Memories that stick

*The day Preston decided to run away. Don't worry he had his Ninja Turtle suitcase packed up with clean undies to boot! He only went about 4 houses down before he came back.

*Stepping in my mom's Christmas pie just as she was about deliver it to a friend (and of course, also right after she told me to wait for her before I got out of the car because the pie was right there on the floor).

*"Dadu for the ice-cream! 3-4-5..."

*Running to dad when he came home from work.

*The time I broke my finger in Kindergarten playing football.

*The numerous times my mom had to rub peanut butter in my hair to get out the gum that I wasn't supposed to be chewing anyway.

*Our trip back east when I was 7.

*The time mom's water broke in the middle of the night when she was pregnant with Mallory and we had to get up and go to the hospital.

*"Psee psee time." No explanation.

*Going to get Thrifty ice cream with mom.

*The night BJ sat and talked with me in the doorway of my room because all the kids at school were talking about Bloody Mary and it was starting to scare me.

*The time the power went out at my Grandpa Hunt's cabin. With no TV or music to distract us from each other, we just sat around the fireplace and listened to stories.

*Hog-ties (dad would get on all fours and try to grab us and get all of us underneath him at the same time.

*My Grandma Mathews cracking her gum.

*Rehearsing and performing our Christmas "plays".

*The time I accidentally wrote on my mom's white couch after she had specifically told me to "put the lid on the pen because you might write on the couch." Wow, I was scared for my very life. I waited outside by the pool for hours while my mom tried to clean it off and seriously wondered if I would have to sit out there and beg for rations the rest of my existence.

*Mirage employee days at Wet 'n' Wild, and especially going on the Black Hole with dad.

*Modeling shoes for Nine West kids. One time this guy told me that the next year they were coming out with shoelaces that had lights on them. Boy, I thought I was in on some big, important secret.

*The Golden Nugget Buffet.

*Steve Sitar's soccer referee classes: "The ENTIRE ball must cross the ENTIRE line!" And teaching us the importance of looking people in the eyes when you shake their hand.

*Mom playing the piano and singing, especially the song "How Will They Know?"

*One of the first nights we stayed in our apartment between houses, I woke BJ up and told him I was scared. He let me sleep with him and made sure I slept next to the wall so that if anyone came to get me they would get him first.

*The time I got on the wrong tram at McCarran Airport and started crying because I thought I had lost my family for good.

*The time I almost got hit by a car while riding my bike.

*Going to my mom and dad's Mirage company softball games and playing with the bottle caps that...why in the HECK were we playing with BOTTLE CAPS? Can you say, NO sanitation whatsoever?? Anyway, one time while I was the bat girl I ran out before the play was over and almost got run over by the runner coming into home plate. I've never seen my dad move that fast! "Never go out before the play's over!" Ya, learned that lesson.

*The night we watched "The Fugitive" for the first time. I was nervous about the one-armed man, so my mom gave me a club to sleep with that night. I was 8.

*Watching Super Bowl's at Uncle Stan's house while eating the famous Stanburgers. I especially remember 1995 when the 49ers beat the Chargers, but I even remember slightly the 1990 Super Bowl when they beat the Broncos. Uncle Stan likes the Broncos. Haha.

*Late night walks with my dad and having to run a few steps every once in a while just to keep up with his long legs.

*Mom's Christmas Eve Party's.

*The Gould's dog. Darn thing scared me half to death.

*Garside pool...ugh.

*Family gatherings at Leatherby's.

*The car accident.

*The time my Aunt Paula graciously offered to make my homecoming dress. It looked great, the only problem was we didn't finish it in time. After I was already an hour late for the date we decided there wasn't time to sew on the buttons so she sewed me into the dress and off I went.

*The state cross country meet my freshman year of high school. I got second place and honestly, I don't think I realized at the time how great it was.

*The time Preston baptized me in the Salt Lake Temple.

*The night I won the Female Athlete of the Year award for my high school. I'll never forget the cheer that went up when they announced my name, I've never felt so loved.

*The day BJ got home from his mission. It was crazy. Preston and I were given the opportunity to go on a church history tour. The only catch? We had to miss our high school graduation. No problem, we had a class of 860 and I didn't want to sit through it anyway. So the morning of BJ's homecoming we went to the school to pick up our cap and gown (that we weren't going to use), then went to the airport to pick BJ up, came home for a little get together with family, and 2 hours later we were back at the airport to leave for two weeks on our tour. Talk about "hi and goodbye!"

*Magic Mountain.

*Each time my team won State. Soccer and Cross Country were particularly sweet because I felt I played a big role.

*Running a 17:59 5k at Dana Hills. Man I love that course! I also got a free shirt for correctly guessing my time. Confession: I slowed down just slightly at the end so I could win the shirt.

*The time Coach Weitz was so mad during practice she kicked the basketball up and it got stuck in the rafters. We tried hard not to laugh because we knew she was mad. But we relaxed after she couldn't hold in the laughter either.

*The State basketball tournament my freshmen year when we got in trouble for staying up too late. Coach Weitz made us do 10 pushups and 10 star jumps? (whatever they're called, pretty much another form of push up) for every person on the team. There were 12 of us. You do the math.

*Riding the Sahara roller coaster 16 times in one night.

*The night my mom called and told me my Grandma Mathews had passed away.

*September 11, 2001.