Happy Now--April 27

 This past month has flown by!  It was busy, but also very happy.  I started a new post several weeks ago, so I will keep those original Happy Now moments and just add to them.  Since I am covering about a month, I am allowing myself a Happy Now 16.  Here they are (listed pretty much in chronological order).

1.  Geese--When Darren and I first moved to Pinedale last August, I loved the open spaces and nature that surrounded us.  The air smelled fresher, the grass looked greener, and I loved becoming acquainted with new sounds in nature.  For some reason, the sound a flock of geese made every morning as it flew over our home was a particular favorite.  It just seemed so .... country.  It wasn't long before the geese left and winter came.  But last Monday (which is now several Mondays ago), as I was eating breakfast, I heard them again.  They're back!  It is the Wyoming version of seagulls and ocean waves.  It made me so happy!

2.  Bread Making--For many years, the Sonnes had a tradition of making Grandma Elaine's bread every Christmas.  This was always a group effort and, with several extended family members, kneading the bread two or three times was usually the extent of my involvement in the bread making process.  I recently used a fairly simple recipe for wheat bread I had found to attempt the whole process on my own.  Success!

3.  Frozen Yogurt--Darren and I finally got around to trying the new frozen yogurt shop it Pinedale.  It was great, and I'm so glad it's here!

4.  Mom's Birthday--Mom's birthday was March 27.  I am so, so grateful for her.  She is an example to me in every way, and someone who I try to emulate in my interactions with others.  When my Papa John (my mom's dad) died last year, I was given a picture he had had in his apartment of me and my mom when I was a baby.  Paired next to a picture from my wedding, that picture represents what a source of support and strength my mom has been to me all these years, and how blessed I've been to have always had her by my side.  Love you, Mom!

5.  Chris is Engaged!--This was the happiest moment of the whole month for me!  Chris called me and Darren on the evening of March 30 to let us know that he and Christiane Cannon were engaged.  Christiane got on the phone with him at the end, and it was great to have a moment to celebrate with them both.  We have yet to meet Christiane, but I can tell how happy she makes my brother and I couldn't be more happy for them both.  I have heard so many wonderful things about her.  So glad to have you join the family, Christiane! 

6.  Snowshoeing--My last snowshoeing experience was several years ago ... and wasn't particularly fun.    Darren talked me into getting out and trying it again at the beginning of April, and I'm so glad he did!  It was a beautiful day, and the snow was just right.  Darren (who had bought snowshoes for himself and his future wife before we even met) was equipped.  It was fun to see him so much in his element.

7.  General Conference--I love this time of year.  There were so many wonderful messages shared at General Conference at the beginning of April, and I am grateful to be able to review them online and through the Ensign.  What a blessing!  And a special thank you to Katie Houston and her family for letting me watch the Saturday sessions with them!

8.  Dad's Early Arrival--Some "family business" required me to be in Salt Lake from April 3-22.  Due to work, Darren couldn't join me until April 13.  My parents also planned to come out and spend some time with us from the 11-20.  I was so THRILLED when my dad called and said he had rearranged his schedule to join me on the evening of the 5th.  Having constant company with me for that first week was a real-life saver.  I will always remember that week we spent together.  Thanks so much, Dad!

9.  Logan Trip--One of the things my dad and I did during our first week in Utah was to take a little road trip to Logan.  My great-grandpa, Alma Sonne, raised his family in Logan (which included his son, my grandpa, Conway Sonne).  Alma was President of the local bank (originally the First National Bank and now the Cache Valley Bank) and was Chairman of the Board of Directors at Utah State University (where my Grandpa Conway eventually met my Grandma Elaine).  It was fun to visit some of the old "Sonne sites" and learn a little more about my family history.  Dad, as always, was a great traveling companion.

Alma Sonne's house on Main St. in Logan.  It is now a dental lab.  The kind people inside let us look around (they have kept everything looking very "homey") and gave us a type-written history of the house they had found in a drawer when they moved in.  From that history we learned that the builder of the home was Fred Dahle, Alma's friend who served a mission for the Church with him in England  and whose illness prevented Fred, Alma, and a few other missionaries from returning home on the Titanic!

