Second Aniversary - A Scavenger Hunt

Since last year I planned and executed our first year anniversary, Brittney decided it was her turn to plan this years. I knew she was up to something making mysterious phone calls, and deleting the history on our Internet. The big surprise actually came a week before our anniversary. After going to the temple, I was walking out to my car (we drove separately) and I saw a note on the windshield. The note told me to look in my glove box and from there I was sent on a scavenger hunt.

I went to Barnes and Nobel to pick up a book, and in the book was another note telling me to go to an address in Tempe (thank goodness for map quest). I soon found myself in front of Brittney's favorite restaurant the serves an authentic cuisine of India. After eating there she gave me a note and left. The note was a puzzle in which I had to go through my book and find letters to figure out my secret password for my next destination. In the car, I found another note that led me to the Arizona Grand Resort.

I was forced to say my passward (it was naughty) several times because she "couldn't hear me" outside our room - quite embarrassing. She had bought some fun finger foods and I brought our leftovers from the restaraunt. It turned out to be a very fun and unexpected stay-cation. Sorry, no pictures.

The Good, The Bad, and the Guilty

Brittney and I for a fun group date did a murder mystery dinner on Noverber 13 since it landed on a Friday. We had a fun time decorating my parents kitchen in a old western theme. For dinner we had grilled chicken, baked potatoes, salad, baked beans, IBC rootbeer. There were little tin buckets filled with peanut, and dried apple slices and we drank out of quart sized mason jars. It was a good time as we debated, accused, and framed each other for the mysterious murder of a Judge. Turned out that Brittney was the murdurous villan.

I was Sherrif Wyatt Hertz the most famous lawman in the west. He never lost a gunfight, and some believed that he could take out a whole gunslingin' gang with a single round from his six shooter.

Brittney was Elvira-Lynn Fekshin, the consummate that makes no bones about it, so to speak. She's known throughout the territory as the "purrty" saloon girl, there's even a famous saloon song about here- My Heart Burns for you, and Other Places.

Jesse was Ellias Truist Heath is the up and comming heart throb gunfighter. He can dazzel spectators with his quick draw and a spin from his guns.

Michelle was Butch Chastity , known as the first lady of outlaws. and head of a all woman gang of the west. She holds the record for the fastest stage coach robbing. Kirt was Cheif Braking Wind, a distinguished leader to the Cowpai tribe.

Laura was Helena Handcart, Mother of all thirteen handcart boys. She manages the family cattle business, and makes it know to everyone she meets that she owns half of the territory.

Science Center Date Night

The first Friday of every month the Phoenix Science Center has free admission. so Brittney and I went with Kirt and Brittney's cousin Chantell to check out some of the exhibits. It was really awesome! They had a guest speaker come in and talk about illusions and the mind, and went though different examples of how our mind can trick us. Afterwards, Brittney and I went upstairs and they had a really cool exhibit on physics where you could lay on a bed of nails, play with electricity, and spin around like an ice skater.
Downstairs they has some really neat exhibits on the bodies organs, such as the heart, kidney and liver. We found out the your skins is the largest organ on your body.
On the top floor they had a Lego exhibit, but we ran out of time, so were going to go next month to check it out. Come along!
Brittney and I checking out our heart rates after racing on stationarywheel chairs. ( I tromped her of course!)

Here I am learning about the nose and sneezing while throwing balls into it. Watch out, this one made us jump.

Kirt riding a bike on a steel cable. There was a three hundred lb weight at the bottom, and even though he tried, Kirt couldn't flip it. Pretty impressive skills!

Wicked Weekend

Back in April on Mother's Day I surprised Brittney with tickets for the Broadway musical "Wicked". We have both seen it before and were very excited to see it again. We went on Friday, July 3rd and we decided to dress up formally just for fun. Brittney wore one of her favorite prom dresses which she still fits in quite nicely. (We were the only people dressed up formally and got quite a few stares but it was great. Sometimes it's fun to be different). We went to Carrabas Italian Grill and Bar for dinner (yummy ravioli and salad. plus you gotta love the bread and oil!) and off we went to Wicked at Gardy Gammage. The show was great! Fantabulous! Brittney got a lot of comments on her dress and how beautiful she looked and I agreed full heartedly. She looked great!!

