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Bay Area Trip

Our friends in Madera, Jeff and Kellie Price, own a little cottage on 120 acres in the Bay Area (in the Eden Canyon, near Hayward). They invited us to go to their little house for a get-away with them. We had a blast.



First, we went into San Francisco. We went to Fisherman's Wharf . We went to eat at No. 9 Fisherman's Grotto. I ordered the Rex Sole and Spencer got Shrimp. Yum. I like fish. The kids had fries and they were excellent! Then we went to a little beach area on the bay. The kiddos dug in the sand, ran from the shoreline, and enjoyed watching the boats and ships come and go. We even saw a crazy guy swimming in the water! It was probably 45 degrees outside!

After that we walked up to the famous Ghirardelli Chocolate Ice cream Shop and got a Sundae with hot fudge. Aaaaahhhhh. That hit the spot. We came back to Pier 39 to observe the barking seals play. There were about 50 seals on the floating boat docks. It was great. Where is my camera on this special day? In the car! Grrrr.



Then we went to see the Oakland lights. They were pretty cool, too.

Brrrr. It was cold, but worth it.
After this, we went home. We crashed from all that walking. It took a few days to recooperate.

Our Story...Sarah's version...(Spencer has his own special version)

Preface: December 29th is our 6th Anniversary! Spencer and I have had such a wonderful time together these past 6 years. We can now imagine being together for eternity because it's hard to remember what life was like without our other half.
I love to hear couples' stories. How did you meet? How did you fall in love? Every story is unique and exciting and full of happiness. Share yours with us!



Our story is...interesting and fabulous, of course. Let me share it with you.

I had not always wanted to serve a mission. I had toyed with the idea throughout my life. I determined that if I hit my 21st birthday and I wasn't married, and if it was right, I would serve a mission. Well, the summer that I was going to turn 21 I was an EFY counselor. I had no intentions of serving a mission at the beginning of summer, but some time in mid-July, in a single day, I decided that yes, the mission was what I was going to do. (You see, honestly, I believe I was sick of the dating game, sick of flirting, sick of BYU. I needed a change; so mission it was! I had thought about studying in Russia, but my parents didn't support that idea.) Anyway, I was looking for something. I was desparately searching and I thought that a mission was what I wanted. I thought I had the answer. So I turned in my papers and I started to prepare.

Ironically, just a few days after that, I met Spencer. I saw him in the Cannon Center (the BYU dorms cafeteria). He was a Sports Camp Counselor. I think I fell in love instantly. All of my flirtiness came zooming back (it was gone the entire summer). I sat down next to him with my friend, Lisa, who helped me have the courage to sit by him. We struck up a conversation and hit it off. He was from Madera. The only thing I knew about Madera was that it was close to Fresno and their cross country team dominated the CCC. We had a lot in common. At the end of our meal, I asked Spencer what his full name was. I intended on looking up his email on "Stalker-Net". I wanted to see him again. This is really embarrassing to admit.

So I look up "Spencer Hyer" on Route Y and email him: "Hey Spencer, it was so fun to hang out with you. You are awesome. We should hang out again. Here's my phone number."

A few weeks go by and I don't hear from him, so I focus on the mission. He calls me (finally) and we talk for about one hour. I finally have the courage to tell him I am going on a mission. He stalls for a few seconds and says, "uh, I have to go now. Bye". (It was really funny, now that I think about it. )
I thought I would never see him again. Oh well. I did my part.

He finally calls me back about a week later and asks me on a date, but he says he is bringing a friend. He makes it sound totally casual, like a hang- out. Phew. I hate single dates. He shows up at my door by himself! Yikes! We go to Salt Lake, walk around the city, watch "The Testaments"in the Joseph Smith Building, eat dinner, go to Jamba Juice, and take a stroll in a park. It was a LONG date. But it was a good date. We both felt right at home with each other. It was a good feeling. I could actually be myself around him.

I had a great time, but I was still going on a mission. I was set to go home in a week. OK, I thought, I have a week. I'll hang out with Spencer and then go home and forget about him and go on a mission.

We hung out everyday that week. That was fine, but Spencer kept pushing the physical relationship along... That was NOT fine. I gave him all the hints that I was going on a mission. I liked him a lot, but I was going on a mission. He TOTALLY ignored my hints. And my hints are real. I fold my arms so he won't hold my hand. I turn my head and avoid eye contact so he won't kiss me. None of this worked. Somehow, the night before I was going to leave, Spencer stole a kiss from me. I needed to get out of there. He was dangerous! He was threatening to keep me from my mission committments.

I went home and he followed me! I really liked him. I wanted to see him and hang out, but it just doesn't really mesh well with serving a mission. I met his family. The thing that struck me the most about his family is how warm and accepting they were of me. I enjoyed my time with him and his family. We went to Pismo beach together and had a wonderful visit.