Although it is now called the Cache Valley Bank, the old First National Bank lettering from when my Great-Grandpa worked there is still on the steps.

The outside of what is now the Cache Valley Bank.  One of the Bank clerks also gave us a tour of the bank.  It brought back many memories for my dad from when he had visited the bank in the 70s to get his first bank loan from Grandpa Alma for college.

Dad and I had lunch at "The Bluebird" (apparently a hot-spot while my grandparents were in college and where both of my grandparents wrote in their journals about going on dates)!

"Kater" has been a nickname for as long as I can remember, so it was fun to see this as we were walking along Main St.

10.  Mom and Darren's Arrival--Dad and I had a really fun time together, but we were both excited about having mom, and then Darren, join us.  Mom arrived on the 11th.  We stayed in SLC a couple more days before meeting up with Darren in Park City.  It was wonderful to have the family all together (we just missed Chris and Christiane)!

11.  Temple Walk with Mom--Before we left for Park City, Mom and I took a walk around Temple Square (it is SO beautiful this time of year) and up to the Capitol Building.  On our walk we found a little butterfly in the middle of the sidewalk.  This butterfly took to my mom immediately and would change direction to follow where my mom moved.  It was really kind of amazing!  Eventually we decided we had to be on our way but wanted to move our new little friend onto the grass out the the way of foot traffic. :)

Moving our friend to a safer spot.

12. Dad's Birthday--We were lucky enough to be with my dad in Park City on his birthday.  I think my dad is one of the most selfless people I know.  He somehow managed to make all of us feel good and special on HIS birthday.  I'll excited for any opportunity I have to celebrate him.  I couldn't be more blessed than to have him as a father.  Love you, Dad!

Dad's Birthday Dinner

Dad's Birthday Dinner

Birthday Banana Cream Pie!

13.  Dinner with Chaffees--The Chaffees are basically family members, and it had been WAY too long since we had seen them.  We made plans to meet up in Salt Lake with Phil and Stephanie for dinner once my parents and Darren were in town.  It was SO great to see them!  I have so many wonderful memories with the Chaffee family, and seeing them brought all of those memories back.  I love and admire Phil and Steph's strength, humor, testimony, and the love they share with everyone.  I hope to see them and their girls again soon!

14.  Dinner with Roommates--My friends and former roommates Katie and Melissa made the effort to come visit us in Park City while we were there.  We had a chance to have dinner and visit for a bit, but the time went by much too quickly (even though I had also had dinner with them in Salt Lake earlier in the month, there just never seems to be enough time with these wonderful ladies).  I am so blessed to have such supportive friends!

15.  Peter Yarrow Concert--I found out the Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul, and Mary fame) was having a concert at the Egyptian Theater in Park City while we were there.  Knowing my Dad liked/likes some of Peter, Paul, and Mary's songs, Darren, Chris, and I went in on 4 tickets as a birthday present to my dad.  It was a fun (if at times slightly interesting) evening, and it brought back a lot of memories for me and my parents.  I remember sitting around the campfire at Stanford Sierra Camp or on the deck at Laguna during Sonne family reunions each summer growing up singing such classics as "Leaving on a Jet Plane", "Blowin' in the Wind", "If I Had a Hammer", etc.  It sure made me feel nostalgic.  My favorite part of the concert, though, was when Peter (and his son who was performing with him) invited all the children at the concert onstage to sing "Puff, the Magic Dragon."  He gave the microphone over to several of the kids during the song, and it was pretty adorable.  All in all, it was definitely a memorable evening.  :)

Mom and Dad at the concert.

Calling the kids onstage for "Puff, the Magic Dragon."  I took this shot a little early.  He had quite a crowd by the end!

16.  Easter--It never fails that my mom manages to make holidays special for her family no matter where we are.  On Easter morning when Darren and I came out of our hotel bedroom, we found some Easter gifts set up for us on the table, including a beautiful Jan Brett book on Easter.  I love this holiday and the reminder that it is of the blessing of the Atonement.  How grateful I am for the Atonement and a loving Father in Heaven and Savior who loved each of us enough to make it an essential part of their Plan of Happiness.

