The Greatest Blessing So Far
Part 3 of an LDS Fairy Tale

The decision to start a family is not a decision to be taken lightly. We had decided in 2008 for various reasons that we would wait to start our family until we were a little more established, Daniel was in graduate school and until we had gotten through some unfortunate situations that had come our way, our projected start date was sometime in 2013. By no means had we made the decision lightly. One Sunday in November of 2009 after church Daniel and I were discussing the chat that he and the bishop had that afternoon at church. It was a rather sobering conversation and one that I never thought I would hear. The bishop asked Daniel a question and prefaced it with, “I want you to know that I have never asked this question before as I don’t feel it is usually the bishops business, but I feel prompted to ask you, when are you and Lauren going to start your family?” Daniel told him of our plans, of which he understood our reasoning, but asked Daniel to talk with me about our decision and see if we felt our plans needed a change. So there we sat in the car, and we discussed in depth, and though we gave each other reasons to stick to our original plan, we both knew that the length of time that we had previously “assigned” to our family was farther away than the Lord or we wanted. We decided that we would take a year to save up money, and we would make it our Christmas present in 2010 that we would start our family.

This all seemed fine and dandy except for the fact that Daniel ended up losing his job and being unemployed for a very long time. Our hopes for saving for a baby quickly disappeared, as we were forced to live on my paycheck and our expenses were literally drawn out to the dollar of my paycheck, therefore all savings projects were moved to a way back burner. Our prayers and fasting always included the hope that Daniel would find a job that would replace my income so that I could be the stay at home mom that we both wanted me to be. Daniel worked hard at looking for a job, he would spend several hours a day at the department of labor, updating his resume and trying to find any kind of work from Ashton to Idaho Falls that might be willing to hire him. He got an idea from a friend in a counseling group to get his Commercial Driver’s License. He looked into the process and presented me with the plan. I will admit I was less than excited for him to spend 2,000 plus of our hard earned money to learn how to drive truck with the only option available to him to haul potatoes during harvest. I made him a deal that if he could look through our finances and our current savings and find the 2,000 without using certain accounts then I would support him through the process. I knew what money we had and I knew that he wouldn’t be able to complete the task to my specifications…or so I thought. Daniel was bound and determined to follow through with what he felt was a spiritual impression to do.

He managed to find the funds to pay for the course and his testing and licensing, and I tried hard to keep up my end of the deal with a smile on my face. The course took him approximately 2 weeks to complete, we were getting closer to our projected start date, and it now seemed that we were farther from our savings safety net since we just spent such as large sum. Daniel got his license and hit the ground running looking for work. Weeks went by and nothing seemed to be going better, or right for that matter. I wasn’t the most supportive, as I wanted him to know that I didn’t approve of the choice in the first place (so female I know). But when all seemed to be going south, he got two job interviews for hauling during harvest. He took one and was so excited to work. He was so happy to be working and contributing that he didn’t mind the 4 am to 10 pm or later hours. He was working and he was bringing in a paycheck. He was able to pay back all the funds he used and we were able to start saving for a baby. I would like to say that the hauling job lasted us a long time, but the reality of it is it was a temporary harvest job. So at the end of October we were back to square one, though this time Daniel had experience and we had some savings.

It didn’t help that with the most recent General Conference we both felt that our decision to start our family in December was good, but for some reason we felt that we were supposed to start sooner, this worried us as Daniel just finished his hauling job, and the prospects of other work were not looking so up. We followed our feelings and left the rest to the Lord.

There is something that you must know about me. I worked as a student secretary in the Religion Department at BYU-I for 3 years. I loved the work I did there and I loved the environment. I have always dreamed of one day getting back to campus and working there full time. In December of 2010 I was poking around on the BYU-I employment website during my lunch break. I saw some openings that seemed interesting and even a little exciting. I didn’t think much more of this, until New Years Eve. I was just about to close up and I felt the distinct impression that I needed to apply for the two positions that I had casually looked at the week or so before. I could not deny the feeling I had so I followed the promptings and put in my applications just prior to the closing date.

I fully expected to get the “kind” rejection letter that I had received in the past when I had applied at BYU-I. I waited and waited for the e-mail but it never came. As a matter of fact I got a phone call from a completely different department on campus that wanted to include my application in their pool of applicants for their position. I felt flattered. I was called shortly thereafter for a phone interview, and then later the same day I was called for an in person interview. Within a day or so I received a phone call from one of the positions I originally applied for and a phone interview was scheduled. I was overwhelmed in a good way with the way things were going. Daniel still was searching for work but was not getting any bites. We talked about the way things were looking with BYU-I and the concerns came out. We were certain that we were doing the right thing in starting our family, but we were not so sure about the choice we had made to have me work on campus. It seemed right as all things were pointing in that direction, but we just couldn’t bring ourselves to sacrifice me being the stay at home mom because I was the one with the job offers. It just didn’t make sense.

The time for my in person interview was fast approaching and I was preparing as best I could. I was nervous about the process itself and the fact that I was a week late on my cycle. Daniel and I are deal makers and we had made a deal that I would wait to take a pregnancy test until after my interview, as I knew that I would not be able to go through with an interview knowing that I was pregnant and would either be asking for time off in 9 months or leaving my position 9 months after acquiring it. I went in for my interview and felt as if I were before a firing squad. For and office assistant position I was shocked to see a panel of interviewers that ranged from the department chair to the individual whose position I was interviewing for. I felt that the interview went well, and the phone interview I had with the other department went well too as I had another in person interview scheduled for the following week. I went home feeling confident and certain that Heavenly Father was guiding us and was trying to provide us with a way. I went home to my sick husband, who was sleeping on the couch, I told him how the interview went and then I went to take an easier test. I am not sure if I was hoping for it to say pregnant or not, I was so unsure of how things were going to work or what the Lord had in mind. The three minutes that ticked by were perhaps the slowest three minutes I have ever experienced. I changed for work, and took the “stick” with its answer covered in my hand out to the couch where Daniel was resting. He opened his eyes, and we both were shocked to see the word “pregnant” and I think we both thought that the word “not” was going to appear any minute. Daniel was grinning ear to ear at the thought of being a daddy, but It still didn’t feel real to me, what did the Lord have in mind, what was he playing at. Was I really going to be the one working full time and Daniel was going to be the “stay at home mom?” Fear and anxiety began to creep back in.

The following week I went to my second in person interview, and received a phone call for another in person interview with the registrar’s office (the position I was hoping for). They didn’t want to start with a phone interview, no they wanted to jump straight to the in person interview. I prepared for these, but the added knowledge I had that I was expecting weighed heavily on my mind and I am sure it affected my demeanor, though it felt as though the interviews went well. I had heard back from the first job and they decided to hire someone else, and then it seemed like an eternity that I waited for phone calls from the other two positions. The phone calls were much the same as the other one I had received, and now I was officially confused. Here we were thinking that we had it all figured out, I was supposed to work at BYU-I, how could it not turn out that way as I had 3 interviews with them. We were expecting we would get the benefits from campus for Daniel and our baby as my parent’s insurance would cover me for another year and a half. But no, the Lord had a completely different plan, and the experience of interviewing at BYU-I appears to have been to boost my self esteem, and so that when the time in life comes that I am to apply and work on campus I have my foot in the door and I have already experienced the process.

For the first few months of the pregnancy I decided to try and make the experience more real to me as I was not fully accepting the fact that I was pregnant. I started to write letters to our unborn child, trying to connect and communicate my thoughts and feelings.

January 31st, 2011
Dear Baby,
You have been inside me for 6 whole weeks now. It doesn’t quite seem real. We have only told a few people about you right now because we aren’t sure yet if you are a baby we will get to raise and take care of in mortality or in the eternities. I have been very blessed and lucky that you have been relatively good to me and not making me sick like so many of the girls at work.
We were a little surprised that you would be blessing our lives, we started trying in October to bring you into our lives but that wasn’t Heavenly Father’s plan. He likes to try our faith. I came home from a job interview and took the test and we were both surprised and confused at this little blessing that would be coming in our lives.
I currently work at a Developmental Disabilities Agency and I have been interviewing for a job on campus so sorry if you have been feeling extra stress inside me. It has been a long process and I just completed my last interview for now.
Your daddy is trying hard to find a job so we can save up for you and so we can provide for you. It isn’t really easy relying on the Lord in all things (my job, daddy’s job, you coming etc.) but I do know that Heavenly Father is watching out for us and that we would be truly blessed to have you come be with us in mortality.
We Love You.
Love Mommy and Daddy.

With three job interviews that ended in being turned down, we didn’t know where to turn. My current position at Journeys would continue to cover our current needs but we needed another form of income to help us save for the next 9 months.

February 27th, 2011
Dear Baby,
So we are coming up on 10 weeks of you being inside me. You haven’t been too much trouble up to this point except that I need to eat far more often than I am used to, and I don’t particularly like stuffing my face all day long.
I tease your daddy that I think you must be a boy because you have made me super gassy, I have burped and passed gas more since January than I think I have in our whole married life, so only boys are gassy like that.
Daddy has had fun adapting to me being pregnant with you. Between my food cravings and his sympathy cravings he hardly gets a moments rest. He has been really good through all of this.
We have told both sides of the family about you. They are excited to welcome you into the family.
We have scheduled our first ultrasound and we are really looking forward to seeing you. Maybe even getting your first video footage.
I like to rub you and poke at you periodically; I feel it reminds you I am your mom, so I am in charge. Dad likes to give you kisses, though he has had to scold you for making me sick and uncomfortable on occasion.
We love you so much and are so excited for you to come be with us. We love you.
Love Mommy and Daddy.


In March of 2011 Daniel received an employment tip, and made a call to a produce hauling company located in Plano. He called them so soon after they lost a driver that the truck boss was slightly confused at how quickly he has heard the word that there was a position open. He went out for and interview and he got a job. We were so excited. It wasn’t just the fact that he got a job that was exciting to us but the fact that the combination of the hourly pay and the total hours he would be working each week would be the same if not more than my pay checks. A blessing from the Lord no doubt, that we would be able to save up for the eventual costs of bringing our baby into the world as well as He was providing us with a job that would be able to replace my income.

