MARRIAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Love! Above all things I believe in love! Love is a many splendid thing, Love, lifts you up where you belong, all you need is love." ~ Moulin Rouge

Moulin Rouge~ One of my favorite movies! I know many people may be saying, "Is she crazy" If you didn't like it the first time, watch it again. Fast forward or don't pay attention to the first 20 minutes and you will LOVE it! Now, that being said. I also love this saying! And for the longest time I agreed! Really all you need is love in life. But today I realized you need so much more. Well, maybe not more, but there is so much that goes into love, you need to make sure you have everything. Once it is all in place, you may love. At this moment, all you need is love!

My husband and I are in Primary, which means we have spiritual lessons, but mostly spend our time babysitting. don't get me wrong I LOVE my calling. But I have to tell you how much I look forward to the fifth Sundays!!! And today I NEEDED it. No, nothing in my life is terrible, I'm not seeking marriage counseling, but I needed a spiritual boost! Today was PERFECT!!! And wouldn't have been if my husband wasn't sitting beside me. So, today at our church we had the chance to hear from a licensed marriage counselor.

Aimee Francom is in our Ward and shared her secrets with us today in church. It was incredible! I love my husband! I feel very lucky to have him. But obviously nothing in life is perfect. But I thought, as I listened to Aimee today, We are in a great position. We don't do everything exactly as we should, but when she talked about compromise I realized, Hey! we do that! When she talked about sacrifice, again, I said hey! we do that! She explained how your marriage is about commitment. If you both have commitment, no marriage can fail! Below commitment she placed the words. Self Esteem and Communication. Self Esteem? I thought, that's interesting. But she made it so clear. If you don't love yourself, why would your spouse? Tell yourself, you are great! gorgeous! lovable! Etc. Love yourself! She told us to use "I Feel" statements instead of just getting angry. Which makes perfect sense. Saying"You are such a jerk." Gets nothing accomplished. But saying, "I feel like you think this football game is more important than helping me clean" works every time! She also told us to make sure we have quality time. It requires three things, No arguing, no kids, and no electronics. Spending time together does not mean going to a movie, unless on the way to the movie you are engaging in active conversation, with the radio OFF! There were so many things she talked about that inspired me!

After the lesson as Christian and I were walking to the car I asked him what he thought and he said, "I feel.......like that was a great lesson." HAHA! So great to know your husband was paying attention and "feels" the same way you do.

I didn't expect this post to be so long, but I had to explain how I felt about out our lesson today! I don't know what I would do without this Gospel. I am so grateful to have it in my life. I am so grateful to be a part of this wonderful ward, and to be able to live in this city where there are so many active members! I am so grateful to have a marriage that is wrapped around the Gospel. I know without the Lord's help we would fail!!!! I LOVE my husband and I am grateful for him and his sense of humor, his commitment to me, his constant compliments, and how he told me he will never go a day without telling me he loves me. 6 years later, He has never missed a beat.

If you feel like you might need a boost, let me know! Aimee is an amazing person and I know could help anybody! Thanks for reading! Enjoy the company of your spouse, do not take them for granted!

"To those who keep the covenant of marriage, god promises the fullness of his glory, eternal lives, eternal increase, exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom, and the fullness of joy."

Thorpe Family Luau!!!

We had a GREAT Saturday night! We only get to see christian's family once a month, if that. But it is ALWAYS such a great night! We all live in different towns, have our own families, and busy schedules, but when we meet up it's as if we see each other everyday. We all get along so great and I can't tell you how much we laugh! I am so grateful to be a part of this awesome family!

Saturday, John and Natalie had planned a luau for the family. Unfortunately Mom and Dad could not make it, but the rest of the family was there, minus a few of thie kids. Natalie and John had put so much into this party it was excellent!!! She had everything set up outside with tiki torches, hawaiian decorations, Liei's for each of us, fun candles set in sand, fruit, lemonade, fun music, and her backyard was so pretty, and we had perfect weather!

We started the night with a bunch of games for the kids. Sack races, three legged races, a blind folded game where each of the kids had to try to get dressed in hawaiian outfits. So cute! After the game John started to cook up the meat while we watched Jim gaffigan's comedy show. It was hilarious!!! I think everyone enjoyed it!

