"Cousins Business" Dinner

Thanks for coming to dinner!

So one time I moved to Hawaii and Karen, I don't know how you couldn't live here, it's great

But anyway, this is a little story about my second time at the beach.

Which was last night

After seeing Step Up: Revolution (which I would HIGHLY recommend to anyone) some of my friends in the singles ward decided we would go to the beach and go crabbing for our night activity

The crabbing didn't actually happen, but we did go to turtle beach

which, let me just say now for those that don't know, I love turtles. I have always loved them since I was little and my grandpa would tease me about the snapping turtles (him pinching me)

SO we are at turtle beach, trying to find sticks for our fire, so we could have s'mores

and my friend Joe stumbles a little, and then says "oh, I almost just stepped on a turtle!"

Now when I looked down, there were these giant turtles laying in the sand

But for some reason I thought they were like statues of turtles, like the seagulls in Salt Lake

So it didn't really hit me that I was in the presence of large, LIVE turtles!

When I finally realized I was very excited and kept talking about it the rest of the night, which I was made fun of for by my local friends

But this was huge for me people

Then we went to a beach in Hale'Iwa

where apparently all the homeless/druggies live

But I was totally safe because I was with some locals

And I can honestly say that I like Hawaii and I am excited to be here

I have a great single's ward and they have just fully welcomed me

School is an adjustment, but all the teachers/tech people in my department are so good to me (perks of being the only female) and have helped me so much

A turtle, a REAL LIVE TURTLE!

So, Hawaii. I Went There.

Hope you all are looking forward to hearing about Hawaii and/or the things Junior said throughout the trip!

June 1st-7th my family spent some time on the Northshore of Oahu.
It was a nice vacation overall and Im glad to be back in Utah!
I know its "paradise" and all, but I could never live in Hawaii...is that weird?

Beginning with the flight.
Our seat assignments got switched around and we were split up on various parts of the plane. Junior griped about getting the middle seat between two strangers. He said every time he tried to push the armrest down, the "largeness"of the girl next to him kept the armrest up on one of her "rolls". I got to sit next to this nice, elderly man from West Virginia. He had a heavy southern accent and we made friendly banter of "hubblubhsshmHawaii y'all" and "Say that again?" He'd point out the window and say something about something and I'd nod.
We landed at the Honolulu airport at about 4pm and the weather was beautiful. There was a little rain coming down from the passing clouds and you could see rainbows through it.

This is the condo we stayed in for majority of our trip. Junior got the pull out bed in the living room and I was in the loft upstairs. We stopped at the nearest Foodland and stocked the fridge with spam musubi and POG juice. We woke up at 5am everyday and spent the mornings on the beach. 

This is just one of many events in which Jr went H.A.M with coconuts. One morning, my mom picked up a coconut on the side of the road and thought it would be funny to bring back to Jr to crack open. It was still green and no one knew how long it had been baking on the side of the road.....no one told Jr that, either; he thought she bought it. He got very excited upon receiving his gift and stabbed it with a kitchen knife, and broke a couple fingernails trying to pry it open. I wasn't there for the actual consumption of said coconut, but he said it "smelled like farts" and drank a little bit of the juice anyway. Needless to say his stomach wasn't feeling too good the rest of the night.

This is the house we lived in when I was a baby. I don't remember it, but it was a sentimental moment for my mother to get to see again. Glad I got to share that with her.

We spent one evening on the BYUH campus for their Food Fest (Have you been to this, Megan?) There were a bunch of booths set up selling food from different cultures and performances from different groups. We ate crepes from the Tahiti booth, some meat substance and garlic rolls from the Samoa booth, and some empanadas from the Hispanic booth....I don't think I saw anymore Hispanics after that.

This was the beach ceremony for my mom and Aaron. Junior and I were on camera duty. Reverend Bob performed the ceremony. You can't see it in this photo, but he told us he cut himself shaving and had a big bandaid on the other side of his face. Hard to take seriously, but he was a nice guy and it was a sweet wedding. (My mom asks about you all and hopes you cousins are doing well!)

This was after my mom's wedding. Jr thought it was hilarious to write " K + ...." and leave the rest of the heart blank to get washed away by ocean. He told me it was symbolic of me being alone forever.

 

My mom didn't get any professional pictures or bridal shots done so I took some for fun with my camera.