We went in for our first doctor appointment, eager and nervous at the same time. I was approximately 12 weeks along. We were excited to be able to share the experiences we would have with our doctor and the nurse at his office. We laughed through the ultrasound, as is apparent in the footage. It was amazing to see this little person growing within me. The arms and legs were long and moving. The little body was so perfectly formed; the head and face were so perfect. We immediately saw a great personality and spirit growing within this little body. We enjoyed every minute of the “inside” look at our little baby. When the doctor asked if we thought we knew what we were having I told him “I keep telling Daniel it is a boy, because I am sooo gassy, and only boys burp and fart as much as this baby has made me do.” He laughed, and mentioned that there is a little wives tale that has some truth to it based on the mother’s skin type. It is more likely that the mother will have worse acne with a male pregnancy as the male hormones contribute to acne. My acne had been flaring up, but it was only 12 weeks and too early to tell. Even though it was too early to tell we decided to follow my intuition and called our baby by the one boys name we could come up with and agree upon, Alexander.

March 13th 2011
Dear Baby,
You have been with me (mommy) for almost 13 weeks according to the doctor. We got to see you for the first time this week and you are about 2.5 inches tall. That isn’t very big but that height made you older from the doctor’s point of view.
You were so active, it was fun to see. You kept kicking and jumping and putting on a show. You appeared to be happy and healthy. Seeing you helped make your being inside me a little more real. I am looking forward to feeling you move inside me soon.
My body is always preparing for you, and let me tell you there have been some “fun” changes. I had to go buy a new temple dress because the one that I have had since your dad and I got married is not going to cut it. I have given up on buttoning some of my jeans, and I have taken to wearing maternity tops so I look more pregnant than “chubby”.
I continue to tease your daddy that you are going to come out half Mexican or covered in bean dip because it seems there is always room for some mild Mexican food. I don’t think he likes my joke because he knows what it means when I eat Mexican. ; )
We got a video camera and I am excited to use it. It will be fun to see you through it. Life is always crazy and still moving.
Love you lots,
Mommy and Daddy

Work was going well for Daniel, he liked driving truck and he was happy. This obviously made it easier for us to both be happy. We were able to live off my income and we were able to save all of his check. Daniel would come home from work tired but always willing to help me out with anything that seemed related to the baby. He was always willing to play with my belly and insisted that tickling my stomach and blowing raspberries on my belly were things that our baby wanted. I would always protest, and state definitely that this baby did not like being tickled.

April 4th 2011
Dear Baby,
I got to hear your heart beat today. The doctor said is was beating around 168 beats per minute. He said you sounded healthy and it sounded like you would be a keeper.
I have been noticing more motion sickness this month. I helped put Arianna to bed last week. She wanted to spin in the office chair. She fell asleep but only after 5 minutes of spinning in circles, and only for a few minutes as her dad came into the room. So I spun her in circles again for another 5 minutes. I think I know why pregnant women are not allowed on theme park rides…I needed to lay down for a long time.
So I read online that the bones in your ears are now fully developed and you can hear both mine and your daddy’s voices. We will try extra hard to make the sounds you hear ones of love and sweetness. I also read that your eyes are starting to develop, I am excited for you to see all the beautiful sights and to hear all the beautiful sounds that this world and life has to offer.
We are looking forward to finding out if you are a boy or a girl. We know we still have some time to wait but we are excited none the less.
As always, we love you
Love Mommy and daddy.

The secretary at Journeys was pregnant at the same time as me. She was actually two weeks behind me in the development of our babies. We would share in conversations asking how things were going and comparing our symptoms with each other. We always were pleased when our symptoms were the same so that we felt “normal” and didn’t have to worry about something being wrong. She was a lot more sick than I was and I told her I refused to share that symptom with her. As May came around work started to get a little more hectic, as schools were getting out and participants hours would be changing. I tried to keep the stress minimal for my baby. But who knows how that really helped. I did get a little frustrated at times with our secretaries pregnancy as it seemed she was able to recognize signs and things sooner than I saw them in myself, even movements or her baby.

May 2nd, 2011
Dear Baby,
Today you are 20 weeks along. You are almost cooked enough that we will be able to find out if you are a boy or a girl. We are excited either way. I heard your heart beat again at the doctor’s office. It is fun to hear and so soothing.
I had a great answer to prayer this last week I was a little concerned because I was almost 20 weeks along and I had not yet felt you move. Many had told me that several weeks ago I should have felt you moving. This made me nervous, and I started to worry about your health. I said a silent prayer to Heavenly Father that He would send me comfort so that I would not worry, or that he would bless me to feel you moving within me. I did receive a blessing of comfort for most of the week and didn’t worry about how you were, as I knew that all would be as the Lord willed it.
A wonderful thing happened on Saturday around 5 PM. Daddy and I took a day trip for Daddy’s work to American Falls. While I was waiting for the potatoes to unload, I felt you move inside of me. I felt you somersault, and kick and bump against my stomach. So I was so excited I told your daddy and texted others. I was so grateful that the Lord answered both of my prayers. I know he is always with us and watching out for us.
We love you!
Love Mommy and Daddy

Apart from my secretary feeling her baby move before I did, she also had her appointment to find out what she was having well before I did. I was feeling a little left behind, and the fact that I was the one that found out first that I was pregnant, I shouldn’t be the one taking the back seat…but I was. We joked about how funny it would be if we were having the same gender of baby as our pregnancy symptoms were so similar. She found out two weeks before me that she was expecting a baby girl.

May 24th, 2011
Dear Baby GIRL!
We went in today to see how everything was going. The doctor told us that you are doing well. You head is as big as your body was the first time we saw you. He said your heart was beating well and that all appeared healthy and well.
You were very wiggly, the juice I drank before the appointment worked a little too well as you didn’t want to hold still for long at all. The doctor and the nurse both think though that you are going to be a little girl.
I was a little surprised. I thought that you were for sure a boy for various “wives tales”. Both your daddy and I are excited to have you come to our lives and be a part of our family. I am glad that we will be able to put to use the blessing dress I made.
We are excited to decorate your room and start getting clothes. Your aunt Merissa said she wants to plan your baby shower! I am excited for that. It will be nice to have some Hunt cousins living in the area as Elisa and Oscar have moved.
We love you!
Love Mommy and Daddy

Immediately following the tale telling doctor appointment we changed the name we were using from Alexander to Elizabeth. We were excited to bring the baby into our home either way. She was very active and loved to move inside me. I would call to Daniel every time she would move and inch, and Daniel would reach over to feel. More often than not she would stop moving. She liked playing hide and seek with her daddy. The moment though that Daniel felt her move for the very first time was a moment that made this experience so real for him. He would sing to her, continued to tickle her (or my belly rather) and blow raspberries on her, much to my dismay.

The week before our 5th anniversary marked a very important doctor appointment. The “oh so wonderful” gestational diabetes testing appointment. I had scheduled my appointment first thing in the morning so that I could eat immediately following. I drank the juice, with my nose plugged, and to this day I am determined that I did not drink enough water with it. The test came back borderline, and my doctor decided to treat it as if it were gestational diabetes. I met with the dietitian the day before we were to celebrate our anniversary. I had been trying to change my eating habits and was unsure of what was and wasn’t allowed, I was being so careful that I felt like I was starving. Thankfully I was educated and was able to eat.

We took Friday the first of July off of work to celebrate our 5-year anniversary. Daniel kept a pre-marriage promise to me and took me to Italy…though it was just a portion of Italy and it was located in Idaho Falls it was still a wonderful way to celebrate. We went to stores, the movies, and we actually bought fabric for decorating the baby’s room. I had decided that I wanted the room to be gender neutral and that I wanted it to be adult as well as the baby’s room would probably double as a guest room as well. So I wanted to have an ocean or beach/shells theme. My mom had collected shells and fish ornaments as long as I could remember and I loved the decorating she did with that. So we found the perfect material and Daniel let me buy what ever I felt like I needed. I was determined to do a whole bed set and even recover the car seat and stroller we had purchased. He was kind and supportive.

With the wonderful news of Gestational Diabetes I was told to count carbs and that I would be pricking myself regularly. I also was informed that I needed to exercise regularly. I tried to take to heart all that was said, as I did not want a 10 pound baby (either from diabetes or from Daniel’s genetics) and I wanted for my baby to be as healthy as possible. I started taking the time to exercise everyday, and I was making as healthy of food choices as I could. I even went as far as cutting out all simple carbs (ie white flours and simple sugars). It was after two weeks of this that I started to be a little concerned, as I was not feeling our little girl move as much as she had in the past, we thought this might be sue to the fact that I was not eating sugars as much. I confided in others and when I would get concerned I would feel some simple little movements here and there. It always seemed that the Lord would comfort me or allow me to feel little movements. I became so excited by the simple little moves, when going through a session in the temple as my sister received her endowments I was excited to feel the hiccupping motion in my uterus telling me she was ok. I went into my 32-week appointment with my spirits renewed and my concerns for her movement comforted. I briefly mentioned that her movements seemed to be different but I was still feeling them. Her heart rate registered normal with the sonogram and it was good to hear her strong heart beat.

I continued to try and take as good care of myself as well as I could. I was eagerly preparing for a baby shower, a sister’s wedding, a birthing class and all the wonderful things to look forward to when the months turn into weeks for your baby to arrive. I was told by my fried who was helping with the baby shower that I was doing too much and that I needed to let others do things for me. I thought this was silly, and I wanted to help. The first week of August I had a dream that made me laugh when I awoke, especially when I tried to place some meaning to it. I had a dream that I had to leave my baby shower for some reason. I told all those in attendance that I was sorry I had to leave but they were more than welcome to open the presents without me and carry on without me. I told my friend of the dream and joked that the dream was telling me to prepare for labor and that I wouldn’t be at my shower. This was obviously a joke as I still had 6-7 weeks of pregnancy.

The movements of my baby had changed but I still felt my baby moving within me. I would periodically feel feet in my ribs and lungs, or I would feel a back and bottom pushing through. I had no idea that for the whole body to move or “drop” when I would stand was not normal; I just thought the baby had not expected the sudden change. I was not aware of what was actually happening inside of me.

Sunday August 6th 2011 I had another dream, there was a woman trying to tell me something about the birth of our baby. She kept telling me “your baby will be born on or before the 11th” I remember being half awake trying to communicate with her, but trying to be logical, the 11th I thought why is the 11th so important, the only thing that dealt with the 11th that stood out in my mind was September 11th. I shared the dream with others, half in joking that I had been told when my baby would be born, I even told my boss, reminding him that he needed to have someone ready to replace me as my baby would be coming early.

