Castles n' Coasters n' Christmas

Castles n' Coasters! Kyle came down for the weekend before Christmas and we got to spend a few wonderful days together. We started making a ginger bread house and then I had a Groupon for Castles n' Coasters for the 2 of us and it was a blast!! I'm kind of scared of heights so I chickened out for the Zip line and the 3 story rope obstacle course but Kyle enjoyed it! We also got some really fun pictures!

We ran out of time to play mini golf but we did go back to my house and finish our ginger bread house!

Another evening we went out to dinner at Firebirds Wood Fire Grill, which I love! It was really good food and really good company! ;)  We also exchanged gifts and it was a great weekend! And I feel like we made some yummy food because we often do that! :)

Ring Shopping!

Kyle and I had no idea what to expect or how to go about everything! But we did know that we were excited! We went to so many stores! And by so many I mean at least 12! It was so fun and the sales people are so funny.

There were lots of beautiful rings but we just could find the one that fit. We decided we were going to get one made but picking a style and such still needs to be determined. {I have a really hard time making up my mind!} So a couple weeks of me trying to decide and stressing I decided to just hand it over to Kyle. I knew it would be beautiful no matter what and I would love it because he gave it to me. So it's all in the works. We know a few people so he is following up on those. And I am curious but trying to stay out of the details. :)

He is such a good little shopper and so incredibly patient and fun! I would call the marathon day a shopping a success! I would also recommend only picking a couple stores. It made it way more overwhelming :}

The rest of the weekend was also just terrific. We went and saw the Mesa temple lights and the nativities from all around the world with my little brother. Always a great thing to do around the holidays. 

I really loved that we went with my littlest little bro!

Kyle's Big Birthday Surprise!

This was a Seriously Awesome Surprise!

Kyle had no clue that I was going to be returning in time for his Birthday let alone get to spend a whole week with him! When I was planning my trip to Hawaii I was for sure planning to be back before his birthday. However, I told him I didn't know how long I was going to stay and I finally told him that I wasn't going to be back until December 2! I made sure he knew that I was really bummed and felt bad that I wasn't going to be home but assured him we would definitely be celebrating when I got back! And he is such a sweetheart that he said it would be great and no problem. And I heard from and insider that he tried really hard not to let me know how disappointed or sad he was that I was going to be gone for so long. {I left of October 28th} He just wanted me to have a wonderful time.

So when I actually got back in town {November 15 11:59PM so basically the Friday before his Birthday} that was when the real planning and tricky part came in. Kyle was originally going to be in Thatcher for his birthday so I just planned to go surprise him. Then I found out by talking to him he was going to be going home for his birthday and Thanksgiving.  I then had a situation on my hands!! I had no internet while in Hawaii and I couldn't ask Kyle for his Mom's number and had no way of communicating with her so I had to wait till I got home. Which would make it very last minute.

I facebooked his mom and then his sisters so I could make sure I got a hold of her asap! She called me in the afternoon on Friday and She said "I knew it, I knew it! {I don't remember the exact words but...} She told her husband if shes the girl I think she is... she is going to surprise him, there is no way she is going to miss his birthday. And she was so excited with me and it was such a fun and  fabulous conversation! I told her I didn't know what I was going to do yet but that I was planning on taking the shuttle up on Monday and getting to Show Low before he did. So we got those details worked out and it was just going to be awesome.

Meanwhile I was watching 2 cute little kids while the parents were out of town from Friday to Sunday. And Kyle still thought I was in Hawaii and three hours behind his time. When texting him I had to be careful not to mention anything I was really doing and make sure the fake stuff like... eating dinner or watching the sunrise was during the right time. Also I was trying to not call or have him call in the evenings like normal because I didn't was to slip up and say something about the kids I was watching or talk about Hawaii in past tense. It was so hard! And one night he did call me and it was nearly impossible! I almost didn't make it through! And I couldn't said hey I'm tired or you have classes in the morning because it was going to be a Saturday so I just had him do all the talking.

Sunday Kyle's Mom called me and asked if I had an idea yet and I said no I don't and she had some terrific ideas so we talked about those and were getting super excited and kind of figured out what we were going to do. {I love his Mom and family!}

So after arriving Kyle sent me a text asking if he could call while he was driving home to Show Low. It was so close and I didn't want to blow it! I had really been slacking on texting him the past few days and we hadn't talked on the phone since Friday and it was Monday evening. I could tell it was starting to wear on him. But I had texted him earlier and said that I was going to a new snorkeling spot with DeAnna today so... I waited to text him back till I knew he wasn't going to have service {So mean I know! I felt so terrible!} So right on time I said hey we just got back from snorkeling and I'm going to grab some food really quick. Call in like 15 minutes? And he answered perfectly with I won't have service by then so I'll just have to wait till after I get to Show Low. 

