Miss Lovely LaVerkin Pageant

So a couple weeks ago, I got a phone call from a lady whom I did not know asking me if I would like to be a judge at the "Miss LaVerkin Pageant." My first thought was Where the heck is LaVerkin? and my second thought was Why in the world are they asking me to be a judge? Well it turns out that LaVerkin is a little hick town right out by Hurricane, and my crazy roommate, Stefanie, put my name on the list for suggested judges! That little snitch! So I and my good friend Natalie, who was also asked to be a judge, made the thirty minute trek out to LaVerkin yesterday morning for the interview portion of the pageant.  There were seven girls in the pageant, ranging from age 13 to 16.  I just have to give them all props because I can't imagine being that young and getting in front of a panel of judges to be interviewed all by myself! They were so brave, but SO nervous! I felt so bad for them, I just wanted to hug them all before each of their interviews.  It was just a way funny experience.  Here was my favorite part of the interviews.  We interview one of the contestants and at the end we ask her, like we asked all of them, if she has anything else she'd like to tell us before she lets us go.  She says "um...can I tell you my most embarrassing moment?" We're like "Sure, go for it!" Now keep in mind, this girl's like fourteen.  She tells this story about how she and her friend went to Fiesta Fun and they were watching this boy on the go-carts and they thought he was really cute.  They were looking at him and talking about how cute he is and all of the sudden the man standing behind them says "So you think my son's pretty cute, huh?" And of course they were just HUMILIATED! :) So we laugh and excuse her from the interview. What a great way to conclude an interview, huh?  So then the next girl comes in and we go through the interview.  "Is there anything else you'd like to share with us before we let you go?", we ask her at the end.  "Um...yeah, can I tell you my most embarrassing moment?" "Sure!" "Well me and my friend, who's also doing the pageant, we went to Fiesta Fun, and there was this boy that we thought was really cute......:" YEAH! She told the same story!!! HAHAHAH!! oh my gosh it was SO hard to sit through it for the second time and keep composure! and then to try and act like it was the first time we'd heard it! haha it was SO FUNNY! And then there was another girl that, when we asked her that question, she's like "my favorite color is blue.  thank you." and walks out. hahah!! oh my heck these girls were so FUNNY and cute! I wish I could remember all the things that were said in the interviews that made me laugh so much.  They were hilarious.

So then later that day we went to the pageant.  This was QUITE the show! It was so fun.  First there was the poise competition, where each girl was escorted out on stage by her father and walked around the stage wearing heels and a beautiful formal dress.  Then, they were asked an on-stage question.  My favorite was this: The question was "If you were stranded on a desert Island all by yourself, what would you take and why?" Her answer: (say it like a little teenage girl) "Um...I would take chocolate, because it makes me happy!" haha! good answer kiddo!  I also loved how pretty much every girl would say "Ooh, that's a tough one." before they answered.  Haha.  Cute!
Then it was time for the talent competition.  These girls sure were talented! But the one that stands out in my mind is Andi's talent.  She ended up winning first runner up.  Her talent was singing and...it was AMAZING! it blew me away and made me cry! She sang "When I look at you" by Miley Cirus and I was on the edge of my seat her entire performance.  I've never heard a fifteen year old sing like that! And then the girl that one the title, she clogged. :) I used to be a clogger! She was so cute! She was so animated and fun throughout her entire performance and so fun to watch.  She was hilarious.  

When they were about to announce the winners, I was really nervous because I knew that the results were on our shoulders and I really wanted the girls who deserved it most to win! Well the results were exactly as I predicted, and I was really happy.  And then as soon as the winners were announced, the judges were escorted out the side doors before any angry parents could get to us.  haha good thing, because....you just never know in a crazy town like LaVerkin! Nat and I laughed about the entire experience the whole way home.  What a fun day! I felt the need to blog about it. 

