November and December

 The rest of November was a total blurr, I ended up working just about every weekend so Jace came up north a bunch to see me and so we could spend time together.  I started dress shopping and we were trying to figure out what date we wanted.  We wanted to get married on a cruise ship, we thought it would be fun for the familes but than figured not everyone would be able to afford that, than we were thinking maybe February or maybe beginning of March.  We finally settled on April 1st!  I thought that would be the perfect day totally easy to remember and well Jace loves to tease me and joke with me so really it was the perfect day! That brought us into December.  It kind of seemed like we had stuff going every week that month.  We had Hadi's birthday which I wanted to make a cake for but I didn't have time with work and everything, the girls had a dance recital

Hadi 

Camers

 

The girls after their dances.  They did suck a good job and were so cute! 

Most of November and December we spent most of our time looking for letters in nature.  We wanted to make this frame for Kamie and Dustyn that spelled out their last name.  But the letters could only be letters that we found out in nature it was alot of fun ... a little frustrating but still alot of fun.  We got to go on long drive and really look at nature it was pretty cool.  I totally recommend you go do it sometime. It is amazing the things you see when you are paying attention. 

 

   

The Proposal

 

February 19th Jace proposed to me.  I had no idea that he was going to do it then, I knew he had talked to my dad, but had no clue when he was going to actually pop the question.  So, the weekend of the 19th I headed down to gunnison just to hang out and goof around since I had a couple of days off.  Jace had said he wanted to go out to the lake to try and catch these huge fish with his hands but we had to go at night co we didnt get caught.  HAHAHA!  I met him at the house and he was being kind of weird, when we got in the truck he said we werent going to go catch fish because he was worried about the roads since it had been snowing so instead he kind of reinacted our first date.  We drove out to the palisades, but it was shut down so we decided to just go to dinner on the way back down to the road we saw tons of deer so he stopped the truck and said he wanted to get his glasses out incase we saw some elk.  He jumped out and started digging around in the bed of the truck which i couldnt figure out why cause his glasses were inside the truck ... why would his 1500 dollar glasses be in the bed of the truck!  So he came over to my side of the truck and knocked on my window and told me to roll it down as I did he brought out a huge bouquet of roses

and these really cute bears hugging each other and an "Always kiss me good night" sign.

 

I asked him what these were for and he just said he felt like spoiling me.  He is so sweet!  I can't even stand it.  He hopped back in the truck and we decided that instead of going into Ephrum to get dinner we were going to go back into Manti.  By the time we got there the sun had gone down and the Temple was all lite up, it looked so pretty.  Jace pulled over so we could go up the hill so we could take some pictures.  As we were taking pictures it felt like he was doing bunny ears on me, I kept telling him to quit it and just take a normal picture with the temple in the back ground he said he got one and this was the first picture...
 

I looked at the picture and said you can't even see the temple!  He looked at me like I was crazy and started laughing!  I couldn't figure out what was so funny.  I told him to take another one he said fine but you have to kiss me this time.

This time I noticed why he kept doing "bunny ears"  hahaha sometimes I am kind of oblivious :)  So he got down and asked me to marry him there on the lawn of the manti temple.  We went around the other side and took a bunch of pictures.  After about an hour of taking pictures we went and got something to eat at this little steak place across from the temple.  I sent my parents a picture of me infront of the temple and I think within about 5 min of sending the text I got a call from my mom.  Here are some more pictures from that night.

                                

The Ring!!

So the ring... I was so excited when we found the ring but I didn't think we were going to get that one.  I had no idea that Jace was such a good little actor :).  So after looking at all kinds of rings for a few weeks we found the ring!  I had gone to Jared's and found one that I thought I liked but after I left the store and started thinking about it more I realized that I had been talked into that one and that the ring really wasn't me at all.  I took Jace in to look at that one, his reaction to that one sealed the deal for me ... that one was out.  So I kept looking, but couldnt find anything that I liked well I found some that I like, but not enough to buy.  The weekend we came back from moose hunting we stopped at the South Town mall and went into Schubach jewlers.  The guy showed us every single ring in the place.  The second ring he showed us I fell in love with.  It was so pretty, different, and well perfect.  So they boys sent me away so they could talk about price, when they were finished Jace came out acting like it was way too much money.  So I said forget that one we can find one that we like just as much and is less money.  We went over to Kay's and I found one that I would be just as happy with.  So a few weeks later we were back up in salt lake and went into another Schubach Jace said lets just look at that one again.  I told him no I already talked myself out of that one and it was too much money.  He knew that I really did want that one, he can read me entirely too well ha ha.  So we went in I tried it one again and then they told me to once again go away, however this time he was in there alot longer that the first time.  When he finally came out he had a huge smile on his face and somthing sticking out of his pocket.  I was so excited!

