5 Year's and counting!

Tyson and I went to Las Vegas for a fun anniversary celebration. It was the first time we both left Jayde overnight, but she did GREAT for his parents who stayed at our house the two nights to watch her.

• we walked around the strip
• ate at Serendipity (their oreo frozen hot chocolate was not very good just FYI)
• Tyson got a 5 min massage at the mall (that cost like $10!)
• saw 'O' which was Amazing and was our anniversary gifts to each other
• laid out by the pool
• went to the movies to see Harry Potter and Captain America in 3D...on the same day... you heard it right - 2 movies on the same day! (it was my first time seeing 3D which it was pretty cool)
• slept in (probably the nicest thing of the whole weekend)
• shopped at the outlets
• ate tons of seafood at the Rio Buffet (totally pricey but totally worth it!) I discovered that oysters are probably the nastiest sea food out there!
  

All the while our little baby but-not-so-much-a-baby-anymore Jayde was totally living it up playing with her nana & papa all weekend. I think she was in heaven! It's a good thing she did so well while they watched her. When we got back they said we should go away more often so they can babysit her. We really lucked out with such a great kid!


Here's to many more fun anniversaries with my amazing husband. It's been a total roller-coaster ride, but a blast none-the-less!

Love you hun!
xoxo

Four Years

Four Years ago on July 22nd Tyson and I were sealed together for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake City Temple.
Our wedding day was perfect!
I think the only thing I would have changed was my shoes were super un-comfy.
But hey - at least they were cute.

To celebrate this year we had a neighbor watch Jayde and we went to Samarai 21 for a great meal, then had a 1 1/2 hour couples massage. It was awesome and much needed!

Here are some of the things we've done in the last four years.
PLACES WE'VE BEEN:
Catalina
Ensanada
San Francisco
Cleveland
Kirkland
DC
Niagra Falls
Virginia Beach
Williamsburg
New York
New Jersey
Luray Caverns
Harpers Ferry
Gettysburg
Philadelphia
Amish Country
Georgia
Monticello
Boston
St. Thomas
Dominica
Aruba
San Juan
Grenada
Bonaire
Lava Hot Springs
Costa Rica
Zion National Park
Kingman
San Diego

THINGS WE'VE EXPERIENCED:
Laura went to her first country concert - Tim & Faith
Lauras first time wake boarding
Moved to Cleveland
Saw the Amish
Tyson went to his first air show
Laura's first Bronco game
Went to the Kirkland Temple
Experienced crazy blizzards and ice-storms in Cleveland
Moved to DC
Our little niece Ashlyn was born
Figured out the metro
Fireworks on 'the mall' in DC
Toured the White House
Went to DC Temple
Saw Blue Man Group
Tyson camped on steps of Supreme Court to go to Gun Ban Case
Saw the Cherry Blossoms
Listened to former President Bush at Arlington Cemetery for Memorial Day
Awesome trips to New York including a girls trip & around Christmastime
Laura took golf lessons
Saw Les Miserables
Ran the DC Marathon
Our nephew Lincoln was born
Saw the Red Sox stadium
Went to the law school's 'prom'
Awesome spring break in Mexico to see Laura's fam
Tyson sang Karaoke!
Sold our Passat
Took our celebratory cruise for finishing Law School
Saw Phantom of the Opera
Watched Tyson walk - done with school!
Tyson found a job so we...
Moved to Utah
Sent Laura's brother Thomas on a mission to NJ
Laura cut her hair short
Laura bought her first car - 2008 Passat
Laura ran a 5K
Tyson studied for and passed the UT bar
Went zip lining in Costa Rica
Gained some weight
We got pregnant!
Tyson lost his job
Jessi (Tyson's sister) got engaged
Robert (Laura's brother) got engaged
Tyson found another - even better job
We moved to St George
Went to the Symphony
Bought a house
Our little darling Jayde Brielle was born
Jessi & Ryan got married
Jayde's first time to California and the beach
Robert & Rikki got married
We blessed Jayde
Visited Jessi & Ryan in Kingman
Went to San Diego for our first family trip

We've had four awesome adventure-filled years, and here's to forty more!

the symphony

tyson took me to the symphony last friday to celebrate valentines
we were almost late getting there and i was worried i would be out of place because i wore jeans
then i remembered that it's st george
everyone else was wearing them also - almost no dresses
we sat in our seats and ty immediately started yawning (hee hee)
the yawning stopped pretty quickly after a few nudges and chuckles from me
i think jayde liked the pieces because she kicked the whole time
we talked about the different instruments and the songs we liked

have you ever been to watch a symphony?
i have a few times and love it
but always get random thoughts running through my head
like....
doesn't the conductor's arms get soo tired?
i'll bet he does arm workouts at home
those huge drums would be fun to play
i wish i knew how to play a stringed instrument
they didn't have matching outfits which is what i was used to, they all wore black but one lady's shirt was pretty see-through...
which was strange to me
do they do encore's?
i'll bet if someone messed up, no-one in the audience would have the slightest
i wish we had a piano... i wonder where one would fit in the house

thanks tyson for our first symphony experience
love you!