Apparently every year at Daniel’s work they have a weekly closing as the hauling has slowed down. The scheduled time for the closing was August 15th through the 20th, but he was going to ask for time off the week before as it was slowing down. I was excited for him to be home as he would be able to do several of my honey do’s and we would be able to get the baby’s room all the way ready. I was also excited that he had the day off when I had my doctor appointment, as he had not yet heard her heart beat. He was excited to come as well.

Daniel picked me up from work to take me to our appointment. We were excited to be there with our friends. I teased Doctor Hopkin that I brought Daniel along so that I wouldn’t get yelled at for having some high sugars this last week. We went through the regular appointment rituals, and added the Group B strep test to the mix. Then came the fun part, time to check her heartbeat. We had no idea when we walked in that such a simple little sound could be the reason for such excitement and the lack of sound the reason for such anguish. The doctor looked for a beat for what seemed like several minutes. A fleeting thought came to mind “he isn’t going to find it because there isn’t one, she isn’t there” I did not want to heed or give into the thought. Doctor Hopkin became very solemn and said we would go do an ultra sound. We went into the room across the hall. He searched and searched; when he found the chest cavity there was no movement, no heartbeat found. They gave us some time alone, as we held each other and cried.

We knew that what they found was real but we only hoped that there had been some mistake. We called our families to tell them what had happened. We asked for prayers that we would be comforted and protected and that whatever the Lord’s will was that we would be accepting of it. Our doctor came into the room to tell us how things would proceed. He gave us a doctor’s note to go to the hospital to have a 2nd ultra sound done. If they found the same things at the hospital then they would induce me. The fact that Daniel was able to be with me at this doctor appointment was a simple but needed blessing of the Lord, some how I was able to be strong and just hold my dear husband who was taking the news so hard. The appointment at the hospital wouldn’t be for another hour and a half, so we drove home to meet my family.

When we got to our house my brother David and his wife were there waiting for us. We cried together, and gave each other much-needed hugs. David told us of an experience that he felt applied to us. He told us that sometimes the Lord gives experiences to people He knows are strong enough to go through them and won’t forsake Him, so that it will bring those around them and who know them to the Lord and draw others into the atonement. Though this is for certain a trial, we have not felt that this was our trial, but the trial of others and even the trial of our unborn child. My parents and older brother Stephen arrived shortly. My Mother who used to be and OB nurse related some stories to us, sharing her testimony of eternal families and that sometimes the little babies that we thought we were to bring into this world were intended to make the ultimate sacrifice for some greater purpose. We had originally planned on having my mother come to the hospital with us when the baby was to arrive, and so she fully intended on coming with us and being with us every step of the way, and for that I am truly grateful. Daniel, my mother and I all received wonderful blessings, blessings that were truly from the Lord. Not that it changed the situation in any way, but it did make a difference to know that the Lord did know what we were going through, and that He was sorry that we had to go through this experience, but also to know that we were never going through this alone. Never once did we feel alone.

Daniel and I got a ride up to the hospital, and checked in. The hospital intended for us to stay there for the rest of the day or evening or what ever it would take. We walked into the room for the ultra sound; my mother arrived a few minutes after us. Originally the tech intended the ultra sound to be brief as that was the note sent by our doctor. My mother was willing to ask questions and when the technician realized she was a nurse she was more willing to discuss with us the things she saw. She was not able to identify or locate reference points in the brain, or the main portion of the body like she would in a normally developing child. She was able to measure the femur and strangely it measured at 32 weeks of development. Thus telling us that it had been within the last two weeks that our dear little baby’s spirit was called home to her Father in Heaven. We went up to the Labor and delivery floor. The nurses at the station had the intention of keeping me there from that point on and having me induced then and there. My sweet mother who had my best interest at heart asked if it would be possible for them to start my labor and allow me to go home and labor at home under her eye. She did not want me to be there in that wing, hearing the sounds of mothers who were doing what I was doing but would get to take their baby home with them. For her insight I am grateful. The nurse made some phone calls and we were approved to labor a majority of the time at home.

Before we left the hospital my mom received a phone call from my sister Elisa who is currently living across the country. She was in the Emergency room with her little girl and who was being admitted into the hospital. It seemed it would be a long day for all of us, but there was a little comfort as it seemed that we would be bearing each other’s burdens that day.

We left the hospital and went by the doctor’s office to get the needed prescriptions to start my labor. We had some time that we needed to wait for the prescriptions to fill and because my younger siblings were cleaning our house. So we made the needed trip to Flamm Funeral Home to learn more about the preparations that would need to be made. I haven’t determined if it was harder to tell people the child within me was no longer living or if it is harder to tell them that my child that I was carrying has passed away. But that moment when asked why we were there was the moment that all of the events became real to me. I was here to enquire about burying my child. My child that I had carried for 34 weeks, my child that hadn’t even been born yet, my child that I still hoped there was some mistake about what the doctors saw. It was Daniel’s turn to be the strong one, and he was. He asked the needed questions and then we were on our way.

When we arrived at home the loving and caring faces of my younger siblings greeted us. They had cleaned our house and they were there to comfort us. We passed around hugs and explained what the next hours would bring. We asked for their continued prayers, only this time we were asking that the laboring that I would be doing would be easy and quick as the natural reward of the laboring would not be ours to keep at this time. We invited them all to come and share the experience with us in the hospital when their niece was delivered, as she was still their niece. They all looked forward to that opportunity to greet her, and be with us, at that they left to allow me to start my labor.

I started having contractions around 5 o clock. These little contractions were ones that I needed to focus on and have them do the needed work to prep my body for bringing this baby into the world as my body still thought it had 6 weeks to allow for dilation and thinning. The contractions came regularly about every 7 minutes and lasted for 15-20 seconds. I tried to distract myself for the first little bit by helping my mom fill a hospital bag. This did not take much time, so I tried to find other projects. We had been given a flyer about a program called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. They have professional photographers who live in the area that come and take pictures when families lose infants at birth or shortly thereafter. Daniel made a call to the woman one the top of the list in the area. She said that she had a feeling she would be getting a call out today. She explained some things to him and then asked him to call her as we headed to the hospital and once the baby was born. Since I knew we would have someone taking photos that would most likely be our family portraits until other children came I told Daniel I wanted to cut his hair. I always love the chance I have to cut Daniel’s hair. It allows us time to just be together, only this time it took a little longer than usual, as I had to focus on the contractions when they came. Thankfully they were not so bad, so his hair turned out nicely.

The irony of this all as it would seem was that this was the intended day for the baby shower, and it was very apparent I would not be attending. My sweet sister-in-law and my good friend who had taken so much time to prepare and make the event special were kind enough to also inform those invited that the shower was canceled. We were by no means alone the rest of the evening. Friends who were hearing about the news would call, text or even stop by. Their presence was a good distraction and also a needed form of coping, especially for Daniel. It wasn’t until around 10 o clock or so that the visits started to taper off. I took some more medication at 11, and within 15 minutes the contractions increased in strength, duration, and regularity. I tried to get comfortable and was able to doze between contractions from about midnight to 12:45. I decided to head into the bedroom to see if I could get some sleep there. I realized that with all the commotion and getting up late on Wednesday I had failed to read my scriptures. Daniel was sweet enough to read them to me.

Around 1:30 I was struggling with the discomfort from the contractions. I came out to our family room and asked my mom if it would still be ok to take a warm bath. She said that was fine but to make sure the water level was low enough that there weren’t other dangers to consider. The warm water felt nice and it took my mind off the contractions for a while. Around 2:00 in the morning my mom came to the bathroom door. She said she didn’t know why but that she distinctly felt that it was time to go to the hospital, that it was better for us to arrive too early than just a little late. I told her that if she had a feeling then we needed to go. I got out and dressed. Then came the task of waking my sweet husband who had just fallen asleep not a half-hour before. It took a moment to wake him up and for it to register what I was asking him to do. When he realized what was going on he awoke and stepped into gear.

We got to the hospital around 2:30. As we walked up to the entrance my mom said, “I just keep hearing this voice, ‘6 o clock, 6 o clock’ I think we will have a baby here around 6 o clock.” We got all checked in and situated by 3. It took a little time for the nurse to start my IV, and when she checked me I was dilated to a 3 and 85% effaced. We still had a ways to go. The nurse asked if I wanted an epidural or pain medication. I had already decided that I was not going to get an epidural, as the thought of them even scared me. I ended up getting some pain medication, though I am not sure how effective it really was as the contractions were still just as painful as before. They did allow me a few moments of laughter though, as I made the statement of “Every time I close my eyes the floor becomes the ceiling, I don’t know if I can handle this!”

We patiently waited as the contractions continued. We all tried to get a little bit of sleep though it seemed the farthest thing from us at the time. It didn’t seem like two hours, but two hours passed by and the nurse came in to check me again and to give me another dose of medicine. I had gone from a 3 to a 7 in those two hours, and I was still laboring well. Around 5:15 the 3rd bout of medicine kicked in, the contractions came closer together, they caused even more discomfort and they were longer lasting. Daniel and I hadn’t had the chance to practice what he would do during labor as our birthing class was scheduled for 20th. He was amazing and caring. He stroked my hair and told me how great I was. He breathed with me through the contractions and held my hand. Around 5:30 I was finding it hard to hold still through the contractions and hard to focus through them. The nurse just asked that “if you can don’t push”. I don’t know if they realize how difficult that statement is to abide by. The body is fully equipped to bring a baby into this world with or without pushing and I was not pushing but each contraction brought our baby closer to delivery. At 5:45 the nurse started to set up the room for delivering our baby. This was a bit of an inconvenience as it was nearing the end of her shift and she should have been charting and informing the new nurse as to what was happening. My mom turned to Daniel and told him to call Doctor Hopkin to let him know the baby was coming.

At 6 o clock I could no longer keep our baby from coming, and knowing that soon we would be able to hold our little girl, and spend what time we could with her made it easier for me to just allow our baby to come. After 5 minutes of continuous contractions and my body laboring I turned to Daniel and cried to him “I can’t do it any more, I can’t!” Then a voice inside my head said, “You haven’t done anything yet, now is the time to help” I took comfort in those words and helped. In the midst of the contractions and my frustration my mom made a statement, “They are here Lauren, they are here for you, can’t you feel them, they are all here to be with you!” I couldn’t feel them though I do not doubt the presence and help of angels in all of this. At 6:11 our baby was delivered at 4 lbs 3 oz and 18 inches long. The doctor walked in the room at 6:12 and they started to clean our baby off. When they cleaned a portion and turned the little body over I made a statement that surprised most in the room… “HE is not a Girl!” They wrapped him and handed him to me, and I held my perfect little boy. A little boy that was chosen have such a short experience in mortality as his spiritual strength and courage was needed to prepare others on the other side of the veil. A little boy that was too perfect to keep for now, but our little boy that we would one day get to raise.