We spent a day roaming the streets of Hale 'Iwa. We stood in line for a long time to get a taste of Matsumoto's Shave Ice, had some yummy Hawaiian style burgers and fries, and got ripped off at the various souvenir shops. All part of the experience.

The Polynesian Cultural Center was probably one of my favorite things. My friend Seo had a friend who got us in for the half the original price; it was our lucky day! At the Samoan village, there's this guy named Kap who worked at the PCC back when my mom did. After watching his show, my mom went up and talked to him and he remembered her! The picture above is at the Tongan village. Nathan and Megan already told me a lot of what would happen but it was still hilarious.
"Are you ready?!"
"Yeah!"
"Are you lying?!"
"Yeah!"
Asians are just funny.

Oh man. We were getting some Korean food from Yoon's BBQ truck and this guy was sitting on one of the picnic tables next to the truck. Junior was just roaming around and this guy strikes up conversation. He was creepy whisper-talking so my brother walked closer to the guy to hear him. He told junior about all his medical problems and told him to go ask my mom for some money. Junior walks back over to us by the food truck and says, "This guy's gonna kill me. I'll be waiting in the car." We saw this guy twice. This is him eyeing down his next catch.

Waimea beach was my favorite beach that we went to. I didn't jump off the cliff like everyone else....I guess you're supposed to or you don't get the full effect. This was a fun place to boogie board because when the waves hit the shore it'd push you all the way up the sand. We even saw this huge sea turtle moving under the water. 

I got to do baptisms in the Laie temple with my friend Seo. The temple grounds were beautiful. Everyone in the Visitor's Center wore those Hawaiian print muumuus. Later that day, I picked a hibiscus to put into my hair and my head started to itch. I took out the flower and there were ants all over it. Ants all over my head? Couldn't handle it. I showered and was paranoid for the rest of the day.

We spent our last night on Oahu in Waikiki. This is the view from the top floor of the hotel that we stayed in. Waikiki beach was only a block away, but wasn't too impressive because it was so crowded and small. We went to Pearl Harbor on our last day and only got to see the submarine because tickets to the Arizona were sold out. We also went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation and browsed the gift shop. Im not a fan of pineapple anything so no Dole whip for me! We did get a can of Spam flavored macadamia nuts though. 

Got these in Chinatown. Sketchy place, but we had to do it for the leis. 

So, as far as the things on Megan's must-see list, we didn't get around to hiking Diamondhead or seeing Punchbowl. Hopefully next time!

Recipes

Here are the recipes for the brownies and fudge I made for dinner at Pat and Jill's last month. Enjoy.

HOT FUDGE

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup white Karo syrup

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup soft butter

Stir together in a saucepan and bring to a boil stirring constantly.  Cook to a firm ball stage stirring occasionally and then add:

1/2 cup canned milk

6-8 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I prefer Guitard brand)

Stir until smooth and serve over ice cream.  If you have difficulty stirring out the lumps of chocolate, you may blend with a hand blender or put it in a blender.

BROWNIES

4 eggs	1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar	1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla	1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup (8 0z) butter	2 cups broken walnuts or pecans or mixture of both
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate	1 cup Chocolate chips

Melt chocolate and butter together in pan over hot water or in microwave (be very careful not to overcook because chocolate burns very easily in microwave.  About 1 minute on high then stir till it is smooth.  If there are still lumps give it more time in increments of 15 seconds.  Whip eggs and sugar till light and lemon colored (about 2-3 minutes).  Add vanilla and chocolate that has cooled slightly.  Mix in dry ingredients and then spread in a buttered and floured 9” x 13” pan.  Sprinkle top with walnuts and pecans and chocolate chips.  Press lightly into the batter and bake at 350º for about 30-35 minutes.  It is best to cool completely before cutting.

 

This one time...

We graduated from college!

Firsties!

This post is so-called because it is the first one of the year 2012. Funny that it should be happening in June (I guess everyone has been pretty busy)!

Since it is the first post of the new year, let's talk about improvement. What goals do you have right now in terms of it? What do you wish you were you doing that you aren't. I will throw a couple of mine out there to help you get started:

• I am calling this summer "Matt's Summer Makeover" - this means getting to the gym and losing some weight that has haunted me for several years.
• MattyReads - I am going to start posting book reviews again.
• Writing - I will write for at least 30 minutes a day - more if I can handle it - to get a book written before the end of the year.