As I finish this post, I can think of about 16 more things that made me happy over the past few weeks.  I especially want to thank the Walker family for allowing me to stay in their beautiful condo in Draper for part of the time I was in Utah.  Overall, my heart is just full of gratitude for all the friends, family, and events that filled up last month.  I am truly blessed.

Happy Now--March 17

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  This post is a day late because I was asked to wait a day before posting my Happy Now #10, and I had to include it!

1.  Kindergarten Class:  This week was the first time I subbed in a kindergarten class.  I was pretty nervous beforehand.  Kindergartners have such short little attention spans, and there were quite a few of them!  It didn't help that the assistant principal took the opportunity to walk me to the classroom so that she would have time to tell me about one particularly difficult little girl.  I expected to leave the classroom crawling from exhaustion.  I was thrilled to find as I sat down at the teacher's desk during lunch time, however, that I was actually really enjoying myself!  There was something about their energy, too, that was contagious.  What a pleasant little surprise!  I definitely admire those sweet teachers who are in the classroom with these little ones full-time and give them such a positive introduction to formal schooling.

2.  Spanish Globe Game--The day after subbing in Kindergarten, I subbed in a high school Spanish class.  Most of the periods were required to take a quiz and then play a Spanish-themed game.  The last period of the day chose to play the "Spanish Globe Game."  This game required the students to get in a circle, each choose a different Spanish verb, and take turns throwing a fabric globe to different people in the circle to practice saying the verbs while someone in the middle of the circle tried intercepting the pass.  Make sense?  Well, the main point is that after about 5 minutes of playing they invited me to join the game.  Since high school was the last time I was in a Spanish class, they assigned me the word "hola" instead of a verb.  Nice.  Fortunately, I caught every pass and could remember enough verbs to pass the globe without going in the middle.  Whew!  I actually thought it was sweet of them to include me and was a nice way to bond with the students, something I don't usually get to do as the sub.  It was a great way to end the day and the week. :)

3.  Minestrone Soup--Last week my mom sent me a crock pot recipe for minestrone soup.  This week I got around to making it, and it was delicious!  Although the sun is making more frequent appearances in Pinedale, there is still plenty of snow on the ground (see the picture below).  Soup was the perfect evening meal!

4.  Let's Go Fly a Kite--Speaking of the increasing sunshine, Darren and I took the opportunity to get outside on one of his days off this week.  Feeling the sun on my face for what felt like the first time in months was HEAVENLY.  Before we were married, Darren bought a big kite board to use at the ocean or lake.  Although we can't take it to the lake quite yet, he did want to open the kite in the backyard and see if he could catch a little wind.  The wind ended up not being strong enough, but being outside with him and the kite board made me SO excited for summer and more sun!

5.  Planning Parents' Trip--This week I spent some time on the phone with my parents discussing a visit from them in mid-April.  I received some e-mails from my dad a few days later with their flight/hotel reservations.  It's really happening!  I can't wait!!

6.  Spring Gift--We received a surprise gift from my parents this week with some spring goodies, including a beautiful platter with pictures of oranges and orange blossoms and a citrus loaf pan.  This little gift made me so happy!  About this time of year in Redlands, where I grew up, the orange blossoms started blooming and filling the area with their delicious scent.  The smell of orange blossoms will always remind me of spring.  Between the extra sun and this gift, my need for a little spring pick-me-up was definitely met this week!

                             

7.  Frozen Yogurt Shop--I was driving down our main street this week when I noticed a new sign being hung outside of a previously empty store.  Upon further inspection, I found out that a new frozen yogurt shop (Pinedale's first) is opening up soon.  Yippee!!

8.  "Grit with Chip"--I had a great book talk with my mom on Saturday.  We are reading Amy Chua's Triple Package and talked about her explanation of finding success when "grit" (or drive and determination) is combined with "chip" (having, in a sense, a chip on your shoulder or the need to prove yourself).  This phrase resonated with both of us, and we could each think of a time when we felt a drive to accomplish something with a bit of an "I'll show them" attitude.  It was a fun talk and made this phrase something that I'll remember.

