Boulder This

Well Bret used to be big into bouldering. I mean BIG. He told me that if I wanted to marry him that I would have to accept this as being a huge part of our lives. I bought my own pair of Mad Rock shoes and went with him all the time when we were dating and engaged. He even climbed a V9 which is pretty impressive. For some reason, Bret stopped once we got married. I had nothing to do with it! Anyways, 3 years later SUU announced that they would hold a climbing competition. He decided to give it a shot even though he'd been out of the game for quite a while.
They would take the best of 5 climbs and total your score. Bret climbed in the Intermediate range (100-200 pts per climb) and averaged 175 pts per climb and flashed all 5 of his climbs. (Flashed= got it on his first try= extra 10%). Anyways, he got 5th place. I am really proud of him. He kicked himself though for not trying a little harder and going for climbs worth more points because then he could have ranked in the top 3. Anyways he had fun and got a t-shirt, pizza, and won a folding chair out of it so that's good. He has decided to get back into climbing and will really try to compete next year. Wish him luck!
Here is a picture I took of him climbing in Alaska way back when.

The Singles Ward

Well for those of you who don't know, Bret got called into the bishopric of a singles ward. He is the second counselor of the ward he used to be in before we got married. It has been a transition but I like it and so does Bret. Kien is the only kid so when he makes any type of noise during sacrament EVERYONE can hear it. He has been pretty well behaved so far though and the girls seem to like him which is nice. Bret was involved in 6 hours of "church" this last Sunday so he is even more busy now than before. I know that we'll be blessed for his service though so I'm grateful for the opportunity.

The Hobbit

This is Kien's Halloween costume. I found the shirt and vest at D.I., he already had the shorts, and then I made the cape! What an accomplishment.

"Oh no! I think there's a furry Orc behind me!"
"If you ask it of me, I will give you the one ring."
"I think it's time to become invisible so mom will stop taking my picture."

Blast from the Past

Well for those of you who don't know, I don't have much of a relationship with my father. He divorced my mother when I was about 6 after a long affair with another woman. It's a long messy story but he's just never really been a part of my life. Well, a few weeks ago he gave me a call and asked for my address because he wanted to send me a CD with some pictures on it. I just had a look at the old pictures. A bunch of them were from his childhood and I just thought they were so beautiful. Maybe because I just finished a book (The Stolen Child) about a boy who grew up in the 1950's. Here are some of my favorites:
Beverly and Vaughn (Vaughn is my Dad and Beverly is his sister)Beverly, Vaughn, and Sumner (their older Brother) in their dad's car.
My Absolute Favorite- Vaughn with his Dad (My Grandpa whom I've never met). Something about this picture just reminds me of a Norman Rockwell painting.
I don't know a lot about my Dad's life. I do know that his father died when he was young and his mother (Mary Viola Munn) remarried and he did not get along well with his step dad. I've never met anyone on my Dad's side of the family except for a cousin who moved to Nome. My Dad also sent me some pictures that he had of me. Here is one that he took of me at Serpentine Hot Springs up in Alaska. He took me and my brother and sister out here once when we were kids. It is one of the few memories I have of him as a child.
Here is a picture at my sister's wedding reception. Kim (my sister) is in the wedding dress, Thulan (my mom) is to her left, Tommy (my brother) is kneeling in the tux, and I'm next to him. Sean is my sister's husband and that's his family on his side. I was 15 at the time. Look how long my hair was!
Anyways, I thought these pictures were interesting to look at and figured I could share them on here. Who doesn't love old pictures?

Kien is Too Cute!

Well here is a video clip of Kien answering some questions with no coaching whatsoever.


On Thursdays a little girl named Sophie comes over and I watch the two of them together. It is so cute to see them play. Her dad, Sam, is actually Bret's boss at Sunshine Nutrition. Sam was teasing Bret saying that he figured out Bret's master plan to have Kien marry Sophie so that Bret could stake his claim in their family business. Pretty funny.
Kien is at the age where he likes to do whatever we are doing. Apparently we spend a lot of time at the computer so he will push the buttons on the keyboard any chance he gets. He is so funny and is always making us laugh. We just love the little guy.

Survey Says...

I got tagged!!!!!

What is your husbands name? Bret Thomas HickenHow long have you been married? 3 years
How long did you date? 2 years
How old is he? 26
Who eats more sweet? Bret does. I usually only eat sweets once a month when Aunt Flo comes to visit. Then I will consume anything with trace amounts of chocolate.
Who said I love you first? Oh darn, I did. But he said it right back. I knew he was feeling me.
Who is taller? Bret is exactly 1 foot taller than me.
Who is the better singer? I think I am but who knows.
Who is smarter? Bret is very intelligent. But I beat him at scrabble a lot.
Who does the laundry? We both do it.
Who pays the bills? Bret handles all of that. I do all the grocery shopping though.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me! Because it's the closest to the door and when Kien used to wake up in the night I had to go take care of him.
Who mows the lawn? Bret does. I don't think I've ever touched our lawn mower.
Who cooks the dinner? I do for the most part. Although Bret had spaghetti ready for me when I came home from work yesterday so that was very nice of him.
Who drives? When we are together Bret drives. He doesn't trust women drivers.
Who is the first to say they are wrong? We never admit that we're wrong.
Who kissed who first? Bret kissed me. It was in a parking lot in Vegas. He pulled over because he was so tired and thought he read a sign that said "Free Naps" when it was actually "Free Maps". He really thought the place had rooms where you could take a free nap.Who asked who out? We were just really good friends. I don't think there was an official asking out. We met up in Vegas with two other people from our mission (as seen in the photo above) and we ate at a breakfast buffet at Caesars Palace. Bret paid for me so I guess that could be considered our first date. The other couple got married too.
Who wears the pants? I don't know. We're pretty equal.
Tag??? I tag Mary Sorenson, Chalise Mitchell, Amy Payne, Sarah Pittard, Maria Holee, and Sarah Carter.