Eliza's 18th Birthday Party in Utah (September, 2002)

Cody and Eliza at the LMNT Concert at Thanksgiving Point.

Eliza's first run at wakeboarding.

Enjoying our time in the sun aboard the Whip Ship.

Eliza was determined to get up on the wakeboard, and she made it look easy.


After having returned from Pennsylvania, Cody decided that he didn't want to go another year without seeing Eliza, so he decided to fly Eliza out to Utah for her 18th birthday (a special thanks to Scott for the SkyMiles that made this possible). Cody did a lot of planning to make sure that it would be a 4-day weekend packed full with fun and friends.

As soon as Eliza walked through the gate at the airport, Cody was filled with emotion and thought to himself: “I am the luckiest man on this earth”. Eliza was gorgeous and Cody knew there was something special about her.

They started off the weekend on Friday by eating Fire Grilled Chicken Salads at Café Rio (Eliza's first time, but definately not the last - now it's her all-time favorite food). They stopped off quickly at the Whipperman's house, changed into swimming suits, and headed up Little Cottonwood Canyon to the top of the Tram at Snowbird. It was a bit chilly, but in the sun the heat could be felt. They spent some "quality time" on top of the mountain. Eliza was embarrassed when an elderly couple intruded on "quality time" and we had to ride back down the Tram with them.

They then stopped off at Moon Rock just a little way down the canyon to experience the natural water slide in the creek. The water was ice cold, but Eliza proved herself worthy by going down the slide three times. Cody was impressed. They stopped off quickly to change and shower, and were then on their way with Shawn Moyes and Mandy Romero (dating) to the Alpine Slide in Park City. They ran into Jami Burt and her fiancée, Doug Nielson in Park City as well.

After the Alpine Slide, Cody and Eliza met up with Andy and Shannon Melchior at Applebees for all-you-can-eat ribs. Andy and Shannon were on an all meat diet (Atkins), and they chose the venue. They went back to the Melchiors' house and played Cranium until it was late.

Saturday came and Cody's extended family all went boating at Deer Creek Reservoir. Kippy showed off his flips while Cody showed off his air-ralleys. It was a good time. Eliza and Cody rode the water-weenie behind uncle Kelly Sheppard's boat. Cody taught Eliza how to wakeboard (it was her first time) and they had a great time out in the sun. After boating the family went to Kippy's friend Jonas’ concert. He is in a boy band called LMNT. They stopped off in Lehi to get pizza before the concert. The concert was good, but the company was better. On the way home, Eliza saw the beautiful, lit building in the west end of the valley and wanted to drive out and see it up close, so they drove out the the Jordan River Temple.

Cody and Eliza played a bunch of games of ping-pong before church and Eliza got slaughtered every time. After church they came home and ate dinner. Cody's mom (Toni) made Eliza a birthday cake, and she made a wish (that one day she'd marry Cody) and blew out the candles.

They got up early Monday and went waterskiing again. It was a little more fun this time. There weren’t so many people, so they got more time in the water. Eliza did awesome. She stayed up for close to a minute on the wakeboard, improving a lot from Saturday. After waterskiing they went to the Mayan and ordered virgin margaritas, chips and salsa, and watched the cliff divers.

They then took TRAX downtown to the new Gateway outdoor mall, walked around in Galyans Sporting Goods store for a while ending up in the all-time cheesiest store ever—The Build a Bear store. If you know Cody at all, you know he wouldn't be caught dead in a store like this (love makes people do irrational things). In this store you have to buy an un-stuffed animal, pay to stuff it, pay to give it a sound when you squeeze its paw, then you have to bathe it, buy it clothes, dress it, name it, and then get its birth certificate. After making a stuffed elephant, walking around the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, seeing "The Testaments", walking around Temple Square, the Conference Center, and eating at JB's (which made them deathly ill), they ended up stranded downtown because it was too late for TRAX. Bryan Howell came to the rescue and picked them up and took them home.

Eliza had to fly out Tuesday morning, and, needless to say, it was difficult to say goodbye for both Cody and Eliza.