Our Big TriP! May 6th -16th 2011

Warning! This is a Very long post! :) OK here it goes. First I really should be packing to move but if I don't do this now I may not do it for awhile. So let the adventure begin! Dean and I have been planning this trip and saving for a year now. The trip started as soon as I got off work May 5th Dean and I drove to Kanab Utah and got there about 10pm and went to bed because we had to get on the road again at 5am. On our way to Arizona the Second day of the trip we saw... (the pictures below about 6am).

This little camp was right off the side of the road so we decided to stop and take a few pictures they are the ones below.

The picture below reminded me of something out of a movie it is BEAUTIFUL!

Through out this blog bare with me because on this trip there were a lot of "first times" for me so I get a little excited!

More cool pics!

Inside the little camp we found.

Outside the little camp we found.

SO I had never seen a real big cactus before and it was pretty cool. I told Dean they are like humans they come in all shapes and sizes.

The reason we went to Arizona was to find an apartment for Dean's training program in tempe and we did! We are moving in AUGUST! We will be living in Chandler at Chandler Meadows Apartments. We love them and the people. I also had never seen palm trees before so I took a picture.

A really CRAZY cactus!

After spending the weekend finding an apartment and spending time with our friends the Childs. (Thanks Amy and Chase for letting us stay with you) We headed to California for a week of fun! We started off in San Diego! All I can say is HUGE!

Dean and I on Coronado Island. Beautiful. But cold!

I LOVE THE BEACH!

My love message to DEAN!

I ABSOLUTELY love this picture of Dean! He is SO good looking! and NO it is not photoshopped!

Coronado Island was beautiful and lots of pretty homes! I do have to say though my favorite part was the sand between my toes. I could spend a whole vacation on the Beach!

The Second day in San diego we went to the zoo! It was fun and lots of cool Animals! This elephant was at the entrance!

These were in the park ;)

Can't see them but we were in a big bird cage and birds were flying above us!

The Gorillas were my favorite! There is a REALLY funny story behind them if you want to know just ask but it is too long to type.

The Third day in San diego we went to SEA WORLD. (this was my personal favorite)

First we started by watching the Sea Lions and they were my favorite because they are so interactive and they do AWESOME tricks like diving off the top of a building into a smaller pool of water!

Second we went to the Dolphin show and they were my second favorite. They do some pretty awesome things as well. I decided next time we go I am going to go swimming with them!

My favorite was when the trainer would ride on the dolphin!

They have other exhibits at Sea World and the sharks were one of them!

Last we saw the Killer whale show. Hence the Ice Cream.

All the shows were amazing I really enjoyed the day!

I am still amazed at what these animals can learn to do!
Below is a Beluga whale. I am sure I spelled that wrong.

Yes I was that close to the polar bear!

And so was Dean

On a ride at Sea World that helped us over look the city!

I did get to touch a Dolphin and I LOVED it! They feel rubbery and soft!

Before we left San diego Dean and I went to the temple. It was beautiful inside and since we accidentally got there an hour early (the internet had the wrong times) we got to explore the temple a little it was really neat!

Dean was conveniently wearing this shirt and this in Huntington Beach haha! Dean on the pier!

Dean and I at Huntington Beach. This was my favorite beach! It might have been because it was warmer. But I just loved all the little shops along the way!

Reliving my lifeguard days!

My handsome man!

Restaurant at the end of the pier!

We wanted to get a little wet and we did! Also it was pretty sweet to see the surfers here I have also never seen that!

LA and the Angles Stadium!

Yep that is the Mexican Boarder! On our way to the outlet mail we saw an exit that said last exit in AMERICA! well gratefully we got off that exit so all was good. That was until we went to the hotel! and then Dean started to head toward the boarder. We quickly realized what we did and I told Dean we couldn't go this was I didn't have our passports. He knew that so he turned around and then we were in a VERY shady part of town. I gently locked the car door and Dean agreed that was a good idea! We made it back to the hotel safe and sound!

Dean took me to in-n-out for my first time! YUM!

Then Day 4 we headed to Anaheim and this was outside of our hotel!

We went to DISNEYLAND!