For dinner They had made teriyaki chicken and beef, had some great rice, rolls, salad, and really tasty veggies. For dessert she had found these frozen treats inside the shells. For example, it was a pineapple slush inside a hallowed pineapple, an orange mango treat inside a hallowed orange, and a coconut treat inside a cocunt shell. It was awesome! And perfect for our theme!

We stayed outside while the kids played just talking for hours. We all ended up leaving around 11:00. It was so good to have such a great conversation! Normally we play games, which is fun, but just talking is great!

Thanks John and Nat!!! Thanks to Dev for always making sure we have great shots at every party and putting this collage together!!!

Another group date!

We have been lucky enough to be hanging out with a bunch of our friends lately! This past week we had fun! Friday we had fun! And Saturday we decided to do it again!

Our friends form High School Dave and Sarah Martin asked us to come out with them and to come see Sarah in a play. So, last night after work we met up with them at Five Guys. Neither one of us had ever been there, but we heard it was such a good place to eat that we decided to try it out! We really enjoyed it! they have very decent pricing and really tasty burgers! they also have very good fries! It was great to catch up with them! If you ever get Dave and Christian together be prepared to laugh the hardest you have laughed in a very long time!!! They are both so hilarious! They had a great time together! After dinner we headed over to the play. Sarah had to be there early so we just hung out in the lobby talking and laughing and talking a laughin a whole lot more!!! My stomache still hurts from laughing at them!

The play was great! We also had another friend from high school in the play too! Both Sarah and Adam did an amazing job! It was the play Beauty and the Beast and all of the actors were great! Unfortunately all night I forgot to take pictures! But that's okay! It was another great group date! We made plans to have a game night sometime very soon! We don't get to hang out with them very often so it was great to catch up! and the laughs weren't too bad either!

Blind Date!!!

As my previous post told you, we had some fun coming up! So, on Friday night we took Meg out for her first date! We set her up with our friend who used to work with us in the store, now he works at corporate, his name is Tim Jensen. It was a lot of fun and they both enjoyed themselves!

We went to Winger's for dinner. It was way good! So it was Christian and I, Meg and Tim, and our friends enoch and Christina met us there. We had great conversation, great food, and a great time! We decided after dinner we wanted to play games, but Enoch and Christina wanted to see Meghann's new place so we went back to her house to show them and to grab our other car. After they saw her place we headed to Enoch and Christina's to play games and eat yummy ice cream!!!

When we got to their place we wanted a tour! So, they walked us around thier house and showed us. it is a gorgeous home and has been decorated so cute by Christina! They live behind Cabela's, but up on the mountain side so thier view is amazing!!!

We started out playing Apples to Apples then moved into the living room to play spoons. Which I am TERIBLE at I came to realize! I think i got a spoon twice out of about 20 rounds! It was hilarious! We had a great time! In the middle of games we stopped to eat some tasty ice cream with every topping imaginable!

During the games I took some pics, but failed to get any of myself. Oh well!

Christian being his normal goofy self with Meg

Enoch and Christina

Tim and Meghann

After spoons we all kindof just started talking. We talked a lot about work, which was a good thing, it was actually fun talk! We ended up staying there until almost 1am talking! It was great fun though! I think Tim and Meg had a good time, but who knows maybe neither one of them will never speak to me again!

Another fun Week!!!

This week I am not on a vacation, but we had a lot of fun!


On Our day off, Christian and I had a bunch of errands to run, but managed to squeeze some fun in as well! We went to Tahnksgiving Point and fed the animals. We are weird I know, but this is one of our favorite activities! Go to ponds and feed the ducks, Feed fish, or feed a bunch of animals!! If you have never been to Farm Country I suggest going! it is only $3 bucks and you get to pet, feed, and even ride on real animals!

Note to self: Do not get too close to the animals you are feeding. This goat started eating my earring!!! Yikes!