I just hung out with his family and we had FHE and we knew he was going to get there soon. The plan was to drop me off at DQ {we went and talked to them earlier in the day} and then when Kyle got home they were going to go to DQ for FHE dessert. I was going to be hiding out but he got to the house too soon! So I hid in the closet and we had made sure everyone knew not to bring up my name at all and pretty much the first thing Kyle did was bring up my name after they commented on his beard. He just said truth is I just stopped caring after Stephanie left. haha {really he was growing it out for no shave November} Then they loaded up for DQ and his Mom said she had to drop something off on the way to DQ but she would be right behind them. They left and his mom got me out of the closet and when we got to DQ I stayed in the car for just a bit.

Then our plan got tweaked a little. He was facing the wrong way so I went around to the other door and then he moved and so as I was going to go around to the other door they got me and had me go through the back door! I creeped all the way along behind the counter and then race behind him, set his drink on the table, kissed him on the cheek, and said Happy Birthday!!! {even though it was one day too early} And he had the best double take ever! Haha he thought I was his Mom at first and then he was confused when he saw me and then he realized it was me! So fantastic!

Here is an awesome video of the surprise!

We then had a wonderful time all laughing and talking about it and we had such a great week and Thanksgiving!

For Kyle's birthday we ran some errands, got him a hair cut, did some shopping, went to the pet store, had a HUGE lunch, climbed trees, and had delicious homemade hamburger and green chili pizza.{His birthday dinner of choice} It was a blast!

He opened his birthday banner, cards, and presents and I can't remember if we had cheesecake that night or the next night but of it was very yummy!

Wednesday we got stuff ready for Thanksgiving and we made pies and and the boys dug a pit for the turkey. And I almost forgot Kyle made us a super delicious breakfast. He makes super yummy food, just can get enough of how wonderful he is!

Thanksgiving was SO wonderful! Great people, awesome food, and fun times! We went shooting!

And later that evening Kyle asked me on a walk and he told he how thankful he was for me. :D 

He is so sweet! I'm one lucky lady! He is always finding new ways to impresses me and show how much he cares and loves me!

It was such an outstanding week!

Leaving for Hawaii

So the weekend before I left for Hawaii Kyle decided that he was going to come see me! He wanted to make it a surprise but I was babysitting and my time was filling up so he had to tell me. I was able to change the babysitting job and he got here Saturday morning. I had to pack and he was so patient! Then we went to get sunblock, ate, and then we got ready to go to Jumpstreet! It was such a blast!

There was a super fun, hard to get out of foam pit that you jumped off a trampoline to get into.

It was giant!

And so great.

 There were TONS of trampolines and there was also a dodge ball trampoline court, a Halloween maze, and a blow-up obstacle course! We each won once! It was all so unbelievably tiring! Such a great bouncy place! And Kyle did some awesome tricks!

Go Kyle! Haha Then we went to my grandparents and then we got jamba juice, ate, talked, played phase ten, and then got ready for bed!

Then next morning I had to be to the airport by 7 so I woke up super early and then woke Kyle up at 6 so we could eat breakfast and leave. He is such a sweetheart!(I'm so ridiculously lucky to have him in my life!) He helped me load stuff up and he parked and came into the airport with me, carried my luggage, helped me know where I was going, saw me off to security, and let's not forget he was willing to let me go to Hawaii and was so happy for me!

Such a cutie!

And a fun filled weekend!

I Love You. . .

Finally it's Friday!

So I rented a car (2012 Mazda 6) It was super fun to drive a really new car!

I met Kyle in Globe and we grabbed all of his stuff and loaded it up in the rental.

Then to Show Low we went!

We made a stop at Dairy Queen before we left and got a shrimp basket, 

a cherry dipped cone, and a pumpkin pie blizzard.

When we got up there we just hung out for a little bit and we had burrito's for dinner.

We went to Walmart and then to the high school football game. 

It was so funny when we first got to the game because everyone in the crowd was all bundled up and had blankets and it was like culture shock for me!

 Haha it looked so funny! I have never see people so bundled up before!

