In-Laws

Why are they called in-laws?  Out of curiosity, I did a search on Google and it came up dry.  Doesn't anyone know where this title originated?

My in-laws are more like crazy outlaws! 

Okay, after looking at this picture, I know what you're thinking.  "Elliot... you have the coolest in-laws in the universe."  And you're entirely correct.

How did I get so lucky?  Dunno.  But I had always heard that when you are thinking about getting married to someone, you need to make sure to check out his family.  "You don't just marry him, you marry into his family."  So, I went about this in the normal way.  FACEBOOK STALKING!

Haha- it's true.  Only his parents, though.  I already knew two of his three sisters pretty early on, and they were really nice and I got along with them great.  Kirsten (the eldest) was a little intimidating at first but HEY, it's her job.  As an eldest, I wholeheartedly respect that.  But I was really curious to meet his mother.  Why?  Because Roy talked to her on the phone a lot.

I didn't need to hire Sherlock to know that Roy is a bit of a mama's boy.  He doesn't like to go too long without talking to her.  Cute!  But who is this wonder woman?  And how did she learn to read minds???  Yeah, before I even got around to properly stalking her page, she requested to be my friend!  Oh, I immediately knew she was good.  She was one step ahead of me already.  She was... too good.

One day I was signing off Facebook to go to class when the Mama Buck herself instant messaged me.
*gasp*
My palms got sweaty, which doesn't usually happen to me.  I was so nervous.  Dying to impress her, I pounced on a thesaurus.  Haha- okay that's really not true, but that would have been funny, huh?  I'm getting a little carried away with the story.  But the truth is that I so badly wanted to impress her that I abandoned plans to prepare for class and stayed on Facebook for an extra fifteen minutes.  She was nice!  I felt relief.  And I was fifteen minutes late to class that day.

I later met Laura when she came to visit her kids in Rexburg.  I learned we share a love of books and we both hate shopping, so I knew she had to be cool.  But Roy's dad was still a mystery.  I'd talked to him on the phone only one time --once-- before Roy put a ring on my finger.

Friends asked me, "Isn't that weird?  You've never met his dad and you're engaged?"

Confidently, I told everyone I wasn't worried.  But I was a little.

Only because everyone I'd met who knew Dennis told me things along the lines of, "Just wait 'til you meet Dennis.  Hopefully he won't scare you off."

AH!

I finally met Dennis in Provo when he and Laura came to visit last year.

Tips for meeting in-laws:
Oh... I guess I only have one:
#1 RULE Avoid the topic of grandchildren like viral meningitis.  (Sorry, but isn't "the plague" getting old?  That was like seven centuries ago.  We have soap now, I'm pretty sure the black death isn't making a comeback.  Let's get over our irrational fears, shall we?  And is it just me or does this post seem a little schizo?)

Dennis likes to see if he can make you blush.  So that first night at dinner whenever he mentioned babies I basically just blushed and shrugged.  Phew!  As easy as avoiding the plague!  I passed inspection and nobody stopped the wedding, which is good because we wouldn't have been able to return the ring.  Not without a trip to London.  Hmm...
...
Nope, still not worth it.  :-)

I'm not as shy or nervous around the in-laws anymore.  Roy no longer has to nudge me or whisper, "You haven't said anything the whole time."  A lot of my confidence has stemmed from being around them more and more (and I'm always shy around people I don't know well), but in all honesty, a lot of it has come from how nice and relaxed they are.  There's zero pressure, but they're also ready to help you out whenever you really need it.

It was awesome to have them visit during the Christmas break.  We benefited from both Laura's cooking and Dennis' fix-it skills.  But the best was just going out to the movies, playing Apples to Apples, hanging out, etc.  The highlight was going to the LDS Timpanogos temple.  It's one of the prettiest temples I've ever seen!  And we got to go with Leah for her first time.  It was excellent!

Horror stories about monster-in-laws that try to wedge their way into every aspect of your married lives?  Micro-managing father-in-laws?  Not for me!  Seriously, I love being a bUcKmAsTeR!

{Dennis, Kelsey popping out in the back there, Leah and her fiance Jamie, Roy + Me, Catye who is Jamie's super cool sister, Laura, and Kenny and Andrea who are honorary Buckmasters in this photo.}