So there you go! Drop us a line and fill us in our your own goals. You stand a better chance of reaching them if you write them down or put them out there in the universe.

Grandma Bohn

Our beloved grandma passed away April 4, 2011 of terminal cancer. This quote written on her scriptures sums up her life. "Never let an imperfect situation rob you of the opportunity to accomplish something." She will be missed.

The New Mormon.org

Hey everyone. I just wanted to check in and let everyone know about the new mormon.org. It is pretty cool and it gives you a chance to make a profile and answer some basic questions about our beliefs.

I went ahead and made a profile there. You can all see it here http://mormon.org/me/1QM3-eng/Mitchell. I would definitely encourage each of you to go and make one too! It's a great way to share your testimony online!

New Arrival!

Miles and Kendra had a baby boy, Owen Kyle Wright, on April 30 (I think that's right). He weighed 8lbs 1 oz and is 19.5 inches long. Congratulations!

The Saga of My Ear

As most of you know, I have found a new love recently, and that love is called ultimate frisbee. I am currently playing on a team for BYU intramurals as well as a team for the Orem City Frisbee League. The saga of my ear begins during a BYU intramural game...

We were playing a ward team (ward teams have a stigma of not being very good) and we were winning 11-2, with the game being done once one team reaches 12 points. The opposing team had the frisbee and their handler hucked the frisbee down the field. The frisbee was floating high and slowly dropping. I was playing deep defense and started sprinting towards where the disc would come down. The opposing team had two players standing there and I knew that I had to stop them from getting the disc. I sprinted in and jumped and came crashing to the ground in a tangle of bodies. I felt my head get hit pretty hard, but I was going to get up and finish out the game. As I stood up, I felt a little dizzy and decided it would be better if I went and sat on the sideline.

As I sat down on the grass I started to feel something trickle down the side of my neck. I put my hand onto my neck to see what it was, and as I pulled my hand and looked at it, I saw blood on my hand. Apparently, I had been elbowed in the head by my teammate as we all fell and it had split the back of my ear open. I went and asked the supervisors (BYU employees) if they had any gauze and they gave me some and made me fill out some forms saying that they weren't liable and blah blah blah. I got a ride home from my teammate/old roommate and thought that maybe the bleeding would stop. After a little while it didn't, so I called my dad (who luckily happened to be in town at the time) and asked him to come pick me up and take me to the emergency room.

I got seven stitches in my ear and had to sit out from a few frisbee games and a soccer game, but things are all healed now.

And now, for pictures!

This is while we were waiting for the doctor to come take a look at my ear. We had washed the blood of twice already, but the ear was still bleeding!


This is the pre-cleaning shot of my ear. You can't really get a good look because I wasn't numbed up yet and it hurt to be moving my ear all around.

This is right after the guy cleaned out my ear. You can see where I split my ear and even the cartilage!


I got to wear a bandage like this for the next 10 days. Very exciting and a lot of weird looks!

All in all, this was not an enjoyable experience! Everything is good now though!

Wintery Wonderland

Now that things are beginning to slow down I finally have some time to update everybody! And since my big news and event took place over the busy holiday many of you were not able to attend....no doubt I still love you....so here it is.

Towards the end of October me and Collin got engaged. After two months of planning and anticipating we were sealed on December 29th in the Draper Utah Temple. That morning started out a little hectic as a frantically tried to find my temple recommend. Needless to say it was not found and I ended up having to call my bishop for a new one just hours before I was suppose to be at the temple. Once that was taken care of Annelise did my hair and because we were all behind schedule we scurried around trying to get ready then rushed off to the temple. To my surprise it ended up snowing all morning and the low clouds made it impossible to see the temple. After driving up and down numerous streets we finally found the it. Nearly everyone was already there and I was rushed off to the dressing room to change into my temple clothes. The sealing was further delayed because one of my brothers was missing. I thought Nathan had gone touring the temple but come to find out Tyler and Annelise had also become lost trying to find their way to the temple. However when the time came to enter the sealing room its was great to see all mine and Collin's family there waiting for us.

