We just got back from a week long vacation to Disney World. Special thanks goes to Abe and Klarissa for giving us a reason to go there; they got married! I’m overwhelmed with all of the pictures we took. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for you), our camera broke midway through the trip, so we only have documentation of the first few days. I hope you weren’t wanting to see wedding pictures—we have none. I’ve decided to limit this post to pictures with Brooke and her cousins.
Natalie provided a fun ride for Brooke in the umbrella stroller.
Here we were comparing whose thighs were chubbier, Brooke’s or Luke’s. I think Luke won the chubby thigh contest, but Brooke had him beat in the pot-belly competition.
Here my sister Sarah is demonstrating her great mothering instincts, and not a moment too soon! If you look closely, you can see a big rock on her left hand. Yes, that’s right. Four days ago she got engaged. She’ll be married August 8. I can’t mention her fiance’s name or post a picture without written consent from him because I’ve heard he may sue otherwise. Brooke and Luke enjoyed using her as a jungle gym.
Here Brooke and Luke are smiling at the camera. This picture shows Luke’s trademark smile—wide, open-mouthed, and toothless. It also shows Brooke’s pursed-lip grin.
Grabbing at Luke’s head accessory.
Come back soon and you may actually see pictures that include me and Dallas!
Dallas had his chance to talk all about how we met. Now it’s my turn. Here is my side of the story straight from my email archives.
Warning: my emails are very long-winded. Proceed at your own risk.
This was the email to my parents about that fateful day:
“On the second Saturday of this month, I went to the Provo Library. I needed to use the computers there, and I had nothing else to do. I didn’t have a job and since it was Saturday, I couldn’t really pursue jobs, so it was a lazy day. I used the computers and happened to see the book/play, The Importance of Being Earnest. I had watched that movie the night before. I decided to sit down and read the play.
“As I was reading, I noticed a guy walk past. He looked like a nice fellow, but I didn’t really think much about it. He planted himself behind the librarians’ desk and started chatting with a librarian. He was facing me and I could feel him look at me on occasion. I finished the play and started browsing around on that floor of the library. I don’t usually go to the second floor, so I was just checking it out. [Did you notice that Dallas? I was checking the library out–not you. He’s convinced I was definitely checking him out.] The guy came up to me and asked me if I was lost. I said no and wondered how many people get lost in the library. Then he asked if he could help me find anything. I said that I wasn’t looking for anything in particular but was just wandering around. THEN he asked if I had any questions that he could help me with. It was beginning to seem that he wasn’t about to take no for an answer, so I just asked him to show me his favorite aisle to look through. He took me to some aisle and started mumbling things that I couldn’t understand. I think he was nervous. He then mentioned something about this book that he had seen that looked really good and he was saying that he wished he knew how to find it. He seemed at a loss as to how to find that book, and I was beginning to wonder what kind of librarian he was. He answered my unspoken question by admitting that he really wasn’t a librarian but rather a computer guy for the library and that he just wanted an excuse to talk to me.
[Side note: While Dallas was asking me these dorky questions, a true, genuine librarian approached us. The authentic librarian asked me if he could help me and before I could respond Dallas said something like, “It’s okay. I’m helping her.” I remember the librarian giving Dallas a skeptical look, and I was thinking it was a little strange that a second librarian would come over, but now I know it’s because Dallas was being a fake librarian and the bona fide librarian was sensing his bluff. Back to the story.]
“I decided to put him out of his misery and small talk with him. We talked for a couple of minutes. I was wondering if he would ask for my number, but he wasn’t. There was a lull in the conversation so I started ending the conversation and leaving. He said something about how since he had already been bold enough to approach me that he might as well ask for my phone number, too. I gave it to him and he gave me his. Then I left. Oh, I should say, his name is Dallas Golden. [I should also say, his handwriting was so bad that I thought his name said Dallas Golch. That almost scared me off then and there. Can you imagine–Rebecca Golch?]
“Later that day, Dallas called. He said he had tickets to the ballet Romeo and Juliet at BYU. He asked if I wanted to go. I said yes. I didn’t have any plans and I was feeling lonely because I was in a new place with roommates I didn’t know. Plus, he seemed like a nice enough guy, and if he wasn’t, I could add it to my anthology of horrid dating stories.
“He picked me up and we went. I don’t remember a whole lot about that date. I remember that he opened every door for me, including letting me out of the car. Most guys don’t do that.