Keys on Main

On Saturday night we went to Key on Main! When we went to Vegas we went to a piano bar and have been wanting to go again since! So, our friend Sarah from work was leaving and so we decided to throw her a going away party there! It was so much fun! Besides paying 10 bucks for 2 diet cokes, It was awesome! (no free refills!) It was Me, Christian, Meg, Sarah and her friend, Mandy, and Zack and his wife. We had a great time singing along to "B B B Benny and the Jets" "Sweet caroline" "Hotel California" and MANY other great ones! It was also hilarious to see the crazy drunk people dance!!! We will definitely go back! We obvioulsy don't drink, but it was just fun to hang out with friends and sing along to fun songs!

Sarah and her friend

Christian rocking out and below Zack and Tori

Sexy chicas, and my $10

diet coke!

On Tuesday we all met up in Bountiful to celebrate my Mom's birthday!!! We went to Texas roadhouse which we had never been to and it was super tasty! And we had great service! the best part was when they made my mom sit on a saddle to sing her happy birthday! They were so loud and got the entire restaurants attention, exactly what my mom hates!!! It was perfect! I'm glad we were all able to get together to celebrate!

So, we have been having an excellent time! and only have more fun times planned ahead! Tomorrow we are taking our friend Meghann on her first date since her divorce! Then Saturday we get to play with our friends Dave and Sarah Martin and see Sarah in her play Beauty and the Beast! We are excited! Things are going great for us! Work is great, life is great!

More fun!

After Island Park I went back to hang out at my sister's house! We just hung out and relaxed on Wednesday night. We watched Fast and Furious, which was better than I thought it was! The next day We went to the Pool in Clearfield! It was pretty cool! It had a slide, whirlpool, kiddie area, and then outside there was a pirate ship with another slide. I had a really good time playing with Jamie and the kids and getting a little bit of sun!

The cute kids!



Owen LOVED going down the slide!

That night Owen gave a new meaning to the word "Flower Child"

Jamie was making bread and Owen decided he needed to help her with the flour! He got it all over him and get reaching in the bag for more!! It was hilarious!

The next day Jamie had a day Camp to go to with Taylor so I stayed home with the rest of the kids. I realized what it will be like when I have a baby, going to bed at midnight and waking up with Owen at 6:30! Yikes! It was fun though! my Mom came over at 9:00 to help out a little bit and then we went to her house around 11:00. I wanted my hair colored again so while the kids were playing with their friends she did my hair!

It was a GREAT vacation! Boating, hanging with the family, Island park, and then more playing with kids! the only thing that would have made it better was if Christian was there too! But that's ok, next time for sure! Now it is back to the daily grind! Back to work! Back to Life, Back to reality! Ugh!

Island Park, Idaho!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meghann's family invited me to come along with them to Island Park to go to their cabin and hang out and play! I was so excited!!! Our car ride went very well, and was very fun!!!

So, their cabin was gorgeous!!! Huge wood beams allover the house! A gorgeous view out the front back and sides of the entire cabin! Plus, I got my own room downstairs with my own bathroom! They were very nice to me! So, the first night we just relaxed, watched a movie, and hung out. And I went to bed in my very cold room! (This is a good thing for those of you thinking it's bad! I LOVE to sleep in the cold because then I can cuddle in the blankets, it was heaven!)

The next day we woke up to delicious blueberry pancakes!!! Thanks Lori! Lori needed something to make syrup so Meg and I took the Razor to the store it was super fun! It's like a 4 wheeler, and we took this little back path, just for ATV's. I loved it! At the store we decided to play the Idaho Lottery!!! HAHA which basically means we put in a quarter and ripped of the tabs to see if we won! We both won a quarter! The most you could have won was $4o bucks!!! haha

After breakfast they decided they wanted to go down to the river and feed the fish and the birds. It was fun!

We even saw a muskrat!

Then her dad had the idea to go get a raft and float down the river. It was awesome! It was such a pretty view! We saw birds and fish and a bunch of other animals! Halfway down the river there was a rope swing, so Carter and Meghann swung on it, but Meg was too chicken to actually jump in the water, but I don't blame her!!! The water was super cold!!! So, we had fun! I think her boys really enjoyed it!

We saw a moose going down the river! It was awesome!

