Reunited...For Good!

What you are about to read will consist of the most fun weekend/time (at least I think so) that Aaron and I have had together, ever...I mean, minus the whole engagement night time ;) Aaron and his family left early Wednesday morning to drive up to Utah. It was perfect timing as I was finishing a final that afternoon and just finishing packing, but let me tell you...it was the longest afternoon of my life waiting for Aaron to arrive. I was literally dressed and ready to go hours in advance just sitting on the couch. Aaron was driving up with his sister Heidi and Brother-In-Law Tylan and we were all planning to hike the "Y" but it started to rain and storm and so they just dropped Aaron off at my apartment, FINALLY he had come. It was truly a remarkable event because from that point on...NO more long distance. NO more long phone calls. NO more state apart business. We were together at last, after 6 months of long distance (part while being engaged). We didn't have anything really planned and so we brainstormed some really random ideas and set out. We headed to the grocery store (such a fun thing to do, together, hand in hand) and got some marshmallows, graham crackers and a chocolate bar. We then headed back to my apartment to make homemade s'mores. It was SO fun.

Together...FOREVER

We then took the rest of the marshmallows we had and found some toothpicks and went to town on building our "future home". Aaron was in charge of our house (and so of course he put 20+ rooms in it) and I (of course) was in charge of the stable...on our farm, where we will be keeping our horses, chickens and cows. I think I made more of a giraffe though, so who knows.

Future Home...with LOTS of rooms!

Our Farm Stable with...a Giraffe

We also had the chance to have a buddy from Aaron's mission, Durban Keeler, come over and visit (who actually lived in my ward). It was a  really fun night and a great start to a no more long distance relationship. 

The next day I finished packing and cleaning my apartment to move out and then picked up Aaron and he was kind enough to help me pack up my car with all my stuff that I would be storing at the Story's Cabin up in Wallsburg. It was a lot of stuff but thankfully for Aaron's mad packing skills, it all fit.

All My Stuff

We dropped it off and then quickly came back and changed and then headed to the BYU Convocation Ceremony, where we were going to see Stephen "pre" graduate. It was a nice ceremony, we got to hear Elder Richard G. Scott speak and look at the sea of caps and gowns. Quite a sight (and it was a crazy thought to think that I will be there in just ONE year. Yay!)

 I then dropped Aaron off to take pictures with his family and I finished up some last minute cleaning check things and then headed back to the Johnson's house to meet up with Aaron. We loaded up the truck with a nice red couch, pink chair, and white cabinet bathroom thing that the Johnson's were nice enough to give to us and we headed to the Von Bose's Storage Unit to put everything in there. Thankfully I am SO strong and it all fit.

 We had to get some pictures though of OUR first furniture. That is right OUR first furniture. We are sitting on our cute red couch in the picture :)

Our FIRST Furniture

What a fun thought! We own furniture for OUR future "cave" (as we call it because we won't be able to afford anything that even has the name of "apartment"). We were just so excited (and it didn't help the wait until August any easier). Yay!

My Fiance The Model

The next morning we got up early, I picked up Aaron and we headed to the Graduation Ceremony. We got there early and met up with some of the Hansen Family as they were attending my cousin Jordan's Graduation just right before. They had good seats and so we just took over there row when they left. To save all the seats Aaron and I sat on opposite ends, for quite some time and so I called him and we talked for a while. I know...we're weird.

Aaron's family came, we were reunited and watched the ceremony. It was great to see Stephen (and even my cousin Lauren) walk and get their diploma. So cool! Afterwards we met up with Aaron's family and then my family to take some graduation pictures.

Me and Cousin Lauren

We then headed back to the Johnson's home for a delicious BBQ and followed by an Easter Egg Hunt! We had so much fun. Aaron and I helped by cutting up the potatoes and then we all headed outside to eat. It was beautiful weather and the food and company were wonderful.

Afterwards we headed inside, did the dishes and waited for the Easter Egg hunt to start. Everyone got the rules, their baskets and then the little ones started off. It was fun to watch them and then it was the "Big Kids" turn and they were sent everywhere around the backyard of the house to find eggs.

 Towards the end Aaron and I had a little competition to see who could find the remaining eggs. I won, but Aaron definitely put up a great fight.

He FINALLY found an Egg

 We all went inside, we helped the kids count up their loot and we distributed out the prizes to each of the children. It was a fun tradition that I definitely hope to continue.

