Melissa, Andy and the kids' Blog

Over a month ago, Andy and I made heart crayons for my students. I gave them each one for Valentines Day. It turned out to be a fun date, and the crayons were pretty simple to make. Directions: 1. Break up old dull or broken crayons into small pieces. 2. Place them into a mold in any design you would like. 3. Put them in the oven @ 300 degrees for about 10 minutes or until melted. 4. Take them out of the oven and put them into the freezer to cool for 5-10 minutes. 5. Take them out on a soft surface. You don't want to dump them on the counter, or they might break. Now you have multi-colored crayons in a fun new shape. My students loved them. I think one of my students hugged me 5 times that day while thanking me for his new crayon. The heart on the right kind of looked like a real heart with veins, so I gave that one to the pharmacist...Andy.

In order to tell the story of our engagement, I will have to first tell you the story of our first date. For those of you who don't know, Andy and I were set up on a blind date by my Aunt Mary and Uncle Fred (more Mary). We met on August 27th when he picked me up for our date. Andy was well prepared for our first date. He planned on going up to canyon for a picnic and walking around the falls. He even had picked up some yummy sandwiches, but I didn't know about that then. Well, it happened to be raining that day, so he gave me the option of going to this authentic pizza place. I chose that plan since it was raining. We went to the pizza place where I ate pizza with corn on it for my first time. After dinner he started driving me back home, and then he noticed that it had stopped raining. We decided to try the canyon anyways. We went up to Canyon Glen and started walking the trail towards Bridal Veil Falls. For those of you who know me well, you know that I can easil...

Over Christmas break, my sister and I were looking at ways to make necklace organizers. We were looking for her, but once I saw some ideas, I wanted to make one too. I forgot to take pictures along the way, but I will still explain how to make one. You will need a plaque or a piece of wood, paint, scrapbook paper, mod podge, ribbon, door knobs, a drill and a seesaw hook. Paint the wood, and then mod podge an assortment of scrapbook paper on the front. After it all dries, you can mod podge some ribbon around the edges or even between the different paper. Then you will want to decide where you want your door knobs placed. Drill the holes, and then screw in the door knobs. You will also want to attach a seesaw hook to the back, so that you can hang it on the wall. Andy actually helped me with this craft. He picked out the ribbon, provided the drill, and drilled the holes for me. I did drill a couple of holes, but he is the one that really did it. Then we put in the door knobs t...

I know sometimes I don't enjoy living in Utah during the winter, but it does have it's perks. This past weekend Andy and I went to Temple Square to see the lights and such. I love this nativity scene. It is a great reminder of why we have Christmas! It is because this world was blessed to have a Savior born to save us all. He was born in meek circumstances, but He truly has blessed us all. Christmas is a time to celebrate Christ, our Savior! I hope we still remember to seek as the shepherds and wisemen did. The amazing thing is that He still lives, and because of Him we can all live forever. It is also a time to spend with those you love! (Temple Square is a little packed, so sometimes you get pictures of people you don't know.) This picture is from my ward Christmas dinner.

So last weekend my boyfriend, Andy, finally got to take me shooting. (He was going to 2 weeks prior, but I decided to take a hospital trip instead.) We went with his brother (James) and 2 of his friends (Bret and Kara). I had a really good time. It was a little cool, but not too bad. Andy brought plenty of gourds and milk jugs full of water to use as targets. There were quite a few guns there, not that I could tell you what kind they were. I do know there was a shotgun and a handgun, but those weren't my favorite. (My pictures are totally out of order.) We set up tons of gourds and jugs out on the land. James brought an old stove to use for target practice, but we put it to some good use first. Here the guys are disks or whatever they are called. Kara is attacking the gourds. Andy is also using the stove. As you can tell, it was already in bad shape. Boys and their toys!!! However, I like my boy's toys! I did get one injury from the handgun, but it was only a broken ...

Last Saturday morning (Oct. 30th) around 8:15 a.m. I was driving around trying to find the church building where I was supposed to meet up with my stake for a stake service project. I couldn't find the right building (there were too many to choose from), so I decided to just go home. My abdomen was also starting to hurt a little, so I didn't feel too horrible about not finding the service project. On the drive home the pain got worse. At home I thought it would help to curl up in fetal position, but nothing helped and the pain got worse. I called my mom thinking I had a bladder infection or something. Then I called my boyfriend, Andy, because he is going to pharmacy school and is very knowledgeable about the body. He told me that I probably had an infection, so he was going to come over to take me to Insta Care. It took him a little while, and later he told me that he got a speeding ticket on the way over. (He doesn't normally speed.) He had to come help me off th...

Pumpkin carving is a fun activity to do with a boyfriend! I surprised my boyfriend, Andy, with a pumpkin when he came over. Andy was more than willing to let me dig out the pumpkin guts. He finally put his skills to use by outlining the picture. I was more than willing to let him do the rest of the work. He is concentrating really hard to carve the pumpkin. He did a fantastic job! Look at the wolf howling at the moon. I then started separating the seeds from the rest of the stuff. Then I rinsed them, put them on a baking sheet, salted them, and baked them. The seeds were yummy! It was a great date!