First ride (it's a small world)

My favorite (Minnie)

View from the hotel!

Day 5 was California Adventures








This is at Universal Studios day 6

All the sets were awesome. I do have to say it has changed how I view movies now that I know how they are made! Pretty much everything is fake! :)

Jurassic park scene

Back to the Future!

Fast and the Furious

Jaws

Desperate House wife's

Grinch who stole Christmas

War of Worlds

The Great out Doors

Day 7 More Disneyland! We went back again the day after Universal Studios cause our pass allowed us to spend a few days here.

I got to see my princesses!

On our way home we were able to spend sometime with some friends from Dean's mission! The Matapula's

They are Samoa so they are very giving they gave us leis and a bowl dish. Dean and most of the Matapul's. When we left they sang us a sweet song :). Dean was also able to meet up with an old mission companion. Elder Hickman.

On the drive home we stay a night in Vegas and we went to M&M World! Also we saw our friends the Elkins

The trip was so fun and relaxing! Next time I wouldn't have it so packed full of activities though. Dean says his favorite part was watching me and my reactions to seeing everything for the first time! Also he liked Vegas. My favorite part was spending 10 days with Dean strait. We had a ton of fun doing the activities and we tried SO many resturants!

This last weekend we went to Oregon to visit family and us girls decided to pamper ourselves. We got pedicures we haven't done that before it was WAY fun. We joked Michelle, now she will be beautiful when she goes into labor. (she is due anytime)

My nephew Payton learned to ride his bike last week! So proud of him!

Katie's kids playing outside!

More of the Fun Adventures

Well life if just AMAZING right now! There are so many things going on. I have been busy so I wasn't able to update this blog last week so here it goes for the last two weeks. First Friday April 22nd Dean and I headed down to the Boise area for the weekend full of family time :)! The first event we went to was Saturday morning and it was to my cousin Daniele's Sealing! If you are wondering why Marie my other cousin and I have our hands on Danny's tummy it is cause she is preggers and due in August! SO excited for her! Us three girls are three peas in a pod and have been SO close growing up!

Daniele and Matthew

After the Sealing some of my family and some of my Dad's family went up to the lake again to see it spill over. We got to get a little closer this time and it was pretty neat below are the pictures of it.

At Michelle's her kids playing on the boat!

Sunday (Easter) was my brother Daniel's Mission farewell so we had a ton of Family over. Below is my cousin Natilie, Andrea, and I.

Mr. Taylor playing with uncle DEAN! All the Kids LOVE him!

One of my last pictures with Daniel before his mission! He will do SO good. He has such a strong testimony and is a great example! I am SO proud of him. (In a good way!) It is hard for me to believe he is so grown up at times, because I left the house when he was 14 years old and he leaves tomorrow on his mission. Love you Dan!

Saying good bye to Daniel trying not to tear up!

And again. We said our final good bye inside Walmart because it was raining so hard so we didn't want to stay outside. Man I love that kid! I am going to miss him a ton but I know he is doing exactly what he should be doing! He is going to do great!

This last weekend I went to Blackfoot and held a Scentsy Party! Selling Scentsy is something I really enjoy doing because I LOVE the products! Call if you ever need anything.

After the Party Dean took me to Second Chance Prom! We went with our friends Shanna and Tyrel! At first I am not goint to lie I was a little hesitant because I am not much of a dancer. but it ended up being a blast and something I would love to do again. I got to dance with Dean and be crazy. The slow songs we my favorite. First we went to Johnny Carinos and ate in our formal dress and then we went to the dance. There were a ton of people there and they were all ages! For half time they had dancers come in and do a routine. They also offered super Yummy food! Thanks Shanna and Tyrel for inviting us to go!
Below is us all dressed up!

Dean and I at the dance!

Another Wonderful Weekend!

These first two pictures are from my anniversary. Dean just had them on his phone the last time I blogged so they didn't get put in.

Dean playing with his money.

This last weekend we had a wonderful time going down to Salt lake and attending Dean's cousin (Lauren and Scott's ) sealing at the Salt lake temple. Such a beautiful temple! Pictured below is Dean and I with Lauren. Isn't she pretty!

