1999 - Super Bowl @ Dibble's

(originally posted 07/23/2009)

January 30 - I went to the Grove Parkway church building to hear Shari Dew speak. It was nice and I was actually hoping to see Elliot's mom there so I could sit with her. I liked her. I really liked her son.

January 31 - Super Bowl Sunday Elliot invited Natalie and I over to have dinner with his family. We started calling Elliot's mom "Mother Dibble." It stuck. Natalie started calling Elliot's dad "Ka-Bish." That one didn't stick so much. I was still trying to avoid him because I was embarrassed about the last interview.

We also met Elliot brother Adam and his wife Xan. They had just announced that they were expecting their first child at the end of July.

Bishop Dibble asked for another interview with Natalie and I separately while we were at his home. He gave me a calling to be on the Homemaking Committee. When I went back out to sit with Elliot on the couch, he asked me what my new calling was. So I told him.

When Natalie got out of her interview, Elliot asked her what her new calling was to which she responded, "I guess you'll find out on Sunday."

Just then Bishop Dibble came in as Elliot said, "Come on, tell me. Whitney told me what her new calling was."

Bishop Dibble's response . . . "That's because Whitney doesn't have an understanding of how these things work."

Holy crap. He hates me. I'll never date his son.

OK, I still like him. He gets hiccups when he laughs really hard. We couldn't stop laughing after we saw this Super Bowl commercial for Fox Catcher Cam:

1999 - Rocky

(originally posted 07/23/2009)

January 29 - Natalie was meeting an old friend from her mission, so I was excited, but a little nervous to be venturing out without her. Elliot and Mike picked me up and drove me over to someone's dorm where there were a ton of people (in my planner, I exaggerated and said 90) wedged into the tiny room getting ready to watch Rocky I.

I remember Elliot being really proud of himself that day because he'd just gotten his first credit card and pretty much everything he did now was cute to me. Elliot didn't sit by me because he was in the corner admiring his new credit card, and I hadn't ever seen Rocky I all the way through. So I spread out on the floor in front because no one else was and I enjoyed the movie.

We weren't ready to go home yet, so we decided to crash an institute dance. Lame. Wondering when/if Elliot is going to ask me out.

Rice Cereal

Not such a fan of Rice Cereal. Oatmeal either. He gagged on every bite the first time and hasn't changed since.

"Real food will do WHAT to my poo?"

My Uncle Ron

Ronald Farr McAllister
January 24, 1958 - January 8, 2012

My Uncle Ron passed away on January 8 this year. All of my cousins have been referring to him as a "gentle giant" and that is what he was. Quite honestly, I might have been afraid of him when I was little because of the "giant" part, but as an adult, I learned what a sweet man he was. I still didn't know him very well, but he always seemed genuinely happy to see me and that always made me feel special. We'll miss him.

Uncle Ron's Obituary:
Ronald Farr McAllister passed peacefully away on Jan. 8, 2012 in Vancouver, WA. Ron resided in an Assisted Living Facility with his 95-year-old mother, Louise Farr McAllister. They were mutual caregivers to each other. Ron was born and raised in Portland, OR, graduating from Cleveland High School in 1976.

He served a two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Alabama Mission.

Ron attended BYU for two years.

He and his wife brought five children into the world, all of whom survive their father: Clarissa Fredrickson, Robert A., Stephen K., Daniel M. and Michael P. McAllister.

After suffering a stroke ten years ago, Ron was disabled and unable to work. However, he did not let his disability slow him down. Following his stroke and rehabilitation, he served as a volunteer at SW General Hospital, assisting other stroke patients through their physical therapy and offering encouragement. Ron was also a volunteer genealogist for his church, extracting names from old historical records and entering them into a computer so the names could be digitalized for researchers around the world. Over three year's time, he extracted and submitted thousands of names.

Ron is survived by his five children; his mother; three grandchildren: Mark H. and Phoebe L. Fredrickson and Hudson B. McAllister, sisters: Jeanette Anderson and Sandra Anderson, and brothers: David, Steven and Reed.