27 Years Young

This post is a little belated, but Tyson turned 27 earlier this month! We celebrated with the fam while they were in town the weekend before, and went to Anasazi down here in St. George. on the actual day (just the two of us). Supposedly this place is known for their meat, and it was cool because you could get the meat and cook it right in front of you these rocks brought to the states from Australia. They heat these rocks in a kiln for 24 hours before you cook your meat on them. It was very good! If any of you know Tyson, you will know this would be his dinner of choice for his b-day. If you're wondering if he enjoyed it, just look at the last picture of him enjoying the simple moment of a huge chunk of meat just ready to be eaten.

I'm so lucky to be married to such an amazing man. He treats me like a queen, and is my perfect match. It has been a blast having all of these adventures together throughout our marriage, living and traveling all over the US. We never knew we would end up in St. George, but it has been wonderful so far! I am so excited to start on this new adventure of being parents together. He is going to be a great dad, and it will be fun seeing him completely wrapped around her little finger!

Three years and counting

I thought I would take a quick break from studying to tell Laura how grateful I am for her. Three years ago today we were hitched (for all you not from Utah, that means we got married). Now although married life always has its ups and downs, it has been one hell of a ride and I could not think of anyone else I would want next to me. During these three years we have: moved to Cleveland, endured the worst winter ever for us, then moved to DC, met many good friends, endured 3 years of law school, searched for jobs in a down market, moved back to Utah, and now endure bar prep. It has been a busy and hectic three years, not even counting all the awesome vacations we have had together. But oh how it has been worth it.
I am so thankful for Laura because she always kept a good attitude about life and would always make me laugh when I was stressed out. Even though I may have not always laughed out loud, I was laughing inside. Needless to say, we have had so many great adventures so far and we are sure to have many more to come. Thank you for a great three years and for being supportive as I have dragged you through law school.

FYI -- all of you who want to get a marriage started off right, you have to play a round of golf on your wedding day. It will bring everything into perspective because no matter how hard life is, it is never as frustrating as golf!!

Graduation Celebration Cruise...part 3

Sixth Stop: DOMINICA

• Shopped around in the heat and found some cute jewelry, little girl dresses (that Tyson wouldn't let me get), and some baby turtles that I desperately wanted to take home with me.
• Met up with our excursion people and hopped into the wonderful "Wacky Rollers".
• Drove on the left side of the road past some cool scenic points and neat forest.
• Wound up and up into the jungle mountains to see the waterfalls.
• Saw bright yellow land crabs.
• Drove to a natural spring-type swimming area with waterfalls.
• Jumped into the freezing water and swam through caves that they filmed the part of Pirates of the Caribbean when they were inside and rolling in the big round balls made of bones.
• Almost went through the waterfall to see the other side when the first lady went and almost got sucked under...which is why we were wearing life vests!
• Was glad I didn't have to refer to my lifeguard training and do CPR.
• Sat under a warm natural spring.
• Ate fresh mango, pineapple, sugar cane, and coconut as we dried off.
• Had another formal night and got all dressed up.
• Took picture at their photo-booth things but didn't like any of them.
• Had a nice dinner and saw another comedian.
• More ice-cream and outdoor movies.
  

Seventh & Last Stop: ST. THOMAS

• Walked around the city and looked at cool jewelry I couldn't afford.
• Taxied over to a local scuba shop and rented some snorkel gear.
• Dove to the bottom a ton to find some more cool shells.
• Found out that I'm WAY more of a fish than Tyson is (much to my disappointment). Maybe one day he will like the water more, I know that at least our kids will love it!
• Taxied back to the cruise ship for me to find a St. Thomas souvenir.
• Bought a cute picture frame to document the whole cruise experience & some adorable jewelry that have a stone they find in the Dominican Republic.
• Relaxed by the ship while staring at some iguanas sun bathing on the rocks. Then watched some crazy person pick up and play with the iguanas!
• More ice cream... then the token Cruise PiNa Colada. You gotta have at least one of those on the trip!

So overall this trip was such a blast! We definitely needed the vacation from the stresses that law school provided and this was the perfect solution that we recommend to all of our friends. I'm so glad that I have such a wonderful husband who loves to travel as much as I do! So cruise on my friends...cruise on!

Graduation Celebration Cruise...part 2

Fifth Stop: GRENADA

• Forecast: rain...again.
  
• Took myself forever to figure out what to wear and how to do my hair in this 'ultimate' humidity, knowing that I was just going to get rained on again.
  