 HOWEVER, after a few minutes outside I understood why everyone was dresses so warmly. 

It was really fun to meet some new people and we said hi to Jeremiah and Kyle's Dad and I was welcomed with a big hug! I love his family! :)

After the game we went back to his house and he worked on calculus while his mom and I watched say yes to the dress. And then we watched Diners, Drive-in's, and Dives. I fell asleep and then Kyle came and sat by me and after the shows were over we got ready for bed.

Saturday

We had delicious cinnamon rolls with dried cherries for breakfast along with some homemade apple juice. 

{I love apple juice and this apple juice is beyond words!}

After breakfast we all started to get some work done! Kyle and I got to rake up the leaves!

We had so much fun! I never knew you could really jump into a pile of leaves! 

After we were all done we went up the mountain to Lake Hawley and had dinner, Chill, crackers, and apples. And as always it was so good! It was a beautiful afternoon as well! Then I drove back down the mountain and we had lots of good conversation. When we got back Kyle started on his home work right away so he could finish before we went out to Joesph City. I got ready and then as soon as he was done we stopped by DQ {Kyle had to get his Pumpkin Pie Blizzard} and drove out to Holbrook to the bowling alley. We met up with DeAnna and Zachary! This bowling alley was old school! They had old projectors for each lane and clear score sheets that you wrote your own score on. It was really fun but tricky to remember to score since we are all so use to having our games scored for us. After our game ended we all drove out to Joesph City and we went out and had a fire with DeAnna, Zachary, Ashley, Blu, AJ, and AJ's wife. Zachary had a ton of old bottle rockets and we had fun shootin;g those off. It was just a fun evening. We left around 12:30am and were tired when we got back. 

Sunday

I slept in till 10, I was out! Then we had crepes for breakfast.

{Kyle and I picked and cut up some apples for the fried apple part :)} We had creme, fried apple, and peach to go inside and whip creme and powdered sugar for on top. So yummie of course!

Next on the agenda was church and it was really good. It was fun to get to know more people and the lesson in relief society was awesome! After church Kyle took me out to learn how to drive stick. I rocked it! haha it was about half and half somethings Kyle said were really impressive and then there were a few rough patches. It was so fun even though it was only 30 minutes and super quick. We had broccoli cauliflower chicken casserole, homemade bread, and salad with home grown veggies. So so great! Can't get enough of how wonderful his family is. They sent me home with lots of home grown foods and homemade apple juice, apple butter, and blueberry peach jam. Which my family and I are enjoying immensely! Before we left we chatted for a while and we had a prayer and Kyle got a blessing and I almost cried, I had to really hold it back. We said goodbye and gave hugs and unfortunately we had to leave.

{Did I mention how much I enjoy spending time with his family?}

We drove back and Kyle got a headache and car sick which is very unusual for him. :(

When we got to Globe it was sad because we didn't want to go. He was giving me a hug and then he kissed me and said. . . 

 "I LOVE YOU" 

and I said it back and he kissed me again and hugged me SO tight!

Such a wonderful end to fabulous weekend! 

The 9 Day Weekend Stay {ha}

My venture to Thatcher started out to be a weekend stay but when it was too tough to go home I decided to stay for the week! So my mom took me to Globe and J.J. being super awesome came to pick me up since Kyle was working. When we were just outside of Thatcher we decided to trick Kyle into thinking we had car trouble so I JJ suggested we tell him that we were stuck in Bylas and that the battery died and we were trying to flag someone down to jump the car. {way funny though BECAUSE your  battery wouldn't just die in the middle of driving and who would pull over in Bylas!!!} So as I was texting Kyle trying to trick him I could tell he was more going along with the joke so I decided to ask him if when he came he could grab a jacket for me. And he said seriously?!? And I said Kyle, we are stranded in Bylas and it is cold! By that time we had just pulled up to his house and he called and I talked a little bit and he said Jordan was on his way home with jumper cables and then he would head to Bylas. And then I pasted the phone over to JJ and I went and knocked on the door and Kyle answered and boy did we trick him good! :P We had a good laugh and I thought it was too cute that once I asked for a jacket he started to believe it. We got some subway and Kyle surprised me with a cookie and we played Phase 10 and had fun catching up! Then I stayed the night at Amanda's!
The next morning she made me eggs, bacon, and toast with the most delicious bread and jam ever! We had a great morning/ afternoon catching up! Miss her! That Evening Kyle, JJ, Jordan, Bryan, Marrin, Kaitlyn, Kayanna, and I went to the Fiesta at the Institute and then on a picture scavenger hunt date! It was a blast! We had a page of things to find and figure out such as how much is gas at Super Stop? What is Casa Manana's daily special and how much is it? How much is a room at the Marriott? Pic of a gumball machine, pic of kids riding bikes, pic of you with the goal post, pic of a couple kissing, ect. It was crazy and then there was a get to now you page like what is your fav. color? where were you born? What are you scared of? ect. And  we set and hour and a half time limit that we had to be back at the house. When we all got back there was the score sheet. We out all our pictures on the computer and displayed them on the TV. And there were different amounts of points of each thing and then the get to know you page was scored like the game Scategories. And then there were bonus points for random things like buckling every time you got in the car, both going into the Marriott, opening your dates door at least once 20pts and every time 50pts! Kyle and I got that one ;) There were just so many great fun things AND Kyle and I won!!!