  We then started in helping the Johnson's in cleaning up and packing up their house and so Aaron and I were assigned the kitchen and let me tell you, we conquered the dishes.

We then we loaded up the Butler Truck with a TV and Entertainment System that we were also going to store and headed with Mom and Dad Butler there to store it. Aaron and I then went back into Provo and got some delicious ice  cream from the BYU Creamery.

 Aaron was feeling daring and got a double scoop (Bishops Bash and Strawberry Crunch)...which he did in fact finish, but it was a close one.

You Can Do It Aaron!

But I just got a single scoop of German Chocolate Cake. We had another fun night together and ready for another fun day. 

The next morning I had to run a few "errands" (I'll explain later) and then went to the Johnson's house to help clean. I was in charge (along with Aaron and Hayden(niece)) to clean the downstairs bathroom and let me just tell you...there is nothing like cramming into a small bathroom, cleaning a toilet and smelling like Colorox to make you fall in love even more ;) We then headed outside to pack up the truck with last minute things.

We soon found there was not going to be enough room so I pulled up my car and we started putting some things in there, such as...a baby's car seat, a stroller and a baby's toy bike. Haha, pretty funny if you ask me.

Our Car...Filled With BABY Stuff

We then headed to Spanish Fork quickly, Aaron and I changed into our Sunday clothes at the Von Bose's house and then headed to Abbie's baptisim. We helped set up the "all yellow occasion" and then enjoyed the wonderful talks (Dad Butler) and then the beautiful baptisim and conformation. We then all joined together for food afterwards and though there were plenty of tables, we all just squeezed into one and enjoyed every second of it.

Aaron and I then left shortly afterwards to head into Salt Lake where we attened my friend Katie's Wedding Reception. It was at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and it was beautiful.

Us Being Translated :)

Me, Katie and Andy

We then had a chance to walk around the temple grounds and take some fun pictures. Someday we will hire a professional photographer to follow us around so we don't have to have all these pictures of Aaron's hand sticking out to take the pictures of us :)

Hi, I am Aubrie, the Pioneer Woman

We headed back that night, made a quick stop in our church clothes to Home Depot to get a cover for the furniture in the storage center and went to bed, preparing ourselves for the long drive ahead of us the next day.

We got up the next morning, Aaron picked me up, we went to the storage unit and covered the furniture and then headed to church to hear Aaron's brother-in-law speak, which was wonderful and then we were on our way. Before we left I gave Aaron a little present, for Easter. It was an easter basket...filled with a bunchy of food and Aaron's favorite snacks to last us on the long car ride home.

Hoppy Easter My Hunny Bunny

Along with the Easter Basket I packed lots and lots and lots of sandwiches (a whole loaf to be exact) to make sure we had enough to feed Aaron's appetite (I think we maybe ate half of them. Haha).

You think I packed enough sandwiches?

I drove first. We had a bunch of things crammed in the back and so the passenger side was pulled forward quite a bit and though it was fine for my short legs, it wasn't too convinent for Aaron's. So, he tried to sleep but wasn't very successful.

I drove to St. George and then Aaron took over. I slept for a little while, we ate our lunches and then we decided to read together this marriage book that my parents gave us.

It was an interesting book written by John Bytheway and his wife. There were some good things in there that we learned but there were also some really weird pieces of advice that I am not sure that we will be using. It also introduced a really weird "rating" system which Aaron and I adapted, made our own and now we just LOVE it! ;) We are usually a 5!

Yep, we're 5's!

The rest of the trip consisted of talking, eating, filling up on gas and just relishing in the fact that we were there together. Haha.

Modeling EVEN when filling up gas

Around 6pm we came upon a HUGE accident in the middle of the no where and traffic was probably backed up for about 7 miles. We had no recpetion on our phones to tell anyone where we were and they said the expected wait was 8 HOURS! So we got in line, put the car in park, turned it off and just waited it out with everyone else. We tried to sleep but didn't really work, so we just took a picture and faked it.

We had time to finish our marriage book, play a couple rounds of thumb wars, eat more food and watch the kids video on the tv going on in the car in front of us. Thankfully it was not 8 hours but more like 3. We pulled up to Aaron's house around midnight (both of us quite looney and ready to be out of the car). Overall it was a wonderful trip and as Aaron says, "Well...if we had to be stuck in a car for so long with someone, at least it was someone you love."