9.  Prank Videos--Darren and I spent a little too much time watching some prank videos on youtube one evening this week.  I had followed one from a link on Facebook, and once I started watching I was hooked and began searching for more.  I had to bring Darren in on the fun.  I was laughing so hard at some of the pranks pulled on innocent bystanders, I almost felt guilty.  Some included a fake spider, which made me laugh the hardest ... probably because I am known to giggle uncontrollably when I'm nervous/watching something scary (PSA:  I am not a fun person with whom to watch scary movies).  Laughing that hard with Darren by my side made my night.

10.  ENGAGEMENT--We found out Saturday night that Darren's brother, Steven, got engaged to his sweet girlfriend, Brittany!  We are SO excited for them!!  Welcome to the family, Brit!  They have yet to set a date, but we are looking forward to a wedding this summer. :)

Park City

Park City is a beautiful mountain resort town nestled in the mountains east of Salt Lake City.  Darren and I love visiting there as often as we can.  Over the past couple of years, Park City has become a favorite city of ours not only for its natural beauty and artsy shops, but because it has been the location of some important milestones in our relationship:

• On one of our first dates Darren drove me to Park City to have dinner and to go on the Toboggan Ride.  It was a great date.  It was on this date that I realized how much of a true gentleman Darren is.  While walking around Park City he traded me spots on the sidewalk several times to make sure he was on my road side.  He opened doors, asked me questions about my job, LISTENED and then asked more questions, and sacrificed some of his own warm clothing to make sure his unprepared date was warm enough on the Toboggan.  I will never be able to live down, however, that despite the fact that I was enjoying the date, I fell asleep on the car ride home--for just a few minutes.  In my defense, it was a Friday night after a long week during my first year as a teacher. He's lucky I was able to maintain consciousness as long as I did.  :) 
• A little less than a year later, we decided that we wanted to take some of our engagement pictures on the old Main Street in Park City.  We met Darren's brother, Steven, there early one Saturday morning and got some great shots!

We didn't know it at the time, but this picture was taken in front of the hotel where we would stay on our honeymoon a few months later-- the Marriott Park City Summit Watch

• I knew our honeymoon would be somewhere close (either Ca or Ut) because I only had a week off of teaching and we both wanted to keep our travel plans simple.  Darren still made it an exciting surprise, however, by secretly arranging for us to stay at the Summit Watch for a week and then revealing it to me during our first dance at our reception.  The hotel was in the perfect location at the bottom of the old Main Street, so all of the shops and restaurants were within walking distance.  Needless to say, it was wonderful!

Honeymoon--old Main Street, Park City

Honeymoon--Dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

• Most recently, Darren and I ran our first 1/2 Marathon together in Park City.  Darren is naturally much more athletic than I, but he ran with and encouraged me the whole 13.1 miles.  He was even sweet enough to give me a heads up when we were approaching a race photographer so that I didn't look like I was dying too painfully in any of the pictures.  As you can tell in the pictures below, however, I was focusing too much on surviving to even think about smiling for any pictures.  The true smile came out only once--in the picture taken as we crossed the finish line!

At the beginning ...

Do you want to know one of my most favorite things?  Here he is:

Since I will be writing this blog as MRS. Kate Myler, I want to take a moment to explain how that name came to be.  Darren proposed on June 11, 2010 (about 7 months after our first date and about a year after we first met).  By the time the ring was ready and he finally proposed, I was very eager to say "Yes".  We had found the ring together several weeks before, but it wasn't ready for Darren to pick up until June 11, the same day I was leaving Utah for a couple of weeks on a family vacation.  The thought of waiting to get the ring until I returned to Utah broke my heart.  Darren was the most kind, hard-working gentleman I had ever met.  Of course, the fact that he wore cowboy boots didn't hurt either (see below).  I was more than ready to be his fiancée.

Fortunately, and unbeknownst to me, Darren had picked up the ring moments before swinging by my apartment to take me to the SLC airport.  Darren had picked me up early enough to have dinner at one of our favorite places and then take a slight detour to temple square, where he dropped to one knee and popped the question.    It was a moment I'll never forget.

I dove immediately into wedding planning.  As a teacher, I had all summer to dress hunt (though that didn't take too long) and organize all the details of the big day.  Later that fall, Darren's brother, Steven, took our engagement pictures in Park City.  Thanks, Steve!  He did a great job.  Here are just a few of my favorites:

The picture above was taken at the spot where Darren proposed.  We were then just a few short months from the big day ...