Then we went to Amanda's to get my stuff and we stayed and talked about an hour and decided we all wanted to go to DQ at 10 tomorrow morning. Then to Katie's we went! And it was goodnight to Kyle.

Saturday morning came too quick at Kyle said how does DQ sound about now? And I said how does bacon, cheese, and green chill waffles sound? And he said FANTASTIC!!! So Katie, Kyle, and I got the stuff we needed and got cookin'. They were so yummy! Sunday was great we slept in, went to church, and we made biscuits and gravy for dinner! yum!

Monday! We stopped at Bashes and got water and delicious breakfast burritos. Mmm... We went to Gila box and Jordan's car broke down! Luckily Kaitlyn's car was down the river a was. So we walked to the river and floated on down! It was nice and relaxing :) and it wasn't too cold. After the river we got all cleaned up and Kyle was going to run to work to see if he could find someone to cover his shift. Because I was suppose to leave and of course we wanted more time. And he found someone! Then we decide that we wanted pizza and DQ and I told Kyle I think I want to try something new like... strawberry cheesecake and cherry dip... and he was like REALLY?? You want to try something new?  And I said weird, right? {I always get heath bar or french silk pie. lol} And he said well... I actually already got us blizzards and they are at my house. I got Heath Bar and French Silk Pie because those are your two favorites. Aww...!!! {He is the best!} Then when it was about ten minutes before I was supposed to leave I really didn't want to so I called my mom real quick and told her and she was fine with me staying and Kerilynn being wonderful said she would take me home on Saturday! So fantastic!

Tuesday I slept in because college late nights plus girl talk = TIRED. ha. Katie made us breakfast potatoes and then I went over to Kyle's and we watch part of a movie and then I started talking to my friend DeAnna! While talking to her Kyle and I went to the racquetball courts and he started to play for his class. It was rainy so his class ended early and I drove his car to Katie's and we when to Walmart and got brownies and ice cream and waffles. And we had toasted waffles with ice cream in the middle topped with syrup. Delish!
Wednesday, Kyle had early class and he was giving blood so I picked up some subway for us and met him at the blood drive (: Roast Beef on Italian {one of his top picks if not thee top} and cookies! Then he went to class and then he had work. But while he was at work he was texting me and said:
K:  Hey Stephanie! I was wondering what you are up to tomorrow?
S:  I was hoping this really attractive guy would ask me on a date
K:  Oh, well. . . I hope I qualify, cause I was going to see if you wanted to get Chinese food for lunch tomorrow?
S:   You're like the definition of attractive. I would love to go to lunch with you!
K:   Great! Thank you! :) that's really nice. I will be by to pick you up around 1:00. Does that work for you?

<3 I just really like him<3

Thursday Kyle had classes and homework so I went to help him work on it but. . . he didn't even want my help lol so he continued to work on it and played racquetball while I hung out with my girls. Kerilynn and I were making brownies and Kyle came and picked us up and we went to watch the lightning. It was crazy awesome! And the thunder was so loud! On the way back to Goodmans Kyle was drive silly which was fun/ scary haha then we ran to Walmart really quick and then back to the Brownies! And we watched a movie.

Friday we had pancakes for lunch with J.J. and everyone and we went to the dollar store and got a puzzle and had fun looking and all the toys and we made more brownies and watched a movie and then we talked forever :) and said goodnight.

