Puddle Jumping

When we were first dating there came a week or so of hard rain. The whole town filled up with water.
One of my favorite things is driving through puddles and mud. So I talked mike into going with me one night after work.
It was already dark, but the puddle was HUGE! We drove through it back and forth slow to make sure nothing was hiding under the deep water. And in the center of the puddle it came all the way up to the door of my little pickup.
When we drove through it fast and water shot up a good 10 feet on both sides!
It was a blast! And he got a good idea of how crazy I really am.
He asked "Are you sure this isn't going to hurt your truck? The water is up to the engine!"  To which I just laughed and assured him I had done worse to poor old Willis. 

Meeting Mikes Family

Michael is the 4th of 10 Children. He has a very large loving family.

We had to make a trip to the Salt Lake area for an appointment one day, so we arranged to meet his family. They were driving down to do some shopping, and we all planned to meet at his Oldest sisters place.

I had only met two of Michael's brothers at this point, and I was very nervous to meet up with everyone else. I wanted to make a good impression. We arrived earlier that the rest of them, he introduced me to his sister and her husband and children. And then we sat down and the rest of his family showed up. 

One by one as they came in the door they introduced themselves and hugged me. They were all very friendly. It was his parents, his grandma, 3 of his brothers, 3 of his sisters, and 3 of his nieces and nephews. We all talked and visited for an hour or so before we had to head back home.

Our first Date & first Kiss

The week after we got back from the church camp he asked me to go long boarding one night, but I canceled last minute because a family issue came up. He still insisted that he see me for just a minute that night because he 'had something for me'.

So we agreed to meet at a Sinclair Gas Station halfway between his house and mine. I told my parents I had to stop by a house I was pet sitting for a let the dog out again before bed, and they made me take my sisters with me. So I threatened to end them if they said a word to my parents about where we really went.
When I arrived he had a dozen peach roses for me. ♡♡♡ I almost melted. No guy, or anyone else really, had ever gotten me flowers before. It was the sweetest thing ever! I asked him why he got me flowers when we were having such an informal date as long boarding- but he said he wanted to make a good impression. Which he certainly did. My family was going camping that weekend and as I thanked him for the flowers I asked if he could come? He agreed.
 He hugged me goodbye and on the way home Samantha said "You have to marry him now, because that was so sweet!"
I told her to shut up and rolled my eyes because that would never happen. (lol)
We then stopped by the house I was watching and put the flowers in a vase on their counter, because if I went home with them my parents would certainly be suspicious.

We spent 4th of July weekend with my crazy family, and he didn't hate it. Actually my family loved him! He and my dad got along great. My mom thought he was sweet. My sisters were still impressed about the flowers. And my brothers thought he was the most amazing person alive. Lol not to mention my cousins both thought he was pretty awesome too.

I was amazed that he fit so well with everyone. I had never brought any guy around my family, so I expected the worst from my siblings and dad. But it's like they all liked him as much as I did. He helped my dad work on the sidebyside. And would run around the woods playing airlift wars with my little brothers. At one point he was on a team with my youngest brother Dylan, and they were hiding. Dylan turned around and shot him in the face from like 3 feet away. "Why would you do that? Im on your team!" Michael said. And he just said "I was bored and wanted to shoot somebody". haha

We spent a lot of that weekend riding 4wheelers and sidebysides through the woods. I let him drive and we would explore the trails and meadows. One time he hit a cow pie and it flew up and splattered my arm. I made him stop so I could wipe it off and we both laughed so hard we couldn't stand up. He took off his undershirt and used it to wipe the cow crap off of us, and then when we got back to the campsite he threw it in the fire. I said "Thats not how you do laundry" and he said it was how he does laundry.

The night of July 5th we went to see a special firework show put on by a small town in the mountains. (Picture Below)
We ran into my friends and I introduced them to my date. And then we went and lay a blanket out to watch the firework show. It was a great show. And we laughed about how I shake like a little dog every time they explode. I thought it was weird that he didn't try to kiss me during the fireworks, and thought maybe he didn't like me as much as I thought.