Yesterday for to celebrate Independence Day we went to Basha High School's pool. This pool was awesome!! It had 2 big slides, a lazy river, a whirlpool, and a play fort for the kids. The water was perfect too. Addison loved swimming with mommy and daddy, going in the whirlpool and the lazy river. She smiled and kicked the whole time. Afterward we went to the Grandma McCleve's for BBQ and plenty of good food . Brittney's great salad was a total hit! Out side we shot Dad McCleve's and Grandpa McCleve's potato guns. Some of the potatoes and cobbs hit or landed in neighboring yards, houses, or sheds. The cousins went into a neighboring field and we shot the potatoes straight up and they would run to try and catch them. It was really entertaining. After eating all the good food and drinking HOMEMADE ROOT BEER, we sat down and watched a movie or took a nap. (aka: i was the only one who took a nap besides Addison. Sleeping allows my food to digest better.) Around nine, some of the fireworks were going off and we went in the back yard to see some. The kids all had poppers and were having fun putting on their own show. i left when it was time to clean up.

I'm grateful for the bravery of those 56 delegates that signed the Declaration of Independence. I'm grateful for the opportunity we have to live in this country and the freedoms that we enjoy. I pray for those that are in the armed forces as well as the leaders of our nation that they will continue to uphold what the founding Fathers started nearly 233 years ago.

While reading the Declaration of Independence one line stood out among all the rest which comes at the very end.

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

May we live to that same standard to protect those sacred freedoms for future generations.

Hi ho Hi ho To EFY We Go!

Alright! Alright! Alright! Alright! Alright! Alright! Hey!
Monday morning we took a little road trip up to Flagstaff to drop off Brittney's sisters at NAU to attend EFY. It was a really fun road trip and baby Addison's first! She did and excellent job. The whole way up she was entertained and spoiled by her two aunts Jalee and Hiedi. It brought back a lot of fun memories of EFY to Brittney as a 5 year participant and to me as a counselor.
I never attended as a youth because I thought it was for nerdy Mormon kids, but I repented of that thought and decided to become a counselor the second summer after my mission. It turned out to be an one of the best decisions of my life. I was going thru a recent breakup and had found out my mom had ovarian cancer, to say the least life was pretty difficult. I was pretty down and praying one day asking Heavenly Father what I should do with my life then it came to me, EFY. EFY was like serving my mission all over again. I loved teaching the youth about the gospel and hearing their testimonies. With youth like this being the future leaders of the church we are in good hands.
Each session I became closer to my fellow counselors. At nights we would all stay up late and sit in the halls telling stories about our missions, girlfriends, high school, and other stuff. I loved the talks from the session director, the dances, game night, pizza night, hangin with my boys, teaching lessons, cereal every morning, the cheezy cheers, and every minute of it. It was during EFY that I found the comfort and guidance that I was looking for. It was reemphasized that trials can be overcomed and bring spiritual strength.
The greatest blessing was that I was able to make a connection to that would lead me to my wife. In the picture below on the right is Michelle ( my future sister-in-law) and Tia on the far left (my cousin by marriage). Michelle was in my group (one of the best groups I had). After EFY Brittney I met once at a country dance. Later she was on Facebook and Michelle who happened to be next to her at the time saw my pic. Michelle told Brittney to say hi for me, so she did. Well, when I checked my facebook I saw this really cute girl that had said hi to me from Michelle. Here's our conversation.
Brittney: hey i am brittney mccleve. remember me? we met at the ysa dance a couple weeks ago. michelle mccleve (my sister) and tia brown (my cousin) were in your group at efy - flagstaff 1. michelle saw your picture on steve b.'s account and asked me to say hi for her. she says you're a really great dancer and she had so much fun!!!
Kyle: Hey birttany! Of course I remember you! Can I just say that Michelle and Tia were my favorites. That company I had in Flagstaff were probably my best so far. Right now I'm doing my last session here in cedar and then I'm back home. YEAH! but then again its kinda sad. EFY had been amazing! Well, when I get home we'll definitely have to go dancing, but i don't know why michelle says I'm a great dancer, because I'm really not. Tell her I said HI!
Brittney: michelle says to say "whatever" and that you are amazing! ( i don't know why she won't tell you all this herself, but she doesn't want a facebook) anyways, i hope you had a great time with your last efy session. which was your favorite campus? i just came back over the weekend from volunteering in my home ward to be staff for a trek. i had a blast. now i just have to recover from being sunburnt....
Kyle: Hi Brittany, well, right now I'm in southern Utah going camping and rock climbing! Woot Woot! EFY in Cedar City was a blast! I loved SUU's campus and I had great companies. All in all it was a wonderful experience. That it really cool that you went on a pioneer trek. That sounded really fun not to mention your pretty hard core for pulling a handcart in a dress. I bet that was a awesome experience. So...anyway.... I was..uhh..wondering if I could get your phone number to ask you on a date or something. I know you probably think its pretty lame to ask for a phone number over facebook, but don't think I'm a lame guy(Michelle could probably back me and tell you what a stud and classy guy I am, or she'll tell you I'm just crazy)
Brittney:i love camping!! i am so jealous! as for rock climbing, i do that too, but i am terrified of heights, so not so much. sounds like you had a blast being a counselor! i'm going to apply for this next coming summer - i can't wait! the pioneer trek was such an awesome experience! i was the phototgrapher and now i am putting together a slideshow for a fireside. so i asked michelle if you're a real stud, or if there's anything crazy about you like excessive drooling or anything and she thinks that if i just take a bib i'll be fine. :-p my cell is 480-290-####.


