Dear Cousins...

Dear Cousins,

I love my cousins more than anything, in a lot of ways they've shaped me into the gal I am today.  And better than that they're some of my dearest closest friends who I get to be with forever and ever!

My family is the ultimate support system, I can lean on them for anything... I'll tell a story to explain this.

So... if any of you know in my previous blog posts I got a ticket for having an "animal at large" aka dog off a leash... and if any of you know the kind of person that I am you know that I am a firm believer that stupid things are meant to be broken.  So I refused to pay that ticket, then I found out I had a warrant out for my arrest... because it had been 5 months since I had gotten the ticket


I was going to my cousin's farewell and I was late!  of course I was speeding, and I got pulled over for going 73 in a 45... oops.  Pulled over to the side of the road and all I could think about was... who am I going to call to bail me out?   My best friend Alisha was out of town..  My mom would leave me there...

Luckily, due to the tender mercies of God... or perhaps the fact that I only had one earring in, and looked frantic to get out of there.. he let me off... after running through my drivers license.  Thank you officer!!!

So I made it in time to hear Brayden speak and he did amazing of course.. and I mentioned it to my family that I almost had to call them to come bail me out and everyone told me to call them any day anytime to have anything and they'd be there.. And most people would say that... I know these people mean it.







So Brayden... He's just one of the rocks in my life that I can lean on, one of those good, solid people you know you can count on 110% of the time to be there for you, to tell you the things you need to hear, and just to make you smile!  I have so so many fond memories of this man!

I remember us being really little and I didn't like playing house like the other girls, so me and Brayden, Jeremy, my brothers, and Johnny would all play night games and explore around the pond at grandma's house even though we weren't supposed to... or we'd sneak next door to play on the teeter-totter.

Fast forward a little bit to when we were older and we would start branding and taking down cows and teasing uncle leland.  Although they're a little braver than I... I don't know if I could quite outrun leland...




Fast forward a little bit more to when we would spend the weekends at Bear Lake with all the cousins... and me, Brayden, and Jeremy took the canoe out on the lake.. I don't remember who's genius idea it was to tip it... but for the life of all of us, we couldn't get that canoe up again... so we sat there until a wave-runner came and rescued us.

Or back track a little bit to winters up at Randy's cabin.... and we'd go sledding and jump off the deck, fight over the pinball machine, and stay up late with "the older kids".

And that brings us back to our most recent adventure.  For the past few years we always spend a couple nights at Aspen Grove as a family.  We tell christmas stories, watch the kids perform the nativity, and listen to Grandma and Grandpa speak.

OK now onto the adventure part... my brothers LOVE playing poker, I do too... I am my (other grandfather's) daughter of course! So me, my brothers, Brayden, and Andrew played a friendly game of Texas hold'em...  rebellious as that is.. My grandma doesn't approve of face cards, which is why we had to hide in one of the rooms to play it, and when Aunt Suzy walked in.... we were playing a grueling game of Go Fish, with face cards and chips... holla!

The second thing my grandma doesn't believe in... caffeine... and
since Aspen Grove is BYU run, neither does Aspen grove vending machines... and I happen to believe in Dr. Pepper.... and I didn't think the situation through and bring my own.  So we decided to utilize this dilema and make a run down to the Maverik in Orem, at 4 in the morning!  I would only ever stay up this late for Brayden and it being his last night to stay up late and drink caffeine for a while... not to mention play poker until 5:30 in the morning when we snuck back in!

But you know what?  I love playing the game, our family loves to play it together, and I know for a fact if I were to ever really gamble I would lose all my money... so no need to worry folks.

So Brayden?  I'm going to miss you like crazy nummie!  Especially your hugs.. I can't wait to write and send packages to you in Ohio! I'll see you in two years! Love you!