Afterwards was picture time....definitely not the highlight of the day. Other than the fact that is was freezing and snowing, we were outside for over an hour taking pictures running back into the temple every fifteen minutes or so to warm up before the next round of photos. Finally I made Collin tell the guy taking pictures that we were done. Everyone was really good sports about taking picture although by the next week at our reception in Ely Nathan would have no more of it....however I don't blame him. By the time we left the temple the snow was coming down pretty heavily and traffic on the freeway was really slow. We held an Open House in West Jordan that night but because of the weather and bad traffic many were not able to make it. However it was blast and we had a good crowd show up.

We've been married now for about a month and a half and are enjoying life. We live in a cozy basement apartment on the corner of 900 E and 300 S. Collin is attending UVU studying Psychology and I have finally chosen a major and started it this semester in Public Health!

New York.

So this is my very first blog post ever!
We went to New York the end of August with my family and it was a blast! Except for the first day. Short story time.
Once upon a time there was e fine lady and a saucy gentlemen on a great voyage to a magical land. An way, we were on our first flight to chicago and everything went smoothly. Then we had a four hour layover, then our second flight to somewhere, I cant remember its all a blur now, left on time but landed late because of weather. So we had 20 minutes to get to our third flight. Luckily that one was delayed an hour also. Or so we thought. Really it never left its previous destination. It showed up two hours later, but then the airlines wouldn't let us fly out because of "weather" which is a load of crap because every other airline was flying out. So they told us in 20 minutes they would let us go. So five 20 minutes later they tell us they are going to ship on a bus over to new york. Which is a 4 hour bus ride. But what i don't understand is they were telling us they wouldn't let us fly cause there were threats of tornadoes in the area, But they will ship us on a bus in tornadoes?! how does that work? Well by this time is is midnight and the bus shows up at 1am. and we get on this crapy, smelly, broken bus that takes us to new york and we get there at 530 am.So leaving Salt Lake and getting to New York was a total of 24 hours travel time. But the best part is yet to come. We finally get to the hotel at 6am and we go to lay down a sleep and as soon as we turn off the lights and lay down the fire alarm goes off in the hotel!!! So we had to evacuate the entire hotel and stand outside in the rain for 45 minutes. Good time!
After that though it was a blast! we went to the sacred grove and Niagra Falls and the smith farm. It was a good time with the fam. and a great end of summer trip! here are some pics enjoy!

Hawaiian Style

Aloha from BYUH! I have been in Hawaii for about a month and a half now. I love it! I love the beaches, Polynesian men, the PCC, and the beautiful weather! Some things I have not enjoyed so much: getting pnuemonia, bug bites, and the insects, including but not limited to spiders, geckos, ants, and cockroaches.

Overall, it's been an awesome experience. I plan on being here for at least 2 years, so make your plans to come and visit today!

Engagement Bliss in Zion

On May 15th Eric and I traveled down to Zion National Park for the day to go hiking, little did I know that the Emerald Pools trail (hiked many times by our family) included a diamond ring. We started the hike more in the evening so the temperature was perfect and the views absolutely beautiful. For those who having been on the Emerald Pools hike, you hike to 3 different pools, about 3 miles round trip. The last pool has a waterfall streaming off a cliff from the mountain into it. After making it to the last pool and resting for awhile we decided to head back. Right then Eric had me face the pool and pulled out a letter. After reading his letter I turned around and Eric as on his knee with a gorgeous diamond ring in his hand. He asked me to marry him and of course I said yes. This proposal also came complete with a crowd of cheering hikers...Well, the rest is history I suppose. We traveled down to Grandma and Grandpa Bohn's that night where they were both in a frenzy from having their kitchen ripped apart and grandpa keeping busy by giving us the "what for's" and "what ya ought do's".
In the long run, it was the perfect place for a propsal and we both couldn't be happier. Hope everyone can make it....save the date for August 6th!

Pin the Mustache on the Mitchell

Push broom stache

Sole Patch

Hitler Stache

Handlebar Stache

Which one is your favorite?

Goatee

Mitchell was the only one who got the mustache in the right place.

Happy Birthday Mitchell!!!!!

Cousins Soccer Team

2009 Intramural Soccer Team

Grandma's Birthday Blowout

In celebration of Grandma Bohn's 77th birthday, we had a party. Well, the girls had a party and the guys came despite not being invited. In the end everyone was happy that the guys came. The event schedule included going out to eat, a BYU football game (tailgate party included), pumpkin carving, and "The Talk"--if you don't know what that means ask Saundra. We ate ourselves sick and grandma got some wonderful presents--in particular her AARP guide to pills book.