Anniversary in San Francisco

This weekend was our one-year anniversary!! This year has flown by and been the best year of our lives! Life just seems to keep getting better. We just moved to Merced California (Central) last week for the summer. We decided to take a trip to San Francisco while we are living close. Neither of us had ever been so we just went to explore. We walked around pier 39, saw Alcatraz, went to the aquarium, ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, and walked around the city together!
In the Aquarium!

We didn't ride the trolly but we got a picture on it!

We experienced the Hard Rock Cafe! It was mostly because everywhere else had seafood and we just had seafood the day before. It was an overpriced experience but we loved it!

I love my husband and I'm so happy that I get to spend eternity with him.

Zion's National Park

When finals were done, we decided to go camping with our good friends, Richard and Marissa Patterson. We headed about 4 hours south to camp and hike at Zion's National Park. We arrived in the evening and set up camp. My cousin Kim came with her husband Tyler for the evening. We made steak and potato tin foil dinners and ate s'mores and played games.

Day 2- we went on two of the many hikes in zion canyon. The first hike was steep and strenuous. This is the view from the top..
Steep switchbacks. (Willard's Wiggles)

There were parts of the hike that were very steep with very high cliffs on each side. We had to go up holding on to the chain. Scary!!
Looking towards the gigantic mountain we were about to conquer.

We enjoyed climbing in the random caves in the rocks!

Our group at the top of the mountain.

Looking into the canyon!

Kim and Tyler!

After the first strenuous hike we decided to do one more less strenuous hike.

We hiked around some beautiful waterfalls. It was such a fun and short trip and I'm starting to appreciate some of the beauty of Utah.

Sunday Picnic

So the weather here has been great when it isn't snowing and we have been enjoying sunday afternoon walks. Last sunday we packed ham sandwiches, orange juice, apple slices, and no-bake cookies and walked to a park that we had never been to before. Max insisted on bringing our children (Dot and Penelope). I am so embarassed of our children. Anyway, we had so much fun talking and eating and playing Dice!

Max's Commercial

Max got to be in a commercial for his work. He had so much fun. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgWKtrPwMHo

Armenia

My past mission companion, Anna Pew, found round trip tickets to Armenia for $800 per person this May. Max and I are seriously considering going. It is an amazing deal and it would be good timing to go now before we have children! I just get more excited thinking about it. It will be wonderful to see the amazing people there again, eat some of the traditional foods, use their crazy public transportation and the best part is that I can share it all with my amazing husband! I'm so excited!!

Fire Fighting and Strawberries!

This last February has flown by but it was full of busy homework and a prolonged Valentines day!

Early in February My brother James and his family came to stay with us for a night. We had a lot of fun and went dressed up for our stake Valentine's day dance!

James Elizabeth and Gwenevere

Gwenevere really did have fun dancing with me!

A couple days later Max needed to travel to Portland to take an exam to get onto the Portland Fire Department. We have decided that Fire Fighting will be a good career for him and our family. All fire departments have a test, then if you do well on the test you are called back for a physical, then if you pass the physical you are called in for a interview with the Cheif. Portland's test was the first test that Max took and he plans on applyng to many fire departments around the Oregon and Washington area. Portland has some of the best training and it would be an ideal situation but it is very competitive so we have a back up plan if he doesn't get in. Anyway, he left on Monday February 15, I would have loved to go with him however I would have died if I missed a week of school. He stayed with his cousin in McCall Idaho for 2 nights to study for the test. (His cousin is a Fire Captain in McCall) While we was in that snowy freezing city he not only studied but visited the fire department and went snow shoeing with Jeremy and Krystel.

The pictures look beautiful! I'm jealous that I wasn't able to go but we are planing a trip there at the end of March so Max can do some Job shaddowing!After 6 days and 5 nights of not seeing my husband I missed him a ton! That is the longest we've ever been apart in our marriage and hopefully it was the last time. we decided to celebrate Valentine's a little bit more because it seemed to be cut short the week before. As my husband came home around 8 o'clock on a saturday night I had left candles all over the stairs descending into our basement apartment. There were a trail of candles leading inside to the kitchen table where I left chocolate covered strawberries spelling out I heart U! (I guess the pictures are pretty self explanatory.) It was so wonderful to see my husband again! We then binged on strawberries, changed quickley and headed to another fancy dinner dance. Max surprised me with some beautiful jewelry that I was so excited to get because I really don't own much jewelry!
I guess I will end the story there!

Dot's Story

Oftentimes I don't write anything on this blog because I feel that nothing interesting ever happens to us. We are just busy students. So I thought I would share a story about our daughter Dot (short for Dorothy.) Dorothy was born May 2 2009. We met her on the day of our wedding and instantly fell in Love. She really is the perfect Baby, she never cries, doesn't need food, and we never have to change her diaper.

During the summer Dot liked to go on outings with us. One of her favorites was to go and play at the gym. Her friend Augustine made her a cute little workout diva outfit which she has worn ever since. She has traveled to universal studios and the beach with us. But those are pretty much the only times we have let her leave the house in her nearly 10 months of life. She does love to play with her parents at home, her favorite activity is gymnastics although she often gets caught in the ceiling fan.

Dot's tragedy happened when she was visited by her favorite cousin, Gwenevere. (Gwenevere is nearly 4 months older than Dot) Gwenevere was innocently playing with her late developing cousin when Dot's arm just fell off. Dot of course was our little angel and didn't complain one bit. I'm not even sure she or Gwenevere realized what had happened they were just having so much fun playing!

Aren't they the cutest little angels ever?