But when we got back to camp that night I walked him half way to his truck to say goodnight and he kissed me. It was the first time, and I was so ecstatic I could hardly sleep that night.

It rained for a whole day that trip and we were all stuck inside the camper playing card games. I said I was sorry he was trapped inside with us all on such a boring day and he said he was glad because he really liked spending time with me and my family. And that was the moment I knew that I really loved this guy. I didn't just like him, I was head over heals obsessed with him.

Thats us on the Red Blanket pointing at the stars

Singles Ward Camp Out

Our relationship got started at a week long church camp the second to last week in June 2014.
We had met just a few weeks earlier and hadn't really hung out much, but I asked if he was going to the Camp out and he said he would try.
He couldn't get the time off work, so he would drive into town every morning for work, and then come back up the mountain as soon as he got off. It seemed crazy to drive over an hour into the mountains every evening, just to have a few hours before going to bed and then having to leave early every morning, but Im glad he did.
Everyday I would wait for him to come back after work, and then we would spend every minute together late into the night until he had to go to sleep to work the next day.
Being out in nature with no distractions of technology or things gave us the opportunity to really get to know each other on a deeper level. We would hang out at the firesides and evening activities, and then we were the last people to watch the fire go out late at night. We would sit and talk, and make sandwiches as we sat under the stars.
On day one Michael was just a friend I kinda crushed on but hardly knew. By the end of the week he was the person I spent every minute with.  Nothing brings you closer than sitting alone by a fire late at night under the stars and talking for hours.

Even though I was the crazy girl who ran around in camo hats with no makeup, and hadn't had a real shower for at least 3 days, for some reason he still found me somewhat attractive? 

 I guess he saw my craziness as adventurous or something. 

The Day we Met... Our Singles Ward Story

In February of 2014 I was working 13 hour days between 2 jobs, and had no social life. I decided to quit my second job and try to enjoy what was left of my teenage years. And I started going to Singles Ward Activities on Monday nights.

Michael would work all day, and then go home to his apartment and watch TV until he fell asleep every night. He had just moved back to Vernal and didn't have many friends to hang out with. His parents told him repeatedly to go to Singles Ward but he always had an excuse not to go. He felt like he wouldn't get along with the people there since he wasn't super religious. 

About the end of May of 2014 he finally decided to go to one of the Monday night activities. It was a kickball game at the Stake center. He showed up and didn't really know anyone so he sat down at the pavilion and watched the game that was in progress.

I was hanging out with my friend Natalie I knew from school. She pointed out Michael sitting there and asked me to go over with her so she could get his number. I said "I don't know, he doesn't really look like he wants to be bothered" but she insisted, so being the good wing woman I am I went over with her so she could talk to him. 

She tried small talk for a few minutes and then took off running. I awkwardly looked at Michael and said "I uh... gonna go." And followed her. She was upset because she said he was too busy checking me out to pay attention to what she was saying. I laughed and told her she was over reacting, but we did not go back over to talk to him that night. 

He told me that he was obsessed with my eyes being so blue and he honestly wasn't paying attention to Natalie at all.

I saw him at the following activities over the next couple weeks. He hung out with the same group of friends I did. One day we went to Sonic after long boarding all night and one of the other guys asked me what I like to do for fun. I said "drive my beater truck through the woods and mud." to which Michael said from another table "Thats hott" Which is the first words Id ever heard come out of his "shy" mouth. That night before he left he came over and told me that he would be having some people over for a movie at his place soon and wanted my number so he could invite me. So I put my number in his phone.

A few days later he called me and told me he was inviting some of the friend group over. I asked specifically who would be going and he listed off a few names including one of the other guys from singles ward I was hanging out with. I didn't want to be in an award situation, or want Michael to think I was more than friends with this other guy who I knew liked me, so I told him I was busy and couldn't come. Later I found out I was the first person he invited and when I declined he canceled the whole idea and spend the night at home all alone. I still feel bad about that. 

The Singles Ward was having their big YSA Camp Out Activity the next week so I asked Mike if he was going. He said he was going to try.