Funeral services will be held Sat., Jan. 14, 2012 at 11:30 a.m. in the LDS Fishers Landing Ward Chapel located at 13600 SE McGillivray Blvd., Vancouver, WA 98683.

1999 - Trouble & Other Stuff

(originally posted 07/23/2009)

January 25 - As suggested by Mike and Elliot, I quit working at Ikon Office Solutions. The gossiping coworker ladies seemed genuinely shocked and a little upset especially since they had just ordered me my own stapler.

Natalie and I attended Family Home Evening at the church near Elliot's home. We played Human Checkers.

January 26 - I started working at a place called Deutche. I, for the life of me, could not pronounce it. This is especially difficult when you're supposed to be answering the phone. I hated it at this place too. There was a greasy fat man that kept staring at me.

Natalie and I couldn't stop talking about how much fun we had with Mike and Elliot. So we called both of them and invited them over to make cookies. But we told them they couldn't come unless Elliot brought his little sister Bethany. Elliot helped me (sort of watched) as I made the cookies and while they baked, we played TROUBLE. You haven't played Trouble until you've played ANDERSON TROUBLE. There's no waiting for turns when we play. It can also be quite dangerous for others when you haven't clipped your fingernails.

The Dibbles and the Andersons apparently make cookies a little different. Andersons prefer the cookie to be a little more on the "not done" side, Dibbles, other other hand, go to the extreme of "golden brown" (in my opinion). When I pulled the cookies out of the oven, and this isn't funny unless you witnessed it, Elliot exclaimed, "THEY'RE DOUGH!" We had another totally fun night with Mike and Elliot and I was super excited to be able to meet his sister Beth.

January 27 - I quit Deutche at the end of the day. Couldn't stand that fat man's eyes burning into my back. And I still couldn't pronounce Deutche.

Natalie and I tested out the "marriage" class at institute. It was totally awkward. Never going there again.

January 28 - I didn't have work, so I'm sure I went shopping. I also got the oil changed in my car. When entering my information into their computer, the oil guy asked if he could keep my phone number. Now, you must all understand that in the short month that I'd lived in Arizona I had been hit on more times than I EVER had in my life . . . and I spent 2 years at Ricks College where the majority of the population wants to get married (no one paid attention to me there). So I totally turned that guy down and hoped that he didn't tamper with my brakes.

I was excited. The next night I was going to "hang out" with Elliot.

1999 - The Interview With Bishop Dibble

(originally posted 07/23/2009)


January 24 - Maybe I don't like Elliot as much as I thought I could. I had an interview with Elliot's father, Bishop Dibble (lovingly referred to henceforth as Ka-Bish) and now I feel like a fool.

I think Bishop Dibble was excited to meet people who grew up on a farm like he did. Well, he's talking to the wrong girl. Yes, I grew up on a farm. Yes, I have planted a garden. Yes, I have worked countless hours in an onion and sugar beet field. But NO, I cannot tell the difference between a beet and weed, and NO I do not know what farm apparatus you are talking about. Can I just have a calling and we'll move on? I feel like a fool.

But you have an adorable son.

Malcolm's First Haircut

Malcolm has had some serious mullet going on since the day he was born.

He also had a long wispy on top that just looked creepy when I combed it. He also has 2 cowlicks at the crown of his head going in opposite directions. The boy will always have hair problems. I've been saying I'm going to cut it for months, but I've had some interference. It was obviously not curly and therefore had no chance of being cute. It was a mullet plain and simple for those of you who are against cutting children's hair for the first several years. It needs to be done and so it was.

So like all projects that get me into trouble with my husband, my sister Lindsay was involved. This wasn't the plan, but when she arrived at my house we busted out the clippers and buzzed Mal's head (01/24/12).

He did a great job and mostly just didn't know what was buzzing on his head. He's a blondie!

And he loves a bath.

Stella thought this was the coolest thing ever . . .

. . . it sure saves on having to chase the individual ones around the bowl. She thought it was so cool that she even took video of it.

By the way, I think I've already asked this question a while ago, but do you drink the milk out of your cereal bowl? Stella and I do and Elliot practically goes into convulsions when he sees us do it.