the marathon date and so much more

  Our fist official date was what my brother called a "marathon" date.  It was the best first date I had ever had.  So we started talking online and within a week we decided to meet in person and see if we really did like each other.  Well that date ended with a resounding YES!  It was a lovely brisk morning June 18th, I got up early that morning to get ready and headed out to Jace's house at about 10 am.  When I got out there we did the total awkward not sure if we should hug each other dance as we introduced ourselves.  Well we did end up getting some form of hug in there... it was more of one of those one armed hugs that you do when you aren't sure what exactly to do.  So after the awkwardness was over we went inside and started making salsa.  Let me tell you this boy is amazing!  He can cook like no other.  It is so much fun, we both enjoy cooking so we do it together as much as we can, I love it!  Anyway, so we finished making salsa ran out to the store and grabbed some other things for a picnic at the Palisades Lake.  After lunch we went over to the golf course right in time for it to start pouring down rain.  So we hit balls in the rain.  It was so much fun.  We both got a good laugh out of myself.  It was the first time I had done the driving range thing, so I had a lot of swings and misses and a few close calls where Jace almost met the tip of my club!  Once we were finished Jace took me by an elk farm which  was way cool!  Those suckers are huge!!  On the way back to the house we saw that the Manti pageant was starting that night.  We had a few hours to kill so we went back to Jace's house played the WII for a while and talked a ton.  After a while we realized that we were both pretty hungry so Jace made me the most amazingly delicious fajitas!  oh they were so good!  Anyway after dinner we headed off to the pageant we stayed for half of it but then left because I had to work the next day in the morning and I still had a drive ahead of me.  I left there around 11 that night.  We had made plans to go out again and then to maybe go out to Fish Lake for my birthday weekend!  I was way excited. So the next week Jace was on the grave shift so he came up on one of my days off I took him out to Deer Creek we fished out there for a while but didn't catch anything, so we left and goofed around the rest of the day.  After going out a few more time we decided to go up to Fish Lake for my birthday weekend.  It was so much fun!  I got to meet most of his wonderful family and he showed me a ton of way cool places.  He took me out to a couple of places to look for elk and anything else that we could find.  It was so cool to see them out in the wild and to hear them do their calls.  This was also the weekend and the place that our first kiss happened!  I had butterflies in my stomach the rest of the time.  So after the weekend was over I gave him a little early birthday present.  Our birthdays are about a month apart so I figured I would splurge and get us both tickets for the Kenny Chesney Concert and it also ensured that he would be sticking around for another month he he he.  Tricky I know!  After my birthday we pretty much were together every week.  We were able to find ways for me to either come down to Centerfield to spend time with him or for him to come up to provo on our days off.  I am not sure exactly when it happened but I think it was right after the 4th if July when I knew he was the one I was going to marry.  He had come up just after the 4th and stayed with my brother and I for a couple days.  I think it was when he was leaving.  This weird feeling came over me and the idea that I was going to marry him popped into my head.  I realized that weird strange feeling was love.  Me fall in love no no!  That couldn't be right, but it was!  After a month I had fallen in love with him and I was ok with that.  Which  was so out of character for me.  I always thought those girls who fell for someone after a month were crazy and there I was doing the exact thing I promised myself I wouldn't do!  But it didn't feel like we had only been together for a month.  I felt like I had known him my entire life.  When I was with him I felt like I was home and when he was gone a part of me was missing.  What I didn't know was he was feeling the same way, but neither one of us wanted to fess up to those feelings.  So the Kenny Chesney Concert came along .

 We had so much fun!  It was a way good concert.  After the concert I took him up to the really cool spot on a hill behind the Capital Building.  As we were sitting looking at the lights of the Salt Lake Valley we started talking and both kind of said that we definitely liked each other, but that we both wanted to take it slow and not rush anything.  So we kept talking and then suddenly he kissed and whispered I LOVE YOU! 

I looked at him, I wanted to say that I loved him too, but we had just said that we wanted to take things slow so instead I said something along the lines of what happened to taking things slow ... he just smiled.  So I gave in, I am sure he already knew because of the smile on my face, but I said it anyway those three little words!
  So between then and now,  we took a road trip down to California while we were down there we got a phone call that his grandpa was not doing well and probably would not make it much longer, so we headed back.  Jace was able to spend a little more time with his grandpa before he passed away.  It was hard to see someone that I loved and cared for so much hurt like that.  I just wanted to take that pain away from him, but I couldn't.  All I could do was just be there.  After that Jace and a few hunts to guide on and got each one of his hunter an animal.  It seemed like every couple of days I was getting a picture of another huge elk that Jace guided his hunter to.  Then Jace's Moose hunt came. 