The nurses took Him away to clean him up and put him into some clothes. Needless to say, the baby girl clothes that we had brought to dress him in would not have been very flattering. When they brought him back he looked even more angelic than before. Daniel and I cuddled him and nuzzled him as much as we could. We invited family to come and see him and to come be with us and to share in the event. It was a blessing to have the strength and support we had from family and friends. We even had extra love and support from beyond the veil. My sister Elisa told me that there was a portion of the time that she and her little girl Lucy were in the hospital where it seemed Lucy was there physically but spiritually she was somewhere else. We like to think that she was visiting with us at the time. Not to be a support for us, but to be a support for our little boy, whom we feel was going through as much anguish as we were at the time.

The four hours that we had with his forever sleeping and peaceful body were a little piece of Heaven, just as he was. Thankfully we have pictures to help remember and cherish the moments that we had with him. The photographer was amazing, and she captured his perfection, and his strength in the images she took. We like to tease each other that he had too perfect of lips, and that he was too good looking, so Heavenly Father couldn’t let him stay and be a temptation for all the girls later on. Though the time was short, it was perfect. We had decided early in the pregnancy that if we were to have a boy that we would name him Alexander as it was a name that we both liked. It was in the hospital room while the nurses were dressing him that we decided on his middle name “Banál”, the Tagalog word for Holy or Saint, the perfect middle name. It wasn’t until later that we discovered that his Name Alexander meant “Protector of Mankind” his name is perfect just as he is, as we know he will be protecting us from the other side.


August 13th, 2011
Our Darling Baby Boy,
Our hearts broke the moment we knew you would not be ours to keep until eternity. Each step we took to bring you into this world was worth the moments we got to spend with you, because we know you will be ours forever. Your name means “Protector of Mankind,” and we now know that you were chosen to be a protector from the other side. We have felt your strong spirit with us along the way, making the path easier to walk, and making the experience more of a privilege than a trial. Thank you for the lessons you have taught us and will continue to teach us. We will miss you, but we know that you will be ours forever.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

We have no doubt that Alexander is watching over us from the other side. He joins the myriad others who have helped us to walk through those very difficult hours.

Thank you, Alexander, for teaching us so very much about you, about us, about life, and about God’s love and about his mysterious ways, his wonders to perform. You will always be with us.

A Love Story: Part 2

From Mission to Marriage

Daniel was called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He left in October of 2003 and entered the Missionary Training Center, to prepare to preach the gospel to the wonderful people of the Philippines. We separated as friends for a few different reasons. The main reason being that I was only a junior in high school and for me to be “waiting” for a missionary would have been ridiculous.

Though we separated as friends we kept up a regular exchange of letters. The letters were originally surface skimmers, and fairly shallow. I tried to help Daniel focus on the work he was doing by sharing my testimony with him each time of a blessing I had seen occur since the last letter. Daniel tried to keep his distance by not responding to frequently and keeping the letters very detailed as to what he would do each day while at the MTC.

I doubt either of us knew the friend we would miss those two years that he was to be gone. Nor did we ever imagine the friendship that was to emerge from the letters that were exchanged over that time. Thankfully I was able to keep myself fairly busy with being in The Sound of Music at Madison High School. I was excited when I was cast as Liesel, and loved every minute of being 16 going on 17.

Sometime in December or January Daniel left the MTC and moved out into the mission field. I missed those days of $0.32 a letter, as $0.90 was sure to break the bank on my $20 a week I earned from working at Western Watts. I remember for Christmas I only asked for and received STAMPS! We wrote each other on a regular basis. By regular I mean that there was an exchange on average of at least one letter a month. I would spend a week writing a letter then it would take 3 weeks to travel snail mail to the Philippines. Daniel would get my letter, spend a week writing a response and then send it and approximately 3 weeks later I would be dancing in the driveway looking like an absolute fool.

Our letters started out fairly uneventful, but over time we started to enjoy the relationship that was forming through the letters. I was fairly involved in activities at school as I was participating in the Jr. Miss program that was being put on by the school. But I made sure to send Daniel a package at his 6-month marker. I believe it consisted of a couple pictures (my Jr. Miss photo included, and a picture of me in my talent costume. My talent was not merely jumping rope, no because anyone can do that…my talent was jumping rope in a pink and white polk-a-dot dress trying to look like a 6 year old. Not pretty or flattering, why I sent him that photo I am not sure). I also started a tradition that was a fun one to keep up for the remainder of his mission. I would buy packages of Jello and remove them from their boxes (as that just takes up too much space) and so he had a surprise of Jello flavor. I never got complaints from him; I only got expressions of gratitude so I assume I was doing something right.

The Summer following my Jr. year in high school I auditioned for and made it into the Mack’s Inn Dinner Theatre. I, along with my two older brothers and their wives, had the opportunity to entertain hundreds each night. I hoped that this opportunity would provide some chances to grow and live outside of the Rexburg bubble as I had been raised there for most of my life.

Daniel and I continued to write each other during the summer. I continued to flirt, and have fun. I was going to be a Sr. in high school who would I have been kidding if I would have “put my self in cold storage for two years!” In the mean time the letters we wrote changed from “people who knew each other at one point in time who were now living thousands of miles away” to “friends!” We both got a little less stiff in our writing. I, because I was tired of being so formal, and Daniel’s (I am told by a very good source---the horses mouth) because he was starting to fall for me. No do not be alarmed, he remained a good missionary, and continued to focus on his mission. Though his flirting became more and more apparent (not inappropriate by any means) but the jokes and teasing we could exchange was far more telling than any of those letters we wrote the first 8-10 months of his mission.

For Daniel’s birthday, one-year mark, Merry Christmas and any other holiday or special occasion I sent him another package. I found that the $10 flat rate envelopes were lifesavers, as long as I could get them to close I was good to go. This time Daniel got some gag gifts (ie handwriting paper, a magnetic chess set etc.), food (blue berry muffin mix, peanut butter chips—or P.E.C.Ks as we called them, and among other things…you guessed it the mystery Jello) I was very proud of myself for the letter I sent, complete with hand drawn pictures (I was too poor to take photos and develop them, plus there is something to be said about a hand drawn image of your: first flat tire, the seating arrangement in choir, the set you helped to build for the summer show etc.) Ironically Daniel too was putting together a simple birthday gift. He sent me a very intricate hand made pop up birthday card, and a request for something small and black, and would play my voice if he put it in a tape deck.

I was such a softy that I gave in and made a tape for him. I had everyone in the show of Hello Dolly help as well. I don’t remember much what all went on to that tape, but I do remember that my younger sister Jordi and I made a recording of a song we sang for a Relief Society social. If I am not mistaken about the time line, he received my next package at about the same time as I received a package from him. It was a wonderful late Christmas present. There was talking, singing and even a fun game that he and the Elders made up. They played a game called “Lauren Is…” and then each person had to state an adjective in Tagalog that described me, and the last person describing me with words that hadn’t been used won…if you ask me I think that Daniel had a bit of an advantage as he was the only one who actually knew me.

I of course was curious about the words that they were using to describe me. I happened to be doing some service hours at the free health clinic here in town and it just so happened that there was another volunteer there that served his mission in the Philippines. I explained the situation about the tape and he gladly volunteered to translate for me. There were typical adjectives such as: kind, nice voice, looks like a model, nice smile, good testimony…and then one that through us for a loop that Daniel said…a goat. I wasn’t sure how to take that; I assumed it was a simple mistranslation on Daniel’s part. I have never nor will I ever hold that against him.

Our letters continued to be exchanged, and we grew to be better and better friends. I started to act like a little kid counting down the days til Christmas or my next birthday the day after. I was looking forward to school being out because that meant that I was graduating, and that I would be spending the summer up at Mack’s Inn and then I would be starting college and then Daniel would be home some time around mid terms. I wasn’t set on marrying him or anything. As a matter of fact I was keeping my options open and dating around, and even crushing on a handful of guys as Daniel was on a mission I was a sr. in high school and we were no longer dating. If you would like a list of individuals who can attest to that fact I would be more than willing to share it with you.

Daniel liked to tease me in our letters. I think he knew just how to confuse me, and how to make my toes turn in and my thumbs twiddle while I sat in bed thinking about him. I remember one particular occasion when he shared some information with me about how he was saving the money he had for souvenirs because he wanted to buy something a little smaller and more worth the money when he got home…

The summer after my sr. year in high school was a difficult one. I think it is a tough transition for most, and I was no exception. I was trying to find out who I was. I tried living on the edge a little and even put my toe to the line with some of the “rules”. I learned a lot about myself that summer, and I learned a lot about relationships. I remember a very desperate e-mail that I sent to Daniel without thinking, telling him how much I missed him and needed him at that point in time. I know that the speed of the next letter to arrive from him was not just an accident or coincidence, but he was so good and supportive and his reproving for distracting him came with sharpness but had an outpouring of love after. He expressed how much he wished he could be there to help me through whatever trials and struggles I was going though, but that he knew that there was someone even better by my side, and that companion would never leave me. That letter was such strength, I am ashamed to say that at times I have forgotten the help it gave.

We shared one last birthday package before the summer ended, and we each sent one last tape before his mission came to a close. He was excited to talk to me in Tagalog though he made me promise that I would not have anyone translate what was said on the tape, because he wanted to be the one to translate for me the words he said. I made him that promise, and eagerly awaited his return.

After the soap opera summer of Mack’s Inn I was excited to move on and start college. I buried myself in classes taking 17 credits (a rookie mistake). I had sworn off of boys after the summer I had been through, and promised myself that I was not going to date anyone seriously or get engaged until after a year of school. I tried to put myself out there and flirt with the guys in my classes, but I must have had in large black letters stamped across my forehead, “BACK OFF I HAVE A MISSIONARY FRIEND COMING HOME!” because I did not go on a single date the first half of the semester, either that or my swearing off boys got around campus very quickly.