I have always wanted to get a picture with the Salt lake temple in the background. So this weekend I was able to accomplish this. It was a beautiful day as you could tell BLUE SKIES. I haven't seen those for awhile.

After the temple we went to the Pie Pizzaeria and it was really good! Then Dean and I were able to go visit my past roommate in Provo and her new baby Hazel! She was adorable! We had a great time catching up as roommates and then, Dean and I went to Krispy Kremes for a dessert. There were two places Dean and I said we had to go to on this trip. Krispy Kremes was one and the other was Seven 11 to get a SLURPEE. We stopped by both but the funny or I thought at the time Not so funny thing about the seven 11 was everyone we went to (three different ones total) was out of CHERRY! It is my favorite! It wasn't too funny I thought but I did have to laugh every time we stop and there wouldn't be Cherry Dean would smile and say sorry! One time he asked on a scale from one to ten how mad are you.?I said 8 hahaha. I was never really mad. Hey what can I say it is a great flavor!
So while we were in Utah my brother was staying at our apartment hanging out with friends. He was suppose to only stay till Sunday, but I convinced him to stay till today so we could hang out one last time before his mission. I was only able to see him for a few hours on Friday before we left to Utah but we made it quality time! (we went to Dairy Queen) Anyway so he stayed last night and we played games and laughed a lot. Love that kid. He will be a great missionary!

Exciting events in our life!

Well the adventures have started and I wanted to blog about them as they happen or I will have a lot to catch up on. First off Conference weekend we decided to go to Oregon and visit my family. Well currently everything there is flooding. It has been raining like crazy. Some of you may think well Duh! You are from Oregon, but I am from Eastern Oregon and it doesn't rain that much, it is like Boise Weather. So on Saturday we decided to take a drive up the the dam and see it flow over the Glory Hole (it doesn't do that very often just when the dam in full and they need to get water out of it so it doesn't flood)

This is a picture of Dean and I by the dam. bottom right you can see the jets.

This is a picture of the Owyhee Dam

This is the Glory Hole they have raised it to fill the Dam all the way up.

This is the wall of the Dam Pretty full! The other side of this wall is in the picture above some three hundred feet tall.

Looking down the Glory hole!

Again (Scary)

WELL... It is official Dean has Graduated! YAY!!! It is amazing to come home and just hangout and not have to hear Dean say sorry I can't I have homework!

Enjoy the pictures below.

Love this one! He is such a goof!

So Excited!

Isn't he cute! So Proud of him! (in a humble way)

Dean's family and I at his graduation in the Hart Building.

Dean got to graduate with one of his friends from High School Josh Gordan. So fun!

We were so grateful for the family members that were able to come and support and spend time with us! To the left is Dean's Aunt Olivia and Uncle Dean. They are the ones we will be staying with this summer. We really appreciate them!

Dean's Friend Brent was able to come and celebrate with us and we appreciate it.

Dean, his mom, and Sister

Dean was making a sad face because they don't give them their diplomas in case someone doesn't pass. So he will get it in the mail in about two months.

Graduation was Friday and Saturday April 8th and 9th. The 11th of April is our anniversary and so this fell on Monday! I don't work Mondays so Dean took the day off and we hung out. We went to Red Lobster and the movies! We weren't going to get each other anything because our trip to California was our present. However we were originally going to go to Cali this weekend but then my Brother got his mission call and if we went now we would have missed his farewell and we didn't want to do that so we moved the trip to May. So since money is low we still weren't going to give each other presents we were just going to go to Red Lobster (it is a tradition) and the movies, but I guess Dean and I have the same mind because we both felt bad about not giving each other ANYTHING because Anniversaries are a BIG deal. So I went to the bank on Monday and came home to the flowers below. One of the reasons I went to the bank was to deposit something but the main reason was so I could pick some cash to give to Dean as a present. I think we were both happily surprised at least I know I was.

I love Dean so much and have LOVED the Last 2 Years of marriage, and I look forward to the ETERNITY to come. Dean is amazing. I fall in love with him more and more everyday! I didn't believe people when I got married and they said I would love him even more as time went on But it is true! I feel my love for him growing more and more and deeper and deeper. I love him SO much, he is my everything!