That was way cool.  I got to go with him, his dad, and brother the first week  he was out.  The very first day we had been out there looking for no more than an hour, Jace had stopped the truck and was glassing the hills (looking at the hills with binoculars) just as he got ready to leave this one spot I spotted a very large dark spot in the middle of these bright red trees.  Jace grabbed his binoculars again and started yelling its a bull!  So we watched the moose the entire day that day.  When we came back the next day Jace had decided to take it, however there was just one problem.  The Moose was no where to be found.  His Dad and brother eventually ended up leaving and Jace and I stayed up there trying to find it or another one the rest of that weekend, but we saw nothing at all!  The colors out there we absolutely beautiful!  We got some really cool pictures of all the fall colors.  I do have to say that this state has the most amazing change in seasons!  So after that weekend life went back to normal for a little while and about a month later Jace had one more shot at getting his once in a lifetime moose.  He and his Dad went back out and they got one! 

The same moose I had spotted a month before walked right out in front of him!  Once they brought it down the mountain they stopped by Mason's so we could all see it.  That thing was huge.  It weighed over 1000 pounds and stood over 7 feet tall!  I couldn't believe how huge it was!  So we had a few more weekend up in the mountains just being out and enjoying nature.  Not long after that Jace told me to maybe start looking for rings that I might like, so being the obedient person that I am I jumped right on that!  I however didn't find one until he was with me.  But that is a story for another day :)

How we met...

Ok so since sooo many people keep asking how Jace and I met and also keep telling me to start one of these dang things I decided that I should quit being lazy so ... here we go!  This is going to take me a while to get you all caught up on us, but well there is a lot and let's be honest I am not exactly the best at keeping up on these kinds of things :)!
  OK Jace and I met on ... yup thats right LDS LINKUP ...hahahaha how lame is that?!  I think we need to come up with something a little more interesting than that.  I was thinking of something along the lines of...
   One day I was out for a nice stroll up in the lovely mountains of Fish Lake;  I was walking along taking pictures of the BEA-U-TIFUL scenery and the cute fuzzy bunnies and chipmunks.  The sun was starting to go down and I figured I would go just a little bit farther to see if I could get a few more cool pictures... bad idea!  All the sudden I got one of those feelings that someone or something was watching me, you know that feeling, the really creepy, awkward, scary, pit of your stomach feeling.  Are you there with me?  K good, so, I got that feeling and then I heard this super weird sound like something was pounding on the ground.  So I slowly turned around to face the direction that I thought the sound was coming from, but it was gone just as quickly as it came.  Then my mind started playing tricks on me all the shadows instantly became these man eating forrest monsters.  So of course I did what any normal sweet, innocent, level headed (ha ha) girl would do... thats right you guessed ran around screaming at the top of my lungs getting myself more lost, bad idea number two!  Well once I figured out that was getting me no where I stopped for a second just in time to hear that lovely noise again, but this time it was closer; and I realized that it wasn't pounding at all, it was some huge gigantic man eating creature of the forrest!  So I hid behind a rock and plugged my ears with my fingers hoping it wold just well go away ha right.  The problem with my perfect hiding spot was that it was no where near being perfect... it was infested with huge fuzzy spiders with 8 million eyeballs and huge fangs!  All just sitting there waiting for the perfect time to pounce on me!  I of course decided that it would be a good idea to jump as quickly from my hiding spot screaming.  I wanted to draw as much attention to me as possible.  Well I did just that and as I jumped screaming my head off, I jumped right in front of a huge grizzly bear!  That is right a grizzly bear!  I think at this point I fainted or maybe I hit my head on something, not really sure.  Anyway when I finally came to I opened my eyes just in time to see the bear raising his paw to take me out!  All the sudden out of now where I saw this gorgeously handsome rugged man pole vaulting himself out of a tree.  Time suddenly stopped, the bear went away, and all I could see was him fly gracefully through the air.  It was like he and I were the only ones that existed in that moment.  Then I was ripped from that reality and brought back to this one because the bear let a a terrible roar.  I looked up to see this strange man fighting the bear with his just his hands and winning.  It was like he had this super human strength, oh he was such a beautiful sight.  So anyway, he continued to fight the bear till he got a good choke hold on him and the bear went down for good.  He wiped his sweaty brow on his sleeve and came over to me... He put his hand out smile and said "Hi I'm Jace!"  I think I fainted again at this point.  When I woke up he was carrying me down the mountain in his arms.  He looked down at me and began to giggle and asked if I was ok.  I said "yes, thank you for saving me! oh yeah and my name is Katie.  PS  you are my hero!"  hahaha  and than we skipping off into the sunset holding hands and lived happily ever after!  hahaha
  Nope, we dont have a cool story like that we just met on link up!  Oh and there are two problems with the story one I had no clue what the heck or where the heck Fish Lake was back then and oh yeah pretty sure there aren't any grizzly bears in those mountains!!

So yeah, we met on linkup and talked for a few months on there, but then we lost contact (sad day!)  because I moved back to California and he was messing around in the mountains or something like that :)  6 months later  decided that I needed to move back to Utah for some reason.  When I had been back for about a month and was cleaning out my emails and found one from him, so I sent him a little "HEY" (said in a high pitched voice and drawn out)  and well that is where our story begins!
To be continued .....