The whole time that Daniel was on my mission I knew and had decided that I was not going to be at the airport, I wanted him to make the first move, and I did not want to chase him anymore. I had even been so decided in this fact that I had told him in a letter that I would not be at the airport if he was wondering. A few days before Daniel was scheduled to fly into Idaho Falls I got a phone call from Dianna Johnson. We chatted, and got onto the subject of Daniel flying home. She asked me to please be there, as there wasn’t going to hardly be anyone there, because one of his sisters and brother didn’t even live in the state. For those of you who know Daniel’s mom you know just how convincing she can be.

I was gutless, that is all I have to say. I couldn’t stand up to her and say that I refused to go, and I couldn’t get up the courage to go to the airport alone, no I had to bring my friends. This is a good old case of the girl getting up to go to the bathroom and the whole table of girls goes with her. So I managed to drag along my two good friends (Jenna Gallup, and Krystle Reed) and my older sister who started this all. To top off the gutlessness, I didn’t want to see him face to face, so I took brown paper sacks for each of us to wear over our heads. I think it was kind of the, “I don’t see you so you can’t see me” mentality. I am not sure if the bags were to help ease the nerves or not. When we got to the airport I was surprised to see quite the group of people there as a welcoming party, I was half tempted to turn back around though my comrades wouldn’t let me. I don’t know if it was a localized earthquake under my feet or just nerves but I was dizzy and shaking like a leaf. Daniel enjoyed the surprise of unveiling each of the paper bag heads, and I believe he was excited to see me though he was not allowed to give hugs, so his mom gave us each a proxy hug as she held his hand.











I was glad to leave the airport and go the concert at the high school, but I couldn’t stop looking at my phone to see if he had texted or called. At 10 pm I received a phone call from the former Elder Johnson, wondering if it would be alright for him to stop by for a visit. Thankfully my parents agreed, and within a few minutes he was at my front door, with his mom by his side and his dad in the car (his driver’s license had expired). My mom and his mom sat in the front room and talked while Daniel and I went out and sat on the trampoline and talked. If he was nervous, or awkward at all he hid it very well. We talked for about an hour and just enjoyed the company. We walked inside and I walked him to the front door and he asked if he could take me to lunch tomorrow. I told him that would be nice, and he…pulled out his mission planner and “penciled me in”. There it was, the geeky missionary coming out. I won the bet…but don’t tell him I said that.

Daniel met me in the MC for lunch the following day, we talked and joked around. He walked me to class, and we talked about the plans I had made for us the next day (Friday) and the date we would have the day after that. I had auditioned for and made it into the BYU-Idaho’s Broadway Review with “16 going on 17” the song that Daniel helped me to learn and won me the part of Leisl shortly after Daniel left on his mission. I had invited him and his parents to come and see the show. I was terribly nervous, but the show went fine. We went to his house after the review and we listened to the tapes he sent me and as he promised he translated them for me. On his tape he bore the most wonderful, heartfelt and sincere testimony. He shared insights into how he had changed, he expressed his gratitude for the friend I had been over the years, and the friendship we were able to cultivate while he was away. He admired various qualities he saw in me, and then he told me “I love you!” to which I responded the only way I could think of… “thanks.”

The next night we had tickets to the Annual Halloween concert at BYU-Idaho. The theme was “The Planets.” We went as a couple of Spaniards. More or less we tried to look like Tango dancers. I originally wanted to go as Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, but Daniel didn’t like that idea. The concert was great, especially the part where we held hands. I don’t remember a whole lot of the music that was played by the orchestra after that, I was enjoying the sound of my beating heart, which was pounding with excitement and leaping for joy… “He Still Likes Me!” I felt for once in my life like Lisle in the Sound of Music when Rolf kisses her and she just squeals “WEEEEEEEEE!”

The first Sunday he was home was his “homecoming” for church so I went to his ward and followed him home for the “after party”, but hid in the shadows mostly as I was not ready to be introduced to extended family, though Daniel was eager to show me to anyone and everyone he hadn’t seen in the last two years who may not know who I was. We spent at least a portion of every day together from the day that he returned from his mission. After he would take me home and we would say good night, we would call each other and talk to each other on the phone for hours on end. I have no idea what we talked about, but apparently it was worthwhile at the time.

School continued to go well, I passed my midterms much to my surprise and my parent’s I am sure, as it probably seemed like all I did was with Daniel and nothing else. Daniel would meet me on campus with home made lunches to eat in the gardens, or sit with me outside my classes while I studied. It all seemed to be going swimmingly, a part from the fact that my “no boys my first semester of college” pact had been broken, and I had no idea just how broken it was.

Three weeks after Daniel got home from his mission (the 2nd or 3rd week of November) he started to get a little secretive. I called him one time while I was in town and asked him to come meet me at a music store, or if I could come meet him. He insisted that he would come meet me. When I asked him where he had been, he did not specifically answer, and said that he couldn’t spend much time because he had to meet his mom in town. Now if there is one thing that I am slightly grateful for about Daniel is that he is not the best at keeping most secrets. I decided not to push the subject and just let him have his secret, I knew that the secret would come out, and it was only a matter of time.

I am sure that Daniel had no idea that the secret he had would be betrayed by a confidence of his while she was spending the night at my house. I was excited to have a girls night with one of my best friends from high school. We were talking about school, and plans for the next semester, what we were going to do over Thanksgiving break and Christmas break that were fast approaching. I was excitedly telling her about the plans that Daniel and I had made to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family the day before Thanksgiving, and then we would drive with his parents the morning of Thanksgiving to Utah to have Thanksgiving dinner with his family, when she couldn’t keep it in any longer. “I know a secret about Daniel and you but I can’t tell you what it is because I promised I wouldn’t!” That statement begged and pleaded to have me pry, “What are you talking about? Is Daniel planning something for Thanksgiving weekend?” To which she sheepishly nodded. “Was he planning on proposing Thanksgiving weekend?” This time a nod with a grin. “Does he even have a ring?” I asked fairly confused at the speed of all this. A mere nod would not suffice “He does and it is beautiful, I only know because he wanted me to make sure you would like it, and he had me try it on to see if it would fit.” I soon discovered that he was planning to propose the next week when we were in Salt Lake City with his family for Thanksgiving. I was petrified. I was not ready or even sure what sort of a commitment he was hoping and I was hoping to make. If you would have asked me when I was 16 I would have said, “yes” but perhaps the 3 years that had passed since our first date made me a little wiser too.

The stress that came from knowing about the ring and the planned proposal became very apparent as I had a horrible nightmare. I dreamt that Daniel and I attended a Hunt family reunion. When we went to say “hello” to Grandma Bette, she refused to speak to Daniel, and announced to everyone in the room that he was disrespectful as he failed to ask my father for my hand in marriage. We were essentially “booed” out of the family reunion. I have never been one to place a lot of emphasis in dreams, let alone dreams that I have, but this dream was one that worried me. I shared the dream with my mom and asked her what dad would think if Daniel proposed without permission, or if she thought that dad would give permission. Neither of the answers she gave were very promising or positive for that matter.

My family has in the past had Thanksgiving dinner before the actually Holiday, this allowing the married children to spend time with both families if they choose, and then my parents and the children that are still living at home are able to go to the cabin and enjoy the remainder of the week. The day before Thanksgiving Daniel and I were driving out to my parents. I decided to share with him my dream. He was very quiet, and I assume slightly shocked that I had such a “prophetic” dream. I asked him, “Were you planning something special for this weekend when we were in Salt Lake?” He sheepishly nodded. “Were you going to propose this weekend?” “Maybe” was his reply. “Daniel it is the day before we leave to go to Salt Lake, when were you planning on talking to my dad?” There was a pause, “I don’t know, I hadn’t figured that out yet.” The good thing about the relationship that Daniel and I have is we are able to be fairly open with each other. I told him what my mom said, and then discouraged him from carrying out his plans.

Of course the next logical time for a proposal would be only one short month down the road. I had a very distinct dream between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I dreamt that Daniel was trying to decide between two rings. When he showed them to me I was mortified. The gem on one looked like a cube of butter and the gem on the other looked like a dead butterfly. I awoke in a panic, and knew that I needed to talk to Daniel. Why I needed to talk to him about this dream when I myself had not even yet made the decision to marry him or not I do not know but I knew I needed to talk to him. When I shared the details of the dream, he was astonished. He had been trying to decided between two rings, they were similar in style though one was white gold and with a larger diamond. But he assured me that neither of them looked like a cube of butter or a dead butterfly.

Knowing that Daniel was wanting to get married was a little bit of a stressor for me. I was unsure if it was what I wanted and what the Lord wanted. I made it somewhat of a priority in my prayers and in my fasting, to see if that was what the Lord wanted. I was later taught by a professor and good friend that I was going about the process the wrong way. When I changed my prayers from “Is this the right choice?” to “This is the choice I have made is that acceptable in your sight?” I got an answer. I was in my family history class, it was nearing the end of the semester, and we were preparing to take names to the temple. The opening hymn that the teacher had chosen for that particular day was “I love to see the Temple”. As we sang the first verse I thought to myself, “I am going to the temple some day, and I am going to be married there,” when the second verse started, a voice that was not my own entered my thoughts and I was filled with peace, “It is a good choice, go ahead and I will be with you the whole way, you don’t need to worry I will be there.” It was such an experience that I could not keep the tears from coming as I knew that I had received an answer.

I told Daniel that I knew that the Lord was ok with us getting married. But I had other concerns. We talked about how we both now knew that the decision to marry was a good one, the problems we kept running into was the timing for the engagement and the wedding itself. We were able to agree that though it would have been cute and traditional, a Christmas time proposal was not a good idea. We talked about January, and agreed that was too soon too. For some reason February was the ideal month, it just felt “right!”

In January Daniel got a little frustrated with the “help” he was getting from his family for choosing a ring, and the mixed signals he was getting from me about the style of ring I would like. We left the Paramount Twin after a date and drove up to the water tower to look out on Rexburg. “I can’t stand it any more. I want to take you ring shopping. I wanted it to be a surprise and I wanted to choose the ring for you because I wanted it to be special, but I am just so confused. Will you please go ring shopping with me?” I consented and the next day we went. I was so worried that my parents would drive by Jensen Jewelers and see us in there and that I would then be grounded. But no such thing happened.

