Most of 2014.. AGAIN

It looks like I wasn't very good about blogging this year either.  Spencer asked me as I sat down to start writing this post, I told him that instead of writing in a journal, this would be more effective for me to remember little events.  Only posting once this year, I know I am missing stories that I will want to remember.  I need to be better about updating our blog!  Well, I guess I will pick up where I left off last year...

December 2013:

We ended up going on a cruise with my family for the holidays.  We flew to Miami and got on a Carnival cruise for 7 days.  The first day we hit the Bahamas. As we got off the boat, we were instantly greeted by workers trying to get us to use their services.  Many were offering to take us to the other side of the island, others were offering to braid our hair.  All I wanted to do was to hit the shops to find different bargains.  So I put my head down and walked to the end of the road.  Once I got passed them, I looked up to make sure my family had kept up with me.  My dad is a sucker and got caught by one of the scariest looking workers.  He had offered to take us to the most perfect beach for the day.  I got really ornery because my family decided to trust this man.  He told us to follow him to his van.  He also told us to call him Mr. Bojangles.  One of his legs was shorter than they other which made him have a limp and he barley spoke English.  Once we got to his van, I was definitely scared... It was a beaten down van.  The seats felt like they were going to break in half.

I got really quiet because I wasn't sure why my family was being so trusting of this old black man. After about fifteen minutes of driving, he pulled up to this little shack.  He told us to follow the sidewalk and it would lead us to the beach.  He promised he would be back an hour before our boat said to be back and drove off.  Walking down the sidewalk, my parents began second guess their decision.  But once we got to the end of the sidewalk, it was worth it.   It was the most beautiful beach I had ever seen.  There were only a few other families that were on it too.  Instantly Spence, Zack, Trev and I  dropped our stuff and ran to the water.  It felt amazing.  We had never seen such blue water before.  After a few hours of hanging out and swimming, one of the families that was by us told us they had seen jelly fish in the water so to watch out for them.  That was enough to keep Zack and I out of the water.  A little while later, two black men came around the corner on their ski dos.  They were waving their hands trying to get people to rent the ski dos.  Trevor didn't realize that is what they were trying to do.  When he saw them waving, he decided to wave back.  Once they saw him wave, they instantly darted toward him.  My parents started yelling no, no! Trev didn't understand.  He came back and told us he thought they were just being chill.  He was a little naive.  Later on, a woman walked by us selling suit coverups.  My mom and I bought one.  Luckily, Mr. Bojangles came back at the time he said he did.

On the way back to the port, Bojangles took a different route.  He took us through the hood.  It was the scariest place I had ever seen.  There were people walking around with guns strapped to their chest.  There were a lot of homeless people.  All of the sudden, he pulled into a stall in an ally way and said he would be right back.  My whole family thought that we were going to be robbed and killed.  We had no idea where we were, we were getting close to being late for our boat, and Bojangles had ditched us in the scariest part of town.  Just when we were about to get out of the van, he popped around the corner and jumped back into the van.  He apologized and said he had to check on his lottery tickets.  We all started laughing.  We got back to our boat just in time. Once we got back to our cabins, we crashed.

The second day was a day at sea.  We hung out on the deck.  They had different activities all day. At one point they had line dances.  Trev and I went down to learn the different line dances.  There were so many people it made it super fun.  My parents ordered all of us pina coladas. The food was also amazing.  They had about 7 different types of restaurants that you could get endless food at. Later on they had a movie on the deck.  That nights, we found a few decks of cards and played games on the deck for hours.  They had live singers.  It was really nice to hang out.

The third day we hit St Thomas.  We went on a snorkeling excursion.  We got on the boat and hit two different spots.  The first was one where we got to see sea turtles.  We got to swim with them.  It was really cool.  The second spot we hit was a ship wreck.  There were a lot of colorful fish.  At one point, the tour guides brought out fruit and shrimp.  When we tossed the rhine, fish instantly came up to the surface to eat them.  It was crazy.  After we got done from our excursion, we went back to our cabins and got ready for the day. We then went shopping at the little stores.

The fourth day we went to Puerto Rico.  We wanted to walk around the island to see the fort.  It was really cool to see the different things that were built.  The town was so colorful too.  At one point, we stopped and found a secret jail.  It was interesting to see the small ally ways and secret crevices.


The fifth day we stopped at Grand Turk.  My parents and brothers had an excursion, so Spencer and I hung out on the beach the whole day.   The beach was packed but we were able to find a spot to lay down and hang out.  We stayed close to the ship.  It was nice to have alone time with him.  There were a few different shops on the island so we walked them but didn't find anything.


The sixth day was another sea day.  That morning, I woke up extremely sick.  I had a fever and had the worst aches and pains.  I couldn't get warm either.  I stayed in mine and Spencer's cabin all day.  Throughout the day, my family and Spence came to the cabin to check on me.  At one point, I literally thought I was going to die.  I laid there for an hour hoping someone would stop by.  No one came. I had never felt as sick as I had felt right then.  I tried to stand up but instantly knew that I wouldn't be able to walk without passing out.  I laid back down again hoping someone would come by my cabin.  Another hour went by, nothing.... The thought instantly hit me that I needed to receive a priesthood blessing. There wasn't any phone service so I couldn't locate my family.  As I laid there, I prayed asking for someone to come check on me.  Within the next ten minutes, there was a knock on the door.  It was my little brother Zack.  He had a key so just came in.  I told him to go get Spencer and Dad because I needed a blessing.   After they had come into the room and gave me a blessing. My mom had asked how long I had been trying to get a hold of them and I said I was laying around for a few hours hoping someone would stop by.  It wasn't until a few minutes ago when I decided to pray for someone to come by.  My dad told me that he had a 'feeling' that I needed something when he sent Zack.  I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father.  If it wasn't for Him, my dad wouldn't have had the prompting from the Holy Ghost.  I am so grateful for the priesthood.  After receiving the blessing Spencer gave me, my fever broke within the hour. I began feeling much better.
The last day was the day we got off the ship.  I woke up feeling almost one hundred percent better.  Thankfully I didn't get anyone else sick. We got to port around 10 am and had to be off by 12 pm.  Spence and I flew out that day so we went straight to the airport and headed home.  My family stayed one more night and headed home the following day.  It was such an amazing trip.  I am so grateful for the time I got to spend with my family over Christmas break.  My parents spoiled us with this trip for Christmas!