Our New (to us) Piano!

We didn't tell Stella that we bought a piano, but told her that a surprise was going to be delivered that day (12/30/11).

Stella started piano lessons on January 10th with Cathy Shepherd (2012 Mother of the Year) and she's already doing so great! She is in a hurry for some reason and wants to learn faster than she's supposed to. She gets a little frustrated that she can't play both hands together right at the beginning of learning a new song, but she's learning about the benefit of practice. She is clipping right along and can play Cuckoo with both hands! Miss Cathy said that she's teaching the Suzuki Shepherd Stella Dibble Method . . . I love her already.

By the way, I'm my Mom. Whenever she plays a wrong note, I sing the right note from the kitchen.

Stella's 2nd Grade Class Picture

I know everyone thinks their own child is the cutest, but the difference between me and them is that I'm right. Stella Dibble is the cutest girl in the class.

Zoo with Cousins!

We went to the Phoenix Zoo with Aunt Lindsay, Hannah, and Brynlee on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January. Daddy even go to go with us! The rest of Arizona decided to go to the zoo that day too.

Hannah had her head buried in the map the entire time.

The kids ate snacks the entire 4 hours we were there.

We had a fabulous time.

They LOVE Each Other!

Malcolm loves me a great deal, but when he sees his sister, he lights up like he's been waiting to see her all day long! Stella's not exactly soft with Malcolm, but as I'm about to interfere, he starts laughing. She's always wanted someone to rough house with. Well, he's it even though he's only 5 months old.

My Baby Girl

Sunday, January 8th was our Fast Sunday at church. As we were sitting in sacrament meeting when the testimonies started, Stella leaned over and told me to go bear my testimony. As evidence of where Stella gets some of her sass, I said, "No, you go up." And then I turned back to listening to the ward members. A couple of minutes later I looked over at Stella and noticed that she was writing something. It was her testimony. She was really going to go up!

A long time ago we had a Family Home Evening about bearing our testimonies and Elliot even fashioned a microphone out of Stella's toys and a light apparatus so we could practice. It turned out not being a very effective lesson because Stella just turned into a valley girl in front of the microphone and it became comedy hour. We said that she'll know she's ready to bear her testimony when she can do it all by herself. We hadn't practiced since.

So Stella asked if she could go up and bear her testimony. I reminded her that she had to go by herself and she was totally ok with that. When she go up to the stand to sit with Daddy for a second, she caused a bit of a ruckus because Elliot didn't know what was going on. But after he found out, you could see the skeptical look on his face as to how this was all going to turn out.

She did so well. We obviously need a little work on what is and is not a testimony, but I was so proud of her. She was embarrassed after she was done, but I just gave her big hug and told her how happy Heavenly Father was too.

Malcolm is 5 Months Old!

. . . well, we're seriously close to 6 months, but I wanted to get a 5-month in there somewhere.

- Malcolm is just a whole new baby! He's changed so much, and although he still loves me the most, he's added a few more people to his "I won't cry like you're trying to kill me" list (Daddy, Uncle Adam, Grandpa Dibble, Aunt Lindsay, Auntie Em, Liz Roberts).

- Although he's still a bit stingy with them, Malcolm has finally released the laugh! He gets really giggly when he's tired right before he gets cranky.

- Malcolm learned to sit up with a little support (01/10/12)

- Malcolm got his first haircut! (01/24/12)

- Malcolm rolled from his tummy to his back (01/11/12).
- Malcolm stopped nursing.
- Malcolm tried rice cereal and hated it.
- Malcolm hardly ever cries in the carseat anymore!
- Malcolm holds his bottle and can almost drink the whole thing before I have to help him tip the rest in.

- Malcolm sure loves his sister and lets her do pretty much anything she wants to him.

- Malcolm does really well when he goes on walks with Mommy.

- Malcolm quickly moved from size 6 months clothes to 12 month clothes. I squeezed him into the 9 month clothes for a while just to get some use out of them. They are just too tight.

- Pampers don't work for Malcolm. He's a Huggies man.