Then Spencer came to my home and he didn't recieve a warm welcome from Mom. She wanted me to serve a mission. Dad, of course, was thrilled. He's a marriage fanatic. Someone asked Spencer to share a mission experience (probably Dad) and he could only think to share of the time his companion tried to kill him! Yes, now my mother confirmed her dislike for this boy!


Needless to say, we fell in love through all of this. Spencer went back to Utah to start school. I stayed in California to get ready to serve. I got my wisdom teeth pulled, I bought all my clothing. All the while I was talking to Spencer every night on the phone.


Then, on September 18th, 2001 I got my call to serve! (One week after 9/11). I was called to serve in the Utica, New York Mission. I wasn't set to leave until January 9th!! Can you believe all that time they gave me to wait at home? Somehow Spencer convinced me to go to Utah to wait to go on the mission and somehow my parents let me go. I guess I wanted to find out how serious Spencer and I were before leaving. We fell more in love and knew we wanted to get married.


I asked Spencer if he would wait for me. He said, "No way. I will be married when you get back". Now, don't you think that's rude! No support, no support at all! My only regret is that Spencer didn't support me in serving.


That is our story. I honorably declined my mission because I knew that it was right to marry Spencer.



Now we have three beautiful, happy, healthy children and we are all just one big happy family. And we lived happily ever after. THE END.

(This is one of our engagement pics)

Dec. 29, 2001 Oakland Temple

(OK, my other regret is that I didn't fix my hair or make-up professionally for my wedding...that way, when the rains come falling, all the hairspray would have held my hair in place!)

Now share your story...PLEASE!

The business

Ahhhh. The business is so nice. Spencer is here! He is involved with the family!... and not stuck at work for 12 hours a day. Don't get me wrong, he certainly is still working hard, but this job is a lot less stressful.

Yes, we are so happy we made this career change and we know that this is right where we are supposed to be. However, we do miss our friends (among other things) in Texas.

One of the perks to working with farmers is this...

Do you know what that is? It's a persimmon. Yum. Spencer brings home all sorts of yummy fruits and nuts from his farmers.

But I enjoy the time he has to help me out the most.

The Deathly Hallows

I am finally finished with the Harry Potter series. What can I say? It was BRILLIANT.

Ward Christmas Party

We had a very successful Christmas party. Our activites chairman likes to decorate and she goes all out. Check it out. She and the activites crew hung big snowflakes all over from the ceiling.

Look at this center piece! Isn't it adorable? Do you know what this is made out of? Two rolls of toilet paper! Now that is creative.
The theme of the night was "Winter Wonderland".
So my big idea for the night was to have each table make a gingerbread house out of grahams and frosting. This was a fun activity. Every table got really into it! This is Spencer's creation. Like the picket fence?
I liked this one--a gingerbread ambulence. And the missionaries made a gingerbread tree house.This house (or should I say Fresno Temple) won the prize. They even made the angel Moroni on top.


After all the singing classic Christmas songs together, we had dessert and then Santa Claus came! Taylor actually sat on his lap this year. She told him what she wanted for Christmas: candy and a slinky. That's do-able.
This is Taylor's last year experience with Saint Nick....it didn't go over too well.

The Three little amigos

Scrabble Champion

Spencer and I have started playing Scrabble on Sundays. We both really stink, but it is a game that I can occasionally beat Spencer, so I'll actually sit down and play with him.

Well, Spencer beat me by 13 points this Sunday. Grrr. I couldn't let that be the end. I challenged him to a re-match and we agreed the winner would get a 30 minute massage.

Final Score:
Spencer with 292
Sarah with 317

Spencer, you owe me a mAssage! Cha-ching!

Decking the Halls!

Taylor really enjoyed helping decorate the tree this year. She put all the ornaments in one spot on the tree and I had to sneak a few ornaments to other portions of the tree without her noticing.
Playing in the big Christmas Tree Box is a given.

Ho ho ho! And Maren is festive too. She can sit by herself now...for a few seconds. She almost has it! Have a jolly time getting your Christmas ready!

Gone are the days....

Gone are the care-free days of baby-staying-on-the-blanket. Goodbye. I will sorely miss you.

It's always fun when Grandma comes!

Oh boy! I am blessed....and spoiled....

Grandma B.--and Grandpa and Ally-- live just down the lane (ok, about 50 minutes away) and this is so much fun. She came over the other day and this is what happened:

She baked a loaf of bread for us...

She did my dishes....
She made me dinner...
She brought us some treats....
She played with her grandchildren....And she cleaned my house. I am so blessed! Mom, you are fantastic. "Thanks" doesn't quite some up what this means to me, but THANKS!

New and Improved Movie Ratings

So Spencer and I were watching "Meet the Robinsons". It is totally cute with a few really random, weird parts. Lately we (as in Spencer) has been on a movie kick. But we are not very impressed with any of the new movies coming out because they are full of garbage.

So here's our new rating system:

Rated G for "Good"

Rated PG for "Partially Good"

Rated PG-13 for "Parts that are Good-13"

Rated R for "Rotten"