Where did you meet your husband? Craig came to Ventura to sell Pest Control for the summer in 2005 and we meet in the Singles Ward. The first Sunday that him and the other salesman came to church they all walked in and sat on the side pews (our ward was so small that it was kind of required to sit in the center) when they walked in of course all of the girls were excited about the “fresh meat” anyway, they sat on the side and then Brother Hunter got up and told them to come sit in the center and directed them to the row right in front of me. I immediately thought Craig was super cute!
2. What was the first thing you said to your husband?
I don’t know probably just the normal introduction stuff “what’s your name?” or “My name is Cyndi.” Or something like that but one of the first conversations we had was with him and me and one of my girl friends and Craig said “So do you girls want to give me your numbers?” and I said, “Oh no, you get my number!” So he did and called me that day and that was the start of it all!
3. Where was your first date?
Well, Craig wanted to take me to Chuck E. Cheeses but when we got there they were open but not letting anymore people in so he said what is your favorite restaurant so I said, “The Aloha” (which is a nice steakhouse by the pier in Ventura and it is a little pricey!) But Craig was super sweet and took me there. Then we took a walk on the pier afterwards but that is it b/c I started to not feel good :o(
4. Where was your first kiss?
Our first kiss was at a park in Salt Lake City called Pioneer Park. We had been dating long distance (Craig was at BYU Idaho and I was still at Ventura College) and for General Conference we both met in Salt Lake. I was going to check out LDS Business College and go to conference and Craig came down to meet me, and he invited me to his mission reunion. So we went to his reunion on Friday night and then afterward we went to the Gateway mall and played some video games at an arcade there. After that we were going to meet up with some of Craig’s friends and so we just drove done the street and found Pioneer Park. So we were waiting there for his friends, swinging and playin’ and then we had our first kiss there on the swings. It was the Best first kiss ever! So tender!
5.This Picture is from Craig's mission reunion, the night we had our first kiss!
Di Did you have a long or short engagement/courtship?
Well this is a little tricky. We met at the beginning of the summer 2005 and imidately started dating for a few weeks and then people started saying “You guys are perfect for each other, you are going to get married!” and I was all scared b/c I had dated this other guy off and on for a long time and we never officially ended things so I was super confused when people started to say things like that b/c it was super fast and a crazy whirlwind (for me at the time). So I told Craig I just wanted to be friends, and I had to go and figure things out. Anyway I FINALLY ended the madness with the other guy and started to hang out with Craig more…we started dating again at the end of the summer, but then it was time for Craig to go back to school. The second I said good bye to Craig I knew he was the one. We dated long distance for one semester (during which we had our first kiss in October and got engaged in November). In January of 2006 we both moved to Salt Lake City to go to LDS Business College and got married afther the semester was over on May 13th 2006. So yes we had a long engagement and courtship! But the engagement was long b/c we had a hard time picking a date b/c two of my sisters were pregnant and Craig’s sister and sister-in-law we both pregnant too! So it was tricky!
6. Where did you get engaged?
The weekend before Thanksgiving I went out to Walla Walla to meet Craig’s parents and on Monday Nov. 21, 2005 he took me to a park and we fed the birds for a little while and then we were walking around and there is a gazebo in the center of the park and he said, “Do you want to go over to the gazebo?” so of course I said yes and we started walking over there and he was telling me how much he loved me and all kinds of sweet things and as we got closer to the gazebo there was a staircase to go up into it and he was walking so that I was kind of close to it and retarted me ruined the moment and said “I don’t want to go under the stairs.” Dumb! As I got on the other side of the stairs there was a huge poster up on the side of the gazebo that said “Cynthia Will You Marry Me?” I about fell down (I knew he was going to propose to me that weekend but I don’t think you’re ever prepared for that moment) So he had to kind of carry me up the stairs into the gazebo then he got down on one knee and asked me “will you marry me?” of course I said yes! What is ironic about the story is that the park was called Pioneer Park just like the park in SLC where we had our first kiss!
7. Where did you get married?
Well, I always thought that I would get married in the LA Temple but it was closed at the time for a 6month long remodel. So we had to choose between San Diego, Newport Beach, and Redlands. So, we choose Redlands, CA Temple. It is a beautiful temple, I’m so glad we got married there. Another bit of irony is that when I went to the open house for the Redlands Temple I said “I can get married here so we (all of my sisters and I) can have our own temple.” (b/c all of my sisters go married in different temples so they always said that I needed my own temple.)
8. How did your reception go?
The reception was PERFECT! We had it at city hall in Ventura. The entry way is large and all marble! And there is a huge marble staircase and we had a harpist at the top of the stairs playing. Everything was beautiful! I wouldn’t change a thing!
9. The Honeymoon!
Our first night we stayed in Ventura at a cute hotel down town called the Bella Ma’Gore then the next day we flew up to San Francisco! It was super fun! Perfect honeymoon location b/c there are things to see but it’s not a tragedy if you don’t get out. After being there for I think 6 days we flew up to Portland, Organ where we meet up with my parents and stayed there for a day and then we all drove to Walla Walla for our Open House.
We had fun on Christmas eve we played a little gift exchange game where you draw numbers and number one picks a gift and number two can either take number one's gift of pick a new one, etc. It was fun, there was lots of stealing, then we played catch phrase. This trip has been filled with video games. Even the little kids have been playing some. The following picture is me with all the grand kids. I was helping one play the Wii and then another came up to sit with us and then another came up with a book...it was fun!
Christmas we got a lot of fun gifts some of the big ones include this GPS unit from Craig's parents:
Guitar Heroes to Craig from ME:
Donald Trump Game from ME
Craig gave me a fire safe box, which I have wanted for a long time...I was excited! We also got some money to buy new clothes and a golf bag from my mom. We got lots of other WONDERFUL gifts but I won't bore you all by listing everything.
One night Craig, David, and Josh had an ice cream eating contest...the goal: to eat half a gallon of Ice Cream in less than 1/2 and hour. And they all FINISHED!! It was funny and gross all at the same time.
Needless to say they did not feel good afterward. Craig's time: 19 min. (chocolate mudslide) Davids time: 22.5 min. (cookies and cream) Josh's time: 17.5min (Vanilla)
We have been playing video games non-stop here. Guitar heroes of course has been the number one choice.
The day after Christmas we all went to Tri-Cities and went to Chuck e Cheeses and then went to the mall, Target, and Costco to return some gifts and what not
