One Year...YEAH!!!

So we made it to our One Year Anniversary. The actual day was on Sunday (7/20) but we started the celebrating early. On Friday night we went up to Sundance Resort for the Moonlight Ski Lift ride. We got up there early enough to grab some dinner from the Deli but it was so crowded we had a difficult time finding a parking space. We ended up parking just outside the parking lot on the road.
We bought our lift tickets and then went to eat. We had a really good sandwich and some chips. Then we decided just as the sun was setting that we would start going up the mountain. It was just after 9 pm so we thought we would see the moon at least by the time we were on our way back down since they said it was a 45 minute ride. We took in as much of the scenery as we could and loved the different than normal view. We even saw a deer but it was getting dark by then that the camera wouldn't get a good enough picture.

You can see the chair lift at the top of the mountain (at the skyline) but that's not the end. It keeps going!

The cute husband on the chair lift up.

Unfortunately we didn't see the moon at all but we did see the first of the stars come out. As much as it would have been cool to see the full moon that night, we really loved the fact that we got to actually see the beautiful surroundings on our way up the mountain. I think we'll try and go next month for the next full moon ride but go much later in the evening.

This is Mt Timpanogos and it still has snow on it. If you click on the picture you might even be able to see the Stewart Falls waterfall in the middle of the mountain.

Then on Saturday we went up to the Mt Timpanogos temple. I couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate our temple sealing. It was such a great reminder to me of the eternity ahead of us as husband and wife. After the temple we checked in to the Hampton Inn in Lehi (we stayed at this hotel after our wedding before heading off for our Honeymoon Cruise).
Even though we weren't too far from home, it was so nice to get away and just have a relaxing weekend focused on us. Our room was pretty nice and the bed was so comfortable I fell asleep on it as soon as we got back from dinner that night. For dinner, we went to The Texas Roadhouse in Sandy. It was a fun environment there and the food was really good. We couldn't believe how much food we actually got!! We ended up taking home a full box of leftovers between the two of us. It fed us for another meal and a half. It was well worth it!

Us after dinner ready to start watching a movie.

The next morning we woke up and had breakfast downstairs in the hotel. Then we got ready to go to church. We looked up online to find the nearest church and opted against the 8:30 meeting schedule. Instead we went at 10:30. It was such a small little ward but they were really friendly and welcoming to us as visitors. We went back to the hotel and had lunch (leftovers) and then took a walk around the area. It was mainly office buildings nearby but it was a little overcast so it was a perfect time for a walk. During our walk, we could see the window to our hotel room. It is the bottom middle window in the picture below.
Then for dinner we finished off the leftovers and had Taquitos, chips and salsa. It was so fun to just have a fun little meal in the room. We ate while we finished watching Mary Poppins (the movie we had fallen asleep during the night before).

Eating dinner and watching a movie.

I took Monday off of work so we could spend one more day together to celebrate. We checked out of the hotel and started our day off with a meeting with one of Brian's friends. Then we headed up to Gardner Village in West Jordan. It is a neat place with some little shops around the area. They had anything from toys, candy, clothes/accessories, furniture, and even a Christmas Village shop. Christmas all year round!! Some of the shops were really fun to walk through. We finished up our trip at the Bakery with a slice of bread and an Oreo bar treat. It was pretty rich but delicious. Then on our way home we stopped at my grandparents house in West Jordan to say hi. It felt so good to have a day off and just spend time with the ones I love. Nothing stressful and lots of fun memories.

I apologize for the lengthiness of this post but I wanted to make sure I got the important details in so I remember years down the road the special things we did on our Anniversary. I will always love you Brian!!

Grandma's House

After the breakfast we all went back to Grandma's house. This year my aunts and uncles helped in the garden since my grandparents are getting older and it's harder for them to take care of it. So the younger grandkids played video games or card games while the rest of us read the newspaper or looked through books in the house. Not too exciting when you're tired from an early morning. Then Maria and I went for a walk to use my new camera. We took pictures of the old barns in the backyard, the house, went to the stream that little kids love, and walked down the street to the old park. I had fun just taking pictures but now I have a TON of them! Having a digital camera that takes pictures so quickly means I take WAY more than I ever have before (and that was already a lot). So, for your viewing pleasure...

Family Breakfast

Disclaimer: Lots of information that the normal person probably wouldn't care to know but I am giving details and lots of pictures for the family that wasn't able to make it to the breakfast. You can click on the pictures to make them bigger.

