8 years ago .............. this young happy couple...........went to the Lord's Temple...
...and were married for time and all eternity.
In 2003, with the help of her uncle they bought their first home in St. Anthony, Idaho.
In 2004 they welcomed their first child into their arms.
In 2005, they both received their bachelors degree from Brigham Young University-Idaho.
In 2006, they welcomed a daughter into their hearts.
In 2007, they bought their second house (a big fixer-upper) in Iona, Idaho.
They also brought another "child" into their life
and celebrated their 5th wedding anniversary in Hawaii
In 2008, he explored parts of Europe and took her to France for their 6th wedding anniversary.
In 2009, another addition was made, completing their family.
He also received a new job which took his family across the country.
They sent their first born off to kindergarten....
...and bought their 3rd home. It was a busy year.
Today they celebrate 8 happy years and look forward to many, many more. (Oops...There are only 6 candles on the cake, I missed counted and nobody corrected me until after the candles were blown out.)
RJ has been so excited to start first grade since the day kindergarten ended. He couldn't wait for summer to be over, that is how much he loves school. The first day of school finally came and he woke up with a high fever. Poor kid, he was so upset that he was missing the very first day of first grade. He slept pretty much all day and had no appetite. Day two came and he swore he was better, so I let him go. His first day was tough. His body still wasn't 100%. Because he had slept all day the day before, he woke up Tuesday morning at 4am and school doesn't get out till 4pm. It was a long first day for him. He was confused and a little disoriented. He came home crying because he didn't understand a lot of what the teacher was talking about but he was too shy to ask questions. Mostly, I think he was just exhausted. Both him and Savannah were in bed asleep by 7 that night. The next day of school was much better and he is loving first grade. I wasn't excited by the teacher he got (she was my least favorite at of the three) but two of his best friends are in his class and he seems to be getting along just fine with his teacher. Only time can tell how things will go. I am excited for his new adventure in school. I look forward to hearing about his day each time I pick him up. I can't believe how big he is getting!
We have been living in Virginia for a year now! Where has the time gone? The east is a lot different then the west. We have learned a lot, found new things to enjoy, and miss a lot of things as well.
When we lived in Idaho, I used to look forward to visiting California, not just for family but for the scenery. Idaho was very flat. We had mountains close by but not too close. The area in which we lived was very, very flat!! I loved going back home to California and seeing the rolling hills covered in trees. However, after living on the east I have learned that California is really not that hilly and there are hardly any trees. Living in the east is like living in the forest. Actually we are living in the forest! I can’t believe how many trees there are here in Virginia and I hear other eastern states are even more thickly populated with trees. We have grown to love the greenery here. The scenery is gorgeous, especially in the fall. And the town is full of hills. There is no such thing as flat here; I’m not sure how much I enjoy that. It is hard to find places for the kids to ride their bikes, but a simple neighborhood walk makes for a wonderful workout.
The thunderstorms are better here as well. We had some great storms in Idaho but nothing compared to here in Virginia. Summer storms are much more frequent. The rain pounds, the thunder is loud, and the flashes are bright. Sadly with all the trees, we hardly get a good view of the beauty of a lighting bolt. That was a plus in Idaho.
The storms are very welcoming here. The bugs die down a little, the grass gets watered, and the temperature drops slightly, and occasionally a refreshing breeze is enjoyed. We have learned that nobody waters their lawns here. The rain storms and the humidity keep the lawns in good shape. We have has a few dry spells and patches of lawn will turn brown. But even so they bounce right back in the next storm.
We have discovered what true humidity feels like and have allowed the AC to be our best friend. The humidity really doesn’t bother me too much, as long as the friendly AC is close by. I have learned to put yard work on hold for hot and humid days. We have learned that cool summer nights don’t exist in the east. That is one thing we definitely miss. There is no such thing as opening your windows and airing out your house in the summer.
We have learned far more about bugs then we care too. Centipedes love the basements, mosquitoes love our blood. I have learned what a tic looks like, where is find them on my kids and how to pull them off. We have learned the awful itch of a chigger bite and have been impressed with the songs of cicada. We have discovered the awesomeness of fireflies!
I have learned that wisteria is very high maintenance and walnut trees make a huge mess. We have enjoyed the fact that we can swim in the ocean with out a wet suit. We miss real good Mexican food and having a nearby zoo. We miss having family close by. We love the friendships we have made. And we enjoy being on the East. It has been an enjoyable year. We look forward to many more experiences here in Virginia.
So we have been saying for two years now that we are going to take the kids to Disney. It seems like everyone has gone in the past two years, except us. Why? Because we haven't been successful in saving the funds for such an adventure. I not only wanted to save money for this trip, I wanted the kids to be involved in the saving. But I wasn't sure how to do this when the kids didn't make any money. We thought of lots of ways but none of them stuck. However, we found a new way and I hope it works. I was browsing the Family Fun magazine one day and read an article titled "Kids walk 60 miles to Amusement Park!" In the article a family lived about 60 miles from an Amusement Park. The parents wanted their kids to be more active. So they made a chart, and for every mile they biked, walked, or ran, as a family they marked off their chart until they made it to 60. So after reading this article I thought to myself, Hmmmm, this might be my answer to our Disney problem. Disney World is 712 miles from us. We plan on doing more family walks/ hikes/ bike rides in the next 2.5 years and save the money we would have used towards entertainment and put it into our new Disney Savings Account. We told the kids for every mile we go as a family, we will put $5 into the account. Once we reach 712 miles we should have more then enough money to enjoy a Disney adventure. We hope to make our goal a reality in 2 and a half years.
Saturday we started our journey and hiked to the LU. (Liberty University)
RJ trying to find our house.
View at the very top.
This is what Zachery thought of the view .
There were tons of Mushrooms along the way. The kids loved counting them.
Our town just opened up a free community spray park. We were so excited because we loved going to the one in Rexburg. This one is smaller, but beggars can't be choosers. We are grateful to have a place to cool off in from this east coast heat.
Zachery wasn't too excited about getting sprayed, but he loved chasing and claiming the beach balls as his own.
Our ward had their Primary Water/ BBQ party last weekend. The kids enjoyed the water activities and hanging out with their friends.
The girls stayed pretty entertained with this activity they created on their own. It looked like they were giving each other pretend pedicures. When I asked they said, "No, we are just washing our feet.") It was cute to watch how well they attended to each other.
B&W's Family Picnic was held at the Oakridge Estate. It was awesome! The weather was cooler which made the evening more enjoyable. The kids enjoyed the games, face painting, free unlimited cotton candy and ice cream, as well as a fun carriage ride. I enjoyed the grounds and walking around the estate's gardens. Unfortunately, I didn't get to the sign up sheets early enough and missed the tour of the mansion but walking around the grounds was fun.
The Estate once belongs to Thomas Fortune Ryan and is located on 4,800 acres of land. Can you imagine owning that much land, it is crazy! They have their own race horse track and at one point Mr. Ryan had his own golf course right out side is home. It is a beautiful piece of property.
...... this young happy couple......
.....went to the Lord's Temple...
...... this young happy couple......
.....went to the Lord's Temple...
...and were married for time and all eternity.
...and bought their 3rd home. It was a busy year.
