Our Trip to Disneyland!!

Mike and I spent our Fall break in Disneyland. We also went to longbeach and visited the Lane Victory Cargo WWII veteran ship, and to Newport Beach and Balboa.
We had the awesome opportunity to see parts of Mike's mission area and visit with some families from his mission. It was a wonderful vacation!!

Fall Pictures

A couple of weeks ago, Mike and I went up the canyon and got fall family pictures taken to celebrate our 1 year anniversary, the fall season, and my new haircut :)

Fun Summer Days

Here are some of the fun things we did before I came out to Virginia, hopefully we still have a lot of fun left to have this summer before school starts again!

Mike and I had the opportunity to go up to Logan and go camping with Whitney & Joe and Rick and Camille. It was so nice to get away from homework for the day, and go to one of my favorite places on earth.
Here is thebeginnings of one of Rick's famous fires . . . The newley weds . . . okay well we all were

Thanks so much everyone for letting us come up and play, we had so much fun!!

We also had a chance to take Mike's family swimming and had them over for a barbeque which was so fun (even though the fire was so small we had to cook the tinfoil dinners in the oven)

Oregon to Virginia

Well I have made it to Lynchburg Virginia, and have survived my first week of school! Liberty University it tucked away between rolling hills of forests that are very beautiful! I have met so many wonderful people, and while I miss Mike and all the family greatly, the Lord has given me so many blessings!

I know I am a little slow, but I thought I would blog about our trip to the west coast to visit KayLyn and Nate while I am now only 220 miles from the east coast :)




We got to see many lighthouses on the coasts of Oregon that were so beautiful!

We also spent time down at the harbor and after we ate clam chowder and real salt water taffy, and got to see the boats and tons of seals! Jessica loved the seals and would just watch them fascinated.



We got to go play on the beach, which was not very warm, but very fun! Nate was catching fish with his bear hands and was very proud of his catch (so was Jessica until she squeezed the poor fish to death!) Jessica loved running down the beach, and playing in the water.

Here is my handsome husband playing in the waves with Jessica

Nate caught the "Big One" We also got to see this shipwreck on the beach

Jessica just loved Mike and wouldn't let anyone else hold her or help her with anything. Here is the picture of the happy duo . . . well at least Mike looks happy.

We also got to drive over the bridge and picnic in Washington. Thank you KayLyn and Nate for having us out there! We love you so much!

One Tired Whiffen

whiffen (wif-n): noun - one who is described as cute, precious, or dainty.


Today we took the first hike of the 2010 season. We awoke early this morning and drove up into the foothills of Alpine to hike the "Three Mine Trail." It was a pretty good hike up to three old abandoned mines. It turns out that my great-grandfather was one of the prospectors that worked in and partially owned the mines. The hike was great and we were quickly reminded that it had been a long couped-up winter.




We found the first mine's entrance, which was not blocked off by anything. Crystal didn't appreciate my idea to go spelunking in the first mine or to become prospectors and spend the rest of our lives in the mountains mining for gold. I thought it sounded fun and profitable, but I was reminded that I was boy. We hiked up the side of the mountain and found what we thought was the entrance to the second mine. It looked like there was a mudslide that covered the entrance. We kept on the trail in search of the last mine. Up and up we went to no avail. Crystal looked up and saw that the top of the "mountain" was only a few hundred feet straight up. So we blazed our own trail up the side of the mountain and, with hearts racing and heavy breathing, reached the top.



We stood at the top and realized that we had only reached the top of one of the bumps. Maybe next week we'll conquer the whole mountain...maybe.
When we got back home after our few hours in the mountains I went up to help clear a family of birds that had taken up nest inside my grandparent's dryer (they had come in through the vent and built a nest). I walked downstairs to find this scene:

It was pretty cute to walk down and see my sweet wife passed-out on the floor in the living room after a long, arduous hike. She was one tired little whiffen!

Whitney's Wedding!

On March 12, 2010 Whitney Ann was sealed to Joe in the Salt Lake Temple for time and for all eternity. It was beautiful, and I felt so privileged to be with her at the sealing. Whitney Ann, I love you so much and am so excited for you both!!

P.S. Whitney, I loved the aggie icecream at the reception :)

Just a few weeks earlier, we hosted a surprise wedding shower for Whitney, and it was wonderful to see my dear friends and roommates again. I have been blessed with such dear friends!

The same day as the wedding I was so excited to see KayLyn and Nate

I am not sure if Jessica was as excited to see us . . .

I got to meet beautiful Emily!!

Two Formals, Two Nights, One Valentines

Mike Really spoiled me for Valentines this year, we spent a lot of fun time together. That Friday there was a formal date dance at the institute, and Saturday we got to dress up for a nice dinner. I love you so much Mike!!!


You have to love our homemade valentines decorations . . . can you tell I have been working in an elementary school?
Mike got me this beautiful rose bush for Valentines day, and it has had a hard life so far, but we are hoping to somehow revive it so we can plant it in some decent soil.
I made Mike a map of the U.S. that shows each state we have been to together. Hope we make it to them all!

Ever since Valentines day our life has been a little hectic. Mike is studying like crazy for the LSAT; the test isn't until June, but I guess the rest of our future kind of depends on it . . . to add to that I have decided to go back to school to get my Masters degree in special education and I start classes in one week.

Busy is good Right?

A Trip to the Circus

A couple of weeks ago Mike and I got to go to the circus with his sister Lacey and his brother Keven. We had a lot of fun, here are a few of the highlights . . .



Human Acrobatics (some of which were too scary for me, I had to hide my face in Mike's shoulder when a performer in a human hampster wheel almost took a fall from the top of the stadium.)





Keven Riding the Elephant


I didn't know they really did this . . .


Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My!

Well the only Lion there was Keven and he was supposed to be a tiger :)