- Malcolm loves to have his diaper changed.
- Malcolm loves his bath.
- This makes me think that Malcolm loves to be naked.
- At 5 months, Malcolm still slept in our room.

- Malcolm weighed 17 pounds at the beginning of January. My friend weighed him at the end of January and he was 20 pounds.

1999 - The Never-Ending Date (Part 2)

(originally posted 07/22/2009)

January 23 - I know. It's taking a long time. It sure went by fast when it was all happening, but the telling the story is taking forever. I apologize for being long-winded, but it's my story, so I get to do whatever I want.

I don't believe I slept most of the night because I was still hoping that Natalie would agree to go to the ward activity at the caves the next morning. I really wanted to see Elliot again and I knew he'd be there.

I love my sister. She woke up and we prepared for the activity and met at the church. We naturally steered ourselves over to say "good morning" to Mike and Elliot, so we happened to be close by when the leader of the pack said that everyone needed to find a ride with someone.

Elliot asked us to go with him, Mike and Bishop Dibble in his father's vehicle. I was very excited, even though Elliot sat in the front seat. Our conversation just continued from the night before and car-sick Mike entertained us with the most ridiculous, yet hilarious riddles.

I didn't know it until this point in my life, but I'm a little claustrophobic. It was the cave that did it. At some points, you have to shimmy down a tiny hole or through an extremely narrow passage and I'm afraid I'll get stuck and die. At the end of the cave, or near it, there was a water hole. By the time we got there, several people had stripped down fairly appropriately (no shirts, they kept the pants) and were swimming in it. Elliot really wanted to swim and I wanted to go with him, but I couldn't picture myself taking off my shirt and swimming in my sports bra. So I was the keeper of Elliot's shoes and clothes and just hoped that he wouldn't break his head on the jagged rocks at the bottom. I was a little irritated when another girl spoke up quickly and said she'd jump in with him, right after I declined.

Someone gave a quick devotional where we had to turn off our flashlights and sit for a few minutes. It was absolutely dark and I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face, but I knew that Elliot was near me. I could have reached out and started making out with him and he'd never know it was me.


We were filthy by the time we got out of the cave, but thankfully we were reminded to bring a second set of clothing to change into for the ride home.

Elliot let Mike sit in the front on the way home so that he wouldn't be so car-sick, which meant that I got to sit by Elliot. Before we got into the car, I'd witnessed a conversation between Elliot and his father that made me think that Elliot was an only child. He sounded a little spoiled and demanding and I even called him on it. Turns out he is a middle child. He rode most of the way home with his arm across the back of the seat behind me which just made me giddy. I was nervous to fall asleep even though I was exhausted. Had I fallen asleep, I'm sure I would have cuddled into him, my mouth would have been open, and strings of drool would have been dripping onto his leg. I stayed awake.

On the way home, Elliot and Mike invited us to join them and some other people at Wingers to eat BBQ wings. I believe they picked us up again and took us to the restaurant. I had never had wings before and wasn't super excited about it (seemed like too much work), but I really liked the company.

(This picture is not actually of the night I'm writing about, but happened in late 1998. They are all trying the hot sauce "Mad Dog Inferno" which could have possibly sterilized the whole lot of them.)

Those guys made a mess. Seriously, it was like watching people who'd not eaten for weeks. They devoured the wings and had BBQ sauce all over their faces. At one point Natalie and I were giggling at them and they knew why. Mike piped up and said (with wing portions hanging out of his face), "Don't wipe until you're all done!" This has become a commonly used quote since then.

We were invited from the restaurant to a party at someone's house (in the ward). The party was sort of lame and one guy followed me around for a little bit. But we ended up in the dining room playing a game called "Chaos." I don't know if Natalie made it up, but it was hilarious and so fun! Elliot kept yelling out the same answer "1923" each time the game asked for a year and it just made us laugh so hard. It's a loud game, but so fun and the party ended up not quite so lame. I knew for sure I liked Elliot quite a bit, even if he did act like an only child. I couldn't wait to see him again.

If you're looking at my planner (where I have all of this recorded), I wrote down "Lots of laughing! NEW BEST FRIENDS."