Daniel and I walked into the store. He showed me to the section of the store where the ring was that he had chosen for me, and that was all the information and direction I was given. I could choose any ring but the one he chose was in the section in front of me. I looked at the rings in the window. There must have been 20 rings or more. I knew what I had always said I wanted, I wanted a “simple, straight band, white gold, single diamond” but there was a ring I wanted to try on instead. As a matter of fact it was the exact opposite, it had two bands (engagement and wedding), was yellow gold, had an “S” curve band, and had multiple diamonds. I put it on and it was beautiful. I gave it back, and tried on a straight band, white gold single diamond ring. It looked nice but not as beautiful. I saw another ring like the first one I tried and asked to try it on. I put it on and said, “Now don’t be mad, I know it is nothing like I said I wanted but this ring is as beautiful as the first one I tried on, and I love it!” To which the store clerk added, “You really must because it is the same one you tried on first, and it must be some special ring, because that is the one that Daniel chose for you!” I felt like Bob Barker should have come out and his whole camera crew, to tell me what I won. The look on Daniel’s face though was priceless, the fact that he knew me so well that he chose the right one the first time, three weeks after he got home.

During the month of January we were both in school. We made every effort to spend as much time with each other as we could, this meant even between classes. So Daniel would meet me outside of a class and we would walk down to his class. Then after his class we would eat lunch, and then he would walk me to my class and got to his class. I would meet him in the Snow building at his practice room and I would study in his practice room and fall asleep (yes while he would practice his saxophone I would take naps, this proved to be fairly problematic as when I would go to his concerts I was conditioned to fall asleep to any kind of saxophone music, the concerts weren’t boring I just would fall asleep…it took a while to get Daniel to understand this).

One day while we were walking to and from classes together we ran into a friend of mine. We took a moment to get caught up, and she mentioned how she had just returned from Ecuador, and loved working in the orphanages. She lit and old flame that I had forgotten about completely. All of the sudden I felt driven to go to Ecuador. Daniel was not happy about this and even cursed the fact that we ran into that friend. We had talked about getting engaged in February and then getting married in April when the semester was over. But now I was thinking about leaving the country for 3 months in April. We tossed around the idea of me dropping out of school and going to Ecuador in February, I was hesitant about this, the add drop date was nearing and so I needed to make a decision fast. I looked up information, filled out applications, and begged and pleaded with my parents for finances. When all was said and done there was no way for me to go with the February group, and the April 3 month group just didn’t feel right. I guessed that it just wasn’t meant to be. But I still felt this burning inside that I was supposed to be there.

The first week in February I walked out to my car to find it completely heart attacked, I had been asked to the dance. Daniel wrote a cute “roses are red” poem and filled my car with paper hearts, each of them had a reason or thing he loved about me. So I answered him by toilet papering his car, and on the seat I placed a cake…or so it appeared (in all actuality it was a phone book in a plastic bag then covered in frosting.) I left him this poem, “Yes roses may be red, and violets may be blue, but just in case my answer is no here is some tissue!” so he went home super excited to eat the “cake” when he cut in he was slightly depressed. Instead of a cake he found a wild goose chase that eventually lead him to a page with my “YES!” answer.









So the evening of the date arrives, he picked me up in the afternoon and we made each other’s flowers for the dance. Then we went to Frontier Pies. Daniel had packed with him in his coat candles and Champaign glasses. We ate a candle light dinner and had sparkling cider. He took me home and left me to get ready. He was fashionably late, which I did not mind as it usually takes us women more time than we are given to get ready for these date dances. When he showed up he was a little flustered, I asked him what happened he sheepishly confessed, “I was working on something on the computer and it was being dumb and so I was running late so I didn’t stop at the stop sign all the way and I got pulled over, and so I am even more late, I am sorry.” I just chuckled and we left. We got to the dance and got pictures, as is typical by the time we were done with pictures there was only like 30 minutes left, so we got in a few dances. He did leave for a moment to take a phone call, but promptly returned, “I don’t feel like I got enough dancing in do you? Why don’t we go have our own private dance somewhere else?” This sounded fun. As we walked out to his car we were greeted by his mom who was getting out of the car, “Oh I just forgot something!” then she stepped back and just looked at us for a moment, “Well have fun!” she said then walked off.

We drove up to the water tower to our previous look out point but there were too many cars to have a private dance. Daniel decided to take a tour of the dry farms. We turned down a road and went over some rail road tracks, and he stopped the car, “Wait is this some kind of historical sight? I want to see.” He gets out of the car looks around, then walks over to my side of the car. “Lauren you should come out and see this it is beautiful out here.” “Daniel it is freezing I am in a dress, high heels, and nylons. It is below zero can we go some place warm?” “Please just get out, just for a second, I will keep you close and warm.” Much to my dismay I consented to get out of the warm car. He helped me out of the car and walked right in front of the head lights, “Wait here a moment.” He walked back to the car, tried to pull something out from under the seat. He knelt there tugging at it for what seemed like minutes to my freezing body, but eventually the wedged item came lose and he pulled something out and put it in his pocket, then pushed play on the CD player. He came and took my hands and started singing. He must have been slightly frazzled by the evening and the most recent fact that he couldn’t get the item unstuck from under the driver’s seat, because after a few seconds of singing he stopped, and looking embarrassed asked, “Can I try that again?” I smiled and he restarted the song. This time he sang to me a song from his heart that he composed for me, and for this exact moment. When he finished singing he got down on one knee, pulled a box out of his pocket and made a proposal of marriage, I don’t remember the exact words but I am sure that it went something like this, “I would be honored if you would be my wife for all eternity!” I laughed, gave him a hug and told him “Yes!”

It may seem like the proposal was a Murphy’s Law proposal, and perhaps that could have been taken as a sign for the way our marriage would go, or the way that most marriages are, but that didn’t stop me. When I asked him why his mom was at the car when we left the dance he sheepishly confessed. Apparently he was working on the finishing touches of the song he wrote and was trying to burn the CD, but it wouldn’t burn no matter how hard he tried. This was why he was late picking me up. He called his brother in law who rushed over to try and save the day; the family sent Daniel on his way, the phone call he took was from his mother telling him that his brother in law Gene had gotten the CD to burn and that she was going to bring the CD in but needed to know where the car was parked. So that is why his mother was at the car when we walked out, because she was placing the CD in the CD player. Looking back on it we both laugh now, so often the moments that we prepare for and plan out in life rarely work out the way we plan.




On Valentines day (the following Tuesday) Daniel had planned a candle light dinner of Chicken Enchilada in a Crock Pot, a meal that is to die for. He picked me up after school and we drove out to our new favorite “Historical Sight” out in the dry farms. We folded the seats down and ate dinner in the back of the Subaru. A little cramped but always memorable. While we ate dinner my phone rang and I was surprised to see that it was the coordinator for the Ecuador Orphanage Support Organization, so I answered. “Hello” “Hey Lauren?” “This is she.” “This is Amber from OSSO, I was talking with Rex Head, and we just figured out who you are. You are Murray and Maryjo’s Daughter right?” “Yeah.” “Well we are willing to open a 6 week position for you to go serve in April if you still want to.” “That would be great!” “Come in sometime and we can get all the information worked out.” So once again our April wedding was moved, only this time it was official.

April came a lot faster than either of us thought it would. We got through mid terms and even finals with hardly any problems. We felt though that we should have gotten an automatic A in out “Preparation for Eternal Marriage” class that we were taking because we were actually taking the steps to have an Eternal Marriage. During the break between semesters Daniel and I took the 4 hour drive to Salt Lake. We stayed the night in Centerville with Daniel’s Grandma and the next day he drove me to the airport. For the past 6 months we had spent at least some time together every day and this moment at the airport would mark the beginning of 6 weeks of no visual or physical contact, and we knew that when I got back we would continue on with limited physical contact (only hugs and hand holding allowed—we wanted to save our first kiss for that special time across the alter). With all the tears I was crying people around me were very confused, especially since most of them thought Daniel and I were brother and sister. They just didn’t understand why I was crying so hard while saying good-bye to my brother. Little did they know.

We arrived in Cuenca Ecuador after a full day and a half of flying and waiting in airports. They gave us a tour of the house and then town and then had each of us call our parents to let them know we were safe. The wonderful thing about the phone we used was that it was a Utah number and so Daniel could call it for free. Daniel and I talked every night even if it was just for a few minutes. The time I spent in Ecuador serving those children was priceless, and an experience I would never forget. Daniel in the mean time was the perfect fiancé that any blushing bride could ask for. He was taking care of everything from designing our wedding announcements to getting address labels printed, and making all the reservations needed to be ready for our reception and wedding 3 weeks after I got home.

Before I left for Ecuador, while Daniel was driving me to Salt Lake I made him a silly promise. I promised that for the next 6 weeks I would not shave my legs, but once we got married I would make sure and shave my legs far more often than that. Thankfully my leg hairs aren’t coarse or terribly dark, so I was able to keep my promise. The morning in June came and I flew from Cuanca to Quito and Quito to Dallas, then from Dallas to Salt Lake City, where my knight in shining armor was waiting for his very own Rapunzle (though he wouldn’t be climbing up my head of hair if you know what I mean). I can not tell you how happy I was to see Daniel waiting at the foot of the escalator ready to give me a big hug. He gave me a hug and asked if he could kiss my cheek. I told him that would be fine (we had decided in those six weeks that since it was so close to the time of our marriage that it would be wiser if we would have a physical fast until we were kneeling across the alter, this meant that we could give a goodnight hug and hold hands but anything beyond that was out of the question) and that was the only kiss we would share for the next 3 weeks. After he kissed my check he said, “Let me see your legs!” Now I must admit I was very embarrassed, and couldn’t wait to get to his grandmas so I could shave, but he was impressed, by what I am not sure.

We arrived at his grandma’s house and got settled in for the evening. I shaved at the bathroom sink (I had showered under a dripping faucet that was meant to be a shower for the last 6 weeks, so this seemed perfectly normal) not to mention that we were discussing our plans for the next 3 weeks to prepare for our reception and marriage. We spent the evening with his grandma playing games and just enjoying the company. We awoke the next morning and drove to that Davis county court house to get our marriage license.

A few days after I got back home I went with my some of my family to the Idaho Falls Temple and I received my endowments. The experience in and of itself was special, but to be in the temple with family and with my future husband made the experience that much more wonderful.

