Wedding - October 10, 2006

Salt Lake Temple, Utah. We had the temple grounds almost all to ourselves on a beautiful October Tuesday.

James & Jessica McCalvy by the reflection pool.

Some of the new extended family on the temple steps.
back row - Tyler, Kurt, Carlee & Aspen. McKayla, Deven, Carter & Kim. Jed & Maria.
front row - Dick & Sharon, James & Jessica, Kathy, Gil & Emma. Margaret & Calvin.

The Flower Kids -
back row - Carter, McKayla, Hannah, Aspen & Tucker.
front row - Emma, Stella, Hallie & Tyler

The getaway car!

Backpacking - September 2006

We spent a wonderful weekend backpacking in Idaho with my parents, Kurt Carlee & Tyler, and Tucker and Hannah. Tyler is only two. Someone once told me that you can learn a lot about a person by taking them outdoors. James is already a wonderful outdoorsman and so backpacking was a wonderful, fun adventure. No complaints about getting tired or dirty from My Man!

Dress Shopping - August 2006

- McKayla helped me to pick out my dress! Actually, everyone helped. I borrowed Kim's veil and we bought my dress from a place in Boise with many choices of modest dresses. The dress was too big, so they had to do alterations. It turned out beautiful. Since we bought the dress, rather than renting, I'll be trying to decide what to do with it in the future - cut it apart and use it to make a blessing gown for future daughters? I think I can do that.

Pearl Mine - August 4, 2006

James & I explored an old abandoned mine in Pearl, ID with Kurt & Carlee.

We're Engaged!

I don't know how many people go through the "Getting-Married-But-NOT-Engaged-Yet" Stage while dating, but ours seemed especially long. James asked me to marry him quite a few times before he was allowed to officially propose.

The official requirements for engagement:
1. Ask your girlfriend's father for permission. July 1, 2006
For the weekend of June 30/July 1, we planned a day at Lagoon (amusement park). My granddad had a stroke just after Father's Day, so we were also anxious to come to Utah and spend some time with Granddad & Grandma. James, my parents, my siblings & families all drove to Utah for the weekend. James was planning to ride with my parents - the perfect opportunity to privately ask for permission to marry their daughter. Instead, Kathy came to Utah a few days early with my Aunt Janeal, Katie and Jayme. So, James would have uninterrupted time with Gil on the 5-hour-drive. 5-hours! That could make a suitor nervous. Instead, Deven's siblings, Brady & Kaydrielle, also hitched a ride to Utah with Gil & James. So, James thought he'd wait for a more confidential opportunity.

We spent Friday June 30th at Lagoon, riding rides and playing at the water park. James must love me, he let me drag him into the Pioneer Village, dress him up like an Outlaw and have our picture taken together. It really is Grandma's fault. She began calling us "Jesse James". Then we began calling James' XTerra, "The Outlaw". And sometimes, we refer to our future children as our "banditos". It's silly, but I think we look like very happy outlaws!

On Saturday July 1st, we spent some time at McKay Dee Hospital visiting with Grandma & Granddad. I was sitting on Granddad's bed and James was sitting in the windowsill. Gil and Kathy, Jed, Hallie, Stella, Deven & Kim, McKayla, Carter, Clay & Kristen, Emma and Aspen were all in the room or somewhere near.

Granddad asked me what our relationship status was currently. I made some non-committal answer. Granddad asked, "What's the delay?" And every face in the room turned to look at James.

Brave, brave James. He turned to face my dad and asked, "Gil, may I marry your daughter?" And every face in the room turned to look at Gil.

Dad's in the Hot Seat! "I have one condition, you'll have to watch a slide show of Jessi's life." James agreed and permission was finally, publicly obtained!

2. Buy an engagement ring.
James and I decided to go looking at rings together. We had several 'ring shopping' dates. We narrowed down the style of my ring very quickly, but looked and looked and looked and looked and looked at men's bands. We also decided that we want to save up the money required to buy our rings, so I knew he might not be able to propose with a ring. On the sly, James purchased a ruby ring, which he'd use to propose. (Not so sly: James ran into Kim & Deven at the store and Kurt & Carlee insisted on seeing it when he brought it home.)

3. Propose marriage to the love of your life. July 6, 2006
The Simpson Family Reunion was July 6-9, 2006. I was so excited to bring James to the reunion and introduce him to (yet more of) my dad's extended family. I wanted us to paddle the inflatable kayak on Cascade Reservoir, to play in the annual cribbage tournament (I taught James how to play cribbage very early in our relationship - in our games, the winner gets to choose a movie!), to help clean our adopted stretch of Highway 55, to jump off Banks Bridge into the river (which we did!), to raft the Payette River, to eat, to laugh and to visit.