So I know asking for her phone number over facebook was pretty lame, but I was so super excited. Our first date was a blast! The second, even better! Next thing we know its this




I LOVE EFY!!!!!!!!!!!

CAR SHOW

Brittney and I this Saturday went to take some pictures of a family at the Mesa Center for the Arts. I was her official assistant carrying props, the step stool, and giving her some ideas about different poses. After the shoot we went across the street to a vintage car show that was going on. I loved looking at all the vintage and classic cars. It makes me wish that those times were still here. Cars were made to last back then and it seems cars now-a-days are just junk. After the car show we went to our favorite place to eat on Main St. which is Pizza Mart. It turned out to be a fun night out on the town.

Midnight at IHOP

At the end of every semester Brittney and I celebrate by going to IHOP late at night and getting some breakfast. We started this tradition when we were dating. After our first semester (which is really hard when your dating and then engaged and making wedding plans...ect) we were so excited to be done with school and have a few weeks of break where we could just take a little breather. We were really happy that now we could spend some more time with each other (which for engaged couples there seems to be never enough time). The first time we celebrated at IHOP we decided to do it at 3 AM in the morning requiring us to sneak out of our houses. I remember crawling out of my bedroom window in my room downstairs climbing out of the window well and getting into my car and driving over to Brittney's. Some of Brittney's family were already up so she didn't have to sneak out ( which I thought didn't make it as exciting). Since it was so early in the morning for some reason we were in a very laughing mood and everything seemed really funny. Our server probably thought we were drunk because we were laughing at everything. This year we went at midnight. We were already at Brittney's parents house and they wanted to watch Addison while were gone. It was great fun and a good way to start the summer.

Eat At Pete's

Tonight Brittney and I went to the temple to see her sister, Michelle go through for the first time. We are so excited for her and her fiance Jesse to get married friday. So every time brittney and I go to the temple we have a tradition to go to Pizza Mart (home of the large pizza for only $5.50) on Stapley and Main. We go in and order our favorite pizza with sausage and jalepenos. While we wait for the pizza, we play the Original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game. Brittney's always Leonardo and I'm Michealangelo. We kinda stink at the game so by the time the pizza ready we've already died. (We get better each time though). Sometimes after going to the temple Brittney will beg me to go to Pete's Fish and Chips because her McCleve family would always go afterward (though she's never been). So after the temple I let her convince me to break our traditon and we went to Pete's. I was a little disapointed because I love my Pizza Mart, but in the end we had a lot of fun. But next time it's gonna be Pizza Mart!

I didn't get to play the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle game, but at least I got to ride the pony.

"For your own safety please do not give money or food to the vagrants."
Brittney modeling her food.... mmmmmm.....delish!