• Ate a great breakfast.
• Met up with our group for our excursion.
• Drove up incredibly steep hills higher and higher into the mountains with a bus of fun people.
• Listened to our tour guide and found ourselves walking sticks so we wouldn't trip and fall all the way down the mountain.
• Learned about the local wildlife and crops/spices they grow on the island.
• Watched Tyson get super excited about buying spices that were grown here to take home.
• Saw some adorable homes scattered all around.
• Slipped quite a few times on some steep parts (I swear I was using my stick).
• Watched Tyson slip a few times which made me feel a little better about myself :)
• Ended up at two huge waterfalls that were gorgeous.
• Swam around a bit and watched our guide do flips off these very tall waterfalls.
• Asked Tyson if he would let me jump off, and he said no...
• ...then it started POURING, so experienced our first jungle rain outburst.
  
• Hiked back and paid $1 each to get our feet washed off of all the mud from a local.
• Practically almost died as the driver swerved in and out of these crazy windy steep roads back down the mountain (It was like driving in Mexico all over again!)
• Stopped at a local store where they sold their spices and awesome ice-cream which made Tyson's day.
• Saw a gorgeous rainbow which made the rain totally worth it.
• Got cleaned up and went to probably the funniest comedy show I've ever seen.
  
• More ice-cream and movies on the big screen.
  

Graduation Celebration Cruise...part 1

When Tyson and I were married and he started Law School, I kept trying to think of something we would both LOVE to do to celebrate when he graduated in 3 years. Obviously we thought of a cruise because we both love them. We booked through Princess Cruise Lines which was quite a bit different than Carnival (we used on our honeymoon)... to the Caribbean!

First Stop: SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

• We flew into the day before we needed to embark so we could enjoy the city.
  
• Checked in to the hotel that was literally right on the beach!
• Took a bus to a really cool fort that has been on the island for forever.
• Almost paid the $10 to tour the inside of the fort and then decided against it and walked around it instead.
  
• Watched people having fun flying kites.
• Made Tyson do a cart-wheel which I caught on the video camera.
• Ate amazing food.
• Took a ton of pictures of the cool skinny rainbow colored streets.
• Stumbled upon a preforming group that did a bunch of different cultured dances.
• Walked and talked along the beach that night.

Second Stop...well kind-of stop: DAY AT SEA

• Slept in really late and had every intention of seeing the sunrise from our balcony (which we got upgraded to for free).
  
• Took pictures to document our free upgrade balcony because that probably won't happen again...ever.
• Bought the $29.99 per person soda refill-thing because we figured Tyson would for sure drink that amount of soda for the both of us. So worth it!
  
• Tanned and watched movies on their HUGE projector that they played movies on constantly. It was awesome because you could swim in the pool right underneath it if you got hot, now that's my kind of tanning!
  
• Realized that they didn't do the towel animals on your bed so took a picture in front of the fruit art sculpture instead :)
• Ate free soft serve ice-cream and didn't feel any guilt about it!
• Walked around the ship to see what fun things they had and set up most of our excursions.
• Ate a really nice formal dinner and met our awesome waitress from Africa.
  

Third Stop: ARUBA

• Took a tour bus to take us all around the island which was WAY cheaper than booking it through the cruise! This is highly recommended my friends.
  
• Saw my first all natural forming bridge.
• Took pictures of the rock piles all over the place not realizing what the heck they were for.
• Found out that the rock piles were *seven wishes* where they believe that when you stack 7 rocks on-top of each other you get 7 wishes...or one wish...one of those.
  
• Made my own pile of rocks and made a wish.
• Drove to an abandoned mine and made Tyson climb up and pose in one of the windows for me.
• Realized that Aruba isn't everything that The Beach Boys made it cracked out to be. A little let-down.
• Felt like I was in my desert-y home town because of all the cacti.
• Ate fish & chips at a cute outdoor restaurant.
• Searched for some cool shells in the ocean while swimming...then to find out that my sunglasses ended up on the bottom of the Arubian ocean never to be found again.
• Got rained on as we took the bus back to the cruise ship.
• Watched and laughed Tyson eat octopus that night.
  

Fourth Stop: BONAIRE

• Slept in.
• Almost got in with a group going out to sea and snorkel.
• Ended up going to a local shop to get gear, and snorkeled at a good section of the island.
• Kicked Fire Coral and ended up with some stinging bumps on my ankle that stayed for about a month...only really hurt for an hour...battle wounds!
• Saw a sleeping sea turtle which I really wanted to touch but Tyson wouldn't allow it
  
• Watched Tyson almost get attacked by some huge iguanas and have the hilarious ordeal all on video.
• Bought a cool carved coconut-husk thing.
  
• Gambled that night a lost $20. Tyson lost a whopping $30 thanks to his lack of self control on the nickle and penny machines ;)
• Ate more ice-cream.
• Watched more movies on the big screen.