On Thursday July 6th, after James got off work, we took The Outlaw on the 2-hour drive to the reunion. At one point, we drove over a wooded hill and then down a grade with a pretty view of Cascade Reservoir. James had seen a dirt road that looked as if it might have another, quieter view of the lake. We turned around, and turned up the dirt road, then parked and walked up to the ridgeline. Sadly, the view was mostly obscured by trees. We hurried back to The Outlaw (the mosquitoes were fierce!) and continued our drive. We quickly arrived at the campground. James asked if you can get to the lake from the campground, so I directed him to drive past our sites and down the road to a day-use area on the lake edge.

We arrived at sunset - the sun just below the ridgeline with a few pink clouds overhead, the almost-full moon putting extra sparkle on the water. We climbed out of the XTerra and walked to look out over the lake. James chose that moment to ask me to be his wife. I said YES! And he slid the ruby ring onto my finger. (There might also have been kissing.) James & I share a love of the outdoors, especially the mountains, so making the official decision to get married in this setting was wonderful.

4. Choose a wedding date & place.
October 10, 2006 - Salt Lake Temple
James wanted an anniversary that would be easy to remember - 10/10 looks like an easy date: we'll see if he remembers that date in five, thirty-five, even sixty-five years! We had a very short debate about which temple to be married in, but James didn't really have a choice. My parents, my maternal grandparents, and my maternal greatgrandparents were all sealed in the Salt Lake Temple and it has always been one of my favorites. Although that particular temple has significance to me, it is also wonderful to see and learn from all the long and happy marriages exemplified in both our families.

5. Congratulations, you can announce your engagement!
Because James proposed just minutes before the Simpson Family Reunion, I was able to introduce James as my fiance. In fact, I re-introduced him to my parents, my siblings and their spouses, aunts and uncles, cousins, Oma, anyone who would sit still for a second or two. We had just arrived at the pavillion and were visiting with some cousins, when APPLAUSE burst out from some picnic tables all the way across the room. Kim, Carlee & Kristen had caught sight of my ring and were cheering for James!

2006 Summer Apart...

Jessi moved to Bountiful, UT for the summer - sharing an apartment with several other girls (Kirstin, Maddie & Stephanie for April and May / Kirstin and Jausi for June, July, August & September). Since I was not going to be spending my summer with James, I wanted to be extremely busy and then the time would fly! I worked for Life Flight & Fed Ex Ground, fulfilled my NSP Board of Director responsibilities, attended the local student ward and called James on the phone at least a couple times a day.

James spent the month of April at a friend's apartment in Bountiful (in fact he spent more time at the apartment than Ethan did!). April was the one month where we lived less then two miles apart. James then moved to Idaho to begin work with Stonehenge Granite on May 1st. Kurt, Carlee, & Tyler offered a room at their house in Middleton, so James moved in with them and saw more of my family than I did this summer. James' received a calling to be a Ward Missionary in their ward.

According to MapQuest.com, we spent the summer living 359 miles and 5 hours apart!

Adventures:
Hiking for Turns - May 23, 2006 and June 2, 2006 - Jed's newest hobby is making skis - all spring he labored over a pair named "Nice Kilt" due to their plaid pattern. Once completed, they needed to be taken out for a spin. Jed Kurt & James took a couple different days off to extend their winter and test out the Kilts. On May 23rd they went to Copper Mountain - ask about the huge sun roller - and on June 2nd they went to Snow Bank Mountain, near Cascade, ID. There, they skied lines with names like "Granite Peak" and "Rockpile Chutes". Jed even put together a DVD of footage from the two ski adventures.

Memorial Day - May 29, 2006 - Lofgreen and Cherry Creek homestead sites. On Memorial Day, James and I went with my Grandma and Granddad Price, Uncle Glen and Aunt Nancy, Brett, Chad, Uncle Roger and Aunt Lynnette, Trevor, Chelsea & Colton to visit two places in our family history. Granddad's grandparents James & Sarah Williams homesteaded for a while in a place called Lofgreen, UT - all we could see from the road was railroad tracks. The road away from Lofgreen, back to the highway, is dirt and has a lot of extreme up and down - but Granddad took that motorhome everywhere that Glen's jeep went!