After rafting we stopped at Subway for lunch which was great because we were all starving!!! then we went back to the cabin to shower and relax a bit. Brett (Meghann's Dad) had gotten a new grill for Christmas and wanted to use it so that night we had really yummy hot dog shaped Hamburgers (we only had hot dog buns) While we were waiting for dinner Meg and I decided to go for a ride on the Razor, and this time she let me drive!!! It was awesome! We went down this trail that was really cool, pretty bumpy, but fun! We thought we were having a great time until Meg decided to blurt out, "Ya know, there could be bears all over the place out here!" Thanks a lot Meg!!! But we realized it was time to head back anyway when we saw this Mountain in front of us......

Okay, so the picture doesn't do it justice, but I swear it was huge!

So, I turned it around and we headed back. But it was way fun to drive it!

Our next day there we had another delicious breakfast this time made by Brett and his new grill! Hash browns, bacon, and eggs! Very tasty!

That day we were heading into West Yellowstone. We drove about a half hour into Yellowstone to see if we could see some animals, but only ended up seeing a bunch of Elk. But it was really pretty! So, we went back to the town and got some really yummy Ice Cream and walked around the shops a bit. the town is so cute, it is such a small town feeling! I loved it!

It is such a cute town! Super small town vibe, and lots of cute little shops! They said in the wintertime you only see snowmobiles, no cars!

That night Lori made an amazing dutch oven dinner and peach cobbler! I think dutch Oven cooking is my favorite type of cooking ever!!! and she did a great job!!! After dinner we sat out on the porch for about 2 hours eating our cobbler and just talking. It was perfect weather and such a pretty view I couldn't get myself to go inside!

That night we were pretty wiped so we just went to bed after talking on the porch. the next day was our drive home. I had an awesome time in Island Park and I am so so so glad I went! We are planning a trip there in September or October and this time with Christian!!! We can't wait!!

Boating fun!!!

A few weeks ago I packed a bag, kissed my husband goodbye and headed for Layton. Yes, unfortunately this vacation would happen without him! But it would be ok! We are planning one for us together soon!

So, Saturday morning very early I drove to my cousin's house to ride withe her to the lake. It was fun to catch up with her on the way there! This boating trip was probably the funnest trip we have had in a long time!!! There were a ton of us there!!! Me, My sister's whole family, my Mom and Jeff, Cody and his friend Shannon, My Grandpa, My aunt Linda and Frank, my Aunt Brenda, and my cousin Shara and her daughter. It was so much fun!!! We were all able to lounge around up on the grassy area, and we were all able to have a great time on the boat!!! My mom has a water banana, a tube, skis, and a wake board! My Sister, Cousin, and I went on the banana and it was just like we were all little kids again! We could NOT stop laughing!!! I am so glad we were all able to go! my Grandpa LOVED watching us and watching their kids act like we all used to! I wish we could go boating more often, but obviously when you get older and everybody has jobs it is difficult to work it around every one's schedules! But maybe once more this year we will get to go!

Cody on the tube with me, Jamie, and Shara on the banana

My aunt Linda and Me

Cody and Shannon


The cute girlies!

Thanks for the awesome time Mom and Jeff!!!

Sunday I went to church with my sister and her family, and then Meghann came to pick me up! We were off for Island Park for a few days!!! It was a very fun trip! We talked a ton and rocked out to Carrie Underwood, Rent, and a mix of a bunch of different stuff. We realized we really don't sound like the artist when we sing, but hey it's fun! the drive takes about 3 and half hours, but it went by so fast because it was so much fun! We stopped in Idaho Falls to fill up and ate at Olive Garden where we had a VERY interesting Waiter. (when Meghann's phone rang, he knew it was the Spice Girl's, enough said!)

We had a very fun ride that included great tunes, great snacks, and two crazy chicas! This is meg with Hot tamale vampire teeth! And this is a pic getting back on the freeway in Idaho....

Does it get any better than this road trip?

(click on this pic to make it bigger, It says Roberts Butt!!! We were laughing so hard at this sign!!!)
We had a great drive!

So, we met up with her parent's and her boys at the cabin to begin our super fun vacation...