Okay, well here it goes. I haven't blogged in several years as I feel that I don't have anything too exciting in my life to blog about. It's been so long that I have to familiarize myself with my own blog again and see what my layout options are etc. This first blog may look weird as I need to play around with the settings and learn all over again. But if I don't at least make the attempt, it will never happen. So here goes....
My life is pretty boring and uneventful. However, these past couple of years, 2014-2015 have been very busy for our family and a lot of changes have happened. As our children have become adults, life changing decisions have been made that affect the entire family in some degree. So I would like to try and catch up on life. I suspect this is going to take awhile. Don't even know if anyone other then myself will ever read this, but this blog acts as a journal for me so I will be wordy and try to get as many of the details in as I can. I apologize if I'm all over the place, but as I get caught up and stay on top of events in my life, hopefully it will flow better.
I want to back up to Fall 2013... (almost 2-years ago actually)
Mid-October 2013, I had the missionaries scheduled to have dinner at our house one Sunday evening. Didn't know at the time that I signed up, that it was the "last meal" for Elder Lyman before his mission ended. Once this information became general knowledge, I asked him if he had a meal of choice for that night. He was quick to respond with BRINNER! I told him how our family loves having breakfast for dinner and that he would make Kyle so happy. (Kyle would eat breakfast food every meal of the day if given the opportunity So I notified Tessa and Kenedee to see if they would be available to join us that night. Tessa had moved out a few years prior and isn't a fan of breakfast food, but won't turn down a free meal. Kenedee just worked a lot so I didn't know if she was available to join us or working. Needless to say, the girls were available and brinner it was.
Dinner conversation went as usual when the missionaries are in a members home. They asked us spiritual questions, shared a message had prayer then headed on their way. Nothing unusual happened that night. About 2-weeks later, Kenedee told us that she became friends with Elder Lyman on FB. At this point he was no longer Elder but Preston Lyman. Then a couple more weeks went by and she told me that he was flying back here to baptize an investigator (sister) that he had been working with in Marysville, prior to being transferred to our ward where he finished the last 5-months of his mission. The ward was devastated when he Elder Lyman left. He was one of "those missionaries" that left an lasting impression on the ward members. Could also be that he was with our ward for so long, everyone knew him and had fed him or had him in their homes multiple times. He's also a very nice looking young man so the YW were always stalking him.
Anyways, the sister he had been working with requested that Preston baptize her. He agreed knowing that he would have an opportunity to see Kenedee as well. It worked out best and cheaper to fly to SLC, Utah first then meet up with his former companion Tyler Cook and drive to WA to take care of that ordination. Tyler and Preston were companions together in Marysville. Hated each other for most of their companionship, but ultimately ended up best friends. During the time he was here (about 5-days) he was with Kenedee ALL THE TIME! It was so weird seeing him in jeans and a leather jacket and learn his name was Preston. I felt the need to still call him Elder Lyman. That is what was comfortable for me. I felt bad that every night he had to make arrangements to get back to Marysville, where he and Tyler were staying and then first thing the next morning, he was back at our place. Lots of back and forth driving during those few days. Because he was at Tyler's mercy and didn't have a car, he would just hang out at our place a lot. K & P watched a lot of movies and did a lot of cuddling on the massive love sac that was located in the DC room. I quickly learned that they liked each other a lot and that Kenedee was Preston's first girlfriend. Oh my! This visit/baptism took place about 1-week before Christmas 2013.
Kenedee said all she wanted to Christmas that year was a trip to San Antonio, TX to see him. Oh man, this relationship seemed to be moving rather quickly in my book. But that is what we gave her was a trip to Texas to meet his family. The date was set and I believe she flew out February 8th - 15th, 2014 (going off of memory)
While she was there, Preston called me on Wednesday night, February 12th to be exact. We spoke for awhile and then he asked my permission to give her a promise ring. UGH. I didn't sugar coat anything. I told him that Kenedee is hard to live with, she has a temper and an attitude. He didn't care, he was in love. I asked him if he would like to talk with Ryan and he said NO WAY! He felt Ryan was to intimidating and that Ryan never smiled. (that made Ryan smile) He admitted in that phone call that their relationship was moving rather quickly and that I need to be prepared for a future wedding. I remember the knots I felt in my stomach after we hung up the home. Ryan nor I felt Kenedee was ready.
She had recently ended a relationship with Tim Ryan from the YSA ward and although Kenedee was the one who broke it off, she was extremely upset when he ended up dating her best friend Shanna Gregory a few months later. Shanna was called to serve a mission in the Philippines and was to report on October 9th, 2013, but changed her mind and felt that once she met Tim, she wanted to pursue this relationship. So she turned down the mission call. Tim and Shanna eventually married on October 12th, 2014) To this day, Kenedee is still upset and doesn't want to be Shanna's friend. Its extremely childish, but that's Kenedee for you. Ryan nor I can tell her anything. She knows it all.
So anyways, when Kenedee returned from Texas you could see that she was in love. She loved his family and told us that night, they spent a lot of time talking about marriage while she was there. He then told her that he was planning to propose but he wanted to come and talk with Ryan and I first and do it in person. We told him it was fine to talk to us over the phone and save the airfare, but he wanted to talk with us in person. He flew here on Friday, March 21st. We knew that meant he was going to propose that weekend after talking with us. The morning after he arrived, we took the family (Spencer included) and took Preston to Beth's Café. It's one of those places that everyone who visits Seattle needs to experience.
Later that day, he finally sat down and talked with Ryan and I. It was very awkward as Kenedee was told to stay downstairs. We talked about the plan was for them as any parent would. They're just kids without a penny to their name and going into this blind folded. But they were so "in-love" and they are adults so we couldn't tell them no. Just have to love and support their decision.
I did feel bad, because I know he would have wanted to propose in a more romantic setting, but ultimately, it happened downstairs in the DC room after he had the "talk" with Ryan and I. He was to anxious to wait and take her somewhere and actually was at her mercy since he didn't have a car, so it just worked out that way. Kenedee had even picked out a couple of different rings and told him that he could choose and surprise her. This one was her "favorite" and was so excited that was the "one" he chose.
So now what....Preston felt inspired to take a sales job in Nebraska working for a company that sold trash service. He didn't want to leave Kenedee behind because he knew his work days would be long and with the time difference he would never get to talk to her. So after a lot of thought, Kenedee took the plunge and accepted the same job and they traveled to Nebraska together. So once again, after the proposal weekend (Ryan's birthday weekend) he flew back to WA towards the end of April and they drove together to Nebraska. It was a crazy time. Kenedee had never been away from home. She was also a fairly new driver AND really had no experience driving the freeway and now they were going to drive thousands of miles cross country and be gone for 4-months. The date had been set for a September 20th, 2014 wedding. They left the end of April and had to report in Lincoln, Nebraska for a May 5th start date only to return on August 31st. A lot had to happen in those few short months before the wedding. That's where I step in. She gave me her colors and theme and asked me to work my magic. I do have to admit, I've always dreamed of planning my daughters wedding!