Walking Down Memory Lane

Brittney and I had our first anniversary on Saturday March 7, 2009. I can't believe one year had already gone by. For our first anniversary I wanted to do something for her that was really special and personal. I decided to do a themed type date and the theme was "A walk down Memory Lane." Brittney, on the Thursday before, asked me if I had anything special planned, and I putting on my best poker face told her that I had no idea what to do for our first anniversary. I said "Lets just go out to dinner and then watch a movie or something." I could tell she was disappointed, and I knew my plan was in motion.

Saturday came around and I went to work for a little bit and Brittney went to her parents house. For the past three weeks I had been working on a video for Brittney and I wasn't quite finished yet. I took my laptop to work and made the final touches to the video. On the way home from work I made some calls to make sure everything was going to flow according to plan. So this is how it went.

I went over to Brittney's parents house and got there around 5:30. She was over there taking care of Addison. I sat down and watched a movie pretending like it was any other day. Around 7 I told Brittney that I was hungry and that we should go out to eat. She was feeding the baby and I was kinda in a hurry so I told her we had a reservation. Her eyes lit up and curiosity beset her. She asked where we I had made my reservation at. I told her it was a surprise. (Brittney hates it when I do that). She gave Addison to her mom to finish feeding her and we went out to the car. I told her she was not allowed to look where we were going and I made her put a blanket over her head. She kept asking me questions trying to figure out where we were going. The only thing that I told her is that we had both been there before.

We arrived at Tempe Town Lake and I told her she could uncover her eyes. I informed her that before we ate that we were going to go for a walk and that during the walk she would have to look for her first gift of the night. She was really excited now and after walking 100 yards, she saw my younger bother Collin any my sister Heather standing by a table. They came up to us, wished us happy anniversary and left. I told Brittney that this was her first gift of the night, a CANDLE LIGHT DINNER next to Tempe town lake. She was ecstatic. The night was perfect. My brother had did an excellent job with the location and setting the table. We were right under one of the bridges and a few feet from the water. Dinner was Yoko's Terriaki Chicken (one of my favorite places to eat).

This was the first phase of my "Walking Down Memory Lane" themed date. Here at Tempe Town Lake is where Brittney and I had our FIRST DATE. We reminisced about that date as we ate dinner under the glow of the candle light. After dinner we walked back to my car and I told her that she had to put the blanket on and told her that we were going to her second surprise. Again she excitedly put on the blanket and began asking questions. Again I didn't tell her anything. 15 minutes later I pulled up in front of my uncle's house.

I escorted Brittney out of the car with the blanket on her still and walked her up to the front porch near a wooden rocking bench. I told her she could take off the blanket. Her eye's lit up and we sat down on the rocking bench. It was here that Brittney and I had our FIRST KISS, and later it was here that I PROPOSED to her. We talked for a little bit about both events and I gave her a second gift. I pulled out a paper from Fred Astaire Dance Studio which informed her about the Ballroom Dancing lessons I had signed us up for. She was ecstatic! One of our favorite things to do when we were dating was to go to the Wednesday night country dances that they had in Gilbert's Boys and Girls Club. Now we would learn other dancing styles, plus it would be a great date night for the next couple of months. After a few more minutes of sharing memories we left for the final phase of the date.

We went back to her parents house and I gave her my last gift. Her and her family gather around my laptop and I played the video I made her. It was so much fun to reminisce about our courtship, engagement, and the last year of married life and take a walk down memory lane. Life has been so wonderful with Brittney and I'm excited for our life together. I love you sweetheart! To view the video go to my facebook for now.

Family Traditions

when this past school semester ended - i think it was december 18th - kyle and i went out to eat to celebrate. we have this tradition that in order to celebrate, we eat breakfast at three in the morning. kyle started this when we were engaged after the fall semester of '07. the whole time that we were dating and engaged, we got to bed somewhere between two and three thirty every night, sometimes even later. it was so hard when we had to wake up for 8:00 classes and then go to school, back to some more classes, and then hang out for the rest of the evening until the early morning hours. the only thing different about the weekends was that we didn't work (kyle did some saturdays) and we didn't have school, just church. so as you can see we never got any sleep. but the only time we complained was when our parents would call us home because they wanted some sleep. in our minds, we never saw each other enough and never spent enough time with each other. school was the enemy, the reason we were tired everyday. we had no fault, of course. if we could just sleep in a little and then start the day we would be fine. so the natural thing for us to do would be to celebrate when school is over for the break. and just to be spiteful, we went at 3:00 am and had breakfast at ihop.