Saturday we went on an early walk, it was SO beautiful outside. It was misting, not quite sprinkling. It was really nice weather all week actually :) and we made pancakes with Katie and I got all packed and we said goodbye and back to Phoenix I went with Kerilynn. We had a fun car ride and shopping trip! We found a pair of shoes for $1095.00!!! Outrageous! I told Kyle about them and he said I can't think of anything I would ever spend that much money on at one time except maybe a house or car. And I said really nothing. . . else? And he said well maybe one other thing that I MIGHT spend that much money on. ;) {awesome!} And he asked me how the trip home was and I told him how we just talked and talked and he said I would love to just have those 3 hours to do nothing but sit and talk to you. And Kyle sent me a picture that he took of something I drew at the Dollar Store. 

The first one said Kyle and it had a heart and the second one said Steph with a heart. 

This is pretty cool. :)

Such a great trip to Thatcher, so many fun things with everyone!

Oh and of course Kyle was kinda bummed out that I left and he said, it's when I'm feeling kinda bummed out that it really pays to work at an ice cream place! ha ha ha

Birthday Weekend!

Twenty-Two! Oh my I can't believe I'm already 22, just yesterday I was 21! So Kyle being as wonderful as he is, came to see me on my Birthday! He had to work in the morning so he got to Phoenix around 4:30 (which wasn't nearly soon enough!). My mom took me to target and out to lunch between 2:00 and 3:30 which was fabulous! Then Kyle arrived and he had a big colorful bag and said happy birthday! I was so glad he finally made it that I gave him a huge hug and didn't let go! Then it was too hot outside so we went inside. He said I couldn't open it until we were ready to do dinner and I wasn't hungry because I just ate. So he checked his e-mail for school and we watched The Best of Just for Laughs. So funny and then I was like we could open it now! It was about 6:00 and so I opened it and...

It was a fondue pot! I don't even know how he came up with the idea! Such a great surprise and he did a good job capturing it in the pictures! Then more fun began! We made a list of things we needed and off to the store we went!

Then we got to work chopping and cooking! We did oil where we cooked steak and potato's in seasonings and then we did sausage and pickles! haha And we made a cheese fondue the next afternoon and we had all sorts of yummy stuff in that! It was delicious so delicious in fact that we were too full for chocolate fondue! Lots of pictures for this post!

When we got back from the store we realized the air conditioner in my house went out! It was very very warm in the house. Luckily my good friends Samantha and Byrce McCleery have an extra room and a couch. So we got ready for bed and we got the cot ready to go and grabbed some pillows and blankets! While getting ready for bed Kyle came and got me and said he had to show me something, in his car... so he took me outside and someone had painted his car! It was so funny and clever! But sadly it got washed off in a giant rain storm!

So we set up the cot once we got there and got the couch ready and went right to sleep. Then we got up and left around 7. We started making some eggs but I had to hurry and clean the pool first! I had forgotten! Kyle helped me and during my lesson he finished vacuuming the whole pool :) 

We got ready for the day and made the cheese fondue I was telling you about and we went to test drive a car for his family (It was fun! And a nice car that they ended up buying).Afterwards we went to the institute with Maddi! It was really cool, an improve group called the Gestures was there. It was neat and we played Foosball and a few minute to win it games. They had rock band and wii sports and dancing games but we didn't play. Outside they had so many blow up things. They had a fast pitch thing and music playing and there were this silly tricycles that were quite tricky to ride. Kyle and I had a race around the parking lot and I won! It was exciting :) We got home from that at about midnight and were pretty tired and the air was fixed so we went straight to bed. Way too late and tired for chocolate fondue sadly.

Kyle had work Saturday afternoon so we made some white chocolate chip and raspberry pancakes with homemade syrup. (Have I mentioned how fantastic Kyle is at cooking?) They were super super delicious! And Kyle made me a surprise pancake where the raspberries made a heart! Super cute! Then Kyle helped us take down some old curtains and hang up a new rod and curtains. Such a handy man. Then we gave him a super quick hair cut or trim. And we got ready for the day and before he left he was like I have one more thing but you have to close your eyes. I said okay... And he took my left hand and was I was like there is no way. I know he isn't proposing so I thought maybe a promises ring? But no he wouldn't be doing that either! And it was  bracelet! He picked it out for me and it is super amazing! I love it. He said he saw it and thought it looked like me and he just had to get it. He also said I know you have a bunch of clothes with these pink/peach colors in it so I knew it would go with your outfits. SO unbelievably cute, right!? And then he left. Such a great birthday and weekend! 

Thanks Kyle! You're the best!