From January - May we were finishing up spring term.  Nothing too important happened during these months.  I finally graduated and walked in May! WHOOT WHOOT! My family and Spencer's family came down to support me.  I am lucky to have such an amazing family!

Towards the end of June, we went to the Wilcox reunion in Apple Valley, California.  It was a family reunion for LeeAnn's side of the family.  Spencer and I drove down on a Wednesday night and stayed ant Tij and Camille's in Las Vegas.  We then woke up and drove to Los Angeles on Thursday.  Spence was able to show me around different areas of his mission.  This was the first time he had been back since he came home in October 2010.  He tried calling some of the people on his mission so he could stop by and see them, however none of them answered on such short notice.  He took me through Culver City.  I absolutely loved this part of town.  I know it would be expensive but I would love to live there.  It was just below the temple.  After, we walked the temple grounds.  We wish we would have taken our clothes so we could have done a session in this temple.  We then went and found a spot on Hermosa Beach.  It was beautiful.  We didn't have our swim suits and it was a little cold to swim, so we just hung out on a blanket.

On Friday, we went to Six Flags.  We met the whole Detton clan there.  It was a blast.  We rode lots of rides.  On the way back Boyd, Neal and LeeAnn decided to ride with Spencer and I.  Boyd and Neal got in a huge argument about 'Catch 'Em Alive Jack'.  They were screaming at each other.  I was in tears laughing so hard in the front seat.  We got stuck in horrible traffic on the way back.  It took us hours to get home.  The whole time, Neal and Boyd were bickering while LeeAnn sat between them.  It was very hilarious.

Saturday was the family reunion day.  Everyone met at Linda and Bob Turner's house in Apple Valley.  I met the whole Wilcox (Grandma Detton's family) side.  Each family had their own movie.  Aunt Janelle put together the Detton movie.  It was really cool to see how each family fit in.  We took pictures and played in the pool the whole day. Sunday we got up and drove all the way home to Provo.  It was a fun yet quick trip.

In September, we were asked to speak in our ward.  This was the first time we had ever got to hear each other speak.  First, they gave us a new calling.  We are now nursery workers... YAY! I was super stoked when we first got this calling because I have been really baby hungry... Spencer wasn't too crazy about our new calling.  The first week we were in there, there were about 12 kids to 5 adults.  It was crazy! Kids were playing and screaming.  There was even one kid with a smelly diaper.  It was an interesting first week.  After that, we were on the bishopric's radar.  We were asked to speak three weeks later.  When they pulled us aside, I almost said no.  But I had been fasting that day for some answers and knew that this is God's way of speaking to me.  I agreed to speak.  I was asked to talk on God's Harvest by President Uchdorf, The August General Presidency message. I will talk about this experience in another post soon to come because I talked about my family's conversion story. :)

In October, Caitlin and Spencer King got married.  They were sealed on Friday Oct 10.  It was a beautiful day.  The weather couldn't be more perfect.  I am biased because mine and Spencer's sealing has always been my favorite, but their sealing hit second on my list.  The sealer talked about how the initiatories differed from men and women.  My mind was blown, as were others who were in the sealing room.  I had always wondered how women were able to cleanse and stuff like they do during initiatories.  I am glad the sealer took the time to explain a few different things. It makes more sense that women do have the priesthood.  When a woman and a man are sealed they become one.  The woman then has the priesthood through her husband.  I had never looked at it like this before.  I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to be in the temple and be able to witness their sealing.


After the sealing, we went to the Joseph Smith building for a luncheon.  It was a good meal however Spencer was the hungriest one and was fed about 30 minutes after everyone else was because they ran out of salad.  He was super grumpy.  After everyone gave their speeches, we rushed off to the Atrium in Sandy for the reception. It was beautiful.  It was a big hit.  There were so many people there.  Alison and I ran to walmart to get things to decorate the car for their departure.  Once we got back Spencer was the MC and got the first dance and cake going.  Once those two things happened, the dance floor was open for everyone.  All of the cousins were on the floor dancing to line dances and upbeat songs.  It was a blast.  Tij and Chris Bell made everyone laugh with their Gangnam Style moves.

After the reception, Spencer's family (minus Caitlin obviously) slept at our house.  We all got up at 5 am the next morning to head up to Montana. It was definitely a ride to remember.  We stopped for gas and Neal left the car running while Spencer filled it up.  We didn't realize until Neal had tried to 'start' the car.  We all busted up laughing once we realized we could have died.  We stopped at McDonalds in Blackfoot for breakfast.  There Neal also walked into the woman's bathroom.. it is safe to say Neal was in need of sleep.  We made it to Montana alive, thankfully.  Once we got there, we started setting up for the open house that night.  We made the house beautiful with the decorations from the reception the night before.  A lot of family friends from Dillon came to support.  It was good to see everyone.

So far 2014 has been a pretty normal good year... If I remember any stories I want to share from this year, I'll definitely post them.... Let's hope I can start posting more regularly so I don't have to keep doing yearly recaps! :)