the first time we went, kyle acted like he was drunk the entire night and i was so embarrassed when he let one slip right before the waitress came over. i had never seen him act like that before and thank goodness never since. we did the same thing at the end of the spring '08 semester, and pictured is the tradition living on at the conclusion of the fall '08 semester. i did change however going at three in the morning. i'm pregnant, so it really didn't appeal to me to stay up until three or wake up at three and be tired all the next day. we went at ten. kyle and i get to bed late enough as it is, something we really need to work on before addison comes in four short weeks!

this past time at ihop was so fun. it's always a treat when i get to hang out with kyle. not that he's always gone, i just can never get enough of him! so yummy!

kyle ordered an amazing omelet with a side of buttermilk pancakes, and i ordered stuffed strawberry crepes and a plate with egg, hash browns (mmm) and sausages. the over-easy eggs turned out to be my favorite next to the hash browns. neither kyle or i could finish the crepes because we thought they were a little too sweet. what a fun tradition, one i'm excited to pass on our kids when they start school. i can't wait for a new semester!

Tree Shopping

so i really would've posted a lot more right now if it hadn't been for jen's computer not downloading all of my pics that i want to show off.
last week for family night, kyle and i went with carson and jen and the boys to pick out a christmas tree. kyle and i have been saving our pennies since we were married for a real tree. (we have a christmas jar that is pretty heavy with coins and bills.)

i grew up with a fake one, and to kyle it just isn't christmas if you can't pick it out at the nursery, smell it when you come home, water it, and sweep all the needles every day. i'll have to admit, picking out our tree was so fun and i got really excited when walked into the grove of trees. i never knew there were so many different kinds: nobles, luce spruce (spelling?), douglas furs, and so on. i thought they were all the same. not even close. turns out nobles are my favorite and i focused my attention to all of those. carson was great to us and gave kyle and me a certificate for a tree.

i always imagined my first christmas with my husband and our dinky, cheap little 1 1/2 foot tree and homemade ornaments. (like the tree in mr. kruger's christmas) i was excited to be poor and have a christmas tree that looked it, but since we had the certificate we ended up with an eight footer. when we came home with an 8 1/2 foot tree, kyle said my eyes were too big for our house but i think it fits great! with the money we saved i went and picked out some nicer ornaments than we would've had.

so pretty much i'm proud of our tree, even though the poor workers got home about 45 minutes later than usual because jen and i couldn't decide on which was "perfect".

kyle and i brought the tree home and put in place in our living room, right in front of our big window. i couldn't believe how heavy it was - thank goodness i wasn't carrying it. the stand we had was way too small and the tree toppled over so we had to trade it with the stand for the three-and-a-half foot tree that jacob was bubbling with excitement about. after we put it up, i strung the lights which i will say is much harder to get a real tree evenly coated with lights than a fake one. when i put four strands of lights on, kyle finally had enough and told me that i was being a perfectionist.

for our date night the next friday, we decorated the tree with ornaments and drank hot chocolate while listening to christmas carols on the radio. we love turning off the house lights and soaking in the ambiance of christmas with all the smells and lights.

now the tree is up and BE-A-UTIFUL if i say so myself (and i do love the smell and feel of a real tree). but i think we might go and get some more ornaments because even though i spent about $82 already, when you have a tree this large, even 33 ornaments isn't enough - to my surprise.

the finished tree. beautiful huh?

kyle and i met in the summer of '07 after being at the same efy (especially for youth) session. he was my sister michelle's counselor and i was a last time participant. (kyle has been endlessly teased for dating and marrying a participant). we have michelle to thank for bringing us together when she asked me to say "hi" for her on kyle's facebook. we subsequently went on a blind date and hit it off from there.

efy - summer of '07. michelle is in the midst of the boys, and kyle is the yummy one.


the lengths we went to for some fun. it wasn't easy fitting in here. if walmart is going to add a ride, they should make sure it fits all sizes - don't you think?


We're hot, what else can I say!?