The Story of Chris and Emily

The year was 2003; I was home from BYU-Idaho for the summer. I also had three older brothers who were not married home for a short time. We decided it would be fun to do a “Thomas date night.” The plan: find dates for each other, go out and have a lot of fun. Of course being the only girl, I had dates lined up for my brothers way in advance. On the Monday before our designated date night we went to a ward Family Home Evening at I.B. Perrine Elementary school. I played Ultimate Frisbee and had a great time. My brothers played softball and that is where they met Chris.

Driving home from our activity I started teasing my brothers about still not having a date for that weekend. We saw Chris walking with his friend and so Brett decided to turn the car around, corner Chris in the parking lot of his apartment and ask if he would like to go out on a date with his little sister (who was sitting in the back of the car!) Chris reached through the window to shake my hand; something he later kicked himself for doing because a friend claimed that was the worst thing he could have done. Unfortunately, Chris had to work and couldn’t go. I heard through a mutual friend that he was thinking about asking me out but didn’t know if it would be awkward since we didn’t really know each other. Weeks went by and I didn’t hear from him.

Eventually we met again. We were at a CSI playing Capture the Flag with a big group of people. As I was leaving with my friend Courtnie, I saw Chris walking ahead of us with some other guys. I thought maybe if I did a little harmless flirting I could boost his confidence enough to get him to ask me out. Well it worked! He finally asked me out. We went to Thomsen Park and played volleyball, rugby, Frisbee, had a picnic, and then went to the drive-in to see 2 Fast 2 Furious and The Incredible Hulk (two of the worst movies ever!) We made fun of the movies the whole time. Chris kept calling and we kept going out. I sure am glad that he stuck with me; I know I didn’t make it easy.

I love you so much honey! Happy Valentine's Day!