During the 4th of July holiday, my mom's side of the family always has a breakfast up Weber Canyon. I don't get to see my extended family too often so I look forward to the get together each year. This year it was on Saturday the 5th so it worked out for us to go up that morning. We picked up my sister and her husband and drove up. We were the last ones there but we made it. They made the usual delicious breakfast (pancakes, french toast, eggs, bacon, and sausage) and we enjoyed it thoroughly. Here I am finishing up my breakfast in the beautiful surroundings.
My Grandpa Bob's 80th birthday is next month so while we were all together we did a small celebration at the breakfast. He was so excited when he saw his present. A deer garden accent. He was really proud of his 4-point.
Then we had our annual family pictures. We always start off with the grandchildren. Then Grandma and her kids, then add Grandpa Bob, then add spouses, then do each family individually. This year we skipped the individual families because the kids wanted to get to the river to play. Here are the grandkids that were there with Grandma and Grandpa.
Then we had Grandma with her kids (4 out of 6 were there). Some people made comments about how straight faced they were so comments/jokes were made during the next several pictures trying to get them to smile.See how much happier they all look with big smiles?? Then we were off to the river just down the trail. It's the favorite spot after breakfast. The traditional thing is to throw rocks in the water. I don't know if it's because everyone is growing up or what, but the river didn't attract most people for too long. Me, Brian, Maria and Tim were actually the last to leave. We entertained ourselves well. Here is the river and then Me, Maria, and Tim throwing rocks into it all at once.
We decided to take our own individual family shots by the river and I think they look pretty nice with the beautiful river as the background. Then we had to take the infamous "sisters" picture. We seem to always get a picture of us sisters whenever we get together. Too bad we are missing one! We're sad you guys couldn't make it Tammy!! You can tell we're sisters...

4th of July Parade

I know it's a week late but that's better than the camping pictures that I promised 2 weeks ago and still haven't posted! For the 4th of July, Brian and I went to the Freedom Festival Parade that morning and had a pretty good spot to watch everything considering how crazy early people stake their claim on a spot (You can see how crowded it is in the first picture). Some people even came out and sat on their roof to watch the parade. I thought that was the best option.
There were some pretty cool floats (which can be seen in the pictures above). It's kind of small but if you click on it you can see it much better. It took me back to my childhood to see Babar the Elephant in the parade! Again, the Primary Children's Medical Center did a fantastic float (the Pirates of the Caribbean). They have one of the best floats each year and I love them! Some of the Star Wars action figures made an appearance. And don't forget the BYU float, followed by the BYU Semi with athletes, student body officers, cheerleaders, etc. School spirit!! Brian's favorite was the piggy bank and the farm for the Bank of American Fork. It was pretty clever and cute.
The night before the 4th we went downtown to the booths and checked things out. There wasn't anything too exciting there so after wandering through everything we finally decided on "Twisted Tators" for dinner. It was basically a potato cut with a machine that thinly slices the potato in one really big piece. Think of an apple peeler and the apple peel looks like when it's done and that is what the entire potato looked like. Then it was fried so it was crispy. You season it and enjoy! It was pretty greasy but delicious and so much fun! I intended to take a picture but we were so hungry that we didn't even give it a second thought once we started eating...sorry.

Ellis Island

The afternoon after the parade we went over to the SCERA park and went to Ellis Island. They have the park set up to give you a feel of what it was like to come to America through Ellis Island back in the day. They had some cool pictures and old documents from that time. Then you walked through the entrance and are welcomed to Ellis Island (see the picture of Brian entering below):


Then the rest of the area has flags set up in the shape of a star. There are 10 stops along the "journey" (each outer and inner point of the star) that have a statement and question. Most of them were basically asking if you were willing to do ______ for your freedom (or your rights, etc). Mainly to promote pride in your country.

It wasn't quite as exciting as what we were expecting but we just bought a new camera so we had a lot of fun trying out different settings and playing with it to get cool shots with the flags. I am proud to be an American!

I think this picture of Brian is really cool. If you know him you will agree that it just soots him to be posed in front of the American flag. Especially with a thoughtful look.

I have always loved the 4th of July and all the festivities that go along with it. It is a holiday that I associate being around family members and I look forward to that gathering each year. However, I feel like Brian has really helped me see a different side of Patriotism. Not to just see the fun but to be grateful for the history of our nation and the freedoms we have. He has taught me that we need to be involved in society today to help keep those freedoms alive and to maintain a good country for our posterity to live in as well. Thank you for helping me see a different side of our daily freedoms.