A little later in their lives, my great-great-grandparents homesteaded near Cherry Creek, UT. So we visited there next. We parked the motorhome and the Shumans led the way on their motorbikes. The rest of us climbed into Uncle Glen's jeep - Glen and Nancy in the front seats. Granddad, Grandma and Chad in the back seat. And James and I squeezed into the far back. Normally, I don't mind being cozy with James - but about the time we GOT STUCK IN THE CREEK it got a little uncomfortable. James, Chad, Granddad & I all climbed out the back window to dry ground. I'm sure Uncle Glen would appreciate a little disclaimer at this point:

"We are certain the jeep would have made it through the creek, had the 4-wheel-drive been fully engaged." Eventually, the jeep was towed out by Roger's truck and some old fashioned muscle power!













The great-greats had a house (which was moved to another location after they left the area) and built corrals and fences. They also planted a few trees along Cherry Creek - the trees being the biggest evidence of their presence in the area! So, of course, we took some pictures by those trees.












Eagle Fun Days - June 9, 2006- James' brother Brian (on his way from Alaska to the MTC in Provo, UT) and I arrived in Boise on the same morning. To celebrate, we raced indoor g0-karts at Fast Lane. We met up with Jed, Kurt Carlee & Tyler, Deven Kim McKayla & Carter, and some other friends. McKayla, Carter & Tyler even drove around the track for a lap (on an adult's lap!).

June 10, 2006 - Eagle Fun Days Activities: In the morning, Mom & I dragged James & Brian out to the Eagle Fireman's Fun Run - walking 3.1 miles. Sad to say that McKayla and Carter (&Kim) finished before both James and Brian. However, Brian did finish FIRST out of all participants from Alaska. Congratulations! We enjoyed the parade and wandering through Eagle, but we skipped out of the Rocky Mountain Oyster Feed in favor of a BBQ and a movie at Kim & Deven's house.

June 11, 2006 - Elder Brian McCalvy / California, Sacramento Mission.
Brian was set apart as a full-time missionary at 8 o'clock am on Sunday June 11, 2006 by President Stafford of the Eagle, Idaho Stake. We drove to Utah and on Monday, James & Brian did some last-minute shopping and toured the Hill Aerospace Museum. James really enjoyed spending a few days with Brian and I know they'll need more than a few days to swap mission stories two-years-from-now!

Brian entered the Missionary Training Center on Wednesday June 14th. Elder McCalvy left Utah for the Sacramento, California mission sometime near the 4th of July.

Visiting Family~

Aspen K Doty -
January 24, 2006 - My newest niece, Aspen, was born January 24, 2006 in Boise, Idaho to Kristen & Clay. 7 lb 10 oz. 20 inches. I didn't get to meet Aspen until the weekend she was blessed. On the Saturday prior to her blessing, the whole family went skiing. I finally got to SEE Aspen when we all met at Bogus Basin's lodge. My grandma, also holding Aspen for the first time, had priority - she was helping to watch the 8 kids under the age of 9 that were skiing with us. It wasn't until the very end of the day that I finally got to hold Aspen. Everyone had packed up, except James & I and Kristen, Clay, & Emma - they were busy collecting gear. My dad handed me Aspen on his way out to the car, saying, "She's probably hungry." Sure enough, meeting her favorite Aunt Jessi was not enough to distract her and she fussed a bit until I could find her bottle.

March 5, 2006 - Aspen's blessing. Aspen was blessed by her grandpa, Marvin Doty, at Clay & Kristen's house in Hidden Springs, Idaho on Sunday March 5, 2006. I was much luckier today - I got to hold Aspen quite a few times! My mom made the blessing dress and I crocheted the lavender baby blanket in my lap.

Mathew Camiel Bonnell -
June 7, 2005 - James' cousin, Mathew, was born during James' trip back to Alaska last summer. James & Brian were able to meet Mathew and visit with Uncle Rod, Aunt Laura & Jonathan during a brief stop near Reno, Nevada. Mathew was diagnosed with a genetic disorder - Spinal Muscular Atrophy. This disease affects the muscles - Mathew wasn't able to hold his own head up well, but that never affected his smile! Half of the infants with this diagnosis don't live until their 2nd birthday, so everyone knew time was short with this precious boy. For more information on Spinal Muscular Atrophy visit www.fsma.org

March 30, 2006 - Mathew passed away. James was able to attend a memorial for Mathew held near Reno on April 7, 2006. James and Uncle Rod have always been close friends, so James was grateful to spend some time with Rod and his family.