“Anyway, we watched the ballet. During intermission, Dallas started asking me questions. He asked a couple and then mumbled something about going through the whole alphabet asking me a question for every letter. I thought that was a good idea and I was impressed when later, he quizzed himself on my answers and remembered almost all of them. However, he couldn’t remember where he parked, so he tried to push the button to the car on the key chain. I thought he was going to unlock it because that makes a sound and toggles the lights. No, he pushed the panic button. The funny thing about that was it was his mom’s car and he didn’t really know how to turn the panic button off. He finally got it quieted down and we went to Denny’s. I had a fine time with him. At the door he asked if I would go out with him again. I said yes. He seemed nice enough.”
How’s that for romance? I think it’s perfect–and I still have the scrap of paper that says “Dallas Golch.” *sigh*
Last weekend while Dallas was in California filming a UVSC hockey game, Brooke and I went to Nebraska to visit my brother Jacob, his wife Laurie, and their family. We drove with my Dad the whole way. That was a long time in the car, but Brooke was a champ. She did a fantastic job. We had fun in Nebraska going out to eat, shopping, and seeing my brother’s baby get blessed.
This is what Brooke did while I was packing for the trip. Little rascal.
Here’s Brooke meeting her cousin Luke for the first time. I know what you’re thinking. Luke looks pretty big for a newborn. Well, he isn’t exactly a newborn. He’s over four months old. I know what you’re thinking. Didn’t I say earlier we went out so he could be blessed? Well, Laurie ended up having crazy medical issues and was in and out of the hospital for the first few months of Luke’s life and she’s been recovering at home since then. She finally feels better and last weekend was the best time some of the family could get together for the blessing. I would refer you to their blog for more information, but according to their blog, it’s still November. I know what you’re thinking. Slackers. Well, that’s what I’m thinking, too.
Here is Brooke with her cousins–Natalie, Emma, and Luke.
Here are the three girls. I’m not quite sure what’s so fascinating about Natalie’s knee, but apparently Brooke is seeing something none of us are!
September 23, 2006 I woke up to find this sign hanging in our kitchen:
Dallas had a tally on his Pocket PC of how many days we had been married and he made a little celebration in honor of our thousandth day. So sweet. We had been suspecting I might be pregnant, so he thought it would be fun for me to take a pregnancy test on this most auspicious of days. Positive! Brooke was on her way!
Weeks later Dallas was reading parts of his journal to me and we got to the part where he wrote about this day. It said something like, “Today I made a big sign to celebrate being married for 1000 days. I actually forgot to do it on the real thousandth day so I did it a couple of days later but Rebecca will never know the difference.” Ha! Naughty husband trying to trick me and then exposing himself in his own lie!
Dallas and I went to St. George and visited the temple:
Here’s Dallas getting ready for Halloween. He wanted to go as Bob from the movie What About Bob?. I loved that idea. We bought him a goldfish to wear around his neck and he made a T-shirt that said, “Don’t hassle me, I’m local.”
No one knew who he was, but that’s typical when it comes to his costumes. I went as Amelia Bedelia and no one knew who I was either. Oh well.
We ended up hating that stupid goldfish. We bought it on a Friday and the family costume dinner was on Sunday. I was worried it would die before then. The pet store said we could exchange it if it died that soon. Well, little Gill ended up living way beyond Halloween. We put him in a bowl and thought it might be nice to watch him swim all around.
No. It wasn’t nice.
Gill had a horrible habit having to do with pooping. If you don’t want to read more, avert your eyes. I cannot be held responsible for any possible scarring you may have after hearing this story.
Little Gill would poop a huge string of poop and it would stay connected to him. It would get so long that Gill could chase it similar to a dog chasing his tail…and it would get so long that Gill could eat it. We were beyond grossed out by our newest family member but had no humane way of getting rid of him.
Until Dallas’s friends came by with their little son. We showed Caleb our cool fish and talked about how awesome it was and how he should ask his parents if he could have him. Bwah ha ha! It worked and before long Caleb was the proud owner of a disgusting fish and we were happy to have our counter space back.
(Unfortunately, Gill didn’t take to his rehoming very well. He died the next day. Oops! Sad to get Caleb excited about a new pet only to have it die on him hours later. I think his parents felt so bad about it they bought him another fish.)
Moving on. Here are my parents in costume. They went as white trash:
Ben stole the show in his Napoleon Dynamite costume. My aunt, Nani, also gave a good showing in her costume:
My grandparents:
Jacob, Laurie, Natalie, and Emma:
Ben stayed in character all evening:
We went to a football game. I’m writing this years after the fact so I can’t exactly remember which one…but I’m sure my brothers and Dad know exactly which game this is and who won and what the score was and how many passing yards each team had, etc, etc, etc.
I’m pretty sure it was the BYU vs. U of U game (the sea of red is giving me that idea) and BYU won (our smiles are giving me that idea).
Yep, definitely must have been a win to see this guy so happy:
After doing a candy window last year by ourselves Dallas and I just decided to help someone else this year. We helped glue candy on this cactus:
