the other side and leave Sheldon and I there alone.

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1:40- Sheldon asks what our favorite memory is together and I think; “hmm… we have too many, maybe when we went to general conference” I said… And then he replied; “mine is right now” then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

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1:41- Through a HUGE smile, I said YES! and hugged my new fiancé.

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1:42- I then realized that Taylor and Rachel where there the whole time taking pictures. So sneaky, it was all set up.

1:45- They took more pictures of us and of the ring.

 

Basically the rest is history, we did end up doing some christmas shopping, and went to i-jump that evening. We celebrated with some chocolate pie too. But our day turned more to the excitement for our future and we called family and friends to share the news.

I LOVE my ring! So we actually went ring shopping while in Utah (previous weekend adventure) so Sheldon could see what I like, well he ended up ordering it and proposing before I could suspect anything. He’s also happy because he got a pretty good deal on it.

We are SO excited for our life together! As of now we do not have an official date set, but are planning for a wedding in the middle of April, after the winter semester ends. Then we will be sealed in one of God’s Holy Temples for time and all eternity .

I am one happy girl!

#ForeverTheLloyds