Fun in the Rainy States

There are some people in this world that are just such great examples to everyone around them.  They are Christlike in everything they do, and willing to welcome and love just about anyone. The Belnaps and the Falters are examples of these people, two families that we hope to stay close to forever. 
Kade and I had the privilege of attending the wedding of Luke Maughan and Kylee Falter in Oregon and Washington last weekend and we had an absolute blast there.  Let me give some background first. 
Way back in the day (like Jr. high day) There was a group of studly young men- Kade, Luke, Nick, Nathan, Sean- who became great friends with a very special young man named Bryden Belnap.  They loved hangin’ out with  Bryden when he lived in Utah, and when he moved to Washington with his family, they kept in contact and a few of them (the ones who hadn’t left on missions yet) went to visit the Belnap family in Washington one fall.  While visiting, the boys became aquainted with a family named the Falters.  Sandy Falter is Bryden’s sister and lives, with her adorable little family of six talented kids, right down the street from Bryden and Grandma and Grandpa Belnap in Washington.  Two of those six talented kids happen to be the gorgeous twin sisters, Kylee and Lauren.  While the young men were visiting Washington, Luke developed a little…shall we say “crush”?....on Kylee.  At least I think that’s how it happened…anywho, a couple years later, when Luke got home from serving his mission, it just so happened that Kylee was attending Utah State with her sister.  It also just so happened that Luke going to attend Utah State as well! Well, of course after two years of writing letters, the two dated again and just so happened to fall in love. 
Well there’s the background according to Jacki.  As you can imagine, the family is just thrilled to have Luke, one of the great boys who were such good friends to Bryden, as a part of their family.  They just adore him and he is SO lucky to be marrying into such a family.  They are SO great!  They are definitely what made the weekend so fun.  Kade and I absolutely loved getting to know them.  I was especially touched by Kylee’s mom and grandma.  Both such amazing women and great examples to me! I hope someday I can be as good of a mom as they are!
We were happy to help out with all the decorating and craziness that comes the day before a wedding.  I got to do cute little Emily’s hair for the reception (Kylee’s little sister), Kade helped set up and take down a lot of the decorations, tables, etc. and we were just so happy to be so involved.  It was great!
We also fell in love with the area when we were there.  We’re honestly hoping we might have an opportunity to live in Washington or Oregon some time in our lives.  It is absolutely beautiful.  I asked Kade if we can have a sweet zip-line in our backyard like the falters if we live there.  It was pretty intense.  That was one of the highlights of the trip.  Another highlight- Kylee’s little brother Austin.  SO cute!! He is fourteen and quite the ladies man.  Lets just say Kade had a little competition that weekened J He was such a stud! He sang at their reception and, like I said, the Falter kids are all so talented.   His voice was amazing! It was his 14^th birthday the day we got there and when he told me he was turning 14, I said “oh! I have a little sister that’s 14! She’s really cute!”  He just looked at me and said “Does she have a phone number?” haha! Like I said…LADIES MAN!  So cute.  Another funny memory- We drove the Belnap’s old Buic (at least I think that’s what it was) to the temple the morning of the wedding.  The Oregon Temple is about two hours away and it was pouring rain.  They had mentioned something about how the radiator had been struggling but we should be ok.  Well we barely made it to the temple and after the wedding, It wouldn’t start.  As you can see in the pictures, we had to push it out of the parking lot.  “We” as in Sean and Sean and Kade. Haha I just took pictures. 
Well anywho,  needless to say, it was just overall an AMAZINGLY fun weekend.  We’ll never forget it and the friends we made will always be in our hearts!

Ok...Camera complications...pictures to come

Feels like summer!