Daniel and I were busy for the next 3 weeks finishing with plans, collecting decorations (as we were decorating the reception ourselves) and making fudge (as we were catering the reception ourselves). We made over 1,300 pieces of fudge for the even, we thought it better to have more than enough than not enough…we had no idea how much fudge was “more than enough”. We stayed up very late one evening folding, filling, stuffing and licking envelopes and then went early the next day to hand deliver any invitations that were to friends in the Rexburg area. It wasn’t until my mom got a phone call from the Sugar City Post Office that the found out it was illegal to place letters in personal mail boxes (even if we personally knew the individuals) so the mail man that followed behind us and removed our invitations from most of the families we delivered them to in Hibbard caused us probably as much head ache as we caused him.

June 30th came very quickly, a little too quickly as we were still hand delivering some invitations. We woke up early and gathered any and all needed tools and decorations met at the Cresthaven Church and set up camp. It took several hours but in the end we had what we felt was a simple but elegant spot for a reception. We hurried home, ate some food, showered and returned ready to host a reception. We enjoyed chatting with people we knew and tolerated chatting with well wishers we didn’t know. Daniel’s quartet sang a few numbers and then he sang the song he wrote for me. We had our dance to a song that meant so much in our relationship, but it was not a good song for dancing to. The fun we had moving across the floor to “You Raise Me Up” will always be a fond memory, especially the part where Daniel asked, “Can I twirl you under your arm?” and I said “Nope!” wedding dresses were made to look pretty not to be danced in. Following our dance I asked my dad to dance with me. As he walked onto the floor with me and Jordi began to sing “My daughter’s eyes” we both began to cry. That was our song. For some strange reason, every morning that my dad drove me to high school Martina McBride would sing that to us, and it wasn’t until that moment on the dance floor that we realized how much the song meant to us. It represented who knows how many daddy daughter talks on the way to work and school, uncountable “CTR, don’t do drugs, work hard, study hard, play hard, have fun!” reminders, and thousands of moments shared in that big gray van driving down Barney Dairy Rd.

“In her face! In her face! In her face!” may have been the statement made by those gathered around to see us cut the cake, but the statement made by me to my dear fiancé was “Remember I have to wear this dress again tomorrow!” So we lovingly fed each other a piece of cake. I tossed my bouquet, and Daniel shot the garter (that was actually my new nieces head band because in our rush to get things decorated and to get ready that day we forgot to get the garter out of my hope chest.) Following the remainder of the traditions we packed up our things and were on our way to Daniel’s grandma’s in Centerville. We drove and talked all night. We arrived around 2 in the morning, we unloaded our things and we said good night. He went to the basement and I went to the guest room. We both slept very peacefully and didn’t bother to wake up early, as our sealing wasn’t scheduled until 2 in the afternoon.

We met up with the family, and Crystal again helped me get ready. We went to the temple with our parents and then we waited. It wasn’t until we were sitting in the Celestial room waiting to be sealed that it hit me how big of a decision I was making, I knew I had gotten my answer and I knew Daniel had gotten his, so here we were about to be sealed together for time and all eternity, and we had never kissed on the lips…that seemed like a little mistake because everyone in that room knew this kiss over the alter would be our first. When the sealer said that we could kiss over the alter the room seemed to close in on us…as every eye was watching to see our first kiss. We didn’t kiss only once over the alter, and we have been making up for lost time ever sense.

People always told us that the first year of marriage is the hardest, but I think they chose for that to be a bad thing. We chose for the first year of marriage to be the best year, and every year has gotten better since then. Even fairy tale love stories get bumps and bruises on the way, but why sit and focus on those while there is such a beautiful sunset to ride off into? We choose to keep riding into the sunset!

A Love Story: PART 1

A Fairy Tale In the Making
By Lauren Johnson
AUTHOR’S NOTE* The wonderful thing about being the one writing the story is that I get to choose what details are added, dropped, maximized and minimized… thus making this a “true fairy tale”

It all started on a summer’s evening in 1999. The occasion was a farewell party for the Hunt family’s foreign exchange student Claudia Espinosa. Elisa Hunt was kind enough to throw the party for her beloved “sister”. She had invited everyone at the high school, or so it seemed to my 13-year-old imagination. Her little crowd of friends included people like: Viki Hart, Tashenna Jackson, Ben MacBeth, Kole Bowman, and Steve Smith…at least that is the crowd that showed up on time. The evening consisted of food and games and a ring on the doorbell an hour and a half later. Little did I know that that ring would one day end up on my finger.

Daniel Johnson came walking down the back porch steps with a can of Dulce De Leche in one hand and a huge video camera in the other. “I am sorry I am late, but I brought Dulce De Leche and the camera!” this excuse didn’t go over too well, “yeah an hour and a half late” seemed to fly out of the mouths of attendees like an airplane on its way to Chile. The party continued on while I continued to stare at the new guest whose contagious laugh, and catching smile mesmerized me.

The group gathered into the basement of the Blue House for an exhilarating game of “human pretzel”. I had the nerve to reach for a certain hand in the group. He may never admit it though, due to the fact that he barely remembers the acquaintance. The evening of games, food and laughter carried on as did the thoughts in my head of, “Who is this funny, exciting, and somewhat good looking fellow?”

Needless to say this was not the last time that Daniel Johnson and I met. A few months down the road Elisa began to date a gentleman by the name of Steve Smith. Steve and Daniel were great friends. Daniel found himself tagging a long with Steve to the Hunt house a few times. They came to play Balderdash, came for dinner, and to give the Hunt family a free 4th of July fireworks show.

During that same time Elisa was in the high school play Oliver. She was one of the “boys” in Fagin’s gang. I would go to the rehearsals often, mostly to support my sister. At least that was my excuse. I would go to get to know Mr. Fagin. It was in this arena that I saw the true kindness, humor, and beautiful singing voice of Daniel Johnson. I guess you could say that I was a regular stalker.

That same year the high school performed a play called A Man Called Peter. Daniel was cast as the leading male. Elisa and I decided to be the good friends that we are and we went to support him in his show. I confided in Elisa before we got to the school. I told her my deepest darkest secret—“I think I like Dan Johnson.” This was her favorite piece of information to tease me with. At one point in the show Daniel died…it is not surprising that this brought tears to my eyes to think of it. After the show Elisa looked at me with a devilish look in her eyes, “I think I am going to tell him that you like him!” is what those eyes seemed to say. I protested and chased after her (but kept my distance from the boy) but I didn’t catch up to her.

She began to whisper in his ear, “My secret is up, I am done for, he will laugh at me, I am in eighth grade and he is a jr. in high school…Elisa how could you…” my thoughts kept rushing as I looked at the floor and my cheeks became the color of a red delicious apple. “Could I get everyone’s attention?” the deep familiar voice said, “We have a birthday here today, Lauren Hunt is having a birthday. If you could all join with me and sing…” the voices joined in trying to harmonize. What had just happened? It is the middle of March; my birthday is in August…My sister was a genius as the attention I received from Daniel that night was priceless.

The dating relationship of Elisa and Steve ended after their sr. year in high school in 2001. Daniel became the friendly shrink. One experience stands out in my mind when Elisa took me for a short trip in her little silver car to the Johnson home. Daniel’s family was gathered together at a restaurant to celebrate there father’s birthday. Daniel was kind enough to make his family wait at the restaurant while he helped his poor distraught friend. Elisa poured her heart out to Daniel and he offered what consolation he could. After the tears had past and hugs had been given we took Daniel into town. On the way I thought that it was my turn to pour out my heart to him. “Daniel, so there is this guy that I liked. My feelings got hurt really bad because he ended up liking another girl. How can I get over him and come to forgive?” I don’t remember exactly what he said, but I do remember that I felt flattered that he spoke to me and only me. I was so easy to please.

The 2001-2002 school year came. Daniel was a sr. at Madison High. I was in 9th grade and a member of Mr. Val Johnson’s (Daniel’s father) speech and drama class. We were given extra credit if we attended or helped take tickets to any of the plays. This year they were putting on the musical “The Pajama Game”, and yes Daniel was in the show. I took tickets every night, for the extra credit of course, and the chance to watch a handsome young man sing and dance and “drop his pants” for the audience to see. Yes I was there for the extra credit, but the question is whom was I hoping to get the extra credit from?

The summer of 2002 came very quickly. Elisa had decided she was going to spend some time in Mexico for her nursing classes, but before she left she wanted one last date night with me, and a present for my 16th birthday no less. We planned it all. My new best friend Annicka Howard and her family was performing a show in St. Anthony, I was excited to see it, not only to support my friend but to once again get a glimpse of the charming and good looking Mr. Daniel Johnson. I know I sound like a complete stalker, but I wasn’t, I was what you would call more of an admirer. That is what I did, I admired at a distance, I was too shy to admire too close. I don’t recall the particulars of what happened the afternoon of the performance other than the fact that Elisa canceled on me but was kind enough to find me a ride to the show. I guess you could say lucky for me, my ride to the show was Daniel. We had a nice casual conversation, he asked the most wonderful question, “So when do you turn 16?” I think my response may have been a little too eager, but I was excited nonetheless, “Tomorrow!” I exclaimed. He mentioned something about taking me on a date sometime, and then we continued on with our nice, casual conversation. Those 15 minutes of uninterrupted conversation with Daniel were, I thought, a piece of heaven.

Little came of that night in August of 2002, or so I thought. I assumed all was forgotten and I was just a bit of friendship history. In October of 2002, I had just finished a wonderful 7 am Saturday morning practice for jump rope. I was waiting in my dad’s office; he had informed me that it would still be at least another hour of waiting. I asked if I could go visit a friend that lived at the complex just a block down the hill. He consented and I was on my way to visit Alyssa Haws. We were having a joyous time catching up, and exchanging stories, and just being girls when the phone rang. The irony of it all, who was calling at 9:30 in the morning? Yes it was Daniel Johnson. Alyssa knew of my little crush on Daniel, as it had been one of our topics of discussion previously that morning. She informed him that I was there and that she was getting me the spare phone so we could all talk. We chatted for a few minutes, then the conversation got slightly awkward and Daniel started that, “Hey Alyssa I was wondering if you might be available later this evening for a date?” Did he not recall that I was on the phone? How much more uncomfortable could this situation be. I knew that she already had plans for the evening, and so I teased and mouthed to Alyssa “Oh pick me, ask me, I would love to go!” she volunteered to make the suggestion, I told her no and that I was just kidding. It was as if Daniel heard our silent conversation, “Oh wow that was stupid of me, Lauren are you still on the phone?” I answered “yes”, “You are 16 now right?” again “yes” trying to hide the excitement and my pounding heart. “Well are you available to go on a date tonight?” I was and I wanted to sing and dance and jump around, but I managed to maintain my composure while on the phone, while the arrangements were made and the details were determined. I was on cloud nine, Daniel Johnson had asked me on a date, and not just any date but my first date. I only wished it then, but did not know the true irony and relationship between my first and last date as a single female.

