The Story of Claire

Way back in 2004 when I had just spent a pretty lonely freshman year attending ASU I got the itch to do an away semester at BYU Hawaii. I wanted an adventure, but one that didn't require leaving the US. And Hawaii seemed like a fantastic idea. So in June of 2004 I boarded an airplane to Hawaii, alone, and made my way to the best summer of my life. I had made arrangements to take a shuttle from the airport to my new "summer beach house", but I had a really hard time finding the shuttle. I finally did and realized I wasn't the only one having a hard time. The shuttle driver (who was barefoot......really, he loaded my bags into the back of the van and he didn't have any shoes on) got a call saying there were two more girls looking for him. After a couple of airport loops we found them and my future sister-in-law happened to be one of those girls.

Both of the girls were so cute and as luck would have it, they were both from Gilbert, AZ. Maybe I had finally found the lifelong friends I had always wanted to have?!?!? The luck got even better as I learned that Claire and Mel were going to be my next door neighbors. After years of doing things alone, EFY, BYU summer school, ASU etc. and not having the best experience with making new friends, my life was changed! These girls were amazing! So fun! And so nice!


We spent the summer gallivanting, taking hula and pacific island dance. We hitch hiked, met super interesting people, swam at some of the most beautiful beaches and had the time of our lives. Towards the end of the summer I mentioned to Claire that I had a single older brother at home that was pretty cute and pretty available and how great would it be to be sisters forever! And it worked. Cody and Claire met during the one week I had between coming home from Hawaii and moving up to Provo (where I was transferring to BYU). By November they were engaged and March they were married.

And I am sooooooo glad that I found Claire! Because not only do I get to take credit for it for the rest of my life ;) But Claire is the perfect match for Cody. She is definitely his other half and they compliment each other so well. She is so good to him and I am so grateful for that. She is a great sister-in-law! My family can be a little overwhelming and a little in each other's business but Claire just goes with it and is such a good sport. She is a great hiking and running buddy, a fantastic aunt and baby swapper, and she is such a good listener and has always had sound advice even from day one. I am grateful for Claire and I hope that she has the Happiest Birthday!!

Most of my Hawaii photos are on CD's in storage, so this was the best that I could do for pictures (please don't judge me, this was the beginning of my chubby years)