Every weekend we get to spend together, Kade says "This has been the best weekend of my life!" I usually respond "That's what you said last weekend babe!" He just makes me laugh! It's true tho, every time we get to spend the weekend together, we just love each other even more and have even more fun than we did the weekend before!  This last weekend was the ipidemy of that! I don't think we could have jammed one more fun thing into this three day weekend, we had an absolute BLAST!
He was supposed to come down to St. George on friday afternoon, but decided to surprise me and come a day early...well...attempt to surprise me.  I'm such a brat. I should have just went along with it but when I called him, I could hear the windshield wipers in the background and the noise of the freeway.  "Where are you? What are you doing?" I drilled him.  He's not a very good liar, "um...I'm just drivin." "Where to?" "uh..just to the gas station real quick" "What for?" "just to buy some milk for my mom." "Oh really?" At this point it was like ten at night and I totally didn't believe him. "I want to talk to the clerk at the gas station." ok I know, I was being a brat and making it so hard for him.  I should have just let him surprise me, but it was really entertaining for me to listen to him try to come up with an answer for everything I asked him.  The best was when I asked him if he was ready to read scriptures, and asked him to start.  "Ok we're in section 12, you go first, babe."  haha i'm so clever.  He starts, "Revelation given to Joseph Smith Jr. the prophet....ok your turn." HAHA! what a cutie :)
Anyways, so after driving through crazy storms, he finally arrives at 1 in the morning! I loved having him there early.  The more snugglin time with my man, the better! The next morning, I had a few hours of work I had to do, then we took Easton, my pretend little brother, horseback riding.  Then we went to dinner with my Aunt Louise at Paula's Mexican Restaurant.  Delicious! I highly recommend it.  After dinner, we went to see Tangled at the dollar theatre! Two dollar tickets equals four dollar date night! Greatest thing ever! Not to mention the movie was ADORABLE!! My new favorite, for sure!
Saturday we slept in, and then I made him a big, beautiful breakfast.  Cinnamon rolls, cheesy eggs, bacon, orange juice, grapes... MMMM!
After breakfast, we went skeet shootin with my roommate Vayla and her boyfriend, Chad. It was a riot.  So much fun! Vay and I did pretty dang good! Girl power baby! Oh, and I guess the guys did pretty good too. They're so manly :)
After shootin, we met my Aunt Krystal and Uncle Ben and their adorable daughters who happened to be in town.  We went for a nice little adventure up to Dixie Rock. 
Then, we met up with Vay and Chad again and some other friends for some sand volleyball, in which I dominated.  Go hound dogs!
After v-ballin it up, we went back to Ben and Krystal's hotel for some swimmin and hottubbin and pizza!
By the end of the night, we were exhausted! We came home and just crashed...aka: fell asleep in each other's arms...yet another addition to our excellently fabulous weekend! I love my life!

Happy Valentines Day!...even at 364 miles apart...

Ok my plan for this blog was to start with mine and Kade's "story"...ya know, all the cute high school love stuff.  How we met, first date, first kiss, all of that.  But before that, of course I have to write about Valentine's Day!  Every girl's favorite holiday, right?  Ok, maybe just every engaged girl's favorite holiday.  Lucky me! :)  Anywho...so I come storming into my apartment this morning after taking my humanities test that was way harder than necessary, venting to Kassidy, my sister, on the phone along the way.  I kick off my shoes at the door and headed upstairs.  When I walked into my bedroom, my mouth dropped, along with my backpack and my keys, to the floor.  "Oh my gosh, i'm gonna cry!" I interrupted whatever it was that Kassidy was telling me.  "What's wrong?!", she was all concerned.  My room was covered in paper hearts and there was  dozen roses on my desk! I really hadn't been expecting anything from him because we'd decided we would celebrate V-day when I went up north this weekend.  You haven't even heard the cutest part yet! Writen on each of the little hearts was a part of a texting conversation that we had in HIGH SCHOOL!!! Can you believe he still had it?! It was a WAY cute conversation that we had way back when! I just cried as I read through it...I just miss him so much! Isn't he the best?!
I love you babe! :)

Once Upon a Time....

Once upon a time there was a handsome young man named Kade Erickson.  At the beginning of his senior year in high school, he found himself falling in love with a young lady named Jacki.  It just so happened that she was fancying him as well....to say the least.  The two high school love birds began to make many memories together and grew more and more fond of each other as time went on.  Before they knew it, it was time for Kade to embark on a journey that would be challenging, but oh-so rewarding for the both of them.  He had been called by the Lord to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints in the Columbia, South Carolina mission.  The mission would last for two years and would be quite a journey for both of them.  While Kade taught the gospel to the people of South Carolina, Jacki stayed in Utah to finish high school and begin her college education at Dixie State.  They both learned countless, incredible life lessons during these two years and were so grateful for the opportunities they had.  But when his mission was over, they were excited to be together again.  It didn't take long for them to fall in love all over again.  By that following Christmas, they were engaged to be married.  Kade and Jacki are so excited to have their own Happily Ever After.  They have learned many wonderful lessons and been so blessed throughout their journy thus far.  They look forward to the many fantastic adventures that lie ahead of them and have felt a desire to share those adventures with the ones they love.  What better way to do that than a blog?! This century's version of a story book! I hope you all enjoy reading about their fairytale.