I spent hours worrying about how to act and what to say. I spent even longer getting ready, and doing my hair. I was going on a date with the man of my dreams, and I wanted it all to be perfect. Daniel picked me up, and we met up with the rest of the group at Broulims. This was to be a truly magical evening of games, Halloween movies, and carving pumpkins. The only downfall was that because I was only 16 I turned into a pumpkin at 11 o’clock. I was relieved to find out that I knew one of the other couples that were in the group; this made it easier to be funny and energetic, or the Lauren that Daniel knew. I say that because I tended to be shy on first acquaintances, and I didn’t want that to be the me that was on this date. We had a pumpkin carving contest and we baked the pumpkin seeds. I think our pumpkin won the most two-faced award. We tried to make a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde Jack-o-Lantern but that did not quite pan out. It was a good try though. Daniel was a perfect gentleman through the whole date, he opened doors for me, he complimented me, he made me laugh, and when it was time to take me home he made the effort to have me home a few minutes before curfew. I knew that night as I wrote in my journal that I had found my Prince Charming, that really was the best way to describe him…Charming.

Our first date proved to be the first of several enjoyable evenings. We were able to joke around, flirt, and just plain find each other’s company comfortable. We spent time in Mesh Mazes, baking sugar cookies, going to plays, making graham cracker houses, playing battle of the sexes, brining in the new year, and even sharing a date around valentines week. There was following this period of dating bliss what seemed like a falling out, or lack of communication for lack of a better word. But that did not last forever.

My family moved from our big blue house in the middle of the field into a yellow house with a hot tub in Sugar City, the summer after my sophomore year of high school. I never expected to hear from Daniel again, as it had been so long since and my family had moved, but boy was I mistaken. While we were unpacking boxes in our new home the phone rang and it was for me. I was greeted by the cheerful voice of Daniel Johnson, “Hey there Lauren, this is Daniel. Some friends and I were going to a barbershop concert and then gonna get some ice cream and maybe play some games, and I was wondering if you would like to come.” I was not entirely thrilled at the thought and tried to come up with a way to graciously refuse. “Well you know we just moved and so we are gonna be busy unpacking, but let me check with my mom… MOM!!! Daniel Johnson was wondering if I could go out tonight?” My parents always said we could use them as the heavy if we ever didn’t want to do something and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to take them up on this. I tried to let my mom know by shaking my head NO emphatically, but somehow or for some reason she missed the memo that I did not want to go, and needless to say she said loud enough for Daniel to hear through the phone that I was available. So we made the arrangements and I gave Daniel the directions to my home.

Daniel forgot to take the directions he wrote with him when he left his house to come and get me, so he showed up at least a half an hour late. If I thought his tardiness was going to be the extent of the evening I was sorely mistaken. The minute we got into the car, he turned on “THE CHEESE”. Daniel’s family, especially him and his father are known for their cheesy jokes and punny sense of humor, and tonight was no exception. Upon entering the car I asked if he would mind if I rolled down the window, as it was warm in the car. To my simple request he responded with, “Sure you can, I noticed it got hotter when you got in!” accompanied with a goofy smile. After the concert and ice cream we headed back to his parents house for games. We got there before any of the others did, and so I suggested that we hide behind the tree and jump out and scare them when they pulled in. As we waited a slight breeze blew, “Lauren are you cold?” “Nah, I’m fine.” And I thought that was where that conversation would end, but I was mistaken, “Lauren I know you are fine, but are you cold?” And the lines kept coming, but perhaps the best line of all the evening was as he walked me to my front door. As we walked he told me the story of his parent’s first kiss, his story went something like this, “When my parents kissed for the first time my mom didn’t want to by my dad thought she did because she gave him a piece of gum. Do you have any gum?” My mind started to race, was he really hinting at asking for a goodnight kiss? Seriously? I think my nervous chuckle informed him that there was no way he would have that kind of “luck” tonight. So a hug would have to suffice. The first few seconds of this hug seemed normal, but after the initial few seconds I thought, “Man this hug is kind of long!” seconds more ticked by “Wow this hug is really long!” a few more seconds, “Um ok this hug has gone on long enough, what do I do? How do I end this hug tactfully?” So I acted spontaneously and just said and did what came naturally. “Tighter!” I told him, and he hugged tighter, “Tighter! Tighter…Pop those zits, pop those zits…” and the hug ended immediately as he was laughing and I was blushing at the words that had just left my mouth.

I thought for sure that this would be it, who would be such a glutton for punishment that they would continue to pursue someone after a statement like “Pop those zits!” No one in their right mind. But as we have seen from past paragraphs, Daniel may not have been in his right mind. He asked me out to a party and bonfire for the following weekend. We talked on the phone till the wee hours of the morning. He visited me at work. We had picnic lunches in the park. I started to develop a little crush again on this handsome, funny, and sweet young man. I was so taken, that I conned my sister into taking me to see his choir practice (I had a national jump rope competition during the actual performances). We flirted and teased after his practice. We went for a walk, yes the three of us went for a walk, with Daniel in the middle and arms around both of us. Elisa was fairly preoccupied with missing her boyfriend and soon to be fiancé Oscar so she was not paying much attention to us. When the time came to go home I noticed that Daniel rode his bike to town and it was far too dark for him to ride back, as he did not have a light. I asked Elisa if he could have a ride home. She said that she was more than willing to do so. Daniel sat in the front seat, and kept reaching back and tickling my knee. Now I think girls just have ticklish knees naturally, but to have them tickled by a boy you like, that is like a double wammy. It wasn’t until I tried to fight off his tickling fingers and he reached for my hand that I understood the intent behind the merciless tickling. My hand felt so right in his, and the car ride to his house was wonderfully long yet painfully short at the exact same time. Ironic isn’t it.

Daniel and I continue to go on dates and hang out. The summer was full of making memories. We went swimming at Monkey Rock, went to plays at the Roxy, watched movies, did a sunrise hike and watched the sunrise in the Cinder Pitts, ate breakfast at Beaver Dick Park, and we even did a temple trip at the Idaho Falls Temple to celebrate my birthday. My family went up to our cabin in Island Park for Labor Day weekend and my parents said I could invite some friends to celebrate my birthday. I invited four friends. Daniel Johnson, Annicka Howard, Kyra Rankin, and Jonathan Ramos. We all drove up to the cabin together. We had a fun evening with the family and ate burgers. When the time came to say good night the girls went up stairs and the boys stayed down stairs. At about 5:30 in the morning Annicka decided to go for a morning jog, she came back a lot earlier than expected. She said that we had to go down to the lake and watch the mist coming of and the sun coming up. So we woke up the boys and went down. It was beautiful. It was nice to just sit and enjoy the true beauty of nature. We listened to the silence until. ‘Pitter, patter, pitter, patter…. SPLASH!’ We looked at the dock next to where we were standing and there sat a pile of clothes and in the water was Jonathan. I don’t think I have ever seen Annicka so embarrassed.

We went back to the house and helped with the Labor Day project, staining the cabin. I had volunteered the help of my friends as I knew that my parents wanted to get this project finished before the snow fell, and because Daniel was working as a professional painter. So we all joked and sang while we stained the cabin. We had a grand old time. I was standing on a ladder when, “THWAK!” I turn around and see Daniel standing behind me with a smile on his face and a glimmer in his eye, as he had officially left his mark. The left buttock of my pants now had a man sized hand print on it. I gave Daniel a piece of my mind, to which he replied, “You are right and I am sorry, but it just isn’t even!” and then another “THWAK!” there on the right buttock of my pants was a matching hand print, and who should walk around the corner at this moment in time but my mother. When she saw what we had been up to she turned around and left us to our play.

By this time Daniel had received his mission call, and we knew he would be leaving for his mission in October of 2003, I didn’t want to waste any moments I could have with him. We planned a fun filled road trip to go to general conference right before he left for his mission. My parents only allowed the trip because there would be adult supervision through the whole trip as Daniel’s mom would be accompanying me, Daniel, Annicka, and Dustin to Utah. We were excited to stay with Daniel’s grandma and to go to conference.

We arrived in Salt Lake City, Annicka and I bummed around while the boys went and did a session in the temple. After the temple session got out (around 10:30 pm) we eat to diner at Arby’s, and planned out when we would get up, where we would park, and what time we wanted to be at temple square. I don’t think I have ever slept so little. We got back to Daniel’s grandma’s house around midnight and Annicka and I planned to wake up around 3:45 so we could ready and get the boys up. We had agreed that we would get to Temple Square around 5:30. We had no idea that the line for conference and Temple Square weren’t even open until 6. So I am proud to say that we were the second group of people in line for the Saturday morning session. We all enjoyed the first session, and decided to sit on the lawn across from the conference center to listen to the second session. Though I don’t remember much of it, and neither did anyone else because the lack of sleep had caught up to us…or maybe we were just so overcome with the spirit?

We had planned to stay through to Monday after conference, but I received a phone call informing me that there was a mandatory practice for jump rope that day and if I was not there I would not be going to the Jazz half time. So we enjoyed what we could of Sunday and then left at 2 am Monday morning to get me home in time for my 7 am practice. I have never in my life had so much fun playing the alphabet game. We started the game when we were in Orem and all got stuck on the letter Q. Daniel’s mom asked for a break from sitting in the car, so we pulled off at the rest stop in Inkom. We are all franticly looking for the letter Q and wanting to get back in the car and on the road so we could call the Q, but Daniel’s mom had a different idea. She did two laps around the car then started running up the road. Not a word to anyone about how long she would be gone or when she would be back…so we sat and waited. I don’t remember who won the Alphabet Game, but I do remember that was one of the most fun trips to Utah I had ever taken.

The trip to Utah did not help my crush on Daniel any. It made me realize what a good friend I had made through the years, and how much I would miss our friendship while he was away. I only made one request of Daniel before he left on his mission, and that was that he would leave me a shirt of his sprayed down in his cologne. That was probably the best thing that he ever did for me, and I remember the Tuesday he came over to give me my last hug for two years and a shirt to remember him by. Thankfully that shirt full of memories would last me the next two years.