The Story of Us

Andersonville turns 20 on Tuesday. 

Like all good geographic history books,

there is a back story to our story.

The history of Andersonville as it were.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I grew up here...named Soldotna (Slowtown by the locals)

I was about this size when we moved there.

check out that sporting tooth necklace

(my mom prego with Brother Brian)

A dashing member of

Little League

my day as a homecoming princess

senior prom

high school graduation day--

there was about 180 in our class

I wasn't the only one who graduated in that place,

on that day, in that year.

Another was none other than Mr. Fun himself.

Yep.  We went to high school together.

We have known each other for 28 years.

Which is a long time when you are 42.

My first memory of Mr. Fun was in the fall of 1983.

We were 14.

He was the new kid in town.

And he was 4 foot 9 inches. 

No joke.

We were sitting in the school common area

and he was wearing a baseball jacket from

the Anchorage area (three hours away).

That team, Nunaka Valley, were my

town's biggest rivals in the softball world.

Naturally, his jacket was unwarmly

welcomed to town.  Despite his cute dimples.

And cute keister.

Man, could that guy pull off some 501's.

He should have won Best 501's...

but I digress...

His first memory of me was in our 9th grade PE class.

We were in swimming class.

At the time I was running for class president.

Another boy, Todd E. was by Matt in the pool.

Apparently they saw me across the pool, and

Todd made a comment about how he wouldn't mind

 me and my parts being the president

(an election I lost by one vote).

Matt and I worked on committees together.
Built floats.  Stole turkeys.  Picnicked in a cemetery.

I was a hockey cheerleader.  He was a hockey player.

I wasn't Mormon.  He was.  We were friends, but weren't.

I had a tiny crush for about 3 days in the summer of 1986.

Until I found out he had a girlfriend in another town.

He shopped in Anchorage for school clothes. 
I ordered mine from the Penny's catalog.

His parents were educated white collar.

My parents were blue collar.

And we never dated. 

Fast forward through several years, and my conversion

into Mormonism.  By the way, COMPLETELY unrelated to him.
We lost touch and I would hear a thing or two in town gossip.

He had a girl waiting for him back home while he lived for

two years in France as a missionary.

I was in love with someone else.

Actually two other "someone elses."

I served a short mission in Portugal, but fell ill

and had to return home early.

Coincidentally, the same week Matt got home

from his mission.

We were engaged that same week.

a day or two after our engagement--1990

(my brother can still be found with a handful

of cookies even now a days)

Our engagement story is for another blog, but it is a good one.

We were married Friday, April 5th, in 1991
in the Logan Temple, Logan Utah.

Poor Mr. Fun. 

I almost threw up on him in the temple

because I was so nervous.  Many of the

guests commented they thought I was going

to be a runaway bride, long before

that movie came out.

No joke.

The Girl came along about 15 months later,

despite using birth control
(just keeping it real).

I always thought it meant she was

suppose to be here then and there.

age 4 weeks--1992

Uncle Wedding age 2

me and her age 4

We lived with Mr. Fun's Grandma, Joyce

one of THE coolest women ev-er

Mr. Fun studied in Israel for several months

We met some lifelong friends

We graduated from Utah State University

and moved to Salt Lake City

The along came The Boy in 1997

Now The Boy was planned.

Actually prayed for.  By The Girl.

hotel room in San Diego--1998

In his younger years,

The Boy was always told he was

"all boy."  That is the nice

way folks say

"hellion"

We lived in Salt Lake City for 7 years.

In which many cool things happened for us.

Mr. Fun ran the Olympic Hockey stats.

Brothers got in on the action

(as you can see, they were not 4'9" in high school)

I went to China

I kissed a pig in front of 600 buddies

Matt taught the children to bleed Dodger Blue blood

The Girl is still painting her nails almost daily

We met some lifelong friends

I was a torchbearer...and met Mitt Romney

It was there it was decided that a family of four was perfect

And like all good chapters, we ended life there and headed east.

Our last day together in Salt Lake City

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kansas City, Missouri.

When he told me where the job was,

I didn't even know where was Missouri was. 

I remember saying,

"Isn't Missouri somewhere in the middle?"

Alaskan kids don't really memorize those

middle states full of cows and corn.

Missouri has been a delight.

In many ways.

My parents moved to be by us.

We have LOVED that.

See how much fun we are having mocking my

dad's moustache?  :) 

You know the saying...the family that mocks together...

We went to Mexico for some wintery retreat

with the Fun Family and froze our a** off

and almost fell off a Mayan ruin

we relived our first outing together in a

cemetery... in 2008 (just kidding)

we inherited a water garden with our first home

We got pets.  Four cats (not my fault) and a dog.

Nothing says love like a dead bird

We went to the British Isles

I got a new camera and some motivation to use it

We are in touch with our farming roots

I found some great won ton soup

We have been waiting for a LDS temple to be built

that is now well under way

I got to touch the Berlin Wall...in Fulton, Missouri

We have met some lifelong friends

Brother Brian has a baby... Elizabeth

I met my biological father, T-Rex 

Some things haven't been so delightful.

 Mr. Fun got cancer

Seth has a disabling illness for four years

that cannot be cured

I have been diagnosed with epilepsy

My family made me burn my favorite sweater :(

and one of our best friend's is on his death bed

I am living a life I never knew existed for me.

I am living/ have lived in places I never knew

would hold such happiness for me.

And people.  Such great people.

Happy Anniversary Mr. Fun

and the residents of Andersonville.

